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Which one should I buy...Texan or EJ200ce???


Larsongs

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I have an EJ-200E. It's an awesome guitar. It sounds fantastic and plays like a dream. I've bought two EJ-200CE's for my son and son-in-law and neither sounded or played like mine. You'd think playability would be consistent across the variations but that wasn't our experience. I credit (blame?) the difference in sound on the cutaway but I could be wrong. When I play, I do wish I had the cutaway at times. An extra fret or two would be nice since I have short fingers and can't reach across to play above about fret 14 at all.

 

I've never handled a Texan but it's my opinion that if you want a jumbo with full deep sound you can't go wrong with the J-200 series.

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I have an EJ-200E. It's an awesome guitar. It sounds fantastic and plays like a dream. I've bought two EJ-200CE's for my son and son-in-law and neither sounded or played like mine. You'd think playability would be consistent across the variations but that wasn't our experience. I credit (blame?) the difference in sound on the cutaway but I could be wrong. When I play, I do wish I had the cutaway at times. An extra fret or two would be nice since I have short fingers and can't reach across to play above about fret 14 at all.

 

I've never handled a Texan but it's my opinion that if you want a jumbo with full deep sound you can't go wrong with the J-200 series.

 

I've heard good reviews on them too. I wouldn't mind having one of them too.

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I'm thinking (very deeply) about getting a Texan. I have two AJ220s and both sound different. The Chinese one (sunburst) is so-so, a bit boxy. The Indonesian one (natural) has a deep thumping bass and a dry tone. I recall buying it at my local guitar retailer. I picked it off the wall and at the first strum I knew I had found the holy grail! It just sounded like an acoustic guitar did in my head - and I have been looking for that sound for almost 40 years.

 

I really like the look of the Texan - especially the sunburst - but I wonder if it will live up to expectations - almost everything you guys say about it makes it sound like that guitar sound in my head. Should I take the plunge?

 

I would be sooooooooooo disappointed if it is not what I expected - and I will blame you lot...............

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I'm thinking (very deeply) about getting a Texan. I have two AJ220s and both sound different. The Chinese one (sunburst) is so-so, a bit boxy. The Indonesian one (natural) has a deep thumping bass and a dry tone. I recall buying it at my local guitar retailer. I picked it off the wall and at the first strum I knew I had found the holy grail! It just sounded like an acoustic guitar did in my head - and I have been looking for that sound for almost 40 years.

 

I really like the look of the Texan - especially the sunburst - but I wonder if it will live up to expectations - almost everything you guys say about it makes it sound like that guitar sound in my head. Should I take the plunge?

 

I would be sooooooooooo disappointed if it is not what I expected - and I will blame you lot...............

 

I don't think you'll be disappointed. It isn't on par with my Gibson Masterbilt Bozeman J160E or my 1975 Martin D35 but is an excellent Guitar.

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I think you will be very pleased. Mine is an absolute delight. I recently have had to part with my beloved Martin(due to extensive house repairs). My IB Texan is now my main guitar. I have no worries about it's performance, plugged and unplugged. A good friend of mine struggles to believe it is a £300(GBP) guitar. He thought at least £800-1000. He borrowed it for his set at our local open mic, and it was a struggle to prise it out of his hands.

 

Maybe later in the year I hope to get the Masterbilt AJ45-ME. It will need to be superb to outdo my Texan!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think you will be very pleased. Mine is an absolute delight. I recently have had to part with my beloved Martin(due to extensive house repairs). My IB Texan is now my main guitar. I have no worries about it's performance, plugged and unplugged. A good friend of mine struggles to believe it is a £300(GBP) guitar. He thought at least £800-1000. He borrowed it for his set at our local open mic, and it was a struggle to prise it out of his hands.

 

Maybe later in the year I hope to get the Masterbilt AJ45-ME. It will need to be superb to outdo my Texan!

 

Well I've done it - it's due in a couple of days. If it is not what I expect then it will go back and I will just have to wait for the Masterbilt J45. Although I have secretly been looking at a Gibson J15 at Thomanns. I love the walnut back and the Maple neck on that model. Oh I wish I had loads of cash - the house would be full of guitars - maybe I need to see a shrink???!!!

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Well I've done it - it's due in a couple of days. If it is not what I expect then it will go back and I will just have to wait for the Masterbilt J45. Although I have secretly been looking at a Gibson J15 at Thomanns. I love the walnut back and the Maple neck on that model. Oh I wish I had loads of cash - the house would be full of guitars - maybe I need to see a shrink???!!!

 

I've done it - I've got the Texan!! I've only had a couple of hours with it and it must be settling in at the moment after its trip over from Germany over the weekend and half a week. All that time in cold dark damp depots, the poor thing!!

 

Anyway, I am impressed with it. I noticed that it has a setup in USA sticker on it and they have indeed done a good job - it has a lovely action and the nut is cut just right (no struggle to make an F and no going sharpe at the first fret). The finish is just great and seems to be quite thin compared to the AJ220s. The sound is very much like an all solid dread I had made by Recording King. Side by side with my two AJ220s it does stand out that it is not a laminate back. I don't doubt that the construction is better too and that there has been more attention paid to the struts etc. Sue - the other half - is not happy about the sunburst colouring - I think she prefers natural or vintage sunburst. I will play these strings for a few days but they will be changed soon. The frets will get a polish and the fretboard an oil, but other than that - good to go.

 

Oh I forgot. I tried the electrics. It sounds OK - I had a martin with under-saddle and I took it all out as it sounded rubbish. This is bearable but I wont use it much.

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The sound is very much like an all solid dread

 

 

That's the pull quote right there. I've said the same thing for a long time. The difference between the Texan and the AJ-220S is quite large (though, I still find the AJ-220S to be a wonderful guitar and very fun to play). The notes just pounce out of the Texan much better.

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There is one thing (and it applies to all the Epiphones) that blinking E on the scratchplate was curling up and coming off!. If Epiphone are going to have the E thing then either fix it well or screen-print it. Anyway I like it better with nothing on so I took it off.

 

On the subject of scratchplates/pickguards. I do like the teardrop on a J45 - but there seems to be nowhere that one can be bought - at a reasonable price - there's a market there for some enterprising soul. Not that I would put one on this Texan - but the eagerly awaited AJ-45 has such a big ugly scratchplates/pickguard on it and I'm sure many would want to change it. Or is that just me?

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I like the scratchplate on the AJ45 but them I'm probably influenced by Paul Weller's couple of Gibbie J45s that he has although a lot of folk on here have said his is a 70s model that isn't great? Anyone think a scratchplate that size is detremental to the sound of the guitar?

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There is one thing (and it applies to all the Epiphones) that blinking E on the scratchplate was curling up and coming off!. If Epiphone are going to have the E thing then either fix it well or screen-print it. Anyway I like it better with nothing on so I took it off.

 

On the subject of scratchplates/pickguards. I do like the teardrop on a J45 - but there seems to be nowhere that one can be bought - at a reasonable price - there's a market there for some enterprising soul. Not that I would put one on this Texan - but the eagerly awaited AJ-45 has such a big ugly scratchplates/pickguard on it and I'm sure many would want to change it. Or is that just me?

 

I love the Texan pickguard as it's just like the one that was originally on it in the 60's and the E on mine is very strongly attached. As for the AJ-45ME...as of this point, I'm planning on switching out the pickguard for a classic J-45 teardrop one, but I'm not going to buy one for it until I have the guitar in hand. After all, I may end up really liking it as is.

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