peeper

Really?? You've got to be kidding me. Of all the VALID and IMPORTANT concerns voiced on this forum EVERY DAY regarding the quality of brand new Epiphone guitars, you choose to answer the burning question of, "wheres my sticker and throw away cord?"! Epi1 I am asking you as one professional to another, please do not insult us again with something like this. It actually has made me mad. I love Epiphone the guitars and the brand, but this is infuriating. You choose to answer a question about free swag thats included in a new guitar (which general consensus is the end consumer never gets the garbage anyways) but choose to blatantly ignore all the inquires to important relevant questions such as these. http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=13618 http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=15343 There are MANY more valid and serious concerns regarding this company. I find it highly disrespectful and insulting that you ignore our pleas for answers regarding these issues but you have time to come on here and tell us about free STICKERS and POSTERS?????? We don't buy your damned bumper stickers, we buy your GUITARS. Please let us know why Epiphones quality, value, and customer service has been declining lately. Why are you making LP Customs in the obviously inferior factory. How did these poor examples of this guitar even released to the public and why did Epiphone feel they we acceptable? Why are the frets being used sub par and flawed from manufacturing? I offer my services as a Master Luthier, and Epiphone lover to you Jim. Perhaps you need someone in there to shake things up and demand quality from your staff, from the girl answering the phone in customer service, to the man scraping binding on the other side of the world for $5 a day. You should hold EVERYONE related to Epiphone/Gibson to a higher standard, not allow this company to fade into mediocrity (at best ATM). Please please please, answer a REAL question or at least get out there and DO something about it. I could care less about some damned sticker or poster. I care about getting a quality guitar at a fair price. Right now Epiphone can't even guarantee me a fully functioning guitar that is playable at ANY price. Do you really think stickers will make your customer base happy? We are GUITARISTS, not twelve year old girls with a sticker collection. I have been playing and singing the praises of Epiphone guitars for over 20 years, I have owned over 30 Epiphone guitars and now have 6. ^ Epiphone guitars all of which were made in Japan or Korea, all old, and I can't find a new Epiphone worth buying. Thats sad ain't it? I WANT A NEW EPIPHONE, BUT CANNOT FIND AN ACCEPTABLE GUITAR THAT EVEN COMES CLOSE TO MY OLD EPIPHONES. You should be moving forward with the company, making better guitars. But right now we are wittnessing the decline of Gibson/ Epiphone. PLeasae do not be so sure of yourselfs you stop caring about fine guitars and you customers. It seems like the attitude today is. " We are Gibson/Epiphone, the number one guitar company ever. Just slap something together, put our name on it and it will sell, we are Gibson after all. Who Cares"? I care Epi1, I care damnit.

Well, nothing too much "special", just "right". No more "special" than the Sherry already is. The specs are only a little better than a new Sherry, but the level of craftsmanship put into this particular run seems to be above par. Fit and finish and overall quality are above average and the couple I have actually laid hands on have been high quality examples of the instrument. I have seen some cruddy E by G guitars, but non of them were Sheratons. They were S types or acoustics. And few of them period, good or bad. Does that make the E by G Sheratons special? Sadly in a way, yes, because the seem to be on a whole what the Sheraton could ad should be, a damn fine guitar. Were they meant to be better, a top notch interpretation? I don't know, I would like to think EVERY guitar embodies that, but I know manufacturers don't always see things that way, they also have a bottom line to look at and want to make profit. But congrats and welcome to the club!

Looking forward to it, but caver does bring up a good point, tubes. I have an old Ampeg VT-40 that takes a couple pretty pricey and hard to find tubes, last time I retubed it I spent about $300 on tubes. Just something to consider. But it sounds like you are getting it for a good deal, do some searches and try to find a complement of tubes for it and see what that runs you.

Kind of a one trick pony like the Champ I praise so much. Don't like the PM near as much as the Champ. In your case I'd keep the VK, it can pull off quite a few tones quite well, where like I said, one trick. Now if you can pick it up cheap to add to the collection, then go for it! As long as it's in good shape, something that old could need caps, tubes, a re-coning or new speaker, leads dressed, new sockets... Go over it well.

Have you tried a new battery and new cable first?

Oh yeah caverman, I have a nice selection of hypos for just that! But for the noob, ( or the busy pro) tite-bond or similar is very easy to work with, cheap, readily available, and capable of later dis-assembly. For most repairs its my first choice. Now, if its a vintage guitar or other high dollar axe, I try to use period correct materials and methods for all repairs. That means breaking out the glue pot and melting some stinky hide. Hate that stuff man, but, gotta do what you gotta do I guess. I also have a large selection of superglues, epoxy's, and saw and sanding dust.

NOshit! Pics now or shuddup about it!

You can't really refinsh that guitar. Look for the recent thread titled "I want to sand my Casino" or something like that, it'll explain why. What do you mean, you don't like the Sherry headstock of that Supernova one?

PLEASE PLEASE DON'T PAINT THAT GUITAR!!! Buy a Supernova or a new Chinese Sherry if you wanna do that, but the one you have is a very fine guitar, please do ruin it for future generations. Not to mention you will make it worthless for resale.

So I can assume your silence means you are enjoying the guitar? Whats the question about the bridge?where are the pics? And welcome to the club!

Awesome!!!

