Edwards E-LP-98LTS

Standard Les Paul looking guitar with a very nice flamed / curved maple top, nitro finish, set neck where the end of the neck goes until the end (or the middle) of the body. 4 volume knobs, 3 way switch, 2 X Seymour Duncans, high output, clean sound, 22 jumbo frets, rosewood fingerboard with some very interesting cool looking grains, exact open book Gibbo headstock, Gotoh 3X3 tuners, Gotoh bridge, lightweight mahogany body and neck. A real rock'n'roll machine from our Japanese friends. It would not be fair if I called this a standard Gibbo copy. I have the 2007 ESP catalogue (Japanese) and this model is marked hand-made (that's the reason I bought it in the first place). Very detailed and nice workmanship. You should see the neck on this one, blows away my Gibson Studio.

It sounds amazing! Duncan's are my all time favourite and I recently replaced my Gibbo Studio's bridge 'bucker with a SH-13 (RIP Dime!) too. I have 4 guitars, all have Duncan's on'em.

This Edwards has 2 Duncan's on it: bridge is SH-4, neck is SH1n. They sound pure rock.

Guitar came ready to play, setup was very well done. Action is low, no stupid string rattles. I did not change a thing on it.

Overall workmanship is great on this guitar, both body and neck have bindings, frets are very well done, inlays are beautiful. Duncan's also placed correctly, there are no angles or other shit whatsoever.

Flamed maple top is top notch pro job. I cannot see even one flaw on it.

Looks stunnning.

Played only a few times since it came (I bought this only 3 weeks ago), but it handles for instance a non-stop gig for 3 hours very well. And the damn thing stays in tune!

I would expect to see some problems with the nitro finish 'though. It is not very thick. It will probably wear off a little after a while (based on my performance hours/I usually play 5 days a week in different places). I am not sure if this is done intentionally or not. Japanese are clever. Maybe it is done intentionally to give the guitar a vintage look after a while. I don't want a vintage guitar, I need a new shiny guitar, ALL THE TIME!

nope

I play all kinds of guitar music, including blues, rock, hard-rock, heavy metal and speed metal, even glam rock. I listen a lot, my musical influences changes every week! I play mostly covers with my band, we usually play in bars and pubs. But I also write my own songs when I find some time.

I own a Fender 2006 USA Highway, an old Japanese Ibanez RG320, a Korean Mirage brand walnut top strat (very nice one!) and a Gibson Studio Black Cherry. I am a Seymour Duncan fanatic, I've tried maybe hundreds of different combinations of pickups, nothing works like Duncan's! All my guitars have Duncan bridge humbuckers.

I bought this Edwards, because it is very nice looking, the price was not very high and the ESP 2007 catalogue says it is hand-made. I ordered right after I got the catalogue. It was one of my best decisions. I wanted to give another Les Paul a shot after I have disappointed with my current Gibbo. I don't know what is wrong with them but all the Studio models are lame and they have very low playability. When I compare this Edwards to my Gibson Studio, Edwards wins hands down. Not only in sound but also in overall quality of the workmanship and the materials used.

I am not sure where you can find these beautiful Edwards guitars other than Ebay, but buy it if you see one. Totally recommended and well worth of money!

# E-LP98 LTS Edwards Les Paul Vintage Tobbaco Sunburst Flame top Lacquer Taste series, this is one of the top guitars in Edwards series, looks amazingly sweet.
# 2007 Made in Japan.
# Body: Thin laminated flame maple top / solid maple / solid Mahogany Back.
# Neck & Finger Board: Straight 1 piece mahogany ceck (It is a medium chunky C shape neck), rosewood fingerboard. Long tennon, joint goes really deep.
# Pickups: Seymour Duncan SH-1 neck. SH-4 bridge,
# Electronics: 3 Way PU Selector 2 Volume 2 Tone. Very silent.
# Weight: is about 3.5 kg.
# Nut width : 1 11/16"

This is one of the best LP's I've ever played. Period. Actually it is the best considering the price/value ratio.

Very nice sound, very nice neck, very nice everything.

Seymour Duncan SH-4 is my all time favourite, I have 4 guitars, all have SH-4 on them. I would like to see a '59 model at the neck but what the hell, SH-1n also works fine. Powerful pickups with good solid rock / metal sound. Guitar's sustian is way better than my Gibson Menace.

Finish is art on this one, it is beautiful. When I saw that on Ebay, it was love in first sight. I have a weakness, I really like tobacco sunburst colored guitar. And this also has a nitro finish. Very but very cool.

dunno yet. it looks very solid 'though and it stays in tune all the time.

dunno

This is a very versatile instrument and it handles nearly every style without any problems. You will love this Edwards. You will wake up early to play it, you will go to bed late to play it some more. Trust me.

