AlanH Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 The Qingdao factory in China has been producing Epis for a few years now. Is it since 2006 as a full operation? Anyway, I'm extremely happy with the build quality and finish of my '07 MIC Les Paul - No flaws as far as I can see and a beautiful player. However, I do seem to remember hearing some rumblings about the quality of MIC archtops a year or so back. So, now we have the new higher end limited editions coming through (replacing the elitist line), have the Chinese cracked it? What is the quality of the latest LPs, SGs and archtops coming from Qingdao? Tell us about your MIC Epi and its year of manufacture. I'm interested in the latest '09 models in particular. One last thing - are they starting to use circuit boards like Gibsons? I hope not, as Epis beg to be modded. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 My 2007 EE Dot is a great guitar. Everything, except the nut and the knobs, is stock. I love the way it sounds and looks. The craftsmanship seems to be fantastic. I also have an EE 2006 G400 that is well built as well. I play them more than any of my other guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 What do you speak of ? Limited editions is nothing other than a sticker' date=' IMO Peter[/quote'] Les Paul tribute, Les Paul 1959, IBJL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrmatt Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 For the most part I would say most of the MIC is very good. I have a VS EE08 Casino that has a flawless finish and has the best tone of any modern day standard Casino that I have played. With that said there is a IBJL Rev Casino @ the local Gibson SC that disappointed mea bit , the E string looks to be about 5/32nds @ the first fret and a few finish issues that I wouldn't expect from a guitar that cost a grand ( I guess a few stinkers still make it through?) .They also have one of the 59 Lp's ( Ice Tea finish )that looks gorgous, w/no flaws whatsoever! mc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 They also have one of the 59 Lp's ( Ice Tea finish )that looks gorgous' date=' w/no flaws whatsoever! mc [/quote'] Yes, I'm getting serious GAS for a Les Paul Tribute with the '57 classics in either a '60s or an '09 neck. I can feel a tightening down below (see signature). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbberry Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 i have a 08 dot and a 09 gold top and both are wonderful guitars. there was a minor finish flaw near the neck of the goldtop but otherwise a great guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbberry Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 correction it is a 08 goldtop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Most of the Qingdao Epis are great! The problem on "some" (certainly not all), is in "set-up," more than anything. And/or things that happen in shipping, especially in regards to loose hardware, or necks needing a bit of truss rod adjustment. "Nuts" are quite often going to be changed, anyway. And, some prefer to mod the electronics and hardware, to suit their needs. But, that really isn't a "build" fit and finish problem, so much, except in the case of the nut, if it's not quite properly cut, etc. But, like any product, made here or overseas, there will be a few, that get by, that shouldn't. However, I've never heard of anyone not being able to have it fixed, or replaced, by the dealer, in those cases. One reason I love to shop with my "Mom & Pop" dealer, is they screen out, all the "problem children," before they ever put them out, for sale. And, they will adjust and set-up, to MY specs, as well...even offer to change the strings to my preference, and usually throw in, and extra set, in the bargain. So, your dealer can be as important, as the actual guitar, in a lot of cases. Just my 2-cents worth. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 My '07 Qingdao Epi is pretty much everything I expected .... and it works/feels/plays perfectly fine in stock condition for me (I did a minor "set-up" upon arrival, but the guitar itself is truly great quality - for the $$$). Not a fan of the stock bridge p'up (harsh as all get out), but can be tweaked for what I need/want. And if not, I can always grab my BMG for some single coil/reversed phase madness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskank Sally Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 The Qingdao factory in China has been producing Epis for a few years now. Is it since 2006 as a full operation? Anyway' date=' I'm extremely happy with the build quality and finish of my '07 MIC Les Paul - No flaws as far as I can see and a beautiful player. However, I do seem to remember hearing some rumblings about the quality of MIC archtops a year or so back. So, now we have the new higher end limited editions coming through (replacing the elitist line), have the Chinese cracked it? What is the quality of the latest LPs, SGs and archtops coming from Qingdao? Tell us about your MIC Epi and its year of manufacture. I'm interested in the latest '09 models in particular. One last thing - are they starting to use circuit boards like Gibsons? I hope not, as Epis beg to be modded. Alan[/quote'] I have a 2009 Qingdao built G-400 Faded that is without a doubt a very well built guitar. of course its veneered, which is noticeable by the change of color along the top along the beveled edge. It has one offset center seam down the rear near the strap button, much like they cut the Gibson 'offset center seam' The pickups are the only Epiphone pickups I have stock in any of my guitars that I simply won't change. Why? Because in all honesty this pair of Epiphone pickups sounds about as sweet as Jazz pickups get with the '57 punch in the rear. Great through and through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Voorhees Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I have a 2006 Epiphone les paul custom (Antique ivory) and an Epiphone G-400, both guitars sounds great. There are just minor cosmetic issues like binding etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoop Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 All three of my Epiphone guitars were made in the QingDao factory. My G400 SG and Les Paul Standard Plus were both built in 2006, and my Casino was built in 2009. All of them are absolutely flawless. To find anything wrong with them is simply nitpicking, but for the benefit of the topic, I will do so. The inlays on my Les Paul are very plain and not nice and multifaceted and pearly looking like those in the Casino and SG. And the rosewood fretboard on the SG is a little porous if you look at it closely, whereas the Casino and LP both have beautifull, smooth, tight grained rosewood boards. The Casino was the only one of the three that I purchased new, so I can only comment on the factory setup of that one. The action was pretty high, but the neck was straight and the intonation good. Of course I have adjusted them now due to changes in temperature, and using different strings, but it was otherwise pretty good. The finish on that guitar is superb. The only thing I'm probably going to change is the tuners. The stock ones are fine, they're stable enough. But they feel a bit cheap. Not really in any hurry to do so though. I have owned a couple of Korean Epiphones too, and I think that the current Chinese ones are better, and will only continue to get better. And given that, couple with ever increasing Gibson prices, I think more and more people will be buying Epiphones, as they embody all of the good things of their more expensive counterparts for much less coin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpplayer Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I have a 59 Les Paul, and it is very good, with the following issues... First, the bridge volume pot. When I received it, the knob was very tight....generally unuseable because of it- couldnt adjust volume on the fly. I looked around at various forums, and found this same issue was mentioned by several other 59 owners. Anyway, I tied a string around the knob and pulled it up- turned easily- then plugged it in and found the pickup was dead. Took it in the shop and the pot was now dead. So I had the pot replaced and it cost me 3 bucks for the pot (the shop is the place I bought it which is not an Epi authorized repair place- the closest one is miles away). Second- the neck pickup is mounted just a wee bit higher than the bridge...what I mean by that is, they are not even- if you put a ruler on the top of the bridge pickup ring the neck pickup ring is offset a bit too high. Other than that the guitar is beautiful. Upgrades already done with the Burstbuckers and Switchcraft stuff- I know that is not factory improvement point, but still. In addition to the 59, I also got an extra xmas gift, a Les Paul 100. I told my wife I wanted to get a cheapo electric one day to practice working on guitars, so she got me this in addition to the 59 (greatest wife in the world). I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised by this guitar and I was skeptical. I had one years ago and I was not very happy with it. The fit and finish is excellent, and the sounds are much better than I remembered. It plays excellently once set up correctly. The pickups are quite nice for what they are- definitely a biting edge to them but can clean up nicely with volume and tone adjustments. Kinda not want to mess with it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 When my 11/08 QingDao '56 GT arrived (GC online) in March of '09 I almost sent it back immediately ! BUT, going on the false advertizing that it had been discontinued, I kept it, afraid that i'd not be able to get another new one.(GC customer service stated that i'd gotten #2 of only 5 they'd EVER be getting again) The setup was horrible, but thats a given.......it's not an Agile or MIM Tele (both of which were setup perfectly when purchased). The neck was bowed so badly that it took 2 adjustments to get it right (allowing overnight in between, to not overstress it). The neck p'up wasn't even screwed into the body wood!!! It was literally flopping around loose under the strings!!! The fretboard has large blonde streaks on it, that won't take stain........VERY low quality rosewood(if it's even rosewood). Had to set 2 loose frets. Input jack was loose, & only sometimes functional, out of the box. 3-way switch needed replacing after < 50 hrs. use. It literally FELL APART after actually being used 20 times or so. 2 of the tuners are so crooked that it's grossly visible from the FRONT of the guitar, i'll str8ten them when I replace them. I've read that their QC is much better now, I hope it is, because i'll never ever buy another Epi. online, "discontinued" or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicfox Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I have examined my MIC Epiphone Dot in ebony from top to bottom and find only a few tiny flaws. One tiny mark on the binding so tiny I had to squint....Otherwise the finish overall is excellent..... the F-hole paint seemed a little thin on the cut edge again I had to squint. Frankly without a hobby size airbrush this might be something hard to do in a fast moving factory... The volume pots don't seem very useful, not linear, working only in last 3/4 travel (I'm getting a volume pedal anyway knobs too hard to reach on the fly live) this seems consistent with the usual lament about cost cutting Pots and switches and the like on Epi's. All in all I am 99 and 44/100'ths % happy with my Dot and the controllable feedback howl is so cool on certain points of the right song. Pickup and pole-piece adjustment cured any doubt as to quality there. I really think the Chinese at Epiphone at least...have caught onto the reality of sales to western countries and our tolerance for shoddy workmanship and parts. For those too young to remember......pickup a old Asian made guitar from 60's or 70's and play it. Most were simply awful...and will be broken in some way.....or missing critical parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluser12 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I got a new Sheraton on Jan. 2 , and I can't say enough