NGD ES335

3bolt79

3bolt79

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I just finished setting this up. It was pretty good out of the box. Good fit and finish.

It had 2 high frets which tapped down easiy. I had some pokey frets that I addressed with a beveling file and some automotive sanding sponge blocks. Frets were polishe with my dremel.

The neck has a two way truss rod, that is nearly maxed out to give a slight relief with NYXL 11-49 strings. This is a 4 and 5 64ths action setup at the 14th fret.

The wood may be Laurel or Rosewood for the fretboard. It really looked like Rosewood before I oiled the board. It seemed pretty smooth for Laurel. It had red and brown streaks before oiling, but now is really dark.

Pots are clean. Switch was a little scratchy, but cleaned up well with a squirt of De Oxit.

I have some D’Addario Elliptical strap buttons to put on it, but I have to find them.

IMG_0911.jpeg
IMG_0910.jpegIMG_0909.jpeg
 
soulman said:
What year is the guy? Interesting finish.
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I think it's a 2022 or 2023. I will have to check the SN. It's NOS that they were closing out at 20% off. One problem possibly though. It has a 2 way truss rod and I had to almost max it out to put a small amount of relief in the neck.

I may try a set of NYXL 12's on it. It has NYXL 11's on at present. It's my first time trying those, and they don't seem to have much tension. They are really slinky when it comes to bending.

If the 12's don't help, then I may have the put the rod into the center no man's land and slide the truss rod out of the neck a bit (yes you can move the rod out of the neck) just to get a little more curvature toward the area of the first fret. The adjustment nut seems to be recessed really deep.
 
Well, I'm going to try a different set of strings today. I got some NYXL medium top heavy bottom strings. I believe they are 11-56. I have to get my butt in gear and iron this out before it's too late to return it if I have to. I will update later today.
 
What is it with Epiphone and their fretwork? My LP I got a few months ago was the same thing. I had to spend time levelling a few and filing the fret ends because they were a bit sharp. They really need to step it up in that department!
 
3bolt79 said:
I just finished setting this up. It was pretty good out of the box. Good fit and finish.

It had 2 high frets which tapped down easiy. I had some pokey frets that I addressed with a beveling file and some automotive sanding sponge blocks. Frets were polishe with my dremel.

The neck has a two way truss rod, that is nearly maxed out to give a slight relief with NYXL 11-49 strings. This is a 4 and 5 64ths action setup at the 14th fret.

The wood may be Laurel or Rosewood for the fretboard. It really looked like Rosewood before I oiled the board. It seemed pretty smooth for Laurel. It had red and brown streaks before oiling, but now is really dark.

Pots are clean. Switch was a little scratchy, but cleaned up well with a squirt of De Oxit.

I have some D’Addario Elliptical strap buttons to put on it, but I have to find them.

View attachment 179
View attachment 180View attachment 181
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Really nice look. Looks a bit like a love child of my ES335 and my Riviera (left and right) IMG_6037.jpeg
 
GrandmaShreds said:
What is it with Epiphone and their fretwork? My LP I got a few months ago was the same thing. I had to spend time levelling a few and filing the fret ends because they were a bit sharp. They really need to step it up in that department!
Click to expand...
Yeah I had a few sharp fret ends but my beveling file took care of that in two minutes.
 
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