I really love this guitar, everything on it reminds me some very pricey Gibson custom guitars, especially nitro finish and the flamed top. Neck is very comfortable and fast. If you usually play slim necks, you may find this neck a little chunky, but once you get used to it, you will see it is really fast and comfortable.

This is not a Gibson custom but it is very close, considering what I paid for this baby, I'd say go for it! It definitely blows away the standard Gibson Les Paul's.

Just to make things more clear, I have removed both pickups and guitar definitely has a long neck tennon. After I wrote my first review, I found out that there is a discussion going on for these Edwards models about if they are really long tennon or not. After I remove the pickups I can clearly say, yes, this model has a long tennon construction. Very well done..

Made in Japan, 2007, Lacquer Taste Series, full model name is E-LP-98LTS. I am not dying for Japanese axes but when I saw this I simply couldn't resist, even the old moustache headstock shape is in here. Set neck, 22 jumbo frets, high quality flamed maple top and a beautiful finish. Gibson should learn the finish business from these Japanese guys. Mine is in beautiful tobacco sunburst color. Body and neck are mahogany. Neck is kinda old C shape, but nut chunky as an original Gibson, but it is definitely meaty and plays much faster than standard Gibson's imho. Guitar has a long tennon construction, sustain is really outstanding. It has 2 Seymour Duncan's on it (SH-4 bridge and SH1n). Very silent guitar but powerful sound when you play.

There is also another model called E-LP-98LTC; although they look similar, there are some differences, like E-LP-98LTS has flamed maple top and E-LP-98LTC is hard maple. E-LP-98LTS comes with rosewood, E-LP-98LTC comes with ebony fingerboard. Also E-LP-98LTC comes in only 2 colors, black and white.

This costs about 950$ new and it really blows all the standard USA Gibson's away. At least, all the Gibson's that I tried over the past 22 years, I can assure you on this.

I am givin' a 9, because I don't like the idea of identical replica guitars, especially when you write "Limited Edition" into a headstock with Gibson's exact "Les Paul" hand-writing font. From a distance it definitely resembles Les Paul name. Cheap shot. (Yamaha was using the same trick for old Lord Player and Studio Lord models).

Excellent sound. What would you expect? High output Seymour Duncan's plus a beautifully crafted and well fitted solid guitar. Sustain is competitive to custom Gibson's. Even with my simple Boss OD-2 + Hot Rod Deville 410 setup.

I get nothing but a rich and bright sound from this guitar since I bought.

Action is about 1.3mm treble and 1.6mm bass at 12th fret. It is really low and no rattles. Neck is straight as an arrow. There are no flaws on the finish. Wood quality is good and everything is properly cut, placed and finished.

I bought this beauty from a local shop in Tokyo. My Japanese is not very good and after I paid for it, seller decided that I needed a setup for the guitar, although the factory setup was very good. He grabbed the guitar (and my arm!) and took me to a small room in the back of the store. Without saying any word to each other for about half an hour, he adjusted the height of the bridge and SD's, oiled the fingerboard and strings with fastfret. He was pointing out each step with his hands :) It was a very good experience that I will never forget. He also gave me an extra set of .10 Daddarios. I suspect any seller in here would do something like this. Japanese people are very warm, I really like them.. and their guitars of course..

Guitar built like a tank but I think I'll not rate this section. I am planning to see it in action soon. But honestly, it looks and feels very solid so I don't think I will have any problems with this beauty for at least another 3-4 years.

Never dealt with ESP directly.

This is a very nice looking vintage type LP replica made from very high quality stuff. Workmanship is very similar to Gibson guitars if not better. Plus it sounds brilliant. It has a deep neck joint, long tennon, sustain is outstanding. Neck is smooth and it really encourages you play faster and faster. I really don't know what a guitarist could want more. Instead of paying some ridicilous money to a Gibson, I can easily recommend you to buy one of these. These beautiful guitars were not available worldwide before, but now I see you can grab one of those from Ebay website for a reasonable 950$ or even less.

I play guitars since 1985, plus I own my own recording studio. I have a good quality collection of guitars including some very rare and expensive Fender models. I also own some Jackson super strats (inc. a SH-2), but I am not a tremolo guy although I mainly play hard rock and I am a lead guitarist. This is my third Japanese guitar, I also had an Ibanez RG520 and a Yamaha Studio Lord SL450 before. But of course this LP beats both of them.. combined.

This review comes from a guitarist who owned and sold 13 Gibson LP guitars over the past 22 years. These were mostly standard USA Gibson's (not the Studio crap!) but 2 of'em were custom shop guitars and one of them was Gary Moore signature LP. I saw'em all.

Buy one of these Edwards and you will never regret.

Thanks for reading.