Epiphone Classic SST

[LOSTVENTURE]

Does any one here have any experience with this model. It seems sort of new, and interesting, but I can't get my hands on one and I can't find any reviews on the net.
Thanks,
Don

[Dennisthe Menace]

Don,
Epiphone originally came out with these in the early to mid 90s. It might just be that Epiphone (Gibson) wants to give it a booster shot
just to increase their sales. I too had a heck of a time trying to find info on it, but finally found this post from Harmony-Central.....

Make sure to read the 4th post down from 'clame.'
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/sho ... man-Pickup

[GattonFan]

I had a Gibson SST back in the early 90s - a solid guitar, nice acoustic/electric sound, good for finger pickin', but not a guitar that I liked enough to keep around. As I recall, I traded it for a pedal steel. No idea of the quality of the Epis, though.
Dennis

[LOSTVENTURE]

Thanks for the quick responses, and particulaly Dennis' reference.
I do notice that most of these reviews seem to be based on the 90's models which featured a piezo pick-up. From what I have been able to gather from dealer listings, the latest models employ a totally new, nano-based bridge and a new "Shadow" pre-amp. I'm hoping that these changes are in response to .the negative feed back on the older models.
I can't say whether it justifies a purchase or not. So I'm talking to the local Sam Ash and they tell me that I can order the guitar, play it and then make up my mind at that time. They also offer a 30 day full return if I'm not completely happy with it.
Since I can't remember the last time I was "completely happy" other than my Hallmark purchase, this could be interesting.
Thanks again guys, and if anybody gets their hands on a 2011 model, I would really appreciate your thoughts.
Don

[LOSTVENTURE]

I finally got the guitar from Sweetwater, and was not "completely happy" with it. The problem was that the bridge saddle sat so high, and created such a drastic break angle, that it cause the windings on the A and D strings to separate. Thus, I could not keep those strings in tune. That sort of killed the thrill big time. It might have been cheap strings, but I did not want to gamble any further. There also seemed to be a considerable intonation problem beyond the 5th fret, which again might or might not have been the strings.
While I was discussing these issues with my tech, he mentioned that Godin produced a similar model, the ACS-SA, and it was considered to be one of the best in the field. So I'm looking into that.
Does anybody have experience with that line of guitars? Again I would like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks,
Don

ps: Sweetwater is letting me hold the guitar untill I make a decision on the Godin. Great people to work with there.

[olrocknroller]

I finally got the guitar from Sweetwater, and was not "completely happy" with it. The problem was that the bridge saddle sat so high, and created such a drastic break angle, that it cause the windings on the A and D strings to separate. Thus, I could not keep those strings in tune. That sort of killed the thrill big time. It might have been cheap strings, but I did not want to gamble any further. There also seemed to be a considerable intonation problem beyond the 5th fret, which again might or might not have been the strings.
While I was discussing these issues with my tech, he mentioned that Godin produced a similar model, the ACS-SA, and it was considered to be one of the best in the field. So I'm looking into that.
Does anybody have experience with that line of guitars? Again I would like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks,
Don

ps: Sweetwater is letting me hold the guitar untill I make a decision on the Godin. Great people to work with there.

I have seen some beautiful Godin's, and some that have had issues with frets sticking out beyond shrunken necks... All guitars can suffer from this, and I saw this particular example in a store notorious for selling "out of the box" with no concern for quality controls in between stocking and selling...if you buy the guitar without getting a set-up included, it's your problem. Okay, that said, Godins are one of the best values for the dollar that I have seen. I have not played a Godin that didn't play well, and sound good...with proper set-up!

Another excellent alternative is the Hagstrom Viking Deluxe, although it uses humbuckers exclusively. The necks on these units are AWESOME. You would have to add the under the bridge pickup, but the price-point, at around $800.00, would allow for this quite nicely.