I’ve had the epiphone slash j45 for 2years now, I stopped looking at guitars after I bought it. It’s my work horse. I did replace the plastic pins with wood and took off the scratch guard. Taking the scratch guard off it did wake it up tonally. And yeah I’ve got the trusty elixir strings on mine too.
Hi there Graham. I'm a retired guitarist, but in my retirement I've bought a few guitars to keep me company. These guys don't have to slog it round noisy pubs - they are just for my delectation. I bought the inspired by Gibson Epiphone J45 and the J200 - I figured I'd never be rich enough for the Gibson versions. I bought the J45 with a cutaway. Its a nice guitar - stays in tune. On both of them I had a luthier cut holes in the side to make battery compartments. I don't like having to stick my hand through the sound hole. Would be interested to hear your music.
Have one , gig with it regularly it's a great guitar, my local guitar tech put a new nut with wider string spacing because it's what I am used too , also put an LR Baggs anthem in it and did remove the huge pickguard , great video man enjoyed it 🇮🇪🤘
@@GraemeCampbellMusic I left it off dude , if I see a pick rash coming on I will probably put another one on it , might even put a clear one on because I like the look of it without it , haven't said that I have it off over a year and it's my main giging guitar ( acoustic solo gigs) and I do 80% strumming and it's holding up great no pick rash yet
Hi Graeme, I’ve had mine about 6 months or so now and it just keeps getting better. Great review and I couldn’t agree more. I bought mine used for $450 USA, which almost made me feel guilty, as if I stole it 😂. Again, great review, brother man 👍🏻
That's great to hear Randy. I've made a change to the electronics since this video (changed to a Fishman Rare Earth) and gigged it heavily. I used it in a bar gig last night in fact. It's turning into a real workhorse. My Alvarez and Taylor are a little sweeter in tone, but the Epi feels and sounds very robust, prefect for the gigs I do.
Good review of the Epi I by G J45. I bought one and the Inspired by Gibson Hummingbird ironically also from Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh. I subsequently replaced the very thick pick guard on the J45 with a genuine and much thinner Gibson one I managed to pick up on ebay, not sure it has made much difference to the sound but certainly looks better. Both great value guitars for the money and enough wood in them to keep you warm through the whole winter if it ever came to that.
Great review! I have a Gibson J45 standard and for the price of this IBG, definitely worth it! Try playing the excellente by epiphone. That will be my next purchase
Thanks for your demo. I bought one from Guitar Guitar this year and, like you, replaced strings with Elixir. Sounds, deep and full, just what I wanted. Look forward to watching your demo plugged in.
Thankyou. I didn’t do the stock plugged in video as my pickup had issues (there’s another vid). Nothing major just needed to re-sit the saddle properly as it wasn’t completely flat. However I just decided at that point that to put in a rare Earth pickup instead, which suits me better for the gigs I do. Very happy with the guitar though, it gets gigged multiple times a week.
Terrific review, Graeme. I’ve enjoyed mine for a few months now. I did replace the tuning machines, just to get a bit of improvement in stability. Interestingly, they are no longer making these, at least not in the Indonesia factory. So,who knows- maybe they’ll appreciate in value over time. Cheers
I’d heard they are now getting made at the Epiphone factory in China, so we’ll see how the new ones are. Mine has been ok tuning wise, weirdly when I switched from Dadarrio XS back to Elixir I stopped having tuning and intonation issues 🤷♂️. Might try some grovers in there eventually though.
I just bought an eipophone j-45 studio model….i love it. Not the liveliest sound in the world, but for $340 USD, worth every penny. Frankly, I’ll probably never be a good enough player to justify a different/higher end model guitar.
Hey Brother, you should look in a 70's era Guild D25. You could easily pick up 50ish aged gem for the price of the Epiphone. Extremely undervalued in the vintage market. Sweet sweet warm sounds
Great review thanks. I have a Tanglewood winter leaf & I struggle playing barre chords as the action is high. In your next video could you film the guitar & show the action, there is a brief shot but difficult to see. Thanks 😊
Yes, I'll do an update as I've since removed the pickup and installed a Rare Earth soundhole pickup. If your Takamine is too high, it's definately worth taking into a guitar shop to get the saddle sanded down a bit.
Have one of these from the first year Epiphone put them out, I believe 2020. It's built like a tank and has not only held up very well, but is also opening up tone wise as its aged. There's a very thin finish on these that I think is helping with the top sounding better over time. I don't know for certain. Also own a 2001 Gibson J-45. I love both guitars, but play the Epiphone a lot more these days. Just one of the best values on the market for under $1k USD and better than the G series and Studio built USA models Gibson is putting out. There is no substitute for solid Mahagony back and sides with a solid Sitka Spruce top.
@GraemeCampbellMusic not a huge difference in the sound in all reality But I can tell the J45 is louder overall. The Hummingbird is just more sonically even and pleasing to my ear. But it's all preference, they're definitely very nice for the price point. And it sounds like you got a good one.
So, if the Texan is the Epiphone copy of a Gibson J45 then I’d like to if the Epiphone IBG J45 is a downmarket version of the Masterbilt Texan. FWIW, I’ve been playing my Masterbilt Texan for five years now and I’ve tried a few Gibson J45s at the big box store. In my view the Masterbilt sounds better. I haven’t tried the IBG J45 but my expectation is that it will be similar. From a sound regard the Gibson has a more resonant sound that the Epi. I’m chalking that up to the nitro finish on the Gibson versus the poly finish on the Indonesian Texan.
I've not played a Texan (I would love to) but I think the biggest difference would be the scale length, which is 24.75 on the J45 (both Gibson and Epi) and 25.5 on the Texan. I've just started using using 13s on my J45 which has made further improvements.
@@GraemeCampbellMusic the scale length would make a difference. The shorter scale means lower string tension. In turn, that means easier fretting. I guess my next trip to the big box store will involve pulling an IBG J45 off the wall and test driving it. Thanks for the interesting content! Cheers Sir!
I'm thorn between the Guild DS-240 (500$ less) and the Epiphone.. Yes the Guild isnt a full solid wood like the Epiphone but.. To play at home.. anyway thanks for the video.
I have the Epiphone J45 and I think it is an excellent guitar, but my question is if the 2 guitars weigh the same, because the Epiphone is very heavy, I don't have how to compare, since I don't have the Gibson, could you clarify this doubt. And if all solid body guitars are that heavy?
I have a Gibson j-45 and I have been trying the elixir of lights on it. The first through third are 13s forth through sixth are 12s.. Worth a try. The Epiphone does sound good. Is the scale length the same as Gibson?
Actually I had one of these and took off the pick guard and It did not make any difference, it just looked better and maybe was a tad lighter. Dont waste your time its not worth the blisters. LOL.
That's a shame. Mine has really opened up now, after lots of gigging. I've got 13s on it too which made a huge difference. Sorry yours didn't work out.
