Epiphone Dot Semi Hollow Body Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

I love this Casino. I knew I wanted a P-90, and I really wanted a fully hollow body. I wanted to see if I could replicate a I've been agonizing over the purchase for months, looking for every possible solution, and was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Epi USA version, and after MUCH research, finally decided to go with the regular Epiphone. The construction, from everything I read, is excellent, and I knew that if necessary, I could always switch out the pups. Well, I can't say enough about how good this guitar is! I am extremely fussy on setups (I do setups on my own guitars and for other people) and this thing was ready to play right out of the box! I literally didn't touch a thing except to tune it up. I won't even have to dress the frets. I may touch them up just a bit (again, I'm really fussy) but they feel better than most guitars that cost three times as much. It is really beautiful. I love the vintage sunburst. The finish is flawless. Now for the important part – it plays like a dream. The neck profile is extremely comfortable. I can move up and down the neck as fluidly as on any guitar I own. And the sound! I was amazed at how present it is, even before plugging it in. I see this little sweetheart spending a lot of evenings on the couch with me. Soft enough not to overly bother my wife, but again – very present. Plugged in – well lets just say I won't be replacing these pups. It is exactly the sound I was hoping for. I'm no Grant Green, but I can certainly understand why he loved this guitar. Would I recommend it? Heck yeah! Country? Check. Classic rock? Check. Rockabilly, surf, blues and even jazz? Check, check, check, and check.Jess

Had the money to buy any guitar in the shop. Liked the looks of the SG, worn ebony with rosewood fingerboard and the Gibson speed knobs. Having only played guitars with 9.5 radius, I found the 14 radius was better for bar chords. The craftsmanship is excellent, can find no flaws the body or neck. The truss rod was out of adjustment, considerable back-bow. I fixed that, and set the action low. The intonation was spot on. Frets were polished with no sharp edges. I plan to upgrade the cheap electronics with new pots. As for the pickups, they sound ok. Since I use a modeling amp, not a big issue for me. The nut is a GraphTech synthetic bone. Nice touch for an inexpensive guitar, since i do not like changing them out…too much risk of damage. I have fender Strat and Tele, but have not put this down since purchasing it. Once I upgrade the electronics, this will be a very solid guitar.Jeff

I have always wanted a 335, but did not like the larger size. I saw this 339 and stepped up and bought it home. Had to wait 6 weeks, but was it ever worth it. This is the best guitar I have ever played or been around. Cannot make my mind up if it plays better than it looks, or if it looks better then it sounds. It came set up really well, intonation and all. All I had to do was tune it and go. Cannot find one flaw in the paint, assembly or anything wrong at all. It rings so true, holds a note and there is a major difference when selecting either pickup or both, and the tone and volume controls lets you have an infinite setting control on tone and volume. Set the bridge to really ring out and the neck one a little muddy and together it is killer, but can flip the switch and brighten a solo up good. An absolute joy to play. Just strike your favorite chord and let it ring…beautiful fun. I was worried about the neck thickness, but it is a non issue. Easy to chord, simple to fret in any way you please. I cannot express just how happy I am with this guitar. Michael at musicians friend was a great help in every way getting it here.Keith

Very comfortable to hold and play, with a slightly chunky neck which is my preference. Combines the best aspects of 335s and Les Pauls. It's also heavier than I thought it would be (again for me a good thing, I don't like feather-light guitars) I was expecting SG weights and annoying neck dive. As suggested already it seems to sound somewhere between a full-sized 335 type and a solid body, which again isn't much of a surprise. Seems to have more twang than my LP which is good for my taste, which is more soul and funk. The finish is also perfect, though slightly different to the one advertised at the time of purchase. The neck fades into a natural varnish rather than the all-black paint. Also the sides are solid natural varnish rather than the fading between black and natural effect.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I've wanted a semi-hollow for some time and I took the plunge to get this one. It's a very nice guitar that looks good and plays well. I was initially suspicious because of the price, as other guitars in the range did not play so well to me. Anyway, I had the store do a setup to ensure everything was fine and had the strings on I like to use. I change my own strings, of course, but I don't have tools for doing a proper setup. Good thing I did. Their Technician/Luthier CONNER, was very, very conscientious about his work, even fixing a slightly raised 14th fret. He was very meticulous in his inspection and work. If you don't have a semi-hollow body ax, this would be a good choice for the money. I have not had it long enough to say much about the two split-coil switches for the humbuckers. Maybe they'll turn out to add some good sounds as I play more. My only significant gripe is that the back of the neck has a standard gloss finish. If you play guitar, you probably hate that, as well. But some light sanding and oil should improve the playability.George

