Epiphone Archtop Dot (Natural) Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 6 customer reviews

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January 8, 2013

Best semi-hollow guitar for the price!

Great guitar, just what I was looking for, beautifull finish and solid construction with a great resonance acoustic body that gives you sweets warm tones. In my opinion this is the best website to buy your instruments. Excellent and fast attention, also the fact that you can see real photos of the gear you are buying is amazing.

Mikeike
from Los Angeles, CA USA
June 30, 2012Music Background:
Church musician.

My go to guitar!

I was playing the dot at a local guitar store thinking it would be alright. I have played many Gibson ES-335s and compared to the Dot, it blew my mind! I noticed the shape is not exactly like the gibson, along with the shape of the pickguard, but that is epiphones way of design. I don't mind it at all. It plays great! I use it more like my main guitar now. It has some negatives about it such as it not being set up, but thats an easy fix, after getting it set up at a guitar shop it now plays and sounds like a thousand dollar guitar! Later on I would recommend changing the pickups to Gibson pickups but it sounds like an Gibson ES-335, looks like a Gibson ES-335 and pretty much plays like one too! Its very versatile giving you best of both worlds with its Semi-hollowbody design, so many tones you can get out of it! I love it!

Stanley Breen
from Ogdensburg,N.Y.
January 29, 2012Music Background:
playing off and on for 20 plus years

Rattle your house !

I knew I'd love it .The Archtop has really surprised me .I wasn't expecting so many different sounds from this older style guitar .I've been playing it for a month and I'm still finding different sounds through the Marshall.My favorite is through the neck pickup with the gain on 8 with the amp and the tone on 0 and the volume on 10 .you'll rattle all the windows in the house !The 57's are sweet and the hollow body definately has it's own sound.I also really like the natural finish.It makes it look like it has a cream finish .I've always been pleased with Epiphone ,thanks Sweetwater .

R. Simmons
from Old Bridge, NJ 08857
October 28, 2006Music Background:
Playing for 39 years now but retired from gigging.

Not Just For Beginners

The high gloss and nice grain caught my eye. Knowing modern day Epiphone is a great line with the price for the Dot being too right, I had to buy it.

No disappointments!

Quality and craftsmanship are equal to guitars costing way more. Frets and intonation are perfect. The neck has a heftier shape yet, plays effortlessly. The Dot sustains wonderfully, stays in tune, and the pickups provide a wide tonal range. Electronics and hardware are trustworthy. The Dot is truly a joy.

Couple all the above with impeccable Sweetwater service and you have a perfect buying experience!

Chuck Metivier
from Suisun, CA
February 11, 2012Music Background:
Played professionally off and on for 40 plus years, no longer gigging.

Wonderful value, great guitar!

Received my guitar just a few days ago. Ordered it Thursday mid-morning and it shipped Thursday afternoon, got it the following Tuesday. Originally ordered the ES 339 but it wasn't going to be available until the end of April. Katie at Sweetwater called me and let me know of the long back order delay. I decided to go with the Dot and I'm glad I did. After reading many reviews on other sites I figured I'd have to put some time into setting up the guitar after it arrived, not the case at all. The intonation was right on and it was even in tune right out of the box. I did lower the action a tad and change strings other than that it was ready to go. I'm not sure if if it was Sweetwaters 55 point instrument check or I just got lucky, either way I'm happy!

The Guitar's natural finish is great it plays and sounds wonderful and i've had no tuning problems at all. I've had many guitars over the last 45 years but for the last few years I've been playing a strat exclusively so it's great to get back to a humbucking sound again. Between the Dot and My stratocaster I have a broad range of sounds to draw on.

If your considering purchasing this guitar don't put it off any longer, great value!

Dave
from United States
November 17, 2011Music Background:
Gigging Guitarist and Instructor

Very nice, but not perfect

These are really a great value. Epiphone builds consistently good guitars at a reasonable price.

PROS: nice top, solid tuners, comfy neck profile, responsive 2:2 control scheme

CONS: needed a total setup including some messy frework, a few finish imperfections around the binding especially at the horns and neck joint, highly mediocre pickups that do the job but lack definition, bridge/tailpiece are flimsy and lower quality

It might seem like that is a lot of cons for a four star review... but you gotta remember the money factor. This is NOT a 3000 dollar Gibson, so of course it has things that could be improved.

I recommend a decent set of Tonerider Alnico IIs or IVs, or a set of DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs if you want classic blues/country/rock tone. I also recommend a good, professional setup. Finally, a better bridge (roller perhaps?) might make life nicer and tuning a hair more stable.

But, all that said, right out of the box it was playable. If you plan to gig it, expect to need a setup and eventually to want new pickups.

I highly recommend this, especially to working musicians without massive amounts of disposable income.