Don't make 'em like they used to...

[cassius987]

...they make them better! Picked up an Indonesian-built Epiphone Hummingbird Artist today and I've been jamming on it for the last few hours to see if it lives up to its purpose, which is to help me practice singing and harmonizing. I find with a good guitar this is much easier than with a bass, although ultimately that's how it all gets done. I really do make great leaps on new material if I start out with the guitar though, and when I bring over to bass my ear is a lot more prepared.

The cool thing is, after picking this one out from a group of close to twenty others between $200 and $800, over the course of two weeks of shopping, I feel like I got a great deal because the fit and finish and the setup are all amazingly good. I have really been grooving on this thing--one less than perfect fret (the 13th) on the high E string is the only flaw I have found and it doesn't bug me much for something that cost $249.

I'm actually curious if anyone knows what strings Epiphone ships these with, as I would like to purchase something similar in terms of size and wrap material when the time comes to replace these. They are bronze wrap E-D, and plain B-E.

[Clint]

They ship with Epiphone strings, I think .011 to .052. They are very hard to find. A friend of mine really loves his Epi and the strings that came with it, so he's constantly on the lookout for Epiphone strings.

[cassius987]

Thanks Clint! These are indeed good strings, at least to this acoustic guitar neophyte.

[Clint]

You're welcome. The only place my friend has been able to find them lately is Sweetwater.com. Strum on!

[cassius987]

I took the guitar to my luthier today because it hasn't been playing well. Lots of frets not sounding. Apparently, Denver's dry air is wreaking havoc on the poor thing, even though I am keeping a wet sponge in the case. He gave me some pointers and told me my cardboard case (didn't realize it was cardboard!) that I inherited from my granddad really wasn't doing much to buffer the humidity/temperature; MF is having an accessories sale until Tuesday so I ordered a tweed dreadnought case for $60. Here's hoping that and some extra sponges do the trick.