This was for my son, a late beginner, to add to his Ibanez s521. This was ordered online, not bought off the wall. It comes very well packaged for shipment and arrived with zero scratches or damage. The strings that it has are actually OK and I may keep them for a bit. I am not a huge fan of the gold metallic but it is the kid's preference, and the finish seems nice. I did not see much of the paint covering part of the binding in places as some have remarked, and the binding seems to be pretty decently done. The only really startling indicator of low build quality on ours is the very rough finish on the insides of the f holes. There are places that the paint has small runs in it and you can tell there was cost savings. There are guitars in the price category that are much better finished in there and I would have gladly paid a couple of extra bucks for this. At least they could have painted it black on the sides of the holes, like they did on some of the other colors, to hide it somewhat. On the gold, it is just jarring. I may do just that, after it is out of warranty of course. It is sad because there aren't any other significant issues on mine. The fret ends seem pretty nice and there really isn't any lifting, sprout, or sharpness on any of them. I am intermediate, so I can't really say authoritatively how the tone compares to others objectively, but to my ears it sounds pretty good especially compared to some others in the price range, like the stock Ibanez pickups. Seem to have clarity and not muddy. Like the neck profile. Neck required a slight loosening of the truss rod to straighten and the action was easily lowered to 1.5mm at the 12th fret low e without significant buzzing. The treble bleed does its job and single coil option is nice too. It won't sound like my strat but it does give some versatility. The guitar is very fun to play with its neck profile and radius once I did my mild setup on it, and hard to explain, but I don't want to put it down once I start using it. Despite the one flaw, I still think it is a good buy and recommended.JM

A great es-335 from Epiphone, especially with the alnicoV humbuckers, coil splitting, and quality control all around. I did very little set-up to get nice low action; I must also put on some new strings, loop-tie them, with some stop bar adjustment. I like this glossy ebony finish, but used steel wool on the back of the neck to take down the stickiness. Clear mellow sound with a bit of woodiness on the neck pickup; good for rhythm, CCR, country, jazz, and classic rock. The bridge pickup gives me more attack; good for clear chicken picking, and with pedals heavy distortion chunks and leads. With the coil split, I can almost get a Tele sound on the bridge pickup. The neck shape is sort-of D shaped; I prefer the rounded C-shape of the 1950s Gibsons. Great guitar at a super price on deal of the day sale. This is one of those rare very low priced yet quality guitars worth buying and playing.Professorchill

been playing 49!! years now, this is one sweet little electric. the hardware is decent, the finish nice and the pickups even sound decent stock. way better deal than the gibson it copies, the one i got was impeccable.. perfect fretwork right out of the box with an almost perfect action. the finish you could get lost in. i guess i got lucky, but i feel for the price i could do worse. nice guitar. i flipped it for more than i paid for it ultimately.phatjbp

Smooth as silk on the neck pickup. Warm, mellow sounds when you combine the two pickups and downright mean, gritty, growling on the bridge pickup. Fit and finish is near flawless and when you combine the cost with the quality of sound and the performance of the fret board you get an incredible value. I have owned a Washburn HB-35, an Aria TA-62 and an older Greco (Japan) semi-hollowbody and this Epiphone blows them away. Buy one and you will see what I mean.two_eagles_today5kxr

Surprisingly good guitar for the price. A bit on the heavy side, though Pickups should be upgraded for better performance. Overall, a good buy. Why pay a Gibson price when an Epiphone is there for a fraction of the cost? You won't be disappointed, believe me. It's even setup up OK from the distributor(Gibson)mrbthree

As with most people, I'm hesitant to buy guitars sight unseen through the mail. But with the current state of the world, that's becoming more and more the norm. Luckily the guitar arrived in absolutely perfect condition and set up nicely. The Red is really deep and rich. I know it's cliche, but the pictures really don't do it justice. I've been on a quest all these years for a guitar with a neck that properly fits my small hands and extremely short thumbs (nearly impossible to roll my thumb over the top of the neck ala Hendrix). I was torn between the Sheraton and the Casino, but decided on the Sheraton. When the next 48 month 0% promotion rolls around I may get the Casino as well. The tone of the Sheraton is very surprising for this price range. I also own a Clapton Strat (almost 3 times the price), and I absolutely enjoy the sound of the Sheraton more, as hard as that might be to believe. Obviously that is subjective. However, the place the Sheraton really shines for me is the neck! It fits my hands better than any other guitar I've ever played. Rolling my thumb over the top still isn't an easy proposition, but at least it's in reach (no pun intended), and with some practice I'll eventually get there. On the Strat it was impossible. I mainly play on the neck pickup, and it has a nice creamy, warm sound combined with my Blues Deluxe Reissue. I've never owned a 335 type guitar, as I always thought they were for jazz, but this guitar is very versatile. It's still a crapshoot with ordering through the mail, but I highly recommend the Sheraton if you (like me) can't afford a Gibson.Patrick B

