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Hate to p**s on anyones parade here but I'll think you'll find the S stands for Sunburst (N = Natural & B = Black) All EJ200CEs manufactured after I think Aug 2013 (obviously there will still be older guitars in shops stocks so you need to check the S/N) have solid tops. As I said in my earlier post Have a close look at the edge of the soundhole (use a magnifying glass if need be) If it's a solid top you'll see the grain running through the edge, if it's laminated then you'll see the layers. Takes a couple of mins to do you'll know for certain what you've got. Simples

Have a close look at the edge of the soundhole (use a magnifying glass if need be) If it's a solid top you'll see the grain running through the edge, if it's laminated then you'll see the layers. Each has their pros and cons - Laminate top is more stable and much less affected by humidity changes but will not mature Solid top will change over time (hopefully for the better) but is much more affected by humidity/temp changes. If you're going to be mainly playing AE then laminate will do just fine. BTW the slightly reduced loudness of the EJ compared with the others you tried is almost certainly an illusion (unless they were full body Jumbos). To appreciate just how loud the EJ is you need to be a few feet in front of it when it's being played.

I've got an EJ200CE and I have to say that I've never had any sort of problem with the size of the guitar (I'm 5'6" with quite short arms). I would say that in my experience 10's are a touch light for the EJ, bearing in mind that it is a big guitar and needs some ooomph to get the soundboard moving. I found that it really works well with 12's and interestingly, despite coming with 10's a stock, that is what the nut had been cut for.

To answer these two specific points. Firstly Honduras (as it is actually correctly designated rather than the incorrect misdesignation as Honduran) Mahogany (S. Macrophylla) has been mostly sourced from renewable plantations in Fiji which were laid down many years ago for a long time now. In terms of both grain and mechanical properties it is to all intents indistinguishable from S. Macrophylla sourced from South America. S. Macrophylla as a species is neither rare, expensive or in lumbar terms particularly special and the volume used by Gibson and the rest of the guitar makes is a minute percentage of legally felled wood. Secondly, I can state categorically that the body of my Epiphone LP is made from two solid pieces of Nato (offset jointed) capped with a centre jointed 1/2" maple cap (joint can be seen clearly in the pickup cavities) with an 1/8" flame maple veneer on the top and an 1/8" Honduras mahogany veneer on the back. The neck is a one piece Nato construction with scarf jointed headstock (jointed between nut and middle tuners) and a two piece stacked heel.

If it is genuinely Swietinia then that is awesome and sticks two fingers up at those who say Epiphones are made from inferior wood to Gibsons. (Having said that it might just be limited to certain 'high end' models such as the Tribute.) There's actually no reason why Gibson couldn't use Swietinia for Epiphone guitars other than marketing differentiation as, when you take into account the volume they buy, cost isn't going to be an issue and none of the stuff they buy will be at the high end (large planks for furniture will be way more expensive) Does Swietinia sound any better than Nato? Not in my hands it doesn't unfortunately In all seriousness though Nato seems to be slightly more focussed at the top and bottom of the spectrum when compared to Honduran Mahogany but seems to lack a little bite in the mids which means that both pickup and polepiece adjustment is critical. Get it right and the guitar will sing like a burst, get it even fractionally wrong and it will drive and icepick through you brain before burying you in the mud .

Genuine question. How is it legal then to sell Epiphones (along with guitars by a number of other manufacturers) in Germany as the bodies, whilst advertised as mahogany, are certainly not manufactured from anything from the genus Swietenia?

Don't know how strict the laws are in Germany as to what can be called Mahogany but if they insist that anything advertised as such has to be 'true' mahogany (i.e. of the genus Swietenia) then not a single Epiphone is going to be legal there along with a huge amount of modern furniture and flooring. Actually, on the basis that Nato can be described as mahogany here in the UK (along with alarge number of other woods which are not of genus Swietenia) and rules are harmonised across the EU, I'd imagine it was also legal in Germany as well.

Yep, well at least 1 does because my Les Paul has a Nato body and neck. Looks lovely and sounds lovely too.

