Epiphone Dot is a great guitar for you if you’ve always loved the vintage look and feel reminiscent of the 50s era. It’s a fantastic choice for those of us who cannot afford the Gibson ES 335 and would much rather stick to one within their budget.
There are a variety of budget options available for beginners, and the plethora of brand choices can be even confusing to new guitar players that are just starting out. Sticking to an Epiphone is a great idea for both beginners and intermediate players.
In this Epiphone Dot review, we’re going to take a look at the value and features provided by the Epiphone instrument in the mid-price range. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Overview Of Epiphone Dot Electric Guitar
Epiphone – The Brand
The name Epiphone is synonymous with affordable quality features for amateur and pro players alike. The brand has not only made a place for itself in the guitar industry but also produces high-quality mandolins, gears, and accessories.
If you’ve got a big budget, by all means, you can go for a Gibson. Those things are worth the price if you’ve got that much to spare but most of us are broke and don’t really have much to spare when choosing a guitar.
Epiphone Dot is an excellent choice if you want the best in your budget without feeling like you’re getting a toy instead of an actual instrument.
Aesthetics
The Epiphone Dot is a fantastic semi-hollow guitar that looks like something out of the 50s.
It’s got a polyurethane finish which looks quite nice but doesn’t age well. The dove-wing-shaped headstock looks playful and it says Dot on the truss rod cover. Surprisingly, the lettering is what gives the guitar its iconic name.
The semi-hollow body guitar is made in Indonesian factories, and while some steer clear of Asian-made cheap guitars, this guitar is well constructed. There are no rough edges on the instrument and has an overall smooth finish.
It’s also pretty light for a guitar with a mahogany neck. Not only does it look awesome, it also plays great.
I like the vintage sunburst as I think that it brings out the character of the Epiphone Dot guitar. For players looking for a step up in unique design and versatile tone, the Epiphone Wildkat electric guitar offers a distinctive mid-range option.
Tuning
The tuning on the ES 335 is handled by Grover Rotomatic tuners and that’s actually the same hardware used on the Epiphone Dot too! Needless to say, the tuners are fantastic and there are no issues with holding the strings in tune for long periods.
There’s also a Tune-O-Matic bridge that works great!
Neck
The mahogany neck on the Epiphone Dot is glued to the body. Glued necks are usually considered better than bolt-on ones as the build is sturdier and there are fewer issues of warping.
The fingerboard material is Pau Ferro which is tonally quite similar to rosewood. You may know that rosewood is quite pricy these days, and you don’t want the Dot hollow body guitar to be more expensive, do you?
I do like how Pau Ferro looks and plays, so it’s not a problem for me.
The guitar has a decent scale length of 24 and 3/4th inches. It’s also pretty slim which makes it very easy for somebody learning to do barres. In my experience, having a thinner neck also helps with speed and is more convenient to hold.
There are 22 medium jumbo frets which are pretty standard on electric guitars.
As for the design, the slim look is complemented by elegant Pearloid inlays that look great!
Body
The Epiphone Dot is a great guitar with a semi-hollow body. If you’re new to the shape, it’s called an archtop as the top is a bit rounded and sometimes, these guitars also have a tailpiece that attaches to the bottom part of the guitar.
It’s got two F-holes that you’d typically find on cellos as well as archtops. To me, I find that it adds a touch of sophistication. These guitars are usually used in jazz as well as bluegrass but you can use them for just about any genre except maybe metal.
There is also a solid wood block that runs from the neck to the pickups. So, it adds stability and strength to the build.
The body is made out of layered flame maple. I don’t think the choice of wood matters much on an electric guitar but the wood grains do look nice. For acoustic players, however, the choice of tonewoods significantly impacts sound, with the Epiphone DR-100 acoustic guitar being a popular choice for beginners.
It’s also got white binding that runs along the edge of the Epiphone Dot guitar that makes it look classy. The finish is a cool gloss one that also looks great.
Pickups and controls
The Epiphone Dot electric guitar has got dual humbucking pickups that sound fantastic. The neck pickup – Alnico classic has a warm tone and the bridge pickup – Alnico classic Plus has a hint of sweetness to the otherwise fuller robust tone.
The pickups don’t make hissing sounds like single coils and I find this to be good for beginners. If you’re just starting out, the last thing you want is noise from your single-coil pickups killing your motivation to play guitar.
The Alnico classic humbuckers are great for blues rock and a variety of musical styles, and you’ll absolutely love the sound quality.
There is a 3 – way switch on this electric guitar that lets you choose between the neck, bridge, or the in-between position. It’s typical of most electric guitars, so you’ll get used to it fairly quickly.
On a cheap guitar, pickup selector feels crappy but on this, the selector switch feels nice.
There are four knobs- one for the master tone, one for the master volume, and one each for the individual pickup outputs.
How It Sounds
The Epiphone Dot sounds great without any overdrive or gain.
Straight out of the amp, it sounds warm and full and stage-ready. It’s more expensive than the cheaper Epiphones out there, so you would kind of expect it to sound nice.
The neck pickup is great for playing rhythm as well as warm voicings while the bridge pickup has a cutting punch to the tone that makes it suitable for playing leads. The intermediate position is great for anything in-between. To truly explore its versatile tones in any setting, pairing it with one of the best mini guitar amplifiers can unlock its full potential for practice or small gigs.
I’d recommend you get a decent reverb pedal so you can make the best out of this guitar.
Who it’s For
The Epiphone Dot guitar has wonderful parts that make it sound great. So, it’s good for both beginners and pros alike.
Beginners can find great use out of this as a first budget electric guitar. It doesn’t have any issues with playability or intonation, so you’ll progress much faster. And for pros, it can still serve as a worthy practice or gig instrument.
It’s quite versatile but doesn’t have a high enough output for metal. So, you can use it for anything other than metal.
Despite being made in Qingdao, China to keep production costs low, the playability and looks haven’t suffered a bit.
The Epiphone Dot is a good guitar to practice on and improve your awesome chops, and is an excellent choice as a performing instrument.
It’s not expensive, and if you’re on the lookout for a good gift, it will do great.
Score
Bottom Line
The Epiphone Dot is a budget semi hollow guitar with premium components. Featuring the Alnico classic humbuckers, fantastic build quality and excellent playability, it’s a great choice for the money, and especially good if you’re looking for a guitar built like a Gibson. Another fantastic option for players seeking an excellent budget electric guitar is the Epiphone DC Pro, which offers similar quality and features in a double-cutaway design.
FAQ
Does Epiphone still make the dot?
Epiphone originally launched the Dot guitars as a cheaper alternative of the iconic Gibson ES-335 in the 1960s. The production was stopped in 2019 but Special Editions models are still being made.