Overall: Ive had this guitar a little over 24 hours now and cant put it down!! I got the blemished wine red model and the only blemish it had was a smidge of paint got on the binding where it meets the neck, i mean you had to really look close to see it and zZounds being the grandslam hitters that they are knocked 100 bucks off the price!!!I recieved it in a 1 1/2 days ( doesnt get any faster than that) and straight out of the box the action was perfect the intonation was spot on! The D string was maybe a cent out of tune. The guitar in wine red with the gold hardware is visually stunning, build quality you ask? Its built like a tank from the grover tuners, bone nut, loctone bridge and tail piece with a 3 way toggle you can litterally abuse and the probuckers sound amaZzing in full humbucker and coil split. This is a 1,000 + quitar with an intermediate price tag! Got to take a minute to shout out to the guys and gals at zZounds this is the third guitar that ive bought from them and they just keep knockin it out of the park!!! I will never shop for a guitar any where else you guys are first ballad hall of famers all the way!!! If your sick of the used car salesman approach and being followed around the lot, zZounds is the answer, they are the most professional ive ever dealt with period. Whem the extura prophesy in purple burst gets in stock, put one back for me, that is my next purchaseTommy

I had a red 2012-ish era Casino for a few years that I liked but didn't love. I was a big fan of the overall vibe of hollow-body plus 2 P90s, but the pickups were a little dark, and it didn't play very well (small cramped neck, some fit and finish issues, fret buzz even after a professional setup, etc). I ordered this new model back in December and just received it last week (7 months later). It was absolutely worth the wait. It fixes everything I didn't love about the previous model – better sounding pickups, wider neck, improved fit and finish. I wouldn't consider myself a "real" guitar player (mostly just play for songwriting and recording projects), but this new Casino is extremely fun to play and has reignited some of the passion I had for playing back in my teens. The techs at CME clearly did a great job setting up the action before shipping, and the color is truly unique and handsome – my partner has remarked several times about how beautiful of an instrument it is! Highly, highly recommended.Eric S.

First ever guitar that was perfectly setup out of the box. Not only is the fit and finish perfect, all it needed was to be tuned and played. I tried to do some setup, but I couldn't improve on it. It plays as smoothly as any guitar I've ever handled and I love the tone of the P90s on the hollow body. I've had it about two weeks. It took a while to get the hang of the breakup levels through my tube amps. It's definitely different than the humbuckers on my Gibsons. The finish is rich and deep. I have a Chinese Casino in the same finish, but you can tell the difference between them from a distance. Look closely and the USA is absolutely gorgeous. The difference in sound between the two is like night and day and I used to like the way the Chinese one sounded. I haven't found any flaws in fit or finish. I got it out of the box and put my gauges on it. Everything was in spec so I tuned it up. It was a half step low all the way around. Tuned up, the intonation was perfect. I've just been playing it ever since and it gets a little more comfortable every day. I love the neck and being light as a feather doesn't hurt either. This will be my gigging guitar for the foreseeable future.RTonka

Sound: YES COMPARABLE TO MORE EXPENSIVE MODELS THE AMERICAN MADE P90s sound outstanding….However the chrome finish wore OFF in just a few months. And the finish on the GUITAR BODY scratches VERY easy..The bridge saddles move on their own while playing..I would LOOK into that ..or change it to a roller bridge. It plays MUCH smoother and no more adjustments had to be made tuning machines are a little on the loose side .The pickup select switch on mine sometimes DOESN'T ALWAYS make a good connection on the bridge pick up (although I believe it's a switchcraft switch ) Also it took about a month of playing before the BLACK residue from the fingerboard stopped coming up on my fingers. But besides all that minor stuff I love the guitar… and is there any way you could bring the Cutaway up more about four frets?? Overall: It plays and sounds BEAUTIFUL…however the chrome finish wore off rather quickly…also the saddles in the bridge had to be reajusted frequently because they moved on their own.. Also went out of tune alot BUT..OTHERWISE plays like silk and I absolutely love the sustainability and sound of the P-90sLarry

Overall: Gone are the days of buying an Epiphone for the bones and upgrading everything.Out of the box, the bass side action was pretty high. 3 turns of a screw driver and a retune and it's perfection.Sweet, sustaining tones. The neck pickup is thick and rich, the bridge pickup bites with nice midrange.I have the Iced Tea finish and it is flawless.It's pretty loud, acoustically as well.The fingerboard is a nice, even, dark chocolatey color. There are no sharp frets, and the frets themselves are smooth and there's no grittiness when you bend a string.The tuners feel like quality.the right amount of resistance when you turn the key,.very smooth tuning.This guitar holds tune amazingly well. The nut is cut very, very well. I just spent an hour bending the hell out of notes and it's still perfectly in tune.Even the strings that come with It are decent.If this was my only guitar (it's not, I own over 20 lol), I would be happy.If you've got less than $600 to spend and you want a high quality guitar, this is the one.Now, can it be made better with some upgrades?Maybe. We shall see. It's very easy to swap out the tailpiece for a lightweight aluminum one, the studs for locking steel studs, and the inserts for steel inserts. You can even find brass saddles that fit this bridge perfectly if you know where to look, as well as steel thumbwheel posts. Throw on some locking tuners while you've got it apart, and Bob's yer auntie.This one is a keeper. And with a 12 month payment plan? I'd only have to sell plasma twice a month to pay for it!Cody

