Epiphone Les Pauls
Discussion
He's not cheap but he does put a lot of work in and the upgrades (where appropriate) are good quality.
Tom1312 said:
Can't say he is particularly well priced though.
If want an LP and have Epiphone money, maybe look for a 70/80s MIJ LP.
Best bang for your buck if you find the right one.
Got the right headstock shape too which helps.
If want an LP and have Epiphone money, maybe look for a 70/80s MIJ LP.
Best bang for your buck if you find the right one.
Got the right headstock shape too which helps.
Best Les Paul I've had was a hohner L59. I have an Epi LP Studio now, even after upgrades it doesnt quite sing. Feels a bit held back and I cant work out whether that's neck profile or strings, just something I never quite felt as comfortable with.
Cheap Gibson LPs Studios arent worth the bother unless you want everyone to see you've got a Gibson, they're the 116D of the LP world to me. Would rather them hear tone (and I do think I get better tone from LP style guitars than much else personally)
Cheap Gibson LPs Studios arent worth the bother unless you want everyone to see you've got a Gibson, they're the 116D of the LP world to me. Would rather them hear tone (and I do think I get better tone from LP style guitars than much else personally)
Real Epiphones (early Gibson era and pre-Gibson) are great guitars. Have never played a "nice" one from the point that they went to Asian production.
Gibsons have much higher build quality and use better wood. A good, somewhat affordable alternative is Heritage, which was started by ex-Gibson guys. Also made in Kalamazoo. http://heritageguitar.com/
Gibsons have much higher build quality and use better wood. A good, somewhat affordable alternative is Heritage, which was started by ex-Gibson guys. Also made in Kalamazoo. http://heritageguitar.com/
Went to the local place yesterday and had a good bash of the affordable end of the spectrum. I played the Epi tribute, standard pro and as a leftfield choice, the Hagstrom Swede.
One thing that stood out across them all was fret finish. The Hag had a really smooth fret finish, and was nice to play but there's a selector switch at the bottom of the body which seems to catch on my leg when sat down. That particular guitar had some uneven tone knobs too. Cosmetic, but obviously a price point. The tone was good though.
I then played the Tribute model which had a wide neck and the fret finish was a bit scratchy. I also found that with a couple of the standard pro models but I did find one out of the 4 in the store with a smooth fret finish when bending.
I liked their tones but the tribute constantly kept dropping tune from the g string and the tuners didn't seem overly sensitive. Hopefully that would be down to new strings.
Tonewise, with an unfamiliar amp I found it difficult to assess but the Gibson pups in the tribute seem to have more depth than the probuckers in the standard pro.
One thing that stood out across them all was fret finish. The Hag had a really smooth fret finish, and was nice to play but there's a selector switch at the bottom of the body which seems to catch on my leg when sat down. That particular guitar had some uneven tone knobs too. Cosmetic, but obviously a price point. The tone was good though.
I then played the Tribute model which had a wide neck and the fret finish was a bit scratchy. I also found that with a couple of the standard pro models but I did find one out of the 4 in the store with a smooth fret finish when bending.
I liked their tones but the tribute constantly kept dropping tune from the g string and the tuners didn't seem overly sensitive. Hopefully that would be down to new strings.
Tonewise, with an unfamiliar amp I found it difficult to assess but the Gibson pups in the tribute seem to have more depth than the probuckers in the standard pro.
I've got an Epiphone LP and I love it. I know it's obviously not as good as a Gibson but its 8/10 times less money so you'd be pretty annoyed if you paid top $$ for Gibson and an Epiphone was as good for a fraction of the cost. I do really want a full fat Gibson when I'm bit better at playing. I found this a really good video to watch for comparisons between Gibson's and Epiphones by experts who are blindfolded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADKF4D-TqLE hopefully that helps a bit.
Another vote here for Epiphone LPs.
I have a Custom Pro that I bought second hand for only £75 - figured that if it was crap I wouldn't have lost much.
