PROS: Firstly thanks to Thomann and Mr.Ertugrul Güney, super-fast action, I ordered Wed. evening and the next day guitar was on the road to me. It arrived in my country in 2 days. Very well package, Thomann's second card box provides extra protection.
The guitar came without any scratches, dents, any other cosmetic issues. Out of the box, the frets were very well rounded, no sharp edges, action is a little bit high but no buzzing frets ( which is very important to me ). The guitar came with 0.10 gauge strings. I usually use 0.12's but since there are no buzzing frets I have decided to keep 0.10s for a while for the guitar to get used to the local climate. With factory setup and strings, it's ready to play. Pretty impressing.
The neck pickup is pretty well, very nice articulation, the separation between strings, no muddy lows, very well sustain and punch. I was planning to replace it with the original Gibson 57 Classics but it seems to be no need to spend extra money for the neck pickup. ( By the way, I am a jazz player, I usually prefer darker tones, it may vary depending on your taste and musical tendencies )
Tuners are Epiphone branded and it's OK. It holds the tuning till the next morning and continues to play without making tuning. ( Please consider I am a jazz player and do not prefer to bend so much ).
The finish is OK. But have had some thin spots on the finish that expose underlying sanding imperfections.
The fretboard wood is Indian laurel. I saw some very lightish brown examples on different brands. I was expecting light brown color ( which I don't like ) and planning to use brown wood stain to get darker it. But out of the box, the color was quite good, I could not differentiate it from rosewood if I don't know it's Indian Laurel.
CONS: Neck is quite chunky. It is the chunkiest neck that I ever had. But somehow it is comfortable. I have small hands but still can play comfortably. If I had a chance to demo the neck I probably might not buy the guitar ( which would be a big mistake ). I mean in a first glance it seems to you to be uncomfortable if you have small hands or like thinner necks, but it doesn't affect the playability as much as it seems.
The bridge pickup is quite tinny. It sounds like a tin can. To be honest, when I first tried the bridge pickup I suspect wrong wiring because of its thin and radio-like sound. But it wasn't. You might consider changing bridge pickup as far as I observed.
Bindings are could be wider from the front view. ı have spotted I glue stain on between the bing and the top of the guitar ( it is not a big issue, it was looking like a very faded fingerprint)
Sound comes and goes when you change the Pickup selector switch. I read it was a common issue for the Epiphones. Which is not a big deal for me.
OVERALL: Pretty nice ES 335 copy for the price. It feels like a much higher-end guitar. No need to change the hardware IMO. Sounds and feels like a real ES 335. I am pretty happy with the guitar. I rate it as a five-star.
