Electric Guitars

[BryceS33]

So I've been looking for a es 335 style guitar for quite awhile now and I've narrowed it down to the Epiphone dot or dot studio.  I found a dot studio for $170 and a dot for $250. Both guitars are used and in good shape. So the question is should I just go for the dot since its only $80 more? Or is the studio just as good as the normal dot only more "stripped down"? If anybody has played both of these guitars your opinion would be greatly appreciated. Also, do these guitars sound basically the same? I would be using the guitar in drop B tuning mainly because I play most post metal/rock. I just want some good clean and a nice dirt tone. Thanks!

[deejaid]

Do you want seperate controls for each pickup?  Personally, I like one tone and one volume control.  The Studio looks nicer to me as well with the flat finish and black hardware.  I had a Cherry Dot and sold it for a Tele.  Wish I would have bought the Studio instead.

[BryceS33]

I also like one volume and one tone better than 2 of each. The only thing that's even slightly off putting is the black hardware color but I can get over that. I wonder if the pickups any worse than the standard dot pickups.

[BryceS33]

No one has played both of these guitars? Just looking for some insight.

[mschafft]

Epi339 pro
Smaller body, great guitar!

[BryceS33]

I saw those but I'm still thinking I'm going to go the dot route.

[gardo]

Dot, the extra controls are well worth having 

I tried the Dot and the Ibanez but prefered my brand X

[BryceS33]

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the dot! Should be here sometime next week. Gonna throw some 12-52's on it, tune it down to drop B, and then crank the orange and bring the doom. Pumped.

[gardo]

Great ,

Hope to see some pics

[Folky_Grunge]

Dot Studios are pretty nice. I had one for a while, and the only reason I got rid of it was because of the pickups. Thinking about it, I'm not sure if that was because they were bad or because I'm not really a humbucker guy. Anyway, for that price, it won't be a big deal to upgrade the pickups if you don't like them.

[larry50]

Having played both, I got the Dot.  And, having said that, I dropped a set of Gibson Classic 57's in it, and now, it's a poor man's ES335.  Sounds just great, and you can play just about anything on it, except perhaps for the brootz.  I like having dual tone and volume pots, but obviously that is a matter of personal taste and choice.  I think the Dot is finished better overall.  Not that the Studio is is bad, it isn't by any stretch for that price, I just like the looks and playability of my Dot better. 

So, for the $80 difference, I would go with the Dot. 

[Pine Apple Slim]

Most studios Ive picked up had better fit and finish. Dots are more prone to sharp fret ends and crappy pots in my experience. I like the pickups on the studios much better than the standard dot pickups.
But I hate te black hardware, and I too prefer the standard 2 vol & 2 tone controls. Altho having played teles for a while, Ive learned to get on better with just the 2 knobs.
My vote goes to the studio unless you plan on upgrading.
Altho, if you play a bunch of dots, you may find one thats special.

[BryceS33]

Manned up and bought the dot. I wont be bringing the brootz, per se, with this one. But it will be tuned low enough and played loud enough, through my Orange half stack, to kill any small children within a 100 ft radius.

[kayd_mon]

I'd say it's a good call on the Dot. I've picked up a few Dot Studios at guitar shops, and I've never really liked them.

[BryceS33]

I'm sure they are fine guitars, but GOD DAMN they are ugly. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't put black hardware on them but...they do.

[gdsmithtx]

When you say "post metal/rock" what exactly does that mean to an 48 y/o fart like me?  Because you're not going to get a lot of mid scooped chugga chugga out of any hollow body, if that's what it means.

I have a $244 Dot Deluxe that I dropped a few hundred in upgrades into, and it's now the 2nd sweetest sounding guitar I've ever had.  As a set, the stock Epi pickups are "meh": the neck pup is actually pretty good if it's lowered to nearly level with the pickup ring (but anything short of the tone knob full up sounds muffled and indistinct); unfortunately the bridge pup is really sterile and brittle sounding, with no depth, complexity or character. 

After putting a set of Duncan Seth Lovers (some very nice vintage PAF style) and some new pots in, it's amazingly good sounding, even with reasonably high gain.

______  An email excerpt from when I was researching my pickup options _________

Humbuckers

• Gibson 57 Classic / 57 Classic + - Supposed to suit this type of guitar extremely well, but are generally quite expensive ($250+ a set). Many people think this is the 335-style holy grail pickup set.

• Duncan Seth Lovers - Supposed to suit this type of guitar also very well, but are slightly less expensive ($170-$200 a set) . Are supposed to be low output with a lot of sweet character.

• Duncan 59s - Supposed to suit this type of guitar quite well, but pretty reasonably priced ($120-$160 set). I understand they're just a little bit hotter than vintage, but are warm and smooth. Some folks say they can be a little boomy, but many love them.

• Dimarzio Air Classic neck / 36th Anniversary PAF bridge - I've read a number of folks recommending this specific combo for a 335-type. I have a 36th Anniversary bridge pickup in another guitar, and can see how it's clarity and sweet character would work well here.

• StewMac Golden Age Parsons Street set - Very reasonably priced ($115 a set), they seem extremely well-received by the folks reviewing them on StewMac's site and the specs seem right in the area that I'm looking for.

• Irongear Blues Engine - Once again are priced right ($80 a set shipped), seem spec'ed out right, and seem very nice from the testimonials and from a mini review in Guitar Player magazine.

________

Humbucker-sized P90s*

• BG Pure90s are always highly recommended, but they only feature black plastic covers

• Kent Armstrong gold covered HB P90s - I don't see a lot of hype for these, but what I've read has been overwhelmingly positive; I don't think I've ever seen anyone say a bad word about them. Priced right ($100 set)
• Rose Black Diamonds - These look gorgeous and the clip sounds very nice ($150 set)
  
  
• GFS Mean90s - These guys always get a lot of backers; apparently GFS' best success, the one they got really right. Priced right ($80 set)
• Irongear Alchemist 90s - Seem at least as good as Mean 90s, and probably better. Priced right ($80 set).

[steve_man]

find a used Dot Plus...great guitars!

[BryceS33]

Post metal is a mixture of post rock, heavy metal, and shoegaze. It has also been called "thinking mans metal". Some good examples are ISIS, Neurosis, Cult of Luna, Pelican, Russian Circles, etc. It doesn't mean "a lot of mid scooped chugga chugga" I actually prefer to be heard in the mix so I have quite a bit of mids. I don't think I'll be changing the pickups at all in this guitar, maybe the pots and switch but the pickups will most likely stay. Below is a video from ISIS's most recent album Wavering Radiant. It is probably my favorite song off of the album. Check it out!

.

[gardo]

Thinking mans metal is an interesting concept as most metal has degenerated into "retard rock" ala Bevis and Butthead

I like the song you posted

[thom]

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BryceS33 wrote:
Manned up and bought the dot. I wont be bringing the brootz, per se, with this one. But it will be tuned low enough and played loud enough, through my Orange half stack, to kill any small children within a 100 ft radius.

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Seriously though, good call. Regardless of the more import stuff like fit/finish/etc, those studios look ugly as hell imo. I'm all for the simple bare bones type of approach when it comes to guitars, but an es-335 without binding is like a ford mustang without a horsie on it The real deal breaker is the black hardware though, so lame looking and pointless.