I love it and it's my go-to guitar.
I also have a Fender Jazzmaster - a completely different guitar but I find the Epiphone much nicer to play.
I have a Custom Pro that I bought second hand for only £75 - figured that if it was crap I wouldn't have lost much.
I love it and it's my go-to guitar.
I also have a Fender Jazzmaster - a completely different guitar but I find the Epiphone much nicer to play.
I had an Epiphone Les Paul Pro top plus in exactly the same finish as the OP. The thing looked goergeous and in terms of aesthetics was brilliant. The pick ups were very good too, but for some reason i never gelled with the guitar and eventually i sold it. The guitar didnt feel right. Everything else was good, but it felt cheap, if that makes sense. The neck was bulbous and awful, and i couldn't bond with it. The machineheads were not up to much either as it kept going out of tune. I tried various set up tweaks and different gauge strings, but it didnt improve anything
Fast forward a few years. Now just for the record, i am not a Gibson fan boy, and prefer a fender strat any day of the week. But a few months ago I decided to buy a Les Paul Studio Special Run thingy as it was on sale at a very tempting price and it looked lovely in wine red. Verdict - it plays amazingly well. It feels great, a lovely neck with a well balanced (and heavy which is what i like) body, and it it fast becoming my go to guitar. It blows my old Epi out of the water.
So in my experience, for the sake of a few hundred quid you might be better off getting a no frills Gibson LP studio over a full spec Epi model. Or, as they always say, try a few out side by side and see what suits you best
Fast forward a few years. Now just for the record, i am not a Gibson fan boy, and prefer a fender strat any day of the week. But a few months ago I decided to buy a Les Paul Studio Special Run thingy as it was on sale at a very tempting price and it looked lovely in wine red. Verdict - it plays amazingly well. It feels great, a lovely neck with a well balanced (and heavy which is what i like) body, and it it fast becoming my go to guitar. It blows my old Epi out of the water.
So in my experience, for the sake of a few hundred quid you might be better off getting a no frills Gibson LP studio over a full spec Epi model. Or, as they always say, try a few out side by side and see what suits you best
Chicken Chaser said:
Tried several. In the end bought a LP Tribute 60s in the rather tasty midnight sapphire blue. Cost me the price of a plus top pro so rather happy to pick it up!
Completely different beast to a tele so taking some getting used to but I'm sure I'll enjoy it
My Boy bought a 60's tribute (black) last Christmas... He also has also has a late 90's epiphone LP... They've both been set up properly, they both play well. The Gibson has slightly higher output pickups which sound thicker than the epi. The tuners, bridge are all slightly better quality and it just feels better in the hand (round the neck). I suspect the badge has a little to do with this. Completely different beast to a tele so taking some getting used to but I'm sure I'll enjoy it
However when we did a completely blind test (before he got the Gibson) with my 2013 Gibson lp standard, my bury super grade and his epi we both ranked them as
Gibson first
Burny second
Epi last
The burny and Gibson were really close sound wise the epi was much weaker.
None of this however means that Epiphone don't make good guitars.
Cheers
D
jbudgie said:
Might be wrong here ??
But didn't the Gibson 60's tribute have P90's ?
That's a sore point with me; I bought an old stock 2013 50s Tribute last year which does have P90s, but I find the neck (50s style) is a bit too thick for my taste. Had I bought a 2016 model then I could have got the 60s Tribute with P90s and I believe a thinner neck which is what I now know I'd prefer.But didn't the Gibson 60's tribute have P90's ?
First and last time I'll buy a guitar online no matter how cheap it is...
I think i know the answers I'll get to this but I'll ask anyway.
As mentioned above, picked up the Epi LP tribute plus last week for a good deal, as I also upgraded my acoustic at the same time. Got it for £450 from my local place and it was the only one they had in in the colour I wanted.
