Finish How did the stain or paint job look? There are a few blemishes like sloppy paint in the f-holes so so on, but what would you expect from a $400 Chinese-made guitar? Reliability How has it stood up over time? So far so good. I'm happy to have bought the guitar. General Your general opinion of this product. Definitely a great guitar for the money! Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? It's made very well, with the exception of having very soft frets, it'll probably need several frets replaced in a year or so of regular playing. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The guitar is as light as a feather, and balances nicely. The neck is a nice comfortable shape that just "fits" in the hand. The toggle switch can be hard to find while playing and trying to switch quickly. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? It has a nice thick tone, the pickups it came with sound very good for being epipphones. although not quite as good as their higher end equivalents, they are perfectly usable and do sound very good abet being a bit trebly. Action How was the action out of the box? The action was a little high for my taste out of the box and it needed a fret level and redress, but past that and a quick setup it plays fantastic!

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Seems very well made, has a great feel, very dependable. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Only had it a couple of months but I've played it hard and it stands just like new. General Your general opinion of this product. This is undoubtedly the best Epiphone for the buck. I have the Natural and it's beautiful. The split coil and tone are amazing. Ready to play out of the box. This one axe takes the place of 3, you can go from sweet melodies to gut grinding metal chops with just the push of a knob. I would change out the tuners though, the handles are plastic but if you're easy on it, shouldn't be a problem. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Very sweet, has a great feel, neck is very fast. I now have 8 guitars ranging from Fender, Schecter, and Gibson, but this is mt favorite. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Very, very sweet tone. You may want to change the strings to suit but really it sounds perfect as is. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Absolutely flawless finish, I have the natural and not a smudge or scratch. Immaculate. Action How was the action out of the box? Great action, I love playing it, it's not going to be as fast as a Jackson or PRS but it sounds just as sweet. Great sustain. You can make this baby sing.

How was the action out of the box? The action out of the box was a little bit high for me, but not enough so that I've bothered to change it. Having too much fun just playing. Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? The construction of mine is flawless and I'm a pretty thorough inspector. Bought an Ebony model and the finish and binding are perfect. The Tuners are very good and look great against the black Headstock. Reliability How has it stood up over time? I've only had it 1 1/2 weeks, but don't see any reason why it won't be as durable as the other Epiphones that I own. General Your general opinion of this product. I would recommend this piece of equipment to anyone who plays. Either professionally or, like myself, just a hobbyist. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The size and heft are just fine. A friend of mine has a 335 and I was always a little uncomfortable with its size, but no problem with the ES 339 either sitting or standing. Also, when standing, the balance is very nice. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? With the coil tapping you can get just about any sound you want out of it and they're easy to use and seem to be pretty tight and well made. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? See above.

Action How was the action out of the box? Action was good although now going to get set up Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? very well made Reliability How has it stood up over time? Had Guitar about 9mths Gigged quiet a lot only problem is sometimes not ho;ding tuning General Your general opinion of this product. this is a very good product and stands up to reviews also stands up against a 339 Gibby Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Feel just right for me play well fast control take a little getting used to can get good country sound Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Tone can be all of the above Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Brilliant

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? I have owned several Epiphones and have found them to be dollar for dollar a remarkable value. This guitar is no disappointment. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Difficult to know as I've had it for two days, but my other Epis have always held up just fine. General Your general opinion of this product. I love this guitar - beautiful finish and gorgeous wood (I have the Cherry finish). Also, AMS service was excellent. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? With a little set up (I do my own tech work - really, it's not that hard) it plays really well. The neck is great and gets better with familiarity. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Seems flexible - still learning the ropes. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Beautiful, couldn't ask for a finer looking guitar. Action How was the action out of the box? Again, this required a little work, but I think I've got it pretty well set up now, though I expect to have to adjust it as the guitar acclimates to this dry environment.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? A shrunk down Dot; very nice finish. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Just got it, so don't know, but have Dot, Casino and Lucille, and they are doing just fine after years of ownership. General Your general opinion of this product. Like the feel of the smaller body and the split pots are a great option. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The general feel of the guitar is a bit tighter than it's bigger cousins. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Does not resonate as well as the larger Dot. The pickups are not hot, more of a mellow, but with the split pots, you can change up to just about any sound. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Finish is great as always on these archtops. Action How was the action out of the box? Had to flip the neck pup bezel around and sand it down a bit as the pup angled down towards the neck at a radical angle due to the top plate being pinched down to meet the neck in so short a space.

Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? The Alnico Classic pick ups are not bad. You can get a lot of differnt tones from this guitar, thick and thin with the coil taps. It can give you that jazzy semi hollow tone, and get nasty as well. Great sustain and I am particularly please with the sounds I get playing rhythm. Don't see myself using the coil taps musch but it's nice to have. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Mine is Cherry and it looks fantastic! Action How was the action out of the box? set up from AMS was not good , not intonated well either, but not so far off that it took much time to get it up to spec. Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Came as advertised, couldn't find any flaws other than the fretboard was a bit dry , easily remedied, stays in tune. Not a fan of plastic tuners, call them "classic tombstone", they are still f**king plastic, They do the job and seem to stay in tune ok but eventually they are coming off Reliability How has it stood up over time? Haven't had it long enough but seems well made General Your general opinion of this product. 1st off, Note to AMS and for clarification for buyers, update your copy, the Basic 339 is the Pro model they DO NOT come with the Alnico 2 Pro-buckers, they come with the Hotter Alnico Classic Pro pick ups (Alnico V magnets). That said what a great value, It looks great, plays well I am very satisfied with this purchase! Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The smaller 339 body is comfortable to play, the neck is not really slim but not as chunky as the 50s Gibson style, it is not really a fast neck but well suited for blues, and classic rock.

Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? With the excellent stock ProBuckers and the coil taps, the variety of tones here is amazing. Go from a coil-tapped neck pickups to a full-on bridge humbucker for that soft-verse, heavy chorus tune ;) In full-humbucker mode, sounds like a woody, airy Les Paul. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? As mentioned above, flawless - I can't find a run, blob, dirt speck - anything - not even around the f-holes, which on import semis is a standardly-accepted wak spot; not here. The sunburst is ebenly done, and the wood underneath even looks good. Action How was the action out of the box? Now, here was IMO the weakest part of the guitar out of the box, and of course, many will say "well, that's personal taste that you can adjust". I will agree to an extent, but actually the CONDITION of the neck was one of the worst I've seen in a new guitar in quite some time. Firstly, the frets and fretboard were as dirty as I've ever seen, import or not. I spent about two hours just scrubbing the grime off. The fretwire, while done very evenly, was very rough-feeling on top. After scrubbing the board, I had to take steel wool to the frets to get the roughness off. Feels silky smooth, now :). Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? I will get into more detail below, but as far as the workmanship and finish, I could not find a single flaw - not even around the f-holes which was a pleasant surprise. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Not long enough to give it the longevity, but like any other guitar, if you take good care of it, it should last for many. many years. I can only see maybe having to replace the pickup selector anytime soon. General Your general opinion of this product. Well, for the asking price, the bang-for-buck is staggering. Great craftsmanship and tone, and the stock pickups are incredibly good, not to mention the coil taps. I may pick up another just to try some humbucker-sized P-90s. I have probably had around five or six various mid-level semis that I never was satisfied with in one aspect or another; this one is the first that made me smile very quickly. I would love to try the Gibby version to see how different it is, but the Epi is a very fine guitar in its' own right. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The neck is a '60s-style slim-taper, and feels great - not too thin, yet not baseball-bat thick. Fretwork is nice and even. The guitar itself is surprisingly lightweight - around 8 pounds. This is different from the other Epi semis which seem to weigh a lot more, even given the size difference. Controls are smooth, but the pickup switch is typically wonky and may need replacement. The coil-tap pots are a bit awkward. I don't know why they insist on witch-hat-style knobs with the coil taps, as it's a bit hard to get a grip when pulling them up; I may change to speed knobs.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? The ES339PRO is made extremely well. I have been using it exclusively for a month and it has become my main guitar. Reliability How has it stood up over time? I have had no issues what so ever! I expect it to hold up for ages. General Your general opinion of this product. I love this guitar. I have a Gibson SG Standard, an American Strat plus, and a Dean Z and the Epi is my guitar of choice. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Once I set it up to my specs, It plays and feels wonderful. I love the kneck. It's a little on the thin side which I love. Very nice fret and nut work. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? The guitar has a lot of sounds due in part to the coil taps. It can rock or it can twang. The pickups are just right for me. I'm a veteran player of 35+ years and I love the output and sound. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Excellent! Action How was the action out of the box? No guitar is right out of the box. They are set up for the general population. Everyone puts there own strings and setup on a new guitar. Or you should at least have it done. It makes a world of difference. Having said all that, the setup wasn't bad out of the box.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? The only difference from the Epiphone & Gibson guitars in most cases is the finish & of course the price. I have always played Gibson & Fender but now I play Epiphones as they sound just as good for 1/6th of the price. Reliability How has it stood up over time? I have only had for a couple weeks but I play & record with it everyday & all seems fine. Staying in tune is so important as I do a lot of movie sound-tracks & TV music work. I have always been impressed with Epiphone. General Your general opinion of this product. In my younger days playing with Stevie Nicks, Waylon Jennings, Bob Dylan, Tanya Tucker, list goes on & on. I played a sunburst 1965 Gibson 335 simi hollow body for sound versitility. This epiphone ES 339 that I bought from american musical is great. The sunburst, sound, Neck, staying in tune, is all as good as my 1965 Gibson es335 & they gave me a great price & 2 day delivery. I have bought a lot of Epiphone guitars from American Musical & they all sound great. Their service & price is top notch & I always look for the B Stock or out-let selection as there are always great deals to be had & I have never gotten a B-stock that had anything wrong with it. Buying a guitar from the internet is always risky but I am a believer now because of what i have bought from American Musical. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The neck was not quite as thin as I like but close enough that I still love it. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Pick-ups were nice & bity. I was prepared to put on different pick-ups but it sounds great so I don't have to change anything except that I will put on the capacitor for the coil tap to bring up the volume when they are on single pick-ups & give it a little more bite. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Sunburst finish looks just as good as my 1965 Gibson es 335 Action How was the action out of the box? The set-up of the Epiphone ES 339 was perfect right out of the box. It came with 9's strings & I use 11's & 14's on the little e & b strings so i had to change strings. That would be my only suggestion is that guitar should come with 10's instead of 9's-that is starting with the little 'e' string.

