Blues Machine

The growl of it and the ‘’body to the tone sound’’ of this guitar always had me. Back in the day when I first put my hands on that model for the first time, I would just plug it directly into a Music Man 2x10 65 and that was such a great sound, without any effect pedals. It was what first proved to me that what I felt in my guts for so long, with my very own primitive instintcs, are true: what really makes a great tone is those long things on the end of your hand. Another thing that I really like with that specifficaly guitar is the chunky neck ’58 and ’59 ES-335 have that also are a thing that delights me a lot when it comes to playability, even that I can really get along with guitars that have a slimmer necks, such as my teles and the SG Custom, because I’m not really of a speed player – I prefer to call me more of a feeling kind of guitarist, I like to enjoy each note with no hurry and try to play with real human feelings instead of pyrothecny and virtuous skills, even though I can really see the point of it. The C shapped and chunkiest necks are very confortable to me, though I really doesn’t apply much of the thecnical aspecst of my years studying classical guitar, in the erudite tradition you always play with your thumb down to the neck, never appearing or hanging or grabbing the entire neck like Hendrix introduced with his style of playing his strotocasters. So I’m very used to this shape. For me, to work into my composition ideas and study the ES-335 is a guitar that opens a very wide field of possibilities, that’s why I always like to keep it close when I’m creating - It have more lows and mids and more meaty highs, every note you play in it is perfect and consistent. I always think of ES-335 of a ‘’do-everything’’ guitar, the kind of guitar you just plug into the house’s backline and fuel the entire place down. It is a very pleasing instrument to play and to write in it, since unplugged it has a very ‘’full’’ sound that able you to write even without an amp around, and amplified the sound of the humbuckers have this dry and warm tone I like. Having a tele and a ES-335 I would say you have the best of both worlds, althought I’m a V fan and a SG and Les Paul model enthusiast, as a musician I said that definitely these are my favourite duo for working at the studio. They’re the originals and quintessentials blues-machines.

Like playing in a dream and you wake up still playing.

Epiphone Dot Cherry red with Dirty Fingers Humbucker in the bridge. This guitar wants to be heard. From a beautiful resonance when strummed acoustically, to the warmth of the neck pickup purring through the upper registers, to the bold and crisp attack of the Dirty Fingers in the bridge, this guitar seems almost too good. The neck feels magical, like is was shaped just for my hand. I would like to believe the previous owner had the guitar professionally set up. It doesn't seem possible that frets could be dressed so elegantly straight out of the factory. A 2004 Chinese guitar that has barely seen any blemishes in its 16 years. A welcome addition to the flock.

It's got that sound

Mine was very poorly set up. Tuning of certain strings wavers when played harder. Needs smoothing of the fret edges. OTHER THAN THAT... THIS THING SOUNDS AMAZING FOR WHAT IT IS. Really pretty decent stock pickups, brighter than most humbuckers. It's probably the 2nd best sounding guitar I own. And more versatile than you might expect. From twang and jangle to warm dark blues, I can get what I need out of this guy, and even specifically a full punching but still hollow sound I can't really get from any of the other guitars in my tool box. So finishing aside, this is a pretty well designed guitar, if not slightly mishandled in the manufacturing.

Affordable quality

This is the Epiphone 335 style guitar. It's typical Epiphone in being very good value for the money. On the plus side, the neck is fabulous and the resonance is lovely (play it acoustic and you'll know what I mean

It's weakness is the slightly muddy pickups, which is OK when you use the bridge or both together, but in the neck position you definitely have a bit of a mudbucker. Less significant, the finish can be slightly lazy, but nothing affecting the playability. Epis have terrible resale value but they are better than people think. As Josh Homme ably demonstrated, you can sound great on one of these if you have the chops. And besides, it looks awesome.

Great Hollow Body Guitar

I wanted a guitar to play the blues with and the opportunity came with a second hand cherry one for AUD$450. I put new strings on her and it nails the blues sound. Nice clean tone that starts to sing a little. Easy to play and light weight compared to a Les Paul. There’s plenty of tone shaping options with the 4 controls and the humbuckers sound strong and bright. The Les Paul gives a rock blues tone, while the Dot gives a more pure blues tone ie BB King, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, John Lee Hooker vibe. I love it.

Great affordable guitar!

I got this guitar (albeit lightly used) and it is one of my favorites! Has a nice, maneuverable neck and fret board, great gloss finish, and awesome, warm Gibson humbucker pickups that go GREAT with distortion and/or fuzz! My only minor qualm with this guitar is that it can get heavy at times. This a great guitar for gigging, jamming, entertaining... you name it, this guitar is sure to deliver!

Can't afford a Gibson 335? Try an Epiphone Dot...

If you can't afford a Gibson 335 then an Epiphone Dot is a good alternative for a fraction of the cost. The build quality is good with decent finishing. You can upgrade them with new wiring and Gibson pups to improve an already good sound. I have a Korean made Dot which receive favourable reviews but equally the Chinese Dots seem to get good reviews too. I've been impressed with my Epiphone Dot overall and would recommend them.

A classic

I was surprised when I played this guitar. Admittedly it was salvaged from a local school and covered in white emulsion paint but somehow after lots of wear and lack of care the guitar after a cleanup was still beauty and sounded great It’s one of my pride and joys and after my own finish modification it is who I am and a part of me. I love it

Nice alternative tone; little use live.

The semi-hollow tone is something I wanted to experiment with, and the dot was an affordable way to try it out. In use, I like the sound, but find the neck very slim and narrow to use. Also, from the placement of the neck in the body, the neck seems long; third fret too far away. Obviously these things can be got used to, but the greatest shortcoming for me is that my guitar is prone to feedback at rehearsal / gig volumes so it doesn't really get the playing time it probably deserves. Nice for a change though. Nicely made and attractive appearance.

Great Guitar!

I got this used dot as a guitar that I could take to school (when I was in high school years ago), and I needed something that was moderately priced and still sounded great. I got it home and was playing around with it and it sounded almost as good as my Les Paul, so, I decided to change the strings and when I got the strings off, I took out the pickups to see what they were, and whoever had it before me put a set of 57' Classics in it! This is by far the best sounding semi-hollowbody I've ever played (including Gibsons line). The neck is nice and fat like a vintage guitar should be. I have since then taken off the pick guard (I'm weird) and it shows how pretty the maple grain is on the top! I highly recommend this guitar for anyone who is looking to delve into hollowbody guitars.