Epiphone did a good job of recreating the classic semi-hollow body, but it isn't perfect. To start, it's very heavy. The neck and giant head (while very cool) causes significant "nose dive". I find myself pulling it up way more often then I would like. My second con is the pickups. They are good but break up a little too early for me. But, other than those two things it's an awesome guitar. The features like the binding on the neck, a burst finish, and inlays all over make it beautiful to look at and feel on the hands. You would pay big money for a Gibson with the same level of features. Build quality on mine is fine, binding edges are crisp, frets are level, wiring seems to be assembled well. I'm putting a better set of strings on mine (no idea what comes on it but I hate it) and smile every time I pick it up.James

Mine is a sunburst 2013 made in China. Maybe I got lucky, but mine plays and sounds great, and the fit and finish is excellent. This is a not a premium guitar. This shows primarily in the fretwork, which look a little rough, but other than one slightly high fret, no issues. The paint job on mine is fine, the tuners are solid (Grovers) and the pickups sound great. The coil tapped sounds are a bit weak, but that's usually the case in my experience. I see a lot of complaints about the pickups being angled – this is a problem on all ES guitars – even Gibsons. There are various ways to resolve this, if it's an issue for you. I was going to do something about it, but then realized that I don't really care. I like how it sounds – I lowered the pickups away from the strings until they were balanced – but if it becomes an issue in the future I'll figure out what to do. I really like the 339 size. It's comfortable and really fun to play. I had to raise the action to make it to my liking. The neck is a nice D shape, I like chunky necks and this is good enough, there's a reasonable amount of heft to it, but it's not huge by any means. Any mass produced guitar will have duds. It's unfortunate that some people have had negative experiences with these. I also own an Epiphone Hummingbird – a guitar which I love, but I had to have the saddle relocated by about 1/8" so that it would intonate properly. Not ideal, but now it's right and that guitar will outlive me.Mr. AF

Bought the ES 339 online in early April. My initial impression after playing it for a day was that it is a great guitar for the price. The only negative I found was that the frets were a bit 'rough', but they seemed to smooth up as I played so I wasn't too concerned. After spending almost a month playing this guitar I have to say I am less impressed now than I was initially. There have been a few small issues, some of which you might expect in a lower end guitar, but I was hoping this one would be the exception. First, the little Epiphone emblem on the pickguard started peeling up within a few days of getting the guitar. No big deal, it doesn't really ad anything so I just peeled it the rest of the way off. But still, this is a brand new guitar. Then, while changing strings the second time (did I mention I've played this quite a bit?) I noticed the tuner for the high E string was becoming harder to turn than the others. It still turned, but the difference was noticeable. I emailed tech support to ask about it, and the tech suggested I try loosening the tension screw, and if that didn't work he would send me a replacement (I can do many guitar repairs myself, so was going to return it just to replace a machine head). I couldn't find what he was talking about, but did remove the tuner and gave it a good oiling, which seemed to resolve the problem. Now the E string tends to go out of tune more often, but that could be because I unwound/rewound the string, so I'm not ready to call that a failure yet. Now, just in the past few days, I've started noticing the pickup selector switch is making an 'static' noise when switching pickups… Again, none of these are huge problems, but taken together point to a bit of lack of quality IMO. Maybe I was just expecting too much from a sub – 500 guitar. As it is, I will hang on to it, fix the things that need fixing, and use it when a want a nice, clean sounding guitar.ERinVA

I love this guitar. It is probably the best for-the-money guitar deal I ever came across. One minor flaw is that I can sometimes detect a little scratchy sound when I flip the selector switch. Very subtle but it's there about half the time. Other than that, it looks, feels, and sounds like the finely crafted instrument it is. No sharp fret ends, the pickups are loud and evenly matched, with plenty of tone variation available. I bought the cherry red finish, which is much more appealing than the photos tend to show. The color is rich and deep, and the wood grain shows through beautifully. Most photos I have seen on-line tend to make the guitar look solid red and plain. It isn't. I'm by no means a tech so I won't even try to get into the finer points of measurements and intonation. I bought mine at Guitar Center so I was spared any out-of-the-box surprises. It stays in tune all the way up the neck, where I spend a lot of time. High-ish action doesn't bother me, though some may like it a little lower than mine came with. The 339 P90 has it's own character and delivers that hot P90 growl I thought I would have to buy a classic SG to find. A side by side comparison to my CV Tele found the pickups to be louder and, unlike the bucker version, perfectly balanced. Best of all, I found that setting the pickup selector to the center position and rolling to tone knobs to their midpoints I could get the pleasing mellow chord tones I wanted from a semi-hollow. Would a legit jazz player agree? Probably not, but I'm satisfied. I would prefer a 50s style neck, or the asymetrical neck offered on the LP Tribute, but this one is comfortable enough and, for the money, I know I made the right choice.William