How was the action out of the box? worst part of the buy. it was playable but needed fret leveling (it buzzed like crazy) and an intonation set up. Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? my guitar tech was impressed with the workmanship considering it's a mass produced instrument Reliability How has it stood up over time? haven't had it long enough to know General Your general opinion of this product. extremely pleased with this guitar. I bought "scratched & dented" and the only flaw I could find was a miniscule speck next to one of the f holes. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? neck (after set up I mentioned above) is fast and easy transition from my strat. I've been playing a strat for 20yrs so the controls are new to me but easy to get to. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? it's dark and smooth like a 335 but w/ the coil tap you can get as bright as a fender. the p/u's are hot and mellow. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? the finish is beautiful (mine is the cherry)

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? I will say that this guitar has all the quality and dependability of the Epiphone Casino line and the other durable Les Pauls Epiphone has made. Epiphone made Les Paul's first guitars. Reliability How has it stood up over time? I have had the pleasure to own this unique instrument for three weeks. Some days I play it ten hours a day. The ES-339 is a joy to play plugged or unplugged. It still looks and sounds new. It has improved my playing because I can not to seem to put it down. I could be in love? General Your general opinion of this product. If I were to only have one guitar the ES-339 would be the one. I may not use my other guitars except my Fender Stratocaster with over-wound pups and 500k pots. But I would have to have an amp for my beloved Stratocaster. The Epiphone ES-339 gives me the acoustic optiion, not the output of a dreadnought. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? The guitar is light with a wide but thin neck. It is not a '61 SG nor a 60's Les Paul. It is a blend. This allows for speed and sustain. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? This guitar has varied tonal options. Semi-hollow bodies give pickips a bit of acoustic snap unique to the design. The Probuckers have a medium output. The Alinco II magnets give it a thick tone just like an ES should. The single coil is brighter but not in the Stratocater zone. There is enough tone in thsi guitar to suit anyone's pallet. The pickups respond to any type of effect I can toss to them or just unplug. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? I have mine in cherry. I like to see the wood grain through the paint. The guitar looks top. Action How was the action out of the box? The action was set up in the USA. There was a check list from the technician that set the gitar up. I have had no problems. If one had a buzzing sound, try applying more finger pressure at the fret.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? It looks like a guitar that costs a lot more. I was floored when I pulled it out of the box. Everything just seems really solid and well made. The tuners and the P/Us seem especially high-quality. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Don't know yet, as I got it yesterday. General Your general opinion of this product. I got my Epi ES-339 yesterday from AMS and I couldn't be happier with it. Everything about it is exceptional and it's even better looking in person - the photos just don't do it justice! Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Great so far. Controls feel solid, neck is substantial without being too thick. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Great, classic Gibson humbucker sound with the added bonus of coil taps. They really did a great job with these pickups. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? The finish is incredible. Sure, you can tell the difference between the Gibson ES-339 and this if you've held both, but the differences are much smaller than the 4x price increase to the Gibson. Action How was the action out of the box? This could be a bit better, as it's a bit buzzy especially when capoed. I'm going to treat myself to a pro setup so that should fix it right up!