Epiphone AJ100 Solid top Jumbo

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

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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!