I allways wanted a 335, but couldn't justify the price. Then I started to read the reviews on the Dot Studio, and figured I'd gamble and buy one. I got the worn brown, open box at a discount. When I received it, it was flawless! How can Epiphone do it? The hardware isn't the best, but does the job. I'm going to blow the warranty, and do some add ons, adjust the neck, file the nut to follow the radius and such. The intonation is a little off, but that can be corrected, if you know how.

This is one great instrument for the money. Great playability, tone, and weight. I would compare this to Gibson, Hamer, and Ibanez semi-hollow body guitars. You can get really great harmonic over tones on this guitar when over driven or when it is clean it can be very clean with just a bit of high end to make it not muddy. When I purchased mine I had to have a set up for everything to be right but after that no problem as far as the playability is concerned. The only problem I ran into was a loose input jack that I tightened myself. I did later upgrade it with a "Stu-Mac Golden age pickup in the neck position(overwound) and a "Seymour Duncan Detonator" in the bridge area. Both pickups have coil taps for variation of tone. This guitar can now stand up to just about any original ES335 with no problem. The only thing is that the original Gibsons will probably stand up finish wise better. This is the hottest guitar I own now as far as output is concerned, including my Les Paul and SG, all Gibsons. I still may buy another one just to keep it stock because mine sounds like a completely different instrument now.

It's a real good guitar. Got mine in white. I have played this guitar on stage, in my basement, in my bathroom, sounds awesome all around. Very light, gets out of tune a lot...but hey, don't we all? It sounds very clean without effects, but with effects it is A MONSTER. A MONSTER THAT HIDES UNDER MY BED...MY BED OF ROCK! GET THIS GUITAR! It is all you need to live!

I've been playing a '68 SG my whole life and wanted a second guitar to kick around with so purchased the solid black Dot Studio. Haven't been able to put it down since!! I absolutely love this guitar. It sings, it screams, it sustains... thru my primary amp (Marshall JCM800) and little guys too! I did make a few mods to suit my style - I reversed the volume & p/u switch locations, I had to file the frets a bit to get the same action as the SG, but I got it with little work. The most important thing was I updated the pots & amp; switch with proper Gibson hardware... the original vol/tone pots taper felt all wrong and the switch felt a little weak, but beyond that I recommend this instrument highly... the pickups aren't bad at all. The tuning keys are just fine too... once the strings are stretched this guitar will stay in tune all day (!) even with some serious bending etc. All in all I thought I was getting a second guitar just to toy around with and ended up with a serious instrument that I have played exclusively since purchasing it. Maybe one day I'll splurge on a real 335 but I am not sure I need to now! If you're considering this guitar I say go for it! ps: I thought the 'studio' dot was nicer than the fully decked out 335 copies too. They felt a bit cheesy with all the binding & chrome...

I bought this guitar over the summer so that when I went back to school I would have a guitar to use for jazz band. . When played out of the box it sounded magnificent (and the worn cherry looked magnificent as well). Whether it be clean, dirty, or downright distorted this guitar has great tone. The pickups really suprised me. Before I got it was thought I would change the pickups with Gibson dirty fingers but there's no need. When played with distortion or a bit of dirt, you get so much bite and attack. I bought this guitar for jazz band but I keep it at home to play and take my solid body to school.