Epiphone Hummingbird Pro Solid Top Acoustic/Electric Guitar, Spruce and Mahogany Body, Rosewood Fingerboard

Couldn't afford the Gibson version but this is a VERY good second best.I always aspired to own a Gibson Hummingbird in my youth knowing full well there would never be a chance of owning one.I drooled over guitar magazine pictures of, then unaffordable, Epiphone, Fender, and Yamaha acoustics but had to settle for a Kasuga which was, and still is, a nice guitar but not quite the standard I had aimed for. I acquired a Yamaha FG365S later in life and that fulfilled my desire for a Martin as some will argue that the Martin model Yamaha copied was inferior to the FG365. I chanced across the Epiphone Hummingbird recently - lots of good reviews so I shopped around and found this on Amazon. My inner chimp took over (see The Chimp Paradox by Dr. Steve Peters) and I splashed out on one. Very pleased I did, the standard set up is very nice, played straight out of the box. Easy to tune those Grovers really make a difference. They certainly haven't scrimped on the detail it is a perfect copy of the Hummingbird and not only sounds right but looks the part too.

Edited after 2 years of playing.I have increased the rating from 4 stars to 5.I bought this guitar because I didn't have a 6-string that would plug in for gigs and Epiphone is a well-regarded brand. Plugged in, it sounds fine, with just volume and tone controls hidden near the sound hole. Acoustically it was brash at first, with plectrum or finger picks, good for skiffle & so on, and fairly ordinary with fingers. The sound has developed surprisingly well though.It feels good to play, the neck being well constructed and finished, and I would say this is the best neck and fingerboard that I have encountered on a guitar in this price bracket. The scale length is a tad less than many other acoustics, which should suit players in general, as will the slightly shallow dreadnought body.The truss rod has needed to be tightened twice to keep the action good. This is not worrying because, after 18 months, the top is not bellying at all, so that is not the cause. It seems to be just settling in.The battery lives inside the body, which is fiddly, and there is no battery indicator, which is inconvenient.Overall this was a very successful purchase, it suits me fine. I am getting used to the colour.

...that is how I would describe the guitar I have played and looked after for the last 15 years. It meant everything to me as my wife bought it for me for our wedding anniversary and it was a considerable improvement over my previous guitars. The guitars I had before were basically gruesome and I could only upgrade my instruments as the budget allowed and we both knew we had to take drastic action in order to advance to the next phase in writing and playing songs. So we made the purchase and I was happy with that guitar, as I say, for 15 years but felt again recently that it could be time to move on... then, two weeks ago, the Hummingbird arrived!!! It played sweetly and seductively straight out of the box... I tried to put it down and pick up my old guitar in order to compare it but I knew already that this is what I had been missing. I tuned up the bird and played a big slice of my repertoire.... I played simple scales... I played my own compositions... everything sounded vastly improved!!! It was almost a week before I turned to my old guitar that was still perched in its stand just a couple of feet away. I picked it up and strummed the chord of E just once... that was enough!!! It sounded so bad it made me change my plans about giving it away - it would embarrass me to say I ever owned it!! While waiting for the Hummingbird to arrive I had considered giving my old guitar to my grandsons but I held back because they have a tendency to destroy everything... it doesn't seem such a bad idea now!!!

I have trawled the web looking at reviews for all types of Epi. I originally started looking at the Masterbuilt collection and then after the price of one in particular dropped by £200 I nearly pressed the buy button. Unfortunately I deliberated too long and the price went back up again. I then noticed the reviews for the Hummingbird Pro. I pressed buy, then again on the hard case and then again on an amp. My current acoustic is a Simon & Patrick Cedar. A second hand guitar bought by my wife and my introduction to a long desire to play the acoustic. I have never cheated on her (my wife or the guitar) and when I unboxed this and did the obligatory tune I was Gobsmacked. A low action, and the string gauge was is what I normally choose. The crispness and tone is amazing. It is so easy to play and the sound once plugged into the cheap (by comparison) but great sounding amp takes it to another level. I love to finger pick and this is a good guitar for this, the plectrum feels unnatural when I play. A good finish to the guitar and a pleasure to play. For the money I have no comparison to higher priced models but I think it would be hard to beat this. Totally chuffed'''

The guitar was better than I was expecting. Couldn’t ask more for £235 (in offer). Solid spruce top lightly painted without covering the beauty of the wood. Beautiful inlay through the fretboard. Tuners do stay tune, of course they are Groover. The only thing i didn’t like is the pickguard but i still give the 5 starts. I removed without damaging the laquer using hairdryer, all good as you can see in the picture. I kept it like this for 6 mouths but I am going to ad a Martin D25 type of pickguard because some little scratches are coming. The sound is loud and cool.Another thing i changed is the nut with a 2 mm wider one. Personal preference.I love this guitar and i will keep it forever.