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I got this guitar after viewing A LOT of videos in YouTube and, without touching it or playing it, I knew I wanted it. The vast number of tones and the twangy sound was what I was looking for when I got my G5420T Gretsch.Unfortunately the electronics in that guitar left a lot to be desired. The tone pots were basically unusable and the pick ups, while nice and clean, had very little gain. And then the Swingster showed up. The following is my personal experience:AestheticsI got the Candy Red because my Gretsch is also red. Both are beautiful but the Swingster has the Flame top that makes it much more appealing. Also the headstock and neck decorations are very pretty. The binding looks nice and goes all the way around the contour of the guitar as well as the f holes. That is usually a place where you can see the quality of the work. Here you can see it is nice; not perfect, but nice. The Bigsby with the contoured arm screams for attention and compared to the flat arm on the G it is beautiful.I haven’t seen any flaws on the finish but I really haven’t looked that hard... after all, I enjoy looking at it, why bother looking for flaws?The one thing you must know... it is a pain in the kisster to keep it clean. The finish is NOT player friendly. The open tuners add to the appeal of the old school looks.Electronics:2 pick ups, neck and bridge. Each With volume and tone controls that can be used independently. Tone controls are push pull to get the PUs in SERIES or PARALLEL. Be aware that pulling or pushing the knobs DOES NOT split the PUs. Also be aware that when used in parallel, volume for any of the PUs becomes a MASTER VOLUME. If you lower the volume on one up, you lower both... weird... but that’s the way it works. Haven’t been able to ascertain whether tone works the same... I keep forgetting cause I get caught on the playing and truly I don’t care to be critical of it because it is VERY ENJOYABLE.The pick ups have a PHENOMENAL sound. There is this beautiful TWANG to them when played in series.No issues with the frets. Nice work and the neck is easy to play. Not sure about the nut. Need to find out the material, but at the other end we have a licensed Bigsby... great action and sound.So... to close: can a person love an inanimate object. I don’t know about you... don’t care really, but I sure am getting there.

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This is the first guitar I have purchased that I am COMPLETELY satisfied with. The playability, the quality of construction, and the flawless finish. Epiphone has definitely stepped up and started producing quality guitars... I believe they may be giving Gibson a run for their money....

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The Best guitar I've ever played. Out of the box did not need a set up,was perfect. The sound is right on the money.fantastic for 50's and 60's rock n roll and then some. This is the perfect guitar.Thank you Epiphone.

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i expect this will keep my a happy bunny for a long long time,it's better than i can play so i gotta get my chops up and this is the guitar to do it on!if it was lost or stolen i'd have another on order before the time i'd got home!i bought it when a top guitar magazine were raving about it and said "we're so sold on this it ain't funny"!

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This guitar will definitly be a keeper in my collection.

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I bought it for the long haul. The last new guitar I bought has been around since 1975. Hope this one lasts as long!

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Where I live (Montana) nobody stocks guitars like this so playing it beforehand was not an option. I drooled over this instrument online for five months until I could order it. I looked at every photo I could find online, and have to say that the guitar in my hand was much darker orange than I was led to believe from the photos. Will say this about the photos in the ZZounds website, they leave a lot of room for improvement. When I picked it up out of the box for the first time, the little silver center of the tone knob fell off the guitar and had to use crazy glue to re-attach it to the knob. There was a "pimple" I guess you would call it of clear coat left ontop of the headstock, like the guitar was hung upside down for the clear coat to drip after application. I've always wanted a jazz guitar but never played one, here in Montana I'm like the only person in the state that plays jazz. The Swingster compared side by side with my neighbors PRS solidbody, the sound has a very broad depth to it and a quality of tone that the PRS couldn't touch. The PRS in comparison sounded institutional if you know what I mean. The series/parallel function of the pickups is something else I'm not used to in my 34 years of playing, but have to say it really adds to the sound quality. Also I have a huge problem with made in china (anything) was relieved a little when I saw the made in Indonesia sticker on it. Overall there are some finishing issues (like the clear coat drip) that will have to be taken care of ( I have a little OCD obsessive compulsive problem ) I plan on replacing the black bell knobs with clear amber knobs, but otherwise I'm satisfied. It does play very well, and my neighbor whose been playing longer than I have 40+ years likes it as well. I've offered to let him use it on his next album.

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Got it in Wine Red. Beautiful instrument. Set up nicely when it arrived. zZounds is great for getting things to you on time, but this review is for the guitar. The fit and finish is flawless. The tone and controls are perfection. I've never had a more playable neck on any guitar I've ever had. Now the problem: The only problem I've found is if you use the tremolo bar... DON'T expect the guitar to be in tune when you're finished! For this reason, because to me it's important, I gave an overall rating of 4 stars. Everything else, I like a lot. I haven't had the need to contact for support, but being as the recommended support is Gibson, Inc, I believe there would be no problem.