Ultimately, like anything the value of these guitars is either what someone else will pay for them or what they are worth to you. If you're simply looking to move them I'd suggest taking the book prices, double them and stick them on Ebay/Craigslist with that as a BIN or best offer price and take decent offer. If nothing is forthcoming then drop by 30% and try again. Insurance valuation - then book price +100% If based on what they are worth to you then how long is a piece of string. My old Tanglewood TW400N is one of the earliest out of the factory in Korea and doesn't look like it had a piece of machinery near it (pencil marks all over the insides, braces obviously cut and finished by hand, file marks and the odd finger print!) Doesn't look like it had a luthier anywhere near it either (see previous sentence) and is probably worth £25.00 ($40.00) on a good day. However, knowing its history, the abuse it has suffered in terms of huge variations in terms of temperature (sub zero to 120+F) and humidity whilst living without any sort of case in an uninsulated loft space for several years, and yet the neck is still straight as a die, the top is flat and it is still structurally 98% (a brace needs a touch of glue) plus it has been with me through thick and thin for over 25 years we would be talking 5 figures before you'd get close to persuading me to part with it.

I have to say that's the one thing which I think lets down the EJ200 as a player (from my stubby fingered perspective) when compared to the J200 (I'm not quality of woods/construction). The slightly wider nut width on the GIbson is much more comfortable especially when the guitar is more likely to fretted at the cowboy end.

Maplins or similiar or any hifi dealer Any reasonable gauge speaker cable will do the job just fine. Crimp connectors on one end and solder (preferably) or non solder type 90deg jack (check out George L) on the other

Hey guys Hombre and I were just clarifying some semantic differences - no need to get wound up about it. I'm sure he'll say the same.

According to the customer service person I spoke to at Epiphone these are classed as Limited Run models. Yes they have the Limited Edition stamp but they are produced in a numerically limited number of pieces (and advertised as being so at the outset). Models which are simply advertised as Limited Edition with no stated numerical limit are produced during a pre decided time scale and production is limited purely on the basis of orders received for that model during it's production run. No production figures are available for these (outside of Epiphones internal systems)

Also worth noting that: Limited Edition = Manufactured for specific time frame (6 months/12 months/etc) run size could be anything from 1 to 1,000,000 depending on orders (No production figures available from Epiphone/Gibson) Limited Run = Specific number of guitars produced (production figures available)

There was a thread on this some time back - if you do a search you should be able to find it.

Weber produce a valve driven fx loop kit. I asked several months ago if anyone had a:) Tried it b:) Any opinions as to whether it would work with the BC30 Got nada response which, taking into account the technical expertise here, pointed me towards the fact that we are looking at uncharted territory. I also posed the question to Weber (supplied the schematic a the same time) and got zero response.

I don't know how true it is but I have read in a number of places that, at least up until relatively recently, Epi Dots were actually much closer dimensionally to vintage Gibson 335s than the later Gibson models - particularly in the size and shape of the 'ears' and the curve of the top. A major constructional difference will be the laminate used (thickness of outer and inner plies plus quality/type of the filler ply). An example of this is my Dot Studio where the outer and inner plys (mahogany rather than maple in the case of the Studio) are so thin compared to the inner (filler) ply that the guitar could almost be described as a solid top with inner and outer veneers rather than a true laminate construction.

The EJ200 & EJ200CE production changed over to solid tops from 'select spruce' aka laminate around August 2011 however the EJ200 Artist series models continued with laminate tops. Any guitar shop which has stock manufactured before this date will indeed have laminate bodied versions so it would not be at surprising if your local MF & Guitar Centre were still carrying them - let's face it SJ's aren't the fastest moving guitar line.

Weber list a valve driven FX loop mod complete with schematic forfitting at a very good price. Was thinking about adding it to mine and asked the very same question but never got a response so I'm guessing no one has tried. FX Loop Schematic

Could someone post some pics of the modded circuitboard?

Might be totally wrong on this one but my understanding was that both the amps were designed by Belov and the circuit board layouts were designed by Soldano.

I see your location is Avon. Is that Avon here in the UK? If so I'd say the US prices being quoted are a bit out of line with what 2nd hand Epis go for over here. In the UK you'd expect to pay between £150 and £300 for a good condition std depending on whether you got it privately or from a dealer.