This is a fantastic and very versatile guitar for the money. It looks like a tart's boudoir – almost over the top with all that gold and red, but that's somehow 'right' even for me who usually likes things understated. Great sustain, sweet cleans and a surprisingly aggressive 70s sounding bark with a bit of gain. its Mini Probuckers are the business! It's a fraction bigger than a Les Paul, and surprisingly light. The finish is better than most guitars in a similar price range – frets are good, finish almost faultless bar one or two very minor binding imperfections on the f holes and the masking of the side of the neck where it joins the body, but seriously, these are micro issues. Setup out of the box was close to perfect but action a tad too high – lowered it to my taste and it is now perfect.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Really amazing for the money – I've owned many US-made guitars from top-notch manufacturers and the quality of construction and finish on this one is immaculate. Not only that but it's a very well-designed instrument too, stylish and decently ergonomic for a semi. Perfect for providing a bit of jazz mojo. On the basis of my experience with this one, if I was in the market for a Les Paul I'd be looking for an Epi, not a Gibson. I've owned two Gibson Les Pauls and a Gibson SG and none of them was as well-made as this. One thing I don't like about this guitar – playing it for a while tends to make your fingertips go black. I suspect the ebony fingerboard has been stained. But it's mirror smooth (and the inlays are the nicest I've seen on a budget guitar) so I'm inclined to forgive that one foible. Good stuff.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Superb tone Appearance of course stunning Faultlessly made of high quality material Firebird pickups A2 dual mags Grover’s 18:1 fine accurate tuning Full neck a bit 1958 335 It’ll sing when fully setup Wish I’d known it was on its way! No one told me .. 🧐Mike S.

I bought mine a few days ago from Ron at the Guitar Center here in Cincinnati. I don't have a single complaint about this baby. Outstanding play-ability, sharp looks with that 1960's Cherry Red finish, and all US made electronic components make one one truly great guitar. I cannot praise this beast enough. I've played it through a Fender Twin, a Vox AC-30-HW and my practice Spark amp. It just sounds phenomenal on EVERYTHING, even when its not plugged in, it still rings.Dean

This is a very well-built guitar.. it is very resonant and the burst bucker two and three pickups sound great they have a very true paf sound.. stays in tune .. beautiful cherry finish with a gloss at this price range is an excellent buy.. I have had no regrets or second thoughts since buying it.. no scarf joints on the neck a plus.. for a non Gibson semi-hollow I think this is the best bang for the buck out there.. very pleased with purchase.. I have no issue with the tremola height.. everything necessary for a great guitar pickups are correct for this guitar nothing else is needed..Gregg

Overall: The Epiphone Broadway is a well-appointed instrument that would be a bargain at twice the price. I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years and I've owned many guitars that cost five times more than the Broadway. I am pleasantly surprised – shocked, even – than an instrument THIS good is available at such a reasonable price point.Aesthetically, the Broadway is gorgeous out of the box. The vintage natural polyurethane finish is glossy and durable, though lacks the traditional charm of nitrocellulose. A heavy poly coat prevents the Broadway's hollow body from resonating optimally, though this is likely only an issue for very, very picky aficionados. The headstock inlay and Art Deco fingerboard inlays are beautiful and precisely installed. Tonally, the Broadway is responds extremely well to heavier flatwound strings. Simple truss rod, saddle, and bridge adjustments are all that's needed to accommodate flatwounds. Even with heavy strings (12+) the Broadway's action stays low and playable, with no fret buzz. Chords ring cleanly and single-note runs are articulate – both acoustically and when plugged in. Grover tuners are accurate and reliable, and the fret dressing is impeccable from the factory. The slim-taper 60s neck is substantive yet never unwieldy, though I'm accustomed to playing large necks on Les Pauls and 335s. Jumping from a Telecaster to a Broadway may feel like work for beginners.The stock pickups are good, though not as articulate as USA-made PAF replicas. The bridge pickup is understandably thin – but who uses a giant jazz guitar with the bridge pickup? The neck pup provides warm, round tones that respond incredibly well to variances in pick attack. Too dark? Use an acrylic pick. Too bright? Lean toward casein, acetate, or wood picks. Overall, I am thrilled with Epiphone's recent quality control improvements and couldn't be happier with my Broadway. It's not an acoustic archtop: don't expect it to be one. Though if you're looking for an affordable way to dip your toes into Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Jim Hall, or Grant Green style tones, the Broadway will get you much of the way there with cash to spare.Aaron