Morning Sunshine! I'm excited for ya man, mine is the bees knees. I've never played another E by G Sherry, a P bass once and a few S guitars years ago is all. I passed on MANY Sheratons over the years before spotting this on the wall at Dirt Cheep music. I said "****" to myself, look around at everything else, including an old Texan, then walked over the the sherry which they had labeled as an Epiphone 335. Walked over to the first amp I saw, plugged in and went home dreaming. The next day I went back to Smyrna, and sold them one of my Taylors. I haggled a deal on the Sherry and left there with money in my pocket! I ditched a guitar I never played, got the sherry and like $1000. Best guitar deal I ever made. Well, not really. Idea!

So Joe whats the word, did you get her?

So I keep getting drawn back to NaturalScience2112s' example. I was looking at the headstock thinking the whole thing just looked different, and now am certain they are not the same design. The vine is not the same, at all. Which in my knowledge should place that guitar at a different factory or time period. I need to sleep then try to date that flower design, and see when it first and last turns up, and at what factory. Strange indeed. I know they just used random serial numbers then, a label was just pulled off of a roll and placed on the guitar. There were many rolls at many stations, and I'm sure some numbers never even got used, but stuck to the bottoms of shoes or thrown out. NaturalScience2112- got any better pics? Detailing the whole guitar maybe?

So tomorrows the day huh Joe? Bet ya can't wait. I hope shes a good one! Jerry Mac- Which one are you thinking is a prototype? The strange E posted or the one you had with a cursive e?

Yea I have never seen that font used on any Epi at any time. Not saying it ain't legit, but its a strange looking E. NS- Where did you get the guitar and when?

Yea thats weird.

Mind posting a guts shot of the little box there? He never really states what it is and how it works, just how to use it. thanks

You're supposed to pot them with the covers on. You don't want the cover to be rattling against the bobbin or plate right? Here's how I do it. Mix 80% canning wax and 20%bees wax (by weight not volume) in a double boiler. Mines an old coffee can and a large pot. Melt the wax and heat it until it is 150 degrees Fahrenheit. That sounds like its easy, but its tricky to achieve and maintain that temp, and its crucial you do. Any cooler and the wax will not penetrate the coils, much hotter and you'll burn the wax or fry the pup. But the pup can sit at 150 all day and not be damaged by it. After you have achieved a stable 150, tie some string to the mounting holes on the pup, and submerge it completely in the wax. Let it sit a few minutes, I give it about 15 or until I see no more air bubbles coming from the pup, tilt it around slightly while submerged to get and air bubbles out. As the PU heats up, the wax works its way deep into the coils, and any voids in the pup. Carefully remove the pup from the wax, set it face down on a paper towel, and allow to cool for a few minutes. It will also drain the majority of the wax out, which is what you want, it doesn't need to be "full of wax" to work, you just want the coils saturated and the spaces between the cover and bobbin filled. Then when it is a little cooler but still warm, take another paper towel and wipe the wax off the outside face of the pup, and and excess off the back, and allow to finish reaching room temp. Don't put it in the freezer, allow it to cool gradually. After a couple hours cooling you should be good to go!

OK Joe feelin handy? Got yourself a good iron? The red stuff along the edges you see is adhesive that used to hold the cover on. This is a good thing, it means you more than likely have a "good" one. Pop the cover off, and carefully sand away the remaining residue. Be careful not to touch the coils!! Leave the surface rough, replace the cover firmly and solder in place, easy as pie and better than new. Then pot the pickup if you want. I doesn't sound like your playing at very high levels or anything, so microphonics may not even be an issue for you, unless the pickup sounds "ghosty" or "quacky".

Ok I got ya, yes I would agree that the cover is not attached.

I don't follow, what do you mean by "the whole six poles moved"? And even pickups that have been potted, sometimes need it again. It is only wax after all, and years of heat, playing, and traveling can break down the bond the wax has to the coils. I have pups I have potted 5 and 6 times in some of my guitars, others only the once. I find it strange that some have lasted for 20 uears and others I seem to be potting every 5 years or so. I think it has to do with stage volume and heat myself. Get a guitar on stage under those hot lights and in front of a loud *** amp, and the wax starts breaking down.

Yes the neck pup sounds great in this one. I potted both pups when I rewired the guitar, and though it is a little muddy when distorted (never heard a neck HB that wasn't) it sounds so sweet clean or overdriven. I was planning on swapping it out, but have grown to like it too much, if it ain't broke....

I dunno, seems workable to me. The bridge should fit snug on the posts, so there is no room for it to leverage itseld up and off right? Are we thinking the same thing here? JM wanna weigh in?

Stock neck pup, bridge is an older PAF. All electronics have been upgraded, even replaced the ground wire. Alpha pots, shielded wire, all metal switchcraft with gold knob. I have Gibson Custom top hats on it, I slightly aged the gold inserts to tone them down to match the faded hardware. Slipstone nut (the only thing I had in stock that was large enough at the time I got the guitar, I'll be fitting a vintage bone nut when I have the time, and the slipstone will be placed in the case as a spare.) Strung with DR titefit 12's. I need to replace the tuners as one of the bushings has broken off, hence the non matching washer on there, I needed something thinner so I could get the threads to catch as a quick fix at a show. I stole the washer off the ice maker door in the kitchen of the club we were at. With permission of course! I can see no evidence of an E ever being on the pickguard, and this guard is of a much higher quality than the current lot I have seen. Or older ones. It is not opaque and fully bound like the body. I normally have it off but its so nice I put it back on recently. Here's what it was like the day I got it.