I love vintage remakes and the history behind this one is fabulous. I just purchased a new Epiphone Excellente online from “GC” after reading some good reviews. The frets felt smooth, the strings rest just fine in the nut and the saddle, and it was well set up. Quality control looks great - better than with my Casino I bought a few years back. I too will be looking to replace the strings sooner rather than later - they do feel a bit hard after a while, and this is with callouses built up! I think that the Martin, in comparison has a bit of a false Boom at the low end, much like old stereos did when they had that old 'loudness' control, if you remember that far back. I at first thought the bass was lacking, which it is compared to my Martin DX1 a little bit, but not by much. It has great sustain and sweet midrange and treble. I have never played a Gibson Hummingbird, or a Country and Western, but to my ear, this guitar definitely rivals their tone at a much lower price. I liked the specs, and was assured if I didn't like it, they'd take it back.

I talked with my local guitar shop and on their website an affiliate in another town had one. Well, I ended up buying an Excellente last weekend.

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