RobinTheHood Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 NAME: S-500 Year: 1986 Price: Used: $200 I think. It was a long time ago Purchased from Junkyard Guitars, Royal Oak Mich. Features - pre mod Alder/Maple laminated body Full-size strat-style body Tech -II HSS pickups Bennder tremolo bridge Locknut Gotoh-style high-ratio tuners Allen wrench holder & wrenches Pointed headstock Bolt-on hard maple neck Shark fin inlays 2 Vol. 1 Tone controls 5-way selector switch Black pickguard 25.5" scale 1.68" nut width Features - post mod 1 VEH guitar fetish humbucker 1 Volume control Floyd Rose lic bridge & locknut Pearloid pickguard Sound Quality The Tech-II pickups system that originally came with this guitar was less than stellar. Touted as high-output, these pickups were not very high output. They were muddy and nowhere as rock & roll as the guitar looks to be. The laminated body doesnt resonate well and has a bassy, muted sound with no "snap" when played unplugged. Installing the GF VEH has helped while plugged in, but could still use a little more help to get a better sound out of this guitar. Fit and Finish. On the outside, this guitar looks pretty good. I'm not a fan of the black on black, but some models came with chrome hardware and are nicer visually. It has a Black Sparkle finish that doesnt look sparkly at all unless you look really close. The paint and poly itself is pretty standard for Epiphone. Nothing special, but not bad either. The frets, however, are fantastic. No high or rough fretwork, and after 25 years of casual playing, show hardly any fretwear. The neck is another high-point to this guitar. Hard maple SlimTaper with a nice glossy finish that feels like a quality, high-end neck. The rosewood fretboard is nice as well. The shark fin inlays look pretty good, but unfortunatley, have a lot of filler around them. This was typical for the S-series with these inlays. The inside of this guitar is a mess. The routing is extremely poor and there is a huge hole underneath the bridge pickup to the tremolo cavity that is not required for the ground wire. The original pots were minis and the wiring was OK, I suppose. The Alder/maple laminate is soft and the routing is jagged in many places. Impressions Overall, I like this guitar for its playability and looks. More specifically, I like it for the feel of the neck and the metalesque headstock. It feels great to play, but I doubt that I would gig or record with it as a main guitar. The S-500 is still a fairly easy guitar to find used on ebay or craigslist with some patience. Unfortunately, I see people asking way too much for them because of their age. A top-notch, all original, mint S-500 should sell for around $250 at the most due to the laminate body and sub-par pickups, also keeping in mind that these were some of the first Korean Epiphone guitars made and quality control was iffy at best and Epiphone was experimenting with different pickup brands. The Tech-II pickups did not make the cut and were discontinued along with the most of the S-Series in 1989. Sorry, no pics at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Interesting review Rob, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Thanks, Rob. I should metion, and I probably have in the past, that I would like to swap the body with a Fender (recessed Floyd style). That along with a proper electronics upgrade, this guitar would be killer. My upgrades were done out of necessity on the cheap. Its a really fun guitar to play, but it needs some help in the tone department. My laminated G-310 with vintage DiMarzios blows this thing away, tonewise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upiory Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 THanks for posting. I love reading reviews like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 This is an angle I wasn't expecting, reviewing a Mod Platform - A guitar that HAS some Good, but needs some HELP! It IS a very interesting read, and will be very useful to Members or Guests who might be on the hunt, but prefer more Vintage Models. ...with a proper electronics upgrade, this guitar would be killer.My upgrades were done out of necessity on the cheap. Its a really fun guitar to play, but it needs some help in the tone department. Thanks for the surprise!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 This is an angle I wasn't expecting, reviewing a Mod Platform - A guitar that HAS some Good, but needs some HELP! It IS a very interesting read, and will be very useful to Members or Guests who might be on the hunt, but prefer more Vintage Models. Thanks for the surprise!!! I just calls 'em as I sees 'em! I had to throw in the modded aspect of the guitar becuase its not even close to original anymore. I should have mentioned a couple of other things, like; a Floyd will retro-fit with very slight modifications to the bridge post holes...and the Floyd locknut does NOT line up with the original screw holes and it is impossible to screw it in properly. The guitar was all original when I bought it. But it went through some rough times and had to be gutted. I suppose that if you were to drop in some high output (or even active) pickups and run it through heavy rock or metal amp setup, the lam body wouldnt even be a noticable factor with the tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I just calls 'em as I sees 'em! Keep it up. Just stopped by to ask, how's life on your side o' town? Been playin' out? That aside.... Liked the review. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Keep it up. Just stopped by to ask, how's life on your side o' town? Been playin' out? That aside.... Liked the review. Willy Things are good over here. For me anyway. Not so much for the bands' guitarist/singer. He was shot in the face about a month ago and currently has his jaw wired shut. Luckily it was a low calibur pistol and it only hit his jaw. And it seems to be just some random thing. Nobody was out to get him that we know of. But he got some publicity out of it in the Metro Times. http://metrotimes.co...-head-1.1180591 We had our first practice in about a month last night. He did surprisingly well for not being able to move his jaw. We have a show on September 23rd at the Phoenix Cafe in Hazel Park. I'm calling it his comback show! How are things in your neck of the woods? Whitmore Lake, eh? Thats almost a straight shot down 9-mile from my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 You mean you and Willy live around 9 miles from each other???? Ever met? Around here in Texas, nine miles is NOTHING with our wide-open spaces. I live 13 miles from work, takes me 25 minutes with Morning traffic and Traffic Signals working against me. Meet, take Pics!!!! It's always COOL when forum members can actually do a Face-to-Face. Just a thought, as I don't know your schedules..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 You mean you and Willy live around 9 miles from each other???? Ever met? Around here in Texas, nine miles is NOTHING with our wide-open spaces. I live 13 miles from work, takes me 25 minutes with Morning traffic and Traffic Signals working against me. Meet, take Pics!!!! It's always COOL when forum members can actually do a Face-to-Face. Just a thought, as I don't know your schedules..... Nothing like putting on the pressure, eh, Greg? lol. Actually, we live about 35 or so miles apart. Still not all that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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