Epiphone AJ100 Solid top Jumbo

[Skip77]

I'm sure there's a thread or two about this one here somewhere. Some of you may recall that I got my daughter started on acoustic guitar at Christmas with a low end Yamaha classical. She's been playing it every day and making huge progress!

She loves to play my maple jumbo cheapie when visiting - the sound gets her and she likes how the strings are stiffer and more predictable. Because she has really taken to guitar, I'm thinking about making the small investment to add a steel string jumbo to her harem. If I buy an AJ100, I'll change the nut and saddle and put new strings on it, to improve the sound and playability as much as I can. I'm also planning a Gator case for jumbo's also, which is nearly the same cost as the guitar.

Can anyone here offer a review of this guitar? Does it have real binding or paint? Trussrod? I presume answer is yes to both questions but I'd like to know for certain. It has to be worth $119? I value your comments.

[just strum]

Skip,

If you haven't read it already, here is a little in the way of reviews.

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Epiphone/AJ-1/10/1

[Skip77]

Thanks Strum - yeah, I've already read those. They are old, from 04/05 and so I doubt they pertain to recent AJ100 - would you agree? Also, I wasn't sure they were talking about the same guitar because they called it AJ-1.

I'm hoping some players here can tell me first hand.

[Algonquin]

I thought the DR-100 was also a great little guitar for the moolaa.
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=4707

There are so many fine inexpensive instruments out there nowadays, and Epiphone has many in that niche.

Probably can't go wrong with the AJ-100 for the money.

[just strum]

Thanks Strum - yeah, I've already read those. They are old, from 04/05 and so I doubt they pertain to recent AJ100 - would you agree?

Possibly. Unless you follow a manufacturers product from year-to-year, you can be unsure of changes made over the years. When I look at HC for reviews, I am also looking at the overall review of the manufacturer. To do that you need to look at several models.

I wish I could tell you first hand, but hopefully someone will be along that knows about them.

[Skip77]

Thanks Strum - good advice. Thanks also, Algonquin - I'll check that link.

[Skip77]

Friends,
It took until this week before the Vintage Sunburst color was available. I ordered a pair of them with matching jumbo acoustic Gator cases; one for my daughter and one for me. They arrived yesterday. I may post reviews for the guitar and case separately in the Reviews folder also.

Guitars were $119 ea with free shipping and free shipping on cases ($99 ea)

For $119 the Epiphone AJ100 is a bargain. Solid spruce top and good woods used all around. Standard scale length and nut width. I went over both guitars carefully, checking finish, workmanship and looking for material defects. Both guitars are well finished and constructed - only flaws were minor:

1. Sound hole on both - inner edge not finished well in terms of stain and varnish - stain did not contact all wood on inner edge of sound hole and varnish has small beaded areas in places, minor but noticeable under close examination. Noticed what appear to be scalloped braces inside - nice.

2. Rosette on one guitar - hairline flaw in match to routed groove - only about 1/2" on an inner circle - filled in perfectly with varnish, no sign of it on surface finish but close look revealed the tiny gap - no problem.

3. Fretboard has smooth radius but is a little roughly finished - not enough to hurt playability. Interestingly, fretboard is dirty - has dried residue from sanding, finishing at factory. Easily cleaned with lemon oil at string change. Medium frets are reasonably smooth but not perfectly smooth. I mean, how much time can be invested on a $119 guitar that the factory probably got $40 for?

Those are the only blemishes and they are totally minor.

Factory strings were terrible - no surprise. Tinny sounding.
Replaced them with D'Addario 85/15 Bronzes - deep, fat tone resulting.

Of course, after string change, I hit the back of neck with grey scotch pad to break varnish surface tension - slick as silk!

I was pleasantly surprised to find both guitars setup perfectly on arrival. Warranty card included, had inspector initials and hand written measurements for string action at two frets - awesome. Plastic saddle is a must for replacement but I don't have the replacement saddles yet. Was going to make my own from bone and may do that eventually. For now I got lazy and ordered a pair of Gibson B-comensated 10" radius Tusq saddles $9 for the pair - can't beat that. Adding them will deepen tone and improve sustain even better.

Intonation is dead perfect on all strings for both guitars. The guitars already sound good as is.

Overall - very pleased. The cases are well-made and fit nicely - very heavy.
My daughter is coming over shortly and doesn't know I have this for her.
I'm looking forward to presenting her with this first steel string acoustic.
She hasn't a clue because it is not a gift occasion. She has been playing my jumbo maple cheapie whenever she visits and loves it. She has played her cheap Yamaha C45 classical every day since Christmas and has made amazing progress without lessons. I don't know how these young people do it - here first songs have been Dust in the Wind, which she plays better than me and several by Dave Mathews etc. Amazing.

Best of all, the AJ100, although a little smaller than my jumbo maple, has very comparable volume and tone. She's going to love it!

[sunvalleylaw]

Sounds like a great value, and I bet that is going to be fun to present the surprise present! Congrats!

[Kazz]

Great price, but this thing looks just like a dreadnought am I missing something or are the bouts just a bit bigger while holding the same characteristics as a dread?

My parkwood you can definitely tell it is a jumbo as the bouts are more 8 shaped

[Skip77]

Kazz - yes the body curves of this guitar are less figure 8 than most jumbo's.
Shape is more like a dreadnought. Epiphone calls it a new shape for jumbo guitars. Bouts are 11.5/4" and 16/4.75". My other jumbo has larger, deeper body. Not sure why they call this one a jumbo. Anyway, I think it is a little hard to beat for $119.

[Skip77]

Update for anyone interested in the AJ-100:

Changed plastic stock saddle for Tusq Gibson-style saddle with B-string compensation. Of course, I had to file it to intonate 4, 5 and 6 string plus add the radius.

Tusq saddle increased sustain a lot over cheap plastic saddle. Made the guitar much brighter as well. I prefer a mellow tone to bright and so I may experiment with an Ebony saddle which I expect will take the bright edge off a little. Nice guitar for the money. My daughter loves hers.

The Gator cases I got with them are killer. Really nice - good purchase.

I made a sound clip of the AJ-100 and added it to my guitar page (link at bottom) I am writing the tab for the original music played in the clip. Please keep in mind that I had to use the pc mic and had it actually dangling inside the sound hole of the guitar while crouching to keep it from swinging too much and bumping the inside - didn't play the song as smoothly as I like but you'll get a good idea about tone for AJ-100. Unfortunately, I did not fret last note properly and it comes off a little tense.

[Skip77]

Another update - I did not like the bright tone with TUSQ saddle, although volume and sustain were superb. I crafted another saddle from black ebony and notice a slight decrease in brightness, which is what I want. Will be interested to see how long the wood saddle lasts but for now, it sounds great.

My daughter and I are both enjoying the AJ-100 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable acoustic. Finals notes - both AJ-100s are holding tune better than any guitar I've owned and both came in the door with low action, perfect setup and dead-perfect intonation! Intonation has remained dead-perfect with all saddle replacements for both guitars.