the other side

From the epiphone dater project, your Epiphone was made in Indonesia in September of 2018 and the production number is 4886.

Walker & Williams Guitar straps. I have no affiliation with them. I have bought 5 of their straps and they are padded on the back of the strap and super comfortable and affordable.

Yep, I can see em pretty good zoomed in. I just cut some in on mine changing my saddle. There must have been a new guy who worked on mine. Not only no string ramps, they sanded the bass side end of the saddle for length causing the very last high E to sit just on the outside of the last cut out, but still sounded great. (12 string IBG).

I just thought of one other thing that will affect the tone and sound alot on your J200, or any other solid wooded acoustic, is the humidity factor in keeping between 40% minimum and 55% maximum. I personally use the Boveda Humidipak system and keep my guitars in the case at all times when not playing. Daddario Humidipaks are the same cause Boveda makes them for Daddario and just puts Daddario's name on them.

Thanks. I just got through ramping the pin holes a little bit on every string. Not much room to ramp the larger strings on this 12 string. I had wondered if anyone else who had gotten a new IBG, if it came ramped from the factory. At least now, the strings have a little smoother break angle transition. I haven't seen every guitar in the world, but this is the first one I have ever seen without some kind of ramping.

Glad to hear you made it to one of the two and had a wonderful experience. Sounds like you got yourself into a crossfire there 😂. That choir angels you heard singing was probably when you were passed out for a brief moment from the price tag followed with the sound to get you conscious again (not in any particular order). At least you had that in person hands on because it's hard to describe some things that have no written definition in a book. One thing about an all solid wood guitar, they all will improve (open up) in sound/tone in the coming years. The main thing to all of it here is, your still playing ! That's what it's all about!

John Pearse 600L 12-53 (they are phosphor bronze) is what I use on my Gibson Hummingbird. You'll probably need to order them on Amazon or buy direct from Chicago Music is your quickest way. Just looked, they are 9.49 a set and in stock. I haven't seen any John Pearse string demos anywhere. The thing here is I don't know how they are gonna sound on your J200. Another thing is you can't really get a good idea of sound if they're new strings. But I can say, they will not change the sound your J200 sounds like or any string. If you have the time and being on the fence, I believe I would opt the 3 1/2 hour trip to Sweetwater which will save you time and have an immediate resolution to your decision and get in person answers to other questions that may arise on your drive to sweetwater. Buying an acoustic guitar, especially your first, is a whole different world compared to an electric. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Very nice and excellent playing.!

WOW! That's new to me too. I just ran the 4 on the Epiphone Dater Project and sure enough the last four 0220 and 0106 shows china. Maybe that why some of the demos I've seen, the person would say China and just thought that was an assumption. I believe I'd opt the Indonesia. I've read hit and miss on China's, not particular to the IBGs. I thought all were from Indonesia too. On another note, the few IBG Hummingbird reviews and sound demos I've listened to, when they referred to made in China, were all 5 star quality as well and all the other reviews/demos that made no reference to origin, were all 5 stars too. I've never heard of any reviews other than 5 star craftsmanship.

I think you won't be disappointed with your decision. That IBG Hummingbird is a win win situation. Cunningham had pointed out, I had overlooked, is the J200 is maple back and sides and with a spruce top. It will definately sound different. The gibson J200 is also called the "whispering giant". I too agree with Cunningham you'll probably be very happy with the sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides sound. If you are in question of a case for the IBG Hummingbird, I bought the Edread case (129.00), which is for all the hummingbird as well and it is a fantastic case. It is a better case than my gibson hummingbird came in. Not trying to help anyone spend their money, just sharing a little insight I went through without any foresight. Good luck! BTW, I would steer clear of any "demo models" that are cheaper. I personally don't think they were hanging up on a wall and played by customers.

Congratulations! Well, first off, which I'm sure you've done, is check to make sure they sent you the right IBG( Inspired by Gibson) that has the orange label. Next I would get a mirror and look at the ball ends on the strings through the sound hole and make sure they're not all different colors (daddarios) even though the specs and hang tag said Gibson strings like mine did. Mine had Daddarios on it and the hang tag said Gibson. Note: I just recieved the IBG Epiphone Hummingbird 12 string on Nov 5th. Yours already has bone nut and saddle by the specs. I changed my strings first, then after about a week, I changed the bridge pins to the "Presentation Style" Tusq (graph tech) bridge pins cause the plastic ones were fitted waaaaay to tight and a few were okay. Almost had to use a claw hammer to get the factory pins out. The "Traditional Style" graph tech) pins are too big and didn't want to sand em down. Other than that, I wouldn't know what else to recommend other than sending it back. Personally I've never been a Gibson J200 fan cause I'm along with the others, it's okay sometime but not all the time syndrome. I know the IBG Epiphone Hummingbird reviews are all 100% positive no matter what site you read them on if you are opting for a different IBG guitar. May visit with Sweetwater and speak to them about it. Those people are great and will make it happen for you, they're not like some others I know. BTW, I use John Pearse Phosphor Bronze 12-53's on my Gibson Hummingbird and sound waaay better than the regular Gibson 12-53 Phosphor Bronze strings if this helps. I've never been a Daddario fan unless that's all there was. Good luck, wish I had some more suggestions at this point. Again congratulations!

