I had recently bought a 1997 Epiphone ( my very first epi ) and when I bought it, I had not looked at the first few frets but only the ones in the 12th fret area, and
they had some normal wear and tear. As soon as I got home and took it out of the case, I saw THIS: http://s968.photobucket.com/albums/ae168/CTguy1955/Fretsworn.jpg
( 350 buck was what I paid )
I went online and found out a full fret job could cost 350 to 400 bucks and that just to have the 5 or 6 really bad frets replaced and then the board leveled, it would
be over 200 bucks, and the guy had advertised the guitar as being in "Excellent" condition. The body was very nice. I was able to return the guitar and get my money back.
That 1997 was made in the Unsung Plant in Korea in Nov. I had heard that the older korean epiphones were of a better quality build then the newer ones, so I jumped on it.
Lesson learned to look at the entire guitar, but I was sitting in the back of a hatchback with a vox mini in the back, so I could plug it in and hear it.
So to make a long story short, I got my money back and when I got home I looked online and saw a Guitar Center "just arrived" transblue plus top that looked the same
as the one I had just returned. This one was a 2007 and was made in EE Qingdao in October and was the 0059th guitar. I have not received it in the mail yet, but the good
thing about Guitar Center is you can ALWAYS return things within 30 days for a full refund minus the 17.62 for shipping.
I know the other epiphone sure was heavy and that the sustain should have been really great, but the strings were really old and when I tested the attenuation, it
was really off. It would not stay in tune very well either, but old strings can do that. I put brand new D'Addario 10's on it with a earnie ball Wound G string and spent
about 20 minutes waxing it up really nice. Even with the new strings, the sound was not all that great, and I think the worn frets made a big difference in the way chords sounded.
The new used 2007 looks really nice and I was told the guitar is not only mint, it could be put on the wall as new...that is how nice it is, so at least this guitar wont have
any expensive fret issues. I have a 2012 wine red studio Gibson, and it looks great, and I just decided I wanted one more, but did not want to spend the money on another USA made one.
I have good hopes for the 2007 and cant wait to get it in the mail this coming wednesday or so.
http://s968.photobucket.com/albums/ae168/CTguy1955/SAM_56361.jpg neck
http://s968.photobucket.com/albums/ae168/CTguy1955/SAM_5635.jpg Body
I was very happy to see that many here liked the work at the EE factory. I have my fingers crossed !!!!!