Three very different guitars for sound and feel when playing - strat style, les paul style and semi acoustic.

It might be worth thinking about which players you most enjoy listening to for the tone they produce - if most of them fall into one of the three camps it can indicate what might be best for you.

If you really like your strat and it plays well it may be worth looking at pickups - I'm not the person to ask about this though as I've only ever had a couple of cheap strat style guitars.

If you have a hankering after playing les paul style or semi-acoustic and you like the experience of playing them, then getting one of these would add more range to the sounds of what you play. Again, the Les Paul style and the semi-acoustic are very different beasts - I have a Tokai MIJ Les Paul Custom style and a Viking Hagstrom Deluxe. Despite both having humbuckers they have very different sounds and are heard to best advantage on different styles of music and of playing.

The action is different too on the shorter string length, but normally heavier gauge strings, compared to your Highway One.

I suppose, as always, if you are able to find a shop that has well set up examples (might be difficult) and a reasonable quiet environment to try them, then you need to do this. If any guitar you try really speaks to you, you'll know it at once, and it's the guitar to go for. Doesn't happen often though!!

I just went through a similar decision but mine was between an epi SG deulux and a dot. I ended up going for the SG mainly because the dot just didn't sound like I expected a 335 to sound. It may have just been me, or the amp or that it just didn't do it's magic in my hands but I felt nothing from it. The SG on the other hand is a brilliant instrument that rivals the quality and sound of the gibsons. I was playing around with a few gibson SG's in the shop on wednesday and yes they were a bit better than my SG however they didn't feel $2,000 better than my SG. No doubt if I spend a little money later to upgrade the pickups it will be as good or better than a gibson. My advice is play around, find the guitar you love and go for it. I have played the epi les pauls and they feel nice and have a great sound to them. As I said the dot felt dead in my hands but then I'm more of a dirty player than a mellow player so the SG had those bases covered.

There is one more point to make here. I've only ever played the Epiphone Dot and Les Paul as opposed to a Gibson 335 and Les Paul and, to be honest, they both sound the same through my amps. If I set both guitars to the same pick up, volume and tone I could play either and get the same sound. Not sure if that is how it should be but, I would bet that if I did the same with Gibson's, they would sound different.
Just a point to ponder

Peadee

I have actually looked at that clip earlier, thanks for reminding me   
Nice to see that the difference aint that much...   at least not to my inexperinced ears.... 

looked at a black dot today... very nice guitar... since it was a saturday the shop was full of people, so i didnt get the chance to plug it in...
it was also a bit out of tune... the epiphone emblem had almost fallen off.... so it had some tape covering it

however... i think i actually found my new guitar, a tanglewood acoustic

it sounded so sweet.... i tried the EC Martin one, and it (blasphemy?)  wasn't THAT much better.... 

Tanglewood - 730 dollar
Martin 3500 dollar

i like the martins they have in their shop, but i like when my guitars have a little bass to them... the martin was a little sharp...

...and don't forget the Epi Sheraton (see other thread)

ahhh.... forgot all about the sheraton... will check it out next week...

Natmanrulz wrote:

Check Out Tokia, much better then the dot, and sometimes can be on par with a gibson

I wouldn't argue with that. The MIJs are high class.

In light of modern electronics, any guitar can sound like anything. Also manufacturing methods are such that today guitars , made just about by anyone, are good guitars. Guitar players are looking for a sound, or tone,feel, and that you can only find by getting your hands on a guitar and playing it. And when You find the right guitar you will know it. Its a life long quest, enjoy the adventure.                        Choose your heros well

I "traditionally" always thought the Epi Dots were terrible. Sheratons too. Baseball bat necks (I mean shape, not just thickness), and lousy feel.

But I really loved the sound of of the one a friend has and although I usually play bass, I was once this autumn got a chance to try the Dot at a band practice, and well, since I record the complete practice sessions on my small Zoom, here's how that 30s sounded (sorry for the lousy impro skills and wrong notes!) through the cheap 25W Fender Frontman (as you can hear from the backing, we were practicing "have you ever seen the rain" but this was just a between-songs-chatter bit): http://www.box.net/shared/7y5nxoe4jh

Really dug it, although the set up on the guitar is lousy, compared to my Squier Strat. But hey, that's an easy fix. Still, I'd probably take the Ibanez Artcore over the Epi, but that's just my preference. The best ES-335 I've ever played was a the $1500 Yamaha (and a 1976 Tokai that was good player), the only Gibsons I've lusted for after trying them have been Les Pauls. Also LOVED the Jorma Kaukonen Epi, though they are too heavy for my liking. I have an Epi Rumblekat bass, and an Epi Alleykat (as it sits nicer on my lap than an ES-335).

Last edited by weelie (Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:12:23)

Reading your text, I'd go for the Dot. It's definitely one of the greatest deals around! Personally I have the Alleykat though, for the smaller body. And I am thinking of ES-339...

Gold on all guitars' hardware tarnishes and wears out. Depends on your sweat acidity too, I bet. My Epiphone bass still has the gold on it, bought it a year ago, and don't play it every day. My Mexican Fender still had gold on it 6 years later... but when I actually got a chance to compare it to a new one... it looked.... VERY pale gold.

But if you didn't like the Sheraton, it can be that the guitar model just doesn't "speak" to you. It's not worth buying a guitar just for the looks, if you don't like playing it, I think.

Last edited by weelie (Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:06:28)

Luke wrote:

4) Have you guys who own Epi’s with  golden hardware experienced issues with tarnishing and fading gold? I’ve heard it’s inevitable (even on Gibsons)… Is it true?

Welcome!

I have the Sheraton with gold hardware and yes, it's fading. But I've heard other PAY for a vintage look...