I originally bought the guitar in 1997 and after a couple lessons under the bed it went. Fast forward to January of 2012. I decide if I don't start playing now, then when. Out comes the guitar and must of been constructed pretty well, no problems with the binding or cracks and a straight neck. I have a friend restring it and set it up. He recommends a new nut.
I locate a nice little tube amp and a guitar teacher. I start practicing and have fret buzzing issues and the guitar doesn't sound that great. I ended up buying a wiring harness with new pots, p/u selector and jack. I also pick up a Gibson 57' classic neck pickup. My friend offers to install all this stuff, he wanted the challenge of a semi-hollow. I get the guitar back and low and behold she's sporting a 57' classic bridge pick up. My friend had it laying around. So now I've got the poor Epiphone electronics sorted out. She sounds a little better. Now it's time to get the playability issues addressed. Off to Schroeder Audio I go. He's highly recommended in the Chicago area.
I get the guitar to Schroeder and he says I can make this guitar awesome. He recommends a bone nut,bridge and a fret job, says the fret board pretty wavy and the fret wire could be better. He'll sand the board flat and steers me towards stewmac 149 fret wire. I say go ahead. A few weeks later I get a call he says it's done except for the bridge. The bridge is metric and he'll have to remove the posts and fill in the holes to install a different one. I tell him I'll pick it up and try it out for now. I get the guitar home and I can't believe it's the same instrument. It plays unbelievably well. I stop playing for the summer and fall of 12' back to Schroeder for the bridge. I get the guitar back and it sounds even better, plus the strings are properly spaced. All I can say is money well spent. Better than most Gibson es 335's for a fraction of the cost. Still wish I had a Gibson though. It's amazing what can be done with a cheap guitar.