This is probably one of the best sounding guitars for jazz ever made. I own an L5 and this thing is right up there with it. I usually play the Broadway more because I like the neck better than the L5. It has a sound second to none and will not disappoint any jazz aficionado. I own two of these guitars. One I customized and replaced the pickups and the other is stock. Buy one and see for yourself. It's a guitar you won't want to put down.mwpv11

Overall: I have been anticipating the arrival of the Vintage Natural finish on this guitar for several months. The cosmetic choice was simply to have a different look than another guitar I already own. When it launched, there were few photos to get a good picture of the oversll look and construction. Then, a couple of weeks ago, zZounds loaded the set of pics I was waiting to see. I was skeptical. The guitar looks okay in the photos. I was sitting on the fence. There are a few different L-5’s I’m leaning toward but want to make sure before dropping that kind of coin. I noticed in the rear headstock shot the Made in China sticker. I was gonna let it go and move on. And, almost did. I recently picked up a Wine Red Joe Pass Emperor II Pro from zZounds (Made in Indonesia) and was thoroughly impressed. I love it! I’ve been playing it almost as much as the tried and true that I’m used to playing. So, I thought, ahh what the heck, why not?I ordered the Broadway on a Saturday night and it arrived Tuesday morning. I was pleased… I tried to stay calm and give it a chance. I cleaned the factory newness off with a finish cloth and tuned ‘er up and slowly started to get the feel for my new family member. What the hell, who am I kidding. For the price it is a great buy!I am sorry for having been a snob about Chinese guitars. This one got me. The fit and finish is on a par with some American models in the same and slightly higher price range. But, more importantly, the design is a classic archtop acoustic electric that is carried off to near pefection in this model. I do own an L-5 and it would be unfair to compare the two head to head. But, that’s not the point. The point is playability and joy. This guitar is an absolute joy. It has a voice all its own and the action is so light. I played her for about 4 hours on the first sitting. I wiped her down and put her on her new stand in the family. I came back to the zZounds website to see what I missed.. why didn’t I see the beauty of this guitar. I started reading the specs, all over again… I don’t know how many times I read them before ordering. And then, I crossed the reviews and saw there were none. I’m not big on expreesing my opinion on instruments. Each has it’s own personality and value and, as the old saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.I felt compelled to write this review, not only as praise of this instrument but, to admit how wrong I was with a pre-conceived notion that a guitar made in China would somehow be inferior… Boy, I was wrong!And, I am grateful to admit it.Gary

Sound: Stock pickups are very hot. So, not as articulate (less dynamics) as they could be if wound a lot less. Also, be prepared for sympathetic ringing. It’s the nature of the beast when dealing with this type of bridge. I used a piece of dense foam that is almost invisible between the bridge and tailpiece to solve the ringing. Features: Has all the bits you’d expect on this classic Ease of Use: I love the neck shape and upper fret access Quality: My only gripe was the ground wire that popped off a pot. It was the wire that connected the jack ground and the rest of the guitar which made it electrically buzz more than single coils normally do. Value: Fantastic value. Even if you gut it and upgrade everything, you will have saved enough on the original purchase to easily afford upgrading parts with top shelf components such as pickups, tuners and nut. Manufacturer Support: No issues The Wow Factor: A Casino in cherry? It’s a classic look. Overall: I liked the specs on the es-339 but didn’t like the neck shape and I wanted p90s. I played a regular Casino at the local store and liked the neck shape but upper fret access was limited. The Casino Coupe has given me all the specs I wanted.I expected to have to do some upgrades on such a low priced guitar. I knew what I wanted and so, after adjusting the action and playing it stock for a few weeks, I first upgraded the pickups. GFS p90 set and black knobs = $80. Next up, Tusq nut and Hipshot locking tuners = another $80. Now, this guitar is EXACTLY what I wanted and still under $700 total but outplays other guitars costing FAR more. The next cheapest hollow body that plays this well are D’Angelicos at $799. Alas, zZounds has a limited selection on those. I’m glad I got the Casino. After the D’Angelicos, the only guitars that I like as much as my Casino cost over $1400. I’ve put my time and half that amount into this Epi and couldn’t be happier.If I wanted to keep it cheap and gig with it, I’d have probably just upgraded the nut and pickups and stopped there. Maybe even just the nut and used the stock pups for high distortion or fuzz only, hehe. My only gripe is that when I removed the electronics to install new pickups, I found a bad ground wire that caused extra buzzing. Between that and being too hot of a wind for my liking, the pickups were a must change item. That said, I measured the tone caps, all the pots and inspected the wiring. Other than the ground that popped off the pot (common issue) and the very hot pickups, the electronics all measured within specs. Even the wiring looked and solder just fine. No need to upgrade to a high priced harness, not worth it.I finally have the hollow body that I’ve wanted for many years. Thanks to zZounds payment plans and a few parts, I got it!Tony