Just curious if any of your IBG models came with bridge pin hole string ramps. My epiphone hummingbird 12 string has none but is excellent in sound and intonation is all spot on. I'll try to post picture if I can figure it out. String ramps https://imgur.com/a/Dp6k2UR

Congratulations! According to the specs, it has a solid spruce top. Enjoy!

Might try putting some lemon oil on it you use on the fretboard.

A low budget spaced out Utube video. I hope that's not part 1 of a series.

Thanks for the info, thats interesting. I did learn something; to continue following Bovedas instructions for humidification. If you'd like to solve the confusion, give Boveda a call. They're nice folks.

I'm finding that difficulty in putting it down as well. Does your fishman give you any signs of when the battery slowly starts to go down ( if you've had/ played that IBG J45 long enough to find out)? I notice with the LR Baggs, having to increase the onboard volume wheel (amp volume remains same level all the time) when battery is getting low. I always try to set the onboard volume wheel about half way and then set the amp volume and leave it there after a battery change. I maybe wrong but I also think the onboard wheel setting, when increased may use more battery power.

Just curious what your luthier means or his terminology "Damaging in the winter" refers to? How does it damage the guitar? I'm curious to learn something.

I would have to loosen and the ADG and possible low E. That's 8 total cause of the octave strings. This is not the problem. The problem is when you tune them back up, especially the G's the g octave is destined to break and it's always a gamble if any others will break. You can only loosen an retighten so many times, sometimes once and some 3 times on a regular 6th string guitar. So if you break a string, it's an entire restring for me. The ideal situation is for the battery to last through at least 2 or three string changes (mabey 5 to 6 months), otherwise, you're changing strings(depending on your play time) way more frequently. I don't replace whatever string breaks from another set. Then everything gets out of balance in my opinion. Not economical.

I have been using the Boveda humipak system for over ten years in my gibson hummingbird and epiphone hummingbird and have never had not 1 single problem. BTW, the Daddario Humipaks are the same as Boveda because Boveda makes them for Daddario. My opinion is if Boveda tells you to put em in the oven, put em the oven. I think some of the problems people say they have had issues with them is because they are not using them according how Boveda instructs you to properly use them. I have read stories like recharging them in the freezer, put em in a pot of water etc...... Boveda doesn't say to do that at all. I have never used another type of humidification except Boveda/Daddario.

I have only plugged in twice since I got it. Sounds fairly good so far through the fender acoustic junior 100 amp. The Fishman Sonitone owners guide said it should get about 100 hours of battery playtime (9v battery), which I really did not want to hear that because the battery is in a holder inside the soundhole like the LR Baggs VTC is except I get about 600 hours of play time with it. Being my IBG Epiphone Hummingbird 12 string, that is not a very good thing to replace the battery that often. I'm keeping track of the battery playtime.

Congratulations! Yes they are nailing it on the IBGs. I just got an Epiphone Hummingbird 12 string IBG this past Sunday and they got it more than right. I have the regular Gibson Hummingbird and the IBG lines have definately crossed over into the Gibson's play ground. The sound just blew me away. Sure you can watch utube clips, but you'll never hear the real sound as you do in person. Congratulations again and enjoy!

Congratulations! I just pre-ordered one the other day. As far as the tuners, I've never had a problem with any grover tuners, but what I have had a situation with is a new guitar still settling/acclimating because it's an all wooded instrument and maybe strings as well. When I got my Gibson Hummingbird years ago (6 string) I was having a few very slight issues with the tuning but it settled down and never had a problem since. My 6 string Epiphone Hummingbird (bought new) was the same way, it's a 2012 (no electronics) with grovers on it. I think another biggie is it being a 12 string. 12 strings are very temperamental anyway. All the things I've read and seen with 12 strings that's the main thing everyone covers first, the tuning no matter the brand. Again congratulations!

Thanks a bunch. I pre-ordered one the other day. I couldn't find that info anywhere either. I don't know why that's a hush-hush thing. Thx again.

My guess to put it on the back so it's not a laminated top anymore and for other reasons. Murph means the back of the guitar.