Austin AU766BLK

Les Paul copy, PAF style humbucker PUs, Set neck, Tune-o-matic bridge. The body of the guitar is heavy, much heavier than Epiphone LP's, which gives great sustain, carved top too. Rosewood fretboard with dot inlays. Nicely finished in shiny black and is bordered with a cream binding, and cream pickguard, it doesn't scream high end but the finish is deep and rich. The neck radius is what you would expect from a LP, not super chunky, but not slim. All in all it has the features you would expect from a LP.

This Guitar is used for classic rock and Metal. The guitar is played on a Fender 75 Tube amp, a Garnet Gnome Tube Amp, and a Musicman 212 65 Tube amp. After a decent setup (more below) the tone is very good, ringing sustain, and attack that a good LP will give you, it HAS the tone that LP's are famous for. The PAF style chrome covered PU's that come with the guitar are very decent, they are hot, and can be used with extreme gain levels without the annoying microphonic squeal that some covered buckers exhibit. The clarity of the PUs are good the top end is bright and clear, the lower register can be a tad dark, depending on the gauge, and profile of pick you use. I am basing this comparison to my buddys 1968 Gibby LP custom, which has a very detailed sound, however this guitar gives up less than you would think to the Gibson. I've had several low- mid range LP copys and this is the best sounding to date. Far better than any Epiphone I've owned. My rating for this is based on the fact that you have the guitar properly set up.

Factory setup was on the high side, and the intonation was rough. The stock tuners are crappy, I swapped them out for Grovers right away, and this made a HUGE difference in the guitar staying in tune. The pickup adjustments were out of balance, and too far away from the strings. As well the Truss rod was adjusted to bring down the action, the bridge was lowered, and the Tailpiece was raised. I like my guitars low and sleek. The The 18th and the 21st fret are a little high on the treble side and I have to get them leveled, the guitar is still very playable, but I'm striving for buttery low action that you would only find on a high end guitar. For an entry level priced guitar the fretwork is IMO GREAT, as with every guitar, I would recommend giving it a good looking over, especially the frets. The quality of the Instrument is otherwise great, the fretboard has no flaws, the electronics are nice and precise, and quiet. After getting a setup and good intonation I give it an 8 before setup it gets a 5.

Seems to be very well built, although the tuners are crap, most serious guitar players would change them anyways.For $250.00 bucks new this guitar is better than epiphones 3 times it's price, and after a trip to the luthier to have those 2 frets leveled off, this guitar will play like a dream, because it already plays nice with the action up a bit. Score 4 with stock tuners, 9 with Grovers, Gotohs, or any DECENT set of tuners.

1 year warranty from date of purchase

Have owned Gibson SG, Gibson Explorer, Gibson Marauder, BC rich Warlock gold, EPI LP custom, EPI LP Gold Top, EPI SG, Jay Turser LP Copy, and Ibanez JP junior copy. I have had to set up ALL of these guitars and modified them to suit personal preference, even the Gibsons needed Fret levelling. This guitar is definitely a favourite of mine, if it were lost or stolen I would definitely get another. The cost of the guitar and the cost of the new tuners and fretwork still come in FAR under the cost of an LP that sounds and plays as well as this one. If you want out of the box perfect playability and setup, better buy a Gibson Custom shop LP... but thats only if you have about 4 grand to burn.

This les paul copy was made in Korea, so it's nothing special. Basic les paul style controls and pickup configuration. Mine is black with creme binding and pickguard. Visit Austin's website if you want to know the exact features. I bought this because I'm not a great guitar player, play mostly rhythm, and it was cheap but decent enought for me. I payed $250 US, new. I soon noticed the tuners didn't keep it in tune, so I put some grovers on it, extra $60. I had a tech put the tuners on, and tighten the input and one of the knobs that were both loose.

I play rock'n'roll/early punk and it's fine for that. Play it through the best amp you can and it'll sound better. But I like the sound overall, its fine.

The pickups and bridge had to be slighty adjusted. Action is OK, it was new, so it had to be worn in.

For live playing, I would make sure the strap fits very snug. Some of the parts around the pickups are plastic, so we'll see how they last. Finish is a glossy black, no chips yet, but maybe that would make it look cool it gets beat up over time. The strap button on the top came out, so I had to use wood glue and re-screw it in. I could depend on it, but it's gonna need minor fixes over time.

I have not dealt with the company, so don't know about their support. I take it to a tech at a guitar shop who knows what their doing. No warranty.

I've been playing guitar on and off for several years, its not my main instrument, and thus I don't need a nice guitar to play. If it were stolen, I would buy a different cheap guitar-nothing against Austin. I love its look, it is beautiful even though it's not the greatest guitar. I don't hate anything about it, it will just need minor fixes every now and then.