HNGD!

[RTH]

What could it be?

Its a PRO-1 acoustic! I went with the VSB to match my bass. The NA was very nice and the WR looked pretty good in person, too.

The back has a nice honey look to it.

And of course, the old school headstock with the metal logo plate is a nice touch. The Epiphone deluxe tuners are pretty decent so far. 18:1 ratio takes a bit of getting used to.

Group shot.

Its not a bad little guitar, but in all honesty, I think I liked the PR4-e better. But I just got it to plink around on anyway, so my requirements arent very stringent. The PR4-e had a more electric-like feel to the neck with super low action, which is what I really liked about it. The neck on the PR0-1 has a similar feel, but the jumboPRO frets are strange. Not bad, just strange. The action was stupid high on all of the PRO-1 guitars I looked at....IMO anyway. I guess with the jumboPRO frets, ultra light strings and the shorter scale (24.75) the focus is more on tension than action. Well, that just wont do for me. I've already had it on the bench and shaved away some of the nut and saddle. The action is much better now, but could still come down a little more.

All in all, its a decent guitar for $120. I mean, you get Deluxe 18:1 tuners, Graphtech Nubone nut & saddle, neck binding (black, and yes it is real binding), proprietary jumboPRO frets, Pro-Ease lubricated fretboard, a pinless bridge and all kinds of neat little things that make this a pretty unique guitar. And it even came with a soundhole humidifier.

Oh, and I made the guy at GC go to the basement and get me one that hadnt been manhandled on the showroom floor. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[Mark]

Nice looking acoustic Robin!

 

[IGRocker]

Love that headstock. One of my favs that Epi has done. Congrats!

 

[RTH]

Thanks, guys! I'm pretty stoked to have a new guitar. Its been a few years. I really dig the headstock too.

One of the features of this guitar is the "scratchless pickguard", which is really just a textured piece of plastic instead of a smooth piece of plastic. I bet that I can scratch it though.

 

[Bradley D. Lyons]

I bought one of those in Wine Red for my sister's Christmas present. It is a great playing guitar right out of the box and did not require any initial fret work. The neck is a work of art. Enjoy it.

 

[RTH]

I bought one of those in Wine Red for my sisters Christmas present. It is a great playing guitar right out of the box and did not require any initial fret work. The neck is a work of art. Enjoy it.

Thanks!

Yeah, the fret work is spot-on with this one. No high or unseated frets and nice, smooth fret ends. My only complaint was the action height, but I'm pretty certain that it fell within Epiphone specs for a low end acoustic, so it boiled down to a matter of taste. I like it low. Really low.

 

[RTH]

Oh, and this guitar came from factory 13 Daewon, China with the "inspected by (56) Gabor China" sticker as an FYI for anyone who is interested in that type of trivia.

 

[JohnnyGoo]

congrats on new geetar there

 

[Paruwi]

Happy New Pro-1 Day

 

[DPaulCustom]

Congrats RTH, that's a lot of perks on a supposedly lower end model!
Beautiful finish as well.
Enjoy her in good health, hope she is everything you wanted.

 

[Paruwi]

Thanks, guys! I'm pretty stoked to have a new guitar. Its been a few years.

Feeling like a child at christmas ?

 

[RTH]

Congrats RTH, that's a lot of perks on a supposedly lower end model!
Beautiful finish as well.
Enjoy her in good health, hope she is everything you wanted.

Yeah, its got a lot of neat stuff, plus the cool headstock. They have to keep the price point low though, I think mainly because it is a 24.75 scale acoustic meant to be played with ultra light strings, which is great for beginners or someone like me who just wants a bit of a beater, but not so good for someone that needs more out of an acoustic. The shorter scale and string sizing really affects the sound of the guitar, and not in a good way. It has no "thump" to it. Its loud, but not lively. It lacks tonal definition and can sound muddy. To a beginner, none of that really matters because playability is top priority, and playability it has. But you cant charge much more than a buck twenty for a non-electric acoustic that would never cut it on stage or in a studio. Though I have to admit, it sounded better than all of the other acoustics in the $100-$130 price range, and I tried them all. I found a really nice sounding (and looking) Yamaha for $150, but it had a Nato neck which felt like plastic with fake wood grain to me. It was really weird. If it would have had a smooth glossy neck, I might have bought that instead.

 

[RTH]

Feeling like a child at christmas ?

Yes, indeed. A 45 year old child as a matter of fact.

 

[Paruwi]

Yes, indeed. A 45 year old child as a matter of fact.

I know what you mean,

I had this feeling two times in the last weeks.....

 

[Darren]

Tried one in my local store the other day just for fun and have to say at £99 an absolute bargain great little guitar

 

[RTH]

So I changed the strings on it over the weekend, and I must say, it is a different guitar now. It is truly incredible how awful Epiphone strings are. And they were brand new, never played and not a showroom guitar. I made the guy go down to the storage room to get me a guitar that hadnt been molested buy greasy customers. Anyway, those Epiphone string are quite possibly the worst strings ever made. They were kind of stiff, sounded like mud when chorded and wouldnt stay in tune. Did I mention they were new? Right. So I strung it up with some cheap D'Adarrios (my favorite!) and it plays and sounds so much better. It is quite a bit livelier with some "pop" now. It also articulates much better, which is what I was looking for. I did go up a size though, which probably helps. As for staying in tune, I strung the guitar, gave the strings a really quick stretch, tuned it up one time and it hasnt gone out yet even a little bit.

So the lesson to learn from this is; get those terrible Epiphone strings off of your new axe even if the strings are new too. Just awful.

 

[pomaranc]

So I changed the strings on it over the weekend, and I must say, it is a different guitar now. It is truly incredible how awful Epiphone strings are. And they were brand new, never played and not a showroom guitar. I made the guy go down to the storage room to get me a guitar that hadnt been molested buy greasy customers. Anyway, those Epiphone string are quite possibly the worst strings ever made. They were kind of stiff, sounded like mud when chorded and wouldnt stay in tune. Did I mention they were new? Right. So I strung it up with some cheap D'Adarrios (my favorite!) and it plays and sounds so much better. It is quite a bit livelier with some "pop" now. It also articulates much better, which is what I was looking for. I did go up a size though, which probably helps. As for staying in tune, I strung the guitar, gave the strings a really quick stretch, tuned it up one time and it hasnt gone out yet even a little bit.

So the lesson to learn from this is; get those terrible Epiphone strings off of your new axe even if the strings are new too. Just awful.

Shouldn't epis come with D'Adarrios though?

 

[Alty]

Shouldn't epis come with D'Adarrios though?

Not this time apparently, they are listed as 'Epiphone Ultra-Light (9-47)' which could mean anything and 9's on an Acoustic!?!

 

[Doug.Jarrold]

A big congratulations on your NGD it looks A beaut ,yes I agree ,new guitar new strings the ones on my new Epi made my finger tips go green :-( so I changed them

 

[RTH]

Shouldn't epis come with D'Adarrios though?

I've never heard of Epiphones coming with D'Adarrios. They always come with Epiphone branded strings and sometimes Gibson strings on certain models. Remember, D'Adarrios have color coded ball ends. Think about how many new Epiphones you have seen with color coded ball ends. None of the new Epis I've bought over the past four years have come with D'Adarrios.