Review of the Epiphone Performer ME Guitar

The Performer ME by Epiphone features the quality and playability that we are all used to from Gibson/Epiphone. Being manufactured by the respected Gibson company, Epiphone instruments offer great quality with out breaking the bank. Something that all of us amateur and semi-professional musicians can get used to. The Performer ME by Epiphone is a single-cutaway acoustic/electric that features some great new pickup technology combined with traditional high quality structural aspects. It retails for $499, a reasonable price for such a great guitar. Here I will point out and review some of the more important aspects of this guitar.

Body and Acoustic Sound

The body style of the Performer is a medium-sized body with a single-cutaway for easier fretting on the higher frets. The bridge, headstock, neck, and overall structure is pretty typical of guitars of this style. The hardware for the Performer ME consists of gold Grover tuners. The neck is set and made of maple while the body is flamed Maple and the fretboard is a typical rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays.

The acoustic/unplugged sound of the Performer is decent. The volume and acoustic output is good but not as full or loud as, say, a dreadnaught would be. It is obvious that this guitar was designed to be amplified (see information on pickups below). The acoustic projection and tone of this instrument will work for small settings and practice but to get the most out of what this guitar can do, you will want it to be amplified.

Electronics and Amplified Sound

The Performer ME is equipped with two pickups. One is called the "Nanoflex" pickup and the other is called the "Nanomag" pickup. The Nanoflex is located under the bridge while the Nanomag is installed at the end of the fingerboard (near the sound hole).The Nanoflex captures string and body vibrations and the Nanomag captures all the string energy as well as harmonics. The combination of these two unique pickups in their unique locations allows the Performer's amplification system to pickup all of the natural nuances of the guitar so as to put out a more "real" acoustic sound.

The electronics for the Performer ME, dubbed eSonic 2, were produced exclusively for Epiphone guitars by Shadow. The eSonic2 is designed with two EQ controls for each pickup. They are Mag EQ (Nanomag) and Flex EQ (Nanoflex) corresponding to each of the two pickups. Each control operates in that turning either knob clockwise increases Treble and turnurning counterclockwise increases bass. But the controls are not limited to just treble and bass since mid-ranges are adjusted as well when the knobs are turned so that you can "shape" the sound of the guitar. The electronics console also consists of a slider that allows you to Blend the settings of the two knobs to get just the right sound out of your instrument.

In addition to all of this a great, accurate tuner is built in allowing you to tune on the fly. Push the Tuner button and the sound is muted while you tune; press it again and you are back in action.

Fret Action

The fretting action on the Performer ME is not as ideal as a Martin or Taylor but is still comfortable and allows easy playability at all locations on the neck. With the single-cutaway, lead guitarists will want to know about the playability of the fret action at positions above the twelfth fret. The action of the strings is consistent acoss the fretboard and lead guitarists will find little trouble playing scales and riffs at the higher octaves. Bends are relatively easy (though feels different of course from doing so on an electric guitar) and moving from string to string is smooth. For those who are used to playing lead on an acoustic the Peformer will provide a positive lead playing experience.

Conclusion

Who is this guitar for? Granted, the professional full-time musician will probably want to put some extra money into a Martin or other high-end model but the Epiphone Performer ME is perfect for the amateur or semi-professional musician on a budget. And that is not to say that if you are on a budget that you must settle for a sub-par instrument. The Performer ME by Epiphone is an excellent guitar with an amazing sound that will please any musician. And the price is not bad either!