2 days after I got it home I noticed that there were a couple of hairline cracks from the nut, one each side about 6 or 7mm long. Took it straight in and they said it was likely a crack to the lacquer. Spoke to them this aft and they have repaired it. I'm not sure what they've done as I didn't speak to the guy who has repaired it. Now I know got a decent deal on it but I bought it new, not damaged repaired. If I can't see the repair I'll be tempted to take it but if it's at all visible I don't want it. Its not due to be collected til Friday and I'd rather have the discussion with them in-store than on the phone.
What's the consensus? It does seem like the LP is susceptible to cracks at the neck...
As mentioned above, picked up the Epi LP tribute plus last week for a good deal, as I also upgraded my acoustic at the same time. Got it for £450 from my local place and it was the only one they had in in the colour I wanted.
2 days after I got it home I noticed that there were a couple of hairline cracks from the nut, one each side about 6 or 7mm long. Took it straight in and they said it was likely a crack to the lacquer. Spoke to them this aft and they have repaired it. I'm not sure what they've done as I didn't speak to the guy who has repaired it. Now I know got a decent deal on it but I bought it new, not damaged repaired. If I can't see the repair I'll be tempted to take it but if it's at all visible I don't want it. Its not due to be collected til Friday and I'd rather have the discussion with them in-store than on the phone.
What's the consensus? It does seem like the LP is susceptible to cracks at the neck...
Edited by Chicken Chaser on Tuesday 6th September 20:07
Well unfortunately Gibson chose to put their truss rod adjustment at the head end (Fender tried to avoid this for years) thus introducing an extra weakness into an already weak part of the instrument. Witness the number of LPs and SGs that suffer broken-off headstocks after being dropped. At least with a Fender you can junk the neck and fit a new one.
I've had just about every type of Les Paul over the years and have just bought a Studio. Nothing wrong with it in my opinion, in fact I'm just about to sell the Standard. It's true that the more expensive ones have nicer wood, but that's just so that they can charge you more! Pickups, being magnetic devices, can't hear wood so it makes no difference to the sound. (Ignore all that b
ks the tonewood fanbois come out with.)
If a guitar's fitted with decent pickups and electrics, it will sound good, it's all in the setup. If you don't feel up to doing it yourself, get a luthier to give it a good going over; it's money well spent. (In much the same way that a session with an instructor is the best way to make your track car go faster. And the cheapest.)
I've had just about every type of Les Paul over the years and have just bought a Studio. Nothing wrong with it in my opinion, in fact I'm just about to sell the Standard. It's true that the more expensive ones have nicer wood, but that's just so that they can charge you more! Pickups, being magnetic devices, can't hear wood so it makes no difference to the sound. (Ignore all that b
ks the tonewood fanbois come out with.)If a guitar's fitted with decent pickups and electrics, it will sound good, it's all in the setup. If you don't feel up to doing it yourself, get a luthier to give it a good going over; it's money well spent. (In much the same way that a session with an instructor is the best way to make your track car go faster. And the cheapest.)
Edited by Evangelion on Wednesday 7th September 12:53
Both Epiphone and Gibson have been the subject of much complaining in recent years - if you google 'Gisbon Epiphone poor build quality' you will find pages and pages of stuff documenting their fairly spectacular fall from grace in the last decade or so.
If I was gonna be buying one I'd be looking at something pre-2000
If I was gonna be buying one I'd be looking at something pre-2000
Looking around the web there seems plenty of these tales. What I'm toying with is the fact that I bought it new, noticed this 2 days later whilst cleaning the fretboard and now it's being repaired. I don't know whether it'll be visible but I'll reject it if it is. I know the design makes them vulnerable but it's not as if I have a relationship with this guitar yet! If it was damaged repaired I'd expect to pay much less than what I did.
DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.
I don't need to, I already know it makes no difference.Shall I explain it again, more slowly?
Pickups ... are ... magnetic ... devices ... which ... can ... detect ... the ... vibrations ... in ... metal ... but ... not ... wood.
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