A well built fully-hollow small semi acoustic. It's smaller that a standard casino…only slightly bigger than a Les Paul. Build, hardware, electrics are all good for the price. It sounds great with a distinctively woody sound and is very light. Only let down by very microphonic pickups. Not a problem at lower volume but any overdive is a problem.Much debate online about this, it is definitely the metal pickup covers that cause a loud squeal. It was easily fixed by carefully stuffing some high density foam between the pickups and covers.mistercanetoad

The Wow Factor: Is this a guitar for beginners? Sure…but get a professional set-up. Hollow-bodies, in my experience, "fight back" a little more than a semi-hollow, or LP/SG/Tele/Strat I've played and that can be off putting to beginners. P-90's hum too, it's just the way it is from the design of the pickup. If this would bother you, the Epi 339 is a great little guitar. A good set-up and this guitar plays as comfortably as any of my guitars that cost 3-4 as much. Quality and build wise, it's the equal to any recent electric I played or owned that cost up to $1K…after a good set-up. Overall: Love this guitar! Punches far above it's class, but you'll need to probably tweak a few things first.Instead of starting out with what I love, everyone does, here's the cons I had:Frets needed a little leveling. Not much…but three did, which for a guitar in this price range isn't bad. But one was noticeable right away, the other 2 frets I probably would have wouldn't noticed until I really got in there with a detailed setup. I can dress and level frets, so this isn't an issue with me at all, if you can't take that into consideration. One tuner needed to be replaced. The high E tuner had about an 1/8 of a turn's worth of slack before engaging….but it held tune just fine. I have spares…again for me no big deal, YMMV. The nut cut is cut a little high, but it's still within the norm. Bridge rattle…well if you've ever owned an Epi or Gibson you expect this. It annoys me so the bridge was replaced. For new buyers of an Epi, it's only heard when played unplugged, you won't hear it thru the amp.The pros:I bought this guitar strictly to put a pair of Lollars I have into another older Casino. I've got a very well made '95 MIK from the Pearless era…and the nut width of the guitar is way too narrow to comfortably play. This neck is fairly beefy. If you've played a Les Paul with the 60's taper for example, the D shape will be more of a handful but isn't a baseball bat at all.The build on this guitar over all is the equal to what it's replacing. The finish is flawless. The original wiring and pickups were good. I did play the stock pickups for a week…they sound good. I like lower output P-90's, these are a little hotter but still sound good. The smaller body seems to feedback a little less.The smaller body also makes this a VERY comfortable couch guitar…and it weighs almost nothing. Slight neck dive, my full size Casino has more. The Pau Ferro board on mine is pretty dark…I honestly thought it was Rosewood when I unboxed it.Sounds fairly decent unplugged when you're on the sofa without an amp.David

Overall: Gone are the days of buying an Epiphone for the bones and upgrading everything.Out of the box, the bass side action was pretty high. 3 turns of a screw driver and a retune and it's perfection.Sweet, sustaining tones. The neck pickup is thick and rich, the bridge pickup bites with nice midrange.I have the Iced Tea finish and it is flawless.It's pretty loud, acoustically as well.The fingerboard is a nice, even, dark chocolatey color. There are no sharp frets, and the frets themselves are smooth and there's no grittiness when you bend a string.The tuners feel like quality.the right amount of resistance when you turn the key,.very smooth tuning.This guitar holds tune amazingly well. The nut is cut very, very well. I just spent an hour bending the hell out of notes and it's still perfectly in tune.Even the strings that come with It are decent.If this was my only guitar (it's not, I own over 20 lol), I would be happy.If you've got less than $600 to spend and you want a high quality guitar, this is the one.Now, can it be made better with some upgrades?Maybe. We shall see. It's very easy to swap out the tailpiece for a lightweight aluminum one, the studs for locking steel studs, and the inserts for steel inserts. You can even find brass saddles that fit this bridge perfectly if you know where to look, as well as steel thumbwheel posts. Throw on some locking tuners while you've got it apart, and Bob's yer auntie.This one is a keeper. And with a 12 month payment plan? I'd only have to sell plasma twice a month to pay for it!Cody

