Customer Reviews

Epiphone Hummingbird Acoustic Guitar,Heritage Cherryburst

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I rate the Epiphone Hummingbird guitar 5 stars. I own this insturment. The guitar is manufactured in China by the Gibson Corporation and when it arrives in the United States the guitar is setup by professionals to Gibsons specifacations using light gage acoustic guitar strings .012 - 0.53. I purchased this guitar only as a backup guitar in case my Martin Guitar failed. The setup on this guitar from Epiphone was far better than my Martin Guitar. Out of the box the guitar chords were very easy to play. The back and sides are laminated mahogany and the top is solid spruce wood. The sound of this guitar is impressive. It produces a sound as good as a $2,000 dollar Martin Guitar.

I bought this guitar on 4/13/11 and it came perfectly not one scratch and it came with a Pre- Pack Checklist stating that they have check the guitar from bottom to Top and it was in perfect conditions. You can actually play it right out of the box no need to even tune it. I'm a beginner but i also own a Squier by Fender. So the Hummingbird is my second guitar.

I have only had it for about two weeks and i have accomplish more than what i had accomplish with my electric Squier, i love this guitar and i recommend it to anyone especially beginners you won't regret it!!!

Excellent Guitar out of the Box. Sounds great and looks great. Easy to play and enjoyed listening to it. I have been playing for 10 years and enjoyed this guitar better than my fender.

If you want something pretty to sit in the corner, here's your guitar!

A student of mine purchased this as a travel guitar so he could leave his martin at home. He's the type of guy that they love at the big box chain stores, he doesn't look at the price tag too closely, he just buys what he walked in for. He picked this one out mostly on looks, I'm certain. And boy, is it a looker. A really beautiful guitar that screams expensive from 2 feet away. They gave him the treatment, and set up everything for him. Action looked low, not too much buzz, and yet....

The guitar seemed stiff and unresponsive. So he had it adjusted again - they adjusted the truss rod, and shaved the saddle just a wee bit. That didn't really help either. Now he had a guitar that was still stiff, just with a little more fret noise. I'm fairly certain that that it was overfinished. The glossy top was pretty, but way too thick.

Notes wouldn't sustain and lacked depth. If I hadn't read that this was a solid top, I surely would have thought it was laminate. Fretting the notes wasn't difficult, but it required a lot of effort to get any kind of volume. It sounded flat and cheap.

It seems like a shame, when so much time was put into the fretwork and the finish to have a guitar sound that way. after about a month (30 day return period, right?) he took it back and put the money towards a Seagull. He had to throw down another hundred, but he's much happier, and I every time I hear it, it sounds amazing.

Every acoustic guitar, once shipped to the retail outlet, needs to be professionally "Set Up" - this means the bridge, neck, saddle, sometimes even the neck has to be adjusted. Adjusted to your playing style, string size, etc. I've been playing guitar for some 20 years, and for the first 10 did not know this. .001 of an inch can be a HUGE difference in the playability and tone on an acoustic. I have a Martin DM, a Gibson Jumbo, and a G&L electric. I go to music stores every couple of months to find a guitar that feels right.
I have thick, somewhat clumsy fingers (I'm a rhythm player) and I need just the right spacing and neck size. Usually when I find that, the tone is tinny or muted, or it's freaking bright pink and orange flames.
I picked up this guitar at my the local GuitarWallMartCorporateWhore store, and it liked me. I liked it. There were a couple of strings that buzzed, and the intonation sounded off. Could have been the chip in the varnish in the lower corner near the end pin (about 2 inches long, and 3/4 inch wide) or rather, the result of how that chip got there that threw it off a bit, but I saw it as an chance to use some haggling skills on bringing down the price. Got it for just under 2 bills, and had them throw in some new strings.
Took it right to my local (locally owned, cool people, great craftsmen) luthier, and they did a set up for me. 75 bones. It is what it is. Even if you've had your guitar for a while, find a shop that specializes in this, and you'll love your guitar even more. You'll be calling in sick the next day to work. My place of choice is Gryphon Stringed Instruments, and it's the choice of many pros around the world.
I love this instrument - not as much as my Martin, but it has a great presence in the highs and mids, and sounds clear and bright. The bass tones are a little muddy, and that's too bad, but I can live with it.
If you like a little extra space between strings, and you're not looking for deep bass out of it, you could do many times worse for a lot more money.

I've returned two of these. Out of frustration (and shipping costs), I kept the third one. They had the audacity to shove a card under the strings that this one (the third) had been checked...String height 2 tenths of a centimeter at the nut (My other 3 guitars came with this height at the nut), ect all the way down the line... Couldn't squeese hard enough to fret a simple A chord, C and G were ok, but no other chords were frettable, Out of the box ALL three sounded like junk...

OK, strings on it are heavy and coroded (all three)... While changeing the strings I removed the saddle (needs shaved down), Low and behold there is a toothpick under the saddle. Removed the toothpick, shaved the saddle a little, put Martin Lights on it... Now it sounds like a guitar. Playable? No. The nut as it happens is not 2 tenths (like my other 3, and most all other guitars on the planet), it's 4 tenths high...
Buying a new guitar I really don't like to tear them apart and fix them before they are playable.

Yes I knocked the nut off. It's a curved nut so I also had the flatten the neck. 5 months I've had this. Playable? Not yet. Nut is coming off again, a 100th centimeter more mabe, the saddle can loose a little more. Next time I change strings. The nut and saddle again.

Sound. Sounds great, after removing the toothpick. Which I understand is under all epiphone saddles, see reveiws elsewhere...
If you are looking for a GUITAR PLAYABLE OUT OF THE BOX...Epiphone is not it. If you'd like to learn some luthier stuff and tear your new prize apart and fix it. Buy an epiphone.

If you got a used one and it plays nice... Congrats (to the previous owner for fixing it before selling).

Out of the box this is a luthier special.

It is normal for a review like this one to get shot down.
Sometimes when I am honest about a bad product the online sellers of these guitars get angry because my honesty might make them less money.
It is more important for me to be honest than to chase popularity, so here goes..................

I purchased this guitar from an online music store so I could have an affordable stand by while my real guitar was being repaired.
I WAS VERY DISAPOINTED with what I found. The comfort and playability
on this guitar is very bad. The action on this guitar is very high ( meaning the distance between the strings and the guitar neck is too much)
What you end up with is a guitar that is hard to play taking way too much effort to even make a chord.

I needed to bring the guitar to my tech.. so he could work on it.
The neck had to be adjusted, the bridge had to be lowered and the strings that came on the guitar were too large. This guitar should have been set up with medium lights.

The second issue be it minor is the art work on the pick guard will rub off after a couple hours of playing.

The good points would be, the guitar is made of very good quality wood.
spruce top and mahogony back and sides. The neck has a rosewood fretboard
with some great looking inlay work. This guitar also comes with grover tuners which are the best tuners in my opinion.

MY ADVICE TO YOU WOULD BE EVEN IF YOU ARE BUYING A CHEAP GUITAR IT IS IMPORTANT TO PLAY ONE BEFORE YOU BUY ONE.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE JUST LEARNING GUITAR AS WELL.
YOU MAY ATTRIBUTE HAVING A HARD TIME BEING ABLE TO PLAY WITH JUST YOU'RE ABILITIES AND THAT IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. IF YOU START OUT PLAYING A GREAT GUITAR CHANCES ARE YOU WILL GO FAR.

The best acoustic guitars to buy in this price range are the
WASHBURN- D10-OR THE DS 10.