Epiphone Hummingbird Pro Studio Review

The Hummingbird Pro brings the legendary acoustic guitar into the 21st century. With a solid build and some onboard electronics that provide some great versatility!

This is one huge sounding guitar that has a ton of versatility! You will be impressed by the price, but also that it’s an entry-level guitar.

Features

Let’s take a look at some features of the Epiphone Hummingbird Pro Acoustic guitar.

• Top: solid spruce.
• Mahogany sides and back.
• Mahogany neck.
• Rosewood finger board.
• Dreadnought body.
• 24.75 inch scale with 20 frets.
• Onboard electronics.

Who is this Guitar For?

The Hummingbird pro studio is a guitar that is created based on the original Gibson model. Epiphone is now a brand owned by Gibson. They make guitars based on their most popular models at more affordable prices.

This is great news for beginners and players who want one but can’t afford Gibson prices. This makes the Hummingbird pro studio a great guitar for beginners. Even intermediate and pro players can benefit. Not only does it sound great both unplugged and amplified, but it’s very easy to play and looks good.

It is perfect for all styles of music too. The big, bold and loud sound is great! So musically you could use it to play blues, country or rock. The only limitation might be the vintage look.

Sound Performance

The Epiphone Hummingbird Pro is a gorgeous guitar with a great sound. The guitar’s back and sides are made of mahogany, which produces a deep, velvety sound with excellent resonance.

Each strum startled me in a good way. The guitar’s massive sound filled the entire space. It’s a wonderful fit for me because I prefer a strong bass response.

The solid spruce top of this guitar, however, is what really makes it stand out. The sound of the guitar depends on the soundboard. Much of the natural sound is produced here, giving it a bright but well-balanced tone range.

The guitar’s internal bracing also significantly influences how it sounds. The Hummingbird Pro’s bracing is well-designed.

The soundboard can now vibrate under control. Resulting in a tone that is ultimately clean and resonant. Check out this video to hear it for yourself!

Body and Construction

This dreadnought style body has a solid spruce top, and mahogany back and sides. It has an incredibly classic look with its faded cherry sunburst finish and pickguard!

It’s an amazing looking guitar, just like the original! But it won’t be the look for everyone, as it’s far from classic.

For a player like me, I could never use it. The vintage look is too prominent for what I do and the music I play. But that’s just my opinion and is based on music style.

The choice of woods in the build of the body really adds a balanced sound. The spruce top, being a complex tonewood, adds rich harmonics that will only improve with age! Paired with the mahogany back and sides, the hummingbird produces a warm, bold timbre!

Neck and Headstock

The Hummingbird Pro neck is made from mahogany. It also includes a rosewood fretboard, 20 frets, and a 24.75-inch scale length. The neck is very comfortable with a nut width of 1.68 inches. Epiphone uses its own Slim taper D profile for this neck.

The truss rod can be accessed from behind the small cover on the full-size Epiphone headstock. This makes any truss rod adjustments very easy should the adjustment be necessary. It’s an easy neck to play and looks good with the Pearloid fingerboard inlay.

Hardware

The Hummingbird Pro comes with an imitation bone nut and saddle. Both are more than likely synthetic. This is quite common to find on an acoustic at this price point. But it does not negatively affect the sound or tuning in any way. The bridge pins are made from PVC.

The compensated Epiphone saddle is designed to improve intonation. This helps in keeping the guitar in tune and does so wonderfully all over the neck of this acoustic.

The tuning machine heads are Grover brand die-cast tuners. They feel great, hold tune well, and are easy to use.

Electronics

The Hummingbird Pro does come with electronics as well, which is quite nice. It’s called the Shadow pickup system. It was a joint effort between Epiphone and Shadow Germany. The aim was to create and perfect acoustic amplification.

It’s powered by 2 AAA batteries and has a good EQ as well as some other handy controls like phase and mute. But also a dynamics control that adjusts the frequency curve.

I used the Vox VT40X to test the electronics with the Hummingbird Pro and was blown away at how good it sounded. Set to a vintage model in the amp, it had a great mid-range bark to it with a full bottom end! Impressive!

Playability

The Hummingbird Pro is regarded for more than just its superb sound quality. It’s also because it’s so fun to play!

The guitar has an ergonomic, slim-taper D profile neck that is simple to hold and play. The rosewood fingerboard is nice and responsive, in my experience. It was therefore perfect for performing complex melodies and chords.

The frets are well-spaced and provide a comfortable playing experience. I also found the action to be good, there were no issues pressing on the strings. Switching between chords was a piece of cake. Perfect for a beginner learning how to use the guitar!

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Is It Reliable?

The first thing to question with a guitar at this price is reliability. The Hummingbird Pro is a good guitar and will be a reliable instrument for you. Many people own and have used this guitar for a long time. Most players report that it holds up pretty well, and it’s reliable.

When I tested this guitar, I felt that it was well-made and durable. But the hardware could be upgraded to make it more reliable. I would suggest upgrading the nut, saddle, pins, and strings.

In time, you may want to upgrade the tuners. But the stock tuners are alright and should last awhile. Overall, this guitar is durable and should be reliable. It would make a great backup guitar for players who gig regularly.

Comparison to Similar Guitars

There are a few other guitars that are similar to the DR-100 if you are looking for something slightly different. They are relatively the same price but offer different sounds and aesthetics.

Fender CD-60S

The Fender CD-60S is a popular acoustic and one that has made our best for beginners article. It features a solid top, a comfortable neck with rolled finger edges, and a parlor body shape. This body shape is smaller, which might fit players who find dreadnoughts to be a bit big.

When compared to the Hummingbird Pro, you will lose some of the bass content. But you will also not get as much volume. This might be great for home use and the right music style, of course.

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Yamaha FG850

The Yamaha FG850 is also a perfect option and is also one of our favorite suggested guitars. It’s similar in price and comes with the same great performance. But it’s warmer sounding than the Hummingbird Pro.

It’s also got a way different look that might be more neutral. You can also find great looks and exceptional quality here. Especially if the aesthetic of the Hummingbird Pro is a bit much for you. Check out our full review of this guitar to learn all about it!

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Final Thoughts

There are many great acoustic guitars in this price range that play and sound wonderful. The Epiphone Hummingbird Pro is one of those guitars! And with the added electronics on board, it’s a great entry-level acoustic.

This guitar is made overseas, but the design and build will provide a great experience! Especially for beginners who need something of good quality. I recommend this guitar! First, I love the vintage look. When ever I played it, just the nestalgia made the experience very cool.

But I loved the sound too. It was big and bold and loud! Just the way I like a dreadnought acoustic to sound. The price is amazing, which makes this a great value. Especially for someone new to the guitar!

FAQs

Is Epiphone Hummingbird Pro solid wood?

The Epiphone Hummingbird pro has a solid spruce top, which gives it a loud, bold sound. The back and sides are mahogany, but are not solid wood. They are laminated pieces, which is to be expected in an acoustic at this price point.

What strings come on the Epiphone Hummingbird Pro?

The Epiphone Hummingbird Pro comes with D’addario Phosphor strings right from the factory. These are great strings for the type of music you would expect from the guitar. They are light gauge strings, so they are easy to play, but still provide lots of volume.