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Being mostly a solid body guitar player for most of my life, I ventured into semi-hollow land a few years ago and wished I had made the trip a long time ago. As much as I enjoyed the new sound and vibe, I did have a hollow body guitar on my radar. I thought one day I'd buy a hollowbody...one day. Well, that day finally came and I honestly wish I had done bought one sooner. One of the best parts of this type of guitar is that it has the acoustic guitar thing down no problem. You can sit and strum unplugged as long as you like, but the magic comes when you plug it in. Now these guitars will feedback like crazy when plugged in so knowing where to stand in relation to your amp is critical. But there is something about this guitar when plugged in that seems to have a soul or its own energy...basically it comes alive. When you strum a chord it's as though there is something extra going on inside the guitar and being able to control that adds a new dimension to my playing. My Epi Swingster in Wine Red was made in Indonesia, as was my LP Custom in Alpine White and both guitars are well made. Not perfect, but well made. Worth the price paid, as I believe Epiphone makes a better archtop than solidbody anyway. My Swingster has some slight finish issues: at the edges of the body and binding of the f holes one can notice some slight irregularities in the stain, but I do read that this can be commonplace for hollowbodies with binding. Overall, the spruce top is a fine looking piece of wood, and the sides and back have some depth and movement to the flame. In short, she's a looker and it takes close inspection to find the finish irregularities. The C shaped neck is comfy. Not near as thick as the beefy slim taper D, but thicker than the anorexic 60s slim taper D. Talk about cramped hands after lots of chords. The first preference of my big hands is for the beefy slim taper D, but this C shaped neck was easy to get used to. Very comfy. The frets were very well done with no sharp edges and no dead spots. I applied several coats of Dr. Ducks Axe Wax as the fretboard was looked very dry. The neck was straight and the guitar needed a small intonation adjustment. I adjusted the pickup height of both and I was good to go. But a guitar ain't all about looks now is it (just look at Willie Nelson's Trigger). With the push-pull tone controls you can go from series to parallel with the pickups. I'm still finding tones I like from the Swingbucker pickups. I like Bridge pickup Tone up/ Vol. 3-5 & Neck Tone down and Vol 10 and pickup selector middle position. While they look like a Filtertron style, I have yet to see one disassembled and I suspect it's just the usual humbucking business inside. No matter, so far I like what I hear. For now I think the only upgrade I'll do is de-solder the stock caps and solder in some PIO caps I have. Simply doing an orange drop cap swap will make a noticeable improvement especially if the stock caps are ceramics. Yuck. Mine did not come with a roller bridge and using the Bigsby tremolo will cause it to go out of tune. I believe a new nut will help cure that to a large extent. A tension bar of some sort would help. So to summarize, I believe the guitar is well made and worth the price. I understand the Swingster was going after the Gretsch rockabilly thing and I believe they have carved out a niche in that scene.

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I`d always wanted a white falcon but, that eye watering price for someone who plays at home was way too much, nope, never gonna happen! then looking at `F hole` guitars on some site or other I stumble on the Epi` in pearlescent white, gold binding & less than 500 sheets!!! it was my bithday gift from my family & I`m blown away firstly at it`s looks, then I checked the build quality-really good, then the sounds-all present & correct, I play rock & so does this guitar, ok, it`s no Ibanez shredder but, hello Malcolm Young & I`m in heaven, ths guitar takes me there, absoloute bargain, & it looks bloody gorgeous!

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Now that I have had the Emperor Swingster for three weeks, I need to add a few things. At the end of the guitar where the Bigsby attaches to the body, both screws holding the Bigsby on are not straight, they are crooked and cannot be fixed without damaging the guitar further. The nut holding the 1/4 output jack continues to come loose causing noise. There is a buzz on the high E string at 13th fret. I also feel compelled to again say that the guitar that I was shipped is many shades darker orange than the guitar in the online photos.

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Beautiful Guitar and Sounds great. Only thing is that it only has 21 frets and the 12 fret was to close to the body. Could not get use to that.

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I got this guitar after viewing A LOT of videos in YouTube and, without touching it or playing it, I knew I wanted it. The vast number of tones and the twangy sound was what I was looking for when I got my G5420T Gretsch.Unfortunately the electronics in that guitar left a lot to be desired. The tone pots were basically unusable and the pick ups, while nice and clean, had very little gain. And then the Swingster showed up. The following is my personal experience:AestheticsI got the Candy Red because my Gretsch is also red. Both are beautiful but the Swingster has the Flame top that makes it much more appealing. Also the headstock and neck decorations are very pretty. The binding looks nice and goes all the way around the contour of the guitar as well as the f holes. That is usually a place where you can see the quality of the work. Here you can see it is nice; not perfect, but nice. The Bigsby with the contoured arm screams for attention and compared to the flat arm on the G it is beautiful.I haven’t seen any flaws on the finish but I really haven’t looked that hard... after all, I enjoy looking at it, why bother looking for flaws?The one thing you must know... it is a pain in the kisster to keep it clean. The finish is NOT player friendly. The open tuners add to the appeal of the old school looks.Electronics:2 pick ups, neck and bridge. Each With volume and tone controls that can be used independently. Tone controls are push pull to get the PUs in SERIES or PARALLEL. Be aware that pulling or pushing the knobs DOES NOT split the PUs. Also be aware that when used in parallel, volume for any of the PUs becomes a MASTER VOLUME. If you lower the volume on one up, you lower both... weird... but that’s the way it works. Haven’t been able to ascertain whether tone works the same... I keep forgetting cause I get caught on the playing and truly I don’t care to be critical of it because it is VERY ENJOYABLE.The pick ups have a PHENOMENAL sound. There is this beautiful TWANG to them when played in series.No issues with the frets. Nice work and the neck is easy to play. Not sure about the nut. Need to find out the material, but at the other end we have a licensed Bigsby... great action and sound.So... to close: can a person love an inanimate object. I don’t know about you... don’t care really, but I sure am getting there.

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