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Epi Ej200SCE Action and Battery Life


Fern

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Hello,

I recently purchased a brand new Epiphone EJ200SCE in Natural Finish. Love the look, love the sound I heard but I'm wondering if i could get your input on a few issues (or maybe they're not).

1 - In a week of having this guitar i already replaced the batteries twice. I only turn on and off the tuner when i first pick it up and i plugged it to an amp once for about 30 minutes. Never left it on. The low battery light is on. Is that normal?

2 - The action seems to be high. More noticeable from the 9th fret down. Should I take it in and have the action lowered? I have a free service from the store i purchased it from.

3 - Since I'm a beginner/intermediate I'm still having problems with bar chords (F's and B's mostly) and I find the 0.12"s it comes with are very thick and hard to press down without creating buzzing. Can I get away with replacing them with 11's or even 10's?

 

I thank you in advance for your help.

 

Fern

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Hi and welcome.

First, changing batteries twice in one week is definitely not normal, if it's not plugged into the amp it shouldn't be using any juice at all. I've had the same batteries in my Masterbuilt for more than a year, l just checked and they're still fine. Sounds like you have a faulty eSonic system, which is covered by the warranty,take it back to the shop.

 

Are you sure problems 2 and 3 are not the same thing? If the action is high barre chords will be difficult whichever strings you use. Having said that, string choice is a totally personal thing, you can have whatever size you like on there. You're going to have to take it back to the store to get the eSonic replaced anyway, so while it's there get them to do a full setup ( which they should have done when they sold you the guitat) and that should make it much easier to play.

 

Hope that helps. Let us know how you get on.

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Hello Fern, and welcome here.

 

Leaving the tuner on or activating it while putting the guitar on a stand or into a case will eat lots of battery power. If this is not the case, it is likely caused by a faulty switch contact on the jack.

 

1st fret barre is always a bit harder than at any other position. Perhaps the nut grooves are not deep enough?

 

Trying lighter strings is what I would suggest, too. 11s will give you still lots of tone, 10s will sound slightly thinner, but I think that building up the due endurance justifies that. A personal tip: Practicing three times per day 15 minutes is better than 45 minutes at once. Playing open and barre chords alternately can be useful, too.

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Thanks guys,

 

I called the store i bought it from and they said it has to be something wrong with the Esonic2 system. They've had a few exchanges due to issues with it.

They have ordered me a new replacement guitar that i will be picking up in a couple days. I will then have it set up with some 011's and lower the action (if the new one comes the same way as the first one) since i had a week of play and feel.

Any suggestions on what brand and type of strings i should get?

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Good to hear you're getting a replacement, strange to hear they've had a few problems though, I thought all the initial eSonic problems had been sorted.

 

There are as many opinions on strings as there are members on this forum and whatever I say someone will disagree with me. Eventually, over time you will find your own preference but I would say a good place to start would be either Elixir Nanowebs or D'addario EXP26's. They're both more expensive than standard strings but that's because they are coated to last 3 to 4 times longer and hey, less time changing strings is more time practicing and playing [biggrin]

 

Hopefully some of the EJ200 owners here can pitch in with their favorite strings.

 

Enjoy your new new guitar when it comes and keep practicing those barre chords, they will get easier.

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Hi Fern: I have the same model as you and had a similar issue with set-up. Since I got mine used I had to spring for a set-up myself (you're fortunate that the dealer will do it) After lowering the saddle and tweaking the neck I put on elixir 12's and it plays very nicely. As for the batteries, you don't leave your patch cord in the guitar and just place it on a stand , do you? If the cord is left plugged into the guitar I think the circuit is engaged and the batteries will run down. I get over 6 months on mine.So you may have a short. Good luck .

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Hi Fern: If the cord is left plugged into the guitar I think the circuit is engaged and the batteries will run down. I get over 6 months on mine.So you may have a short. Good luck .

 

I'm kind of surprised... when I went shopping around for mine, they all had really low action.

The above quote is true. If you leave the cord plugged into either jack, it drains the batteries.

 

As far as strings go, I use Elixer PB, Martin lifespan PB, and D'AddarioPB. All mediums... whichever I grab first.

Keep in mind, these are big guitars with big tops that need to be driven by heavier guage strings like mediums... lights at the minimum.

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Earlier this year I bought the Sunburst model and found the action too high, so I took the saddle off. It was very badly made and the thickness of it varied down the length of it. It was also not a good fit in the slot. The top of the saddle was also rough. So I sent it off to a luthier I use here in the UK for a copy to be made in quality bone. Wow what a difference. I also took it down about 1mm. It still has 12's on it and is so much better.

 

So you might want a good luthier to take a look at the saddle before doing any work on it. I have found that mass produced MIC and MIK guitars have poorly made saddles.

 

Bob

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So i got the replacement guitar the same day I took the one with the faulty Esonic2. No issues there. Another gorgeous looking natural finish guitar.

Took it in today for the free tune-up service and got Gibson 012's and the action lowered a bit. Not much but man theres a diference already. Smoother on my fingers. Guess after a while I will start learning more about any other changes i might or might not get done to this guitar. And since i was there I got myself a case for it. Thank you all for your input and I will stay in touch.

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Beautiful guitar [thumbup]

 

I did think for a moment that you were living on a mountain top in Nepal when I saw the first picture.

 

I'm struggling with a bad case of GAS at the moment and it really doesn't help when people post pictures of their gorgeous new guitars and tell me how great they are. [biggrin]

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Beautiful guitar [thumbup]

 

I did think for a moment that you were living on a mountain top in Nepal when I saw the first picture.

 

I'm struggling with a bad case of GAS at the moment and it really doesn't help when people post pictures of their gorgeous new guitars and tell me how great they are. [biggrin]

 

Ditto - was in the market for a parlour guitar (I've got a jumbo and an AJ) but leaning towards a Dread and not sure what to get now!

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Ditto - was in the market for a parlour guitar (I've got a jumbo and an AJ) but leaning towards a Dread and not sure what to get now!

Coincidentally I've been playing my Recording King parlour guitar exclusively for the last couple of days. Those Gibson strings I had on the Masterbilt just went completely dead after 3 weeks and I decided to wait until the weekend to change them.

I originally bought the RK for finger picking on the couch, and although I tried it with a pick when it first arrived I wasn't keen on it as a "strumming" guitar, now after spending some time getting to know it, it's totally won me over. It really is a great little guitar.

 

So now you're looking at dreadnaughts, anything particular in mind? It's a minefield out there, especially in the lower price range, though there are definitely some bargains to be had, just a case of finding the right one.

 

What I really want is a nice slope shoulder (actually what I really want is a J-15, but that ain't gonna happen in the foreseeable future) but it makes absolutely no sense for me to be laying out cash right now. Hence the "struggle".

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