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Epiphone Dot - neck construction material?


StewartB

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New to this forum and new to Epihone guitars. I purchased a brand new Epiphone Dot last week - quite impressed with the timber and construction quality. From the serial number, it would seem it was manufactured in September 2009. My question relates to the neck wood material - Epiphone's own site says it is "set mahogany" whereas when I looked at several guitar retailer sites they list the neck as "set maple".

 

Not having x-ray vision I can't see through the lacquer finish. I know the rest of the guitar is laminated maple, but can anyone say definitely what the neck is made of? Thanks.........

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Thanks one & all. I thought that the Epi website must be correct. Just surprised at the "disinformation" on some retailer's specs. To Peter - the guitar is a Vintage Sunburst model, I'll get a photo uploaded.

 

I realise that I am preaching to the converted, but again must say that the Epi Dot is a better built guitar than I expected. I bought it to fill a gap in my collection as I mainly played solid electrics - Fender US Strat, Ibanez SZ320, and a US PRS McCarty. Since getting the Dot I find that I keep reaching for it rather than the others.

 

Thanks again to all for the responses.

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I posted the same question in October, never arrived at a definitive answer. Epi Customer Service sent an answer to my query, that Dot Studio neck was maple, while Dot and Dot Deluxe are mahogany necks. This contradicts their web site description of the Studio as mahogany.

 

Examining as many photos as possible, I believe only the Dot Deluxe has a maple neck, but no description from Epi to back it up.

 

It is aggravating when online stores and the manufacturer can't get such a simple detail straight. Even Sweetwater, who I have always found honest and knowledgeable, describes the Dot as mahogany neck and maple neck, both on the same page! Musicians Friend just calls all models maple necks, and of course Epiphone still says mahogany.

 

Either wood makes an excellent neck material, even Gibson's 335 has used both at different times on different sub-models. But there is some difference in tone, maple being brighter and mahogany warmer.

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Makes you wonder if Epi/Gibson customer service knows what's going on as when I asked the very same question I was told that the Dot Studio is Mahogany body and Mahogany neck. I must admit that, having compared it to the neck on my Epi LP which has a Nato neck, the wood looks pretty much identical.

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I posted the same question in October' date=' never arrived at a definitive answer. Epi Customer Service sent an answer to my query, that Dot Studio neck was maple, while Dot and Dot Deluxe are mahogany necks. This contradicts their web site description of the Studio as mahogany.

 

Examining as many photos as possible, I believe only the Dot Deluxe has a maple neck, but no description from Epi to back it up.

 

It is aggravating when online stores and the manufacturer can't get such a simple detail straight. Even Sweetwater, who I have always found honest and knowledgeable, describes the Dot as mahogany neck and maple neck, both on the same page! Musicians Friend just calls all models maple necks, and of course Epiphone still says mahogany.

 

Either wood makes an excellent neck material, even Gibson's 335 has used both at different times on different sub-models. But there is some difference in tone, maple being brighter and mahogany warmer.[/quote']

 

I feel sure you are correct about the woods. My ears tell me the Dot neck is mahogany rather than maple. In the real world the debates about best tonewoods for electric guitars become mostly academic. We are sometimes indoctrinated to believe that only the traditional woods - i.e. maple, mahogany, alder, etc are acceptable. I try to pay more attention to how an electric sounds "unplugged" - i.e. - natural resonance, rather than what it is made of when selecting a new guitar. I've had top name electrics made of the traditional woods that sound thin and weak, and I've had far cheaper guitars with greater resonance and fuller sound than the expensive ones.

 

That's what attracted me to my new Dot. It sounded good and was well finished.

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  • 1 year later...

I know this thread is old, but I was doing some research on Dot necks and found this thread through Google. lol. The reason for the confusion about Dot neck material on local retailer websites is because the Dot neck was maple from its conception in 1997 until sometime between 2007 and 2010 when Epiphone switched them to mahogany. I am missing the 2007-2009 catalogues, so I dont know which year the change was made. This goes for the Dot and Dot Studios. Not sure about the Dot Deluxe. I havent gotten that far yet.

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