My guitar arrived with no discernible blemishes at all. The set-up was good and it was playable right out of the box. I should mention that the finish is beautiful....except for a slight darkening on the edges of the fretboard, obviously overspray from the black neck.

The only thing that bothers me about this fine guitar is the screws. For some reason, Epiphone uses the cheapest, most poorly machined screws available. I would be willing to pay extra for a set of steel screws (Chrome plated perhaps, like the original 335's and most other US guitars)to replace the rather dodgey aluminum things supplied with the instrument. (Perhaps someone could offer an upgrade kit?)

All in all, a fantastic value for a fine instrument.

a good deal for a 335 clone. the tuners are the only problem, they're cheap and i replaced them for 45 bucks and it stays in tune nicely now. this is a bang for the buck guitar that rivals the gibson 335 big brother for $2000 less.

I purchased a black Dot Blem for my Christmas from me to me gift. I was really afraid of buying a guitar that I haven't touched but with the return policy GV has I decided to give it a try. It came quickly and nicely packaged. I opened it expecting the worse but to my surprise I couldn't find a flaw anywhere. It looks great! So I figured it must be the playing that is out of wack. Sure enough when I got it tuned up the cords sounded terrible. Just before I repacked it I tweeked the bridge a bit and Whala, now it sounds GREAT and I love playing it. Pickups and knobs work fine.

I have had my Dot for about a year. I've played it at gigs, open mics and pick up jams and traveled with it quite a bit. The original set up was fair but after a few months breakin I had it professionally set-up and now it plays like a dream ... mellow when you want it and screaming the next moment. Initially the neck pickup sounded very muddy to me but some tweeking of my amo settings straightened it out. My only real complaint is with the volume/tone pots. They lack fine or consistent control. The volume will jump up or down rather than a constant gradual change as you rotate the knob. Not the quality of my 70s ES335 but for the price ... a great guitar!

Hard to beat the Dot for value. I don't have a lot of cash to throw at guitars these days, but I needed a reliable, flexible guitar for studio and stage. I think I got the right one.

Most importantly, I needed a humbucker-equipped rig (all my guitars are single-coil and hum a lot) for studio use. Not only are the standard pickups quiet, I was surprised at the output. They are generally dark - as they're supposed to be. In lead position, I found the bridge PU a little tinny, and I'd love to have just a little bit more brightness in the neck PU, but that's just nitpicking.

The neck is comfortable, and easy-to-play. A better picker than I claimed it to be "fast," even if I'm not. I'd prefer it to be a little flatter, but it's still probably the second-most comfortable neck in my collection. Intonation was great all the way up, and no fretting out.

Tuners seem fine. No problems there. I've noticed no slippage of any kind. It's still got the factory strings on it, so we'll see what happens when I string it a little heavier. I was really, really pleased that I got the chrome-plated hardware. Some Epis have the gold, which generally rubs off with a little playing, and looks awful.

The finish was what I was most impressed with. I bought a scratch-n-dent, but couldn't find the scratch/dent anywhere. The lacquer was blindingly bright, and the paint was well-done (I got the tobacco burst). I was even impressed with the wood grain - it's almost got a flamed maple look.

I can't find a single thing to complain about. It's surely not the greatest guitar ever, but it's an impressive jack-of-all-trades, and a steal at the price. I only wish I had bought it years ago.