good things about it. Looks , feel, sound , playability, excellent ! However the guitar I tried at the shop had problems in the workmanship, volume and tone pots at different heights, bad spot in the lacquer, etc. So the salesman told me to take it home and he would order me another one. Two weeks later the guitar came in and everything was perfect. I took it down to my guitar tech , he checked out from top to bottom , put a slight relief in the neck , my preference , and handed it back to me. I asked if I needed to do anything else and he said take it home and play it. The ranking between the two was only 11 units. The only difference was the second one had a silver Inspected in USA by Epiphone , sticker the first one did not have the inspection sticker, just a small one saying made in China. Both were from Qingdao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKitten Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I picked up a Chinese Wildkat in a shop recently, it seemed identical to my Korean Wildkat. Without the serial number differences and the slightly bolder finish on the Chinese one, I would have been probably unable to tell the difference at all between my guitar and the one on the shelf, in either looks or sound. I also can't tell the difference between my Korean Gothic Thunderbird bass and the Chinese ones. Oh except the massive chips, holes and cracks in mine after throwing it around the stage etc... My Emily is Chinese and doesn't have fantastic workmanship but then that's a G-310 which is a budget guitar at a budget price, even by Epi standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC50 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I recently bought a new Epiphone Sheraton. I hate the fact that it's made in China, but it's a beautiful guitar. They've finally corrected a couple of things that none of the reissues had right since the '60's - namely cutaway and neck shape, better tuners, semi-correct Epi logo in the pickguard, etc. The guitar plays like a dream, and sounds better than my ES-335. A couple of problems, though. First, it turns my hand black! This is not a joke. I thought maybe it was cheap chinese strings, so I strung it up with a set of GHS that I had around. Same thing. Next, I lemon oiled the fingerboard. I figured maybe it was dirty, or the frets were - or something. The guitar turned the rag I was using black. I kept trying to clean the fingerboard/frets/strings . . . no matter how much I worked at it, the rag kept getting black. I've deduced that it's probably not the strings. None of my other guitars do this. All I can figure is it must be the frets, or something on the fingerboard. But the fingerboard doesn't appear to be dyed or anything like that. WHAT GIVES???? My GF rubbed just the frets with her fingers, and black came off on her fingers. The more she'd rub, the blacker and blacker it turned her finger. It's like when you try to clean cymbals, for those of you who've been there. Is there brass in the frets? (They look silver) Or maybe LEAD in the frets, or what??? (Doesn't make sense, because the frets would wear right down) But I have no idea what this is all about, and it makes me a little nervous - I don't want lead poisoning. Have any of you guys encountered anything like this? What do you make of this craziness? The other problem is cosmetic. There are three cracked inlays. One was obviously done during production, because a little corner of the inlay dried out of alignment. (Grrr!) I hate to return the guitar, it sounds so good - and because the neck feels better than any of the other Sheratons I've picked up. I can overlook the cracked inlays . . you don't see them from a playing position, and they won't likely fall out. I suppose, at worst, I can have the guitar refretted if I can't polish out whatever is coming off the frets. I also have a Chinese Wilshire. Nice guitar, but it needs to have the nut slots cut deeper, the strings are too high at the nut. I suspect a fret leveling may also be in order, and I know for sure the lead pickup needs to be replaced. It's very weak. (This is the white Wilshire with the full size humbuckers.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeper Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 ^^^ It ain't the frets, its dye used on the fingerboard to make it appear like they used a good piece of rosewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magickbk Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I've had two MIC Epi's in the last two years which were both made very well, no issues except for the action being a little high, and I know someone with a brand-new Sheraton that is pretty much at the same point, great except for adjusting the action. @bluser12 - You aren't the first person I've heard say this. Can anyone else who's had a good experience with a MIC Epi confirm whether they had an Inspected/Setup in USA sticker on the headstock, and anyone with a bad experience happen to notice if they did not have that sticker? The three I've played all had the sticker. @Musikron - I was thinking this just as your post popped up. My G-400 1966 Natural Burst has been doing this, and as the blackening has started to subside, the fretboard is lightening in areas. The wood appears to be alright, it just appears to be done for cosmetic purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motowntom Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 The quality does seem to be improving, but on the other hand quality of materials being used has with out a doubt fallen way off. I was at my favorite dealer last week and went through a 1959 l.p, a casino, and a firebird, big difference in materials. The casino was o.k. with the lam. maple top, but the l.p. was according to my dealer, of quite unknown composttion. Thats o.k. but not IMHO on they,re flagship T.O.T. L. leps paul that is selling for just under a grand. Electroics and hrdwr. were typical m.i.c. but it seems to be a trend of higher pricing, and lesser quality materials. cheers T.N.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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