I was walking around in my neighborhood Guitar Center as usual to kill sometime. I have been trying out some Jazz boxes and semi-hollow guitars when something out of the ordinary in bright Orange/amber stood out to me. I was not able to control myself and I took it and tried it. The result was WOW!

Features
Hollowbody Archtop guitar. Made in China. 3pc Maple/ Mahogany set-in neck. Flamed laminated Maple top/ sides/back Body with matching flamed maple pickguard (real wood!). 22 frets. bound Rosewood Finger Board. Violin style floating bridge. 2 Humbucking Pickups. 3 way pickup selector. 2 volume and 2 tone pots a set for each pickup. Mother of Pearl/Abalone block inlays as fret markers. Chrome Hardware.

Build Quality, Action, Setup and Playability
The finish on this guitar is absolutely stunning. The flame maple and the bright orangy amber is gorgeous. The inlays are very tastefully done, a complex mix of abalone and mother of pearl. The lacquer is thick and glossy (no nitrocellulose). Craftsmanship on this guitar is amazingly good considering it is made in China. Even the edges of the F hole is done nicely. I looked inside the guitar and everything seems like it is done well with no sloppy glue or wood work. The inlays are cut and set well. Nice and flat with no signs of sloppiness. The action on this guitar is setup really well. It came with 9s from the factory and this guitar is very easy to play. Intonation is spot on (adjustable at the bridge) and the neck is straight. Tuning stability is good.

Sound
I was thinking to myself that a hollowbody at this price range looking this good with this much features must have a catch. I was expecting a less than stella tone. I was wrong when I plugged the guitar in and took the first strum. The clean tone coming out with the neck pickup selected is rich and smooth. Mids are clear and the bass response is quite tight. As I roll back on the tone I managed to get a very sweet clean jazz tone. I was totally blown away! I went nuts and started to do all kinds of jazz progressions. The chords rang nicely and the notes sounded defined and clear in unison. No muddiness. When I select the bridge pickup the tone is much brighter and only slightly harsher. Still very good but I never use the bridge pickup for jazz boxes anyway. When I kicked in the overdrive, sweetness flows. The overdriven tone is sweet and silky smooth with the tone rolled back. I can get some good bite with the tone full. Amazing tone and I am talking 9s in string guage here. Imagine the tone when you put 10s or 11s flatwound on this baby.

Reliability
The pots and pickup selectors all feel rock solid. The guitar looks like it can take a little abuse but I would not allow it. Tuners feels like good quality and hold the tune well. The only concern I have is the violin style bridge. It is not attached to the body but is held in place by the tension of the strings. So be careful when you take off the strings. You do not want to get a nick on this beautiful guitar.

Overall
This guitar is priced at 479 at the time of test. The price has come down to 422 on musiciansfriend. You should be able to get a price match in any major guitar chain. At this price, the tone, features and looks of this guitar is out of this world. Of course this has a lot to do with the fact it is made in China where manufacturing costs are exceptionally low. This guitar in my opinion are better than any of the imports Epiphone is bringing in. You just cannot beat the value on this fine instrument.

I did not buy it in the end because I was about to move overseas and had trouble bringing my other 7 guitars along with me. I had to put this aside, painfully. As I walked out of the store I was telling myself, "one day baby, I swear, one day I will come back for you!"





Recommended: Yes