Epiphone Masterbilt AJ-45ME

Lerxst

spaghetti and blankets
http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Acoustic/Electric/Masterbilt-2015-AJ-45ME.aspx

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A friend and I hit a few shops and played a bunch of guitars....this one really surprised both of us. $599 on the rack and it played & sounded nicer than most of the guitars in the room at 3xs the price. My friend's back was to me when I pulled it off the rack and started playing. He stopped playing the Gibson J45 and asked, what the heck is that? It sounds fantastic.

Easily my favorite guitar of the day that I could actually see buying. Unfortunately, when I went to hand it over to my buddy to play, I felt a crack on the side near the back, by the strap pin. Flipped the headstock on to the carpet to take a look and there was a big jagged crack in the side, about 3mm from where it joins the back and about 2.5-3 inches long. Only one in stock. I'm going to have to see if I can find another one locally & see if it's as good. Also played a $299 Yamaha that punched wayyyy above its price point.
 
I've been hearing good things about the Epi masterbuilt series acoustics for years, so this doesn't surprise me.
 
I've got the Epi Masterbilt DR500MCE, and I am totally impressed. I got it as a cheaper guitar that I would let other borrow, and for use as a practice guitar. What I got was a high quality Dreadnaught acoustic-electric, with a very nice sound, plugged or unplugged. I got a special deal and got the guitar and a nice case for about the price of the guitar ($599). I would definitely recommend giving this one a test drive if you get the chance.

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I like that a lot. The Gibson J45 is the only guitar of my youth that I still long for and this would be a good compromise.
I've always dug the slope shoulder dred shape and burst on the j45. I might have to break my self imposed no new guitars rule
 
I played two of these last month. They don’t sound as nice as $2,000+ acoustics. But they sounded much better than similarly priced guitars I tried from other brands. Definitely something worth considering as if your long term plan is a $2,000+ guitar from Gibson, Taylor, or Martin. If I saw one used on Craigslist I’d jump on it.
 
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