Epiphone Joe Pass and ES-175 - Still good for the $?

[mcrombaldi]

Hey guys, I'm new in the forum, and I live in Brazil. And recently I had the pleasure to run by a BRAND NEW 2014 Epi ES-175 premium. Yes, brand new. Guitar was in the shop hanging there for 7 years.

I made a great deal. Of course I was a little worried it was not original and maybe the pups were not original.

So I emailed Epiphone with the serial number and they confirmed the guitar was original.
Bought it, went home and went for the dissection. All original, Gibson 57' pickup in the neck and 57' plus in the bridge...to my surprise.

Is one of the finest guitar I've owned, great playing (yes I agree the neck is a little thin, but since I'm small, no problem with that), great sounding, confortable, beautiful.
As said before, if you find one with original pickups, I would go for the ES175 prem, although they seem not easy to find.

[Esport]

Never played a JP Epi or a Premium but I had a non-premium Epi 175 that I did a full electronics overhaul on as well as a neck pup swap. It turned out to be really sweet after the upgrades. I didn’t touch the tuners or the nut as they were fine for me. I’ve read over and over that the Premium is a great value and if you can get one for a good price that’s still original I’d guess it would not only hold better resale potential but also outclass the JP. It’s pretty widely regarded as a killer 175 with a lower entry price.

[Esport]

I also had a an Ibanez AF-95 that was just beautifully made, had a dynamite neck and was imminently easy to play due to excellent ergonomics. Looked great, too. I regret letting it go.