First off I purchased a Gibson ES335 the beginning of 2019 played it a little and sent it back. It just didn't do anything for me and I felt for the money wasn't worth it. I'm a USA guitar snob normally and try to stick with USA made guitars for the most part. I always loved the look of the Chris Cornell signature 335 and this one looks very similiar to it. With a few changes bigsbys and lollars it could be almost the same guitar. So I got this with intention ofaking those changes and at least having a cool looking wall hanger. To my surprise I open It up and it's gorgeous! Fit and finish is perfect not a flaw on it. I tune it up and lowered the bridge a little action was very high out of the box. Also I must note that I had to tighten the pots on it also. No biggie easy fix. Plugged it into my plexi and it rang out like magic! Just pure what you'd expect from a 335 you've heard on records all these years. The stock pickups sound really good! I'm thinking if I do upgrade the pickups it will be even better. The neck is fat like a Gibson should be. The neck binding, headstock shape and look and feel of this guitar kills the USA made Gibson Memphis 335 I'd gotten 2 years ago. So needless to say this ones a keeper. It looks amazing hanging with my other guitars and it's getting a lot of play right now. Keep up the good work Epiphone!Brian K

I needed a go to electric guitar to play in the band that was developed from my acoustic duo. I used a Casino many years ago and loved the feel of it. The Riviera felt like an old friend as soon as I picked it up. I tried an Epi 335 but felt that the neck was too thick for my taste. The mini humbuckers sounded great, so I wasn't going to miss the P90s that were on the Casino-not much, anyhow. A few tweaks and the Riviera became MY Riviera. Our first gig with my Riviera and I was absolutely hooked. This is now and will be my go to electric for many years to come!Terry

Overall: I am 70 years old and have been playing professionally for 58 years just so you know who is reviewing this guitar. I have music on the radio and I have also been a recording engineer for 30 years and working on guitars since 1970. Now for the Truth: ZZ service was very good. Guitar arrived in timely fashion and was packaged well. I have been wanting one of these for years and finally bought the Burgundy one. The guitar neck had jagged fret ends or sprouts and were not leveled. The string action was 3/8 inch above the neck at the twelfth fret. The intonation was not even close. I realize this came from over seas. However, To say the least, if you do not know how to work on guitars I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND that you buy this guitar. I also purchased The sound was great but it has a pole piece in the neck pick up that wiggles back and forth. The finish had a slight bit of paint over run on the binding and the G tuner is very tight and not on par with the others. At this price point I have to say it is just a cut above a Firefly guitar. I am very disappointed in the finish work of this guitar. The Uptown Kat is flawless compared to this guitar. So if you are undecided go for the Kat. Good Luck to all and Keep on rocking in the free world.Kent

I bought this guitar after selling a 335 which was great but just too big and bulky to be comfortable. The 339 is the same guitar shrunk down and a lot more comfortable to play. It has the best setup of any guitar I've played and sounds beautiful, so many great tones.hugh2434

Gibson and Epiphone have got a winner here with two versions of pickups (P90 pros, & Pro-humbucker with a split-coil) in multiple vintage colors. Best part is it's a smaller version of the bigger ES-335's with vintage sound and great quality. The tones these can produce will win the hearts of jazz, rock, western swing, rockabilly…you get the idea what this guitar can do in a small quality package. But it's a heartbreaker. True to it's Gibson cousins (costing sometimes in the tens of thousands), the necks like to crack from the nut down into the neck, and sometimes the headstocks break off easily. There are scads of these for sale just like that. It's so rampant that there are websites of places that make a living off of just fixing separated headstocks, mostly Gibsons and Epiphones! Some believe it is the combination of the narrow design, and wood that is plain-sawn instead of quarter sawn to make these necks. It's like a ticking timebomb. Very sad.geomarr

This guitar has excellent intonation, and is fun to play even without an amp. It has an acoustic feel and can be played with heavy overdrive. The smaller ES-339 form factor is less prone to obnoxious feedback and can be used for rock and metal. It really compliments well as a combo to another guitarist playing a solid body. This guitar excels in the clean area especially if you pair it to an amp that has that crystal clear quality. For the cost this is a great value, the fit and finish is all there.TCF

been playing 49!! years now, this is one sweet little electric. the hardware is decent, the finish nice and the pickups even sound decent stock. way better deal than the gibson it copies, the one i got was impeccable.. perfect fretwork right out of the box with an almost perfect action. the finish you could get lost in. i guess i got lucky, but i feel for the price i could do worse. nice guitar. i flipped it for more than i paid for it ultimately.phatjbp

Smooth as silk on the neck pickup. Warm, mellow sounds when you combine the two pickups and downright mean, gritty, growling on the bridge pickup. Fit and finish is near flawless and when you combine the cost with the quality of sound and the performance of the fret board you get an incredible value. I have owned a Washburn HB-35, an Aria TA-62 and an older Greco (Japan) semi-hollowbody and this Epiphone blows them away. Buy one and you will see what I mean.two_eagles_today5kxr

Surprisingly good guitar for the price. A bit on the heavy side, though Pickups should be upgraded for better performance. Overall, a good buy. Why pay a Gibson price when an Epiphone is there for a fraction of the cost? You won't be disappointed, believe me. It's even setup up OK from the distributor(Gibson)mrbthree