Epiphone '56 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue

You know all the features. Mine came with a hard shell case... *CHA CHING!*.

The sound of this guitar is fantastic. It is very thick, beefy, though has a very smooth high end clarity. The tone is well balanced and is very dynamic. It is a very versatile guitar as well. P-90's are just really great. I use this guitar with my Dr. Z MAZ 38 1x12 combo and my Epiphone Valve Junior. Sometimes I will throw it through a Keeley Compressor or a VanAmps spring reverb to add some additional flavor. Other times I will throw it through distortion pedals or crank up my pre-amp section. (This guitar sounds EXCEPTIONALLY well will with nice reverb.) By nature, the guitar can be a bit nosy. You can hear pickup buzz on the neck and bridge pickup settings. The middle selection is dead-quiet. This guitar sounds brilliant clean and grows a serious set of balls when distorted. I hope you like beef stew because that's what this thing sounds like through a ProCo rat. It's really great actually. Singing violin'esque lead tone... or nasty, gritty, crunch action. You want it, this thing's got it. There's really nothing I don't like about the tone this thing can squeeze out.

I got my guitar from Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI. Great store. They sent it to me set up really great actually. The action was comfortably low for my tastes. No fret buzz. Pickup poles needed a bit of adjustment. There are a couple scratches, small dents in mine because it was used... but that adds character. The finish is really great. It's got that authentic greenish tint to it at times. I have a '97 model so the tuners are very cheap and the switch needs replacing.. no big deal. The neck feels really great, I love it. Nice and quick. Would be nice if it was a bit thicker. But it plays well so what am I complaining about? Fret job is great.. binding looks great. Decent bridge hardware. Overall, very nice guitar.

Come on, this thing is a beast, baby!

Who needs it.

I've been playing for over 10 years and this is currently one of my favorite guitars. It sounds fantastic, it feels great, it's nice and solid... what a great guitar! If you can find one used for a good deal... snatch that thing up like it's nobody's business. Talk the price down a bit... you know the drill. I think the fact that mine's used make me like it even more.

The features on this guitar are the standards from the factory. I recomend that you visit Epiphones homepage to take a closer look.

I was a little surprised to see that it had Grover tuners. Even my Gibson didn't come with that!

Btw, when you see what price I paid for the guitar, remember that I bought it (used) in Norway, and by US standards Epiphone guitars are not very cheap here. For me it was a really good deal:-)

I was very surprised the first time I used the Epiphone Gold Top. I didn't expect it to sound as good as it does 'cause it's a cheap guitar compared to the original Gold Top made by Gibson. The sound is in fact very good, and I'm using it with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp and a Marshall High Gain Dual Reverb amp.

I was looking for the "Dickey Betts sound", and this guitar brings me fairly close to his sound. Very good guitar for blues and rock'n roll, but it can be used for almost everything, except, IMO, heavy metal. If you're looking for a heavy metal guitar you should consider getting a guitar with humbuckers.

The P90's gives you a warm sound, and these pick up's are hotter than the single coils on a standard US Strat.

The set up from the factory was very well done on this guitar. I know that sometimes Epiphone guitars can be a drag when it comes to the set up, but if you take your time before you buy one and try out a few, eventually you will find one that suits you. If not, you can get some help with the set up from your local music store.

The pickups were nicely adjusted when I bought it, so I haven't done any adjustments to them.

Two things: The chrome on the hardware wears off easy, but that doesn't bother me much. You can't expect to "get it all" when you're buing a cheap guitar. The pickup selector is a little noisy too, but not so much that it is painful to listen to.

I find the Gold Top very reliable, and have no problem using it live. So far it has been very depenable, and has done it's job very well. The only two reasons I bring a backup guitar is that sometimes I need a different sound, and in case a string breaks during a song.

So far the finnish seems to be quite strong, and doesen't wear off. The strap buttons are solid, but I did change the screews because the originals weren't reliable. They were to thin and short, but with the new ones they're doing the job.

The hardware has worked properly so far. I haven't had any bad experiences yet.

Haven't had the use for any support from Epiphone yet.

I've been playing, as an amateur, for about 25 year. I own a Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960, a US Strat and a Epiphone ES335 Cherry Red in addition to the Gold Top. My amps are, as mentioned, a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Marshall High Gain Dual Reverb.

If my Gold Top got stolen or lost, I would surely buy a new one. Great value for your money!

What do I love about this guitar? Well, first of all the sound. I really like that "Dickey Betts sound" that it gives you, but I also love the feeling the whole guitar gives. It's not very heavy compared to some Gibsons, it's very easy to play, the colour is great. What can I say? The guitar just gives me a good feeling. Everytime I pick it up I think about how little it did cost me, and what it gives back to me.

The only thing I miss on this guitar (and all Gibson style guitars) is a volume knob that controls both pickups at the same time.

I guess it's made in 2004 in Korea. 22 frets. It need no introduction 'Coz it's a standard Les Paul made by Epiphone, my favorite Brand. It has all a Les Paul ought to have! It's my first guitar without a tremelo system. It stays in tune very well! I compared it with Gibson model and find it more beautiful. But the Gibson model has a thicker neck. Thick or thin? Depends on you. I don't have long fingers, so I prefer thin neck.

It sounds incredible! Because it use single coil P-90s, it produce some usual noise. But I did compare it with Gibson 56 Gold Top Reissue. Gibson has the same amount of noise! Both the Gibson and Epiphone sounds very warm and lush! Think it cost much less! Its sound is the famous Les Paul sound, though it doesn't have humbuckers. When I plug it into my Laney VC30 2*10, and use the bridge pickup, I can get the guitar tone in Thin Lizzy's song! Very perfect for playing Classic Rock and Blues. Epiphone can always deliver me the sweet sounding guitar tone.

Action is not as good as my Ibanez guitar. It I set it low, the high fret has a little buzz. But this does not affect my playing so much. Acceptable. Its flawless finish is so much better than the Gibson model!!

I bought this new. It seems perfect now. Waiut and see.

Never dealt with.

I've been playing for 7 years and own 5 guitars. I love this guitar very much and I'll sure gig with it. It fits my styles and my fingers condition very well. If it were stolen or lost, I'll buy it again. I hope it will last for all my life. Epiphone cost less than Gibson, but its guitars beat all the guitars whose price are under $1000. I'll buy a Gibson next year, but it will not replace my Epiphone.

I have another guitar with a gibson p-90, and the sound is wirtually identical to this guitar. The epi pickup has higher output, and a slightly less "junky" tone (one of the qualities P-90's are known for), however it remains just as well-balanced and responsive, and has a certain quality the gibson p-90 doesn't: you hear an undeniable sense of "space" around the guitar sound. This gives distorted sounds a picturesque quality and depth that I can't believe. I've been recording this guitar for 6 months now, and the sound of it continually blows my mind. I've had 2 gibson les pauls with humbuckers, and several single coil strats- then I found the P-90, a giant single coil that has the best of both the humbucker les paul and strat sounds. The gibson p-90 is a marvel of tone, and the epi P-90 rivals it beautifully and brings something new and wonderful to the table. I had planned on getting gibson P-90's for my goldtop, assuming the epi's wouldn't cut it- but instead I found a new plateau of my guitar sound. I use an Art Power Plant preamp for distortion, and after a 30 year search, this combo is it for me.

I returned 2 of them, one for a huge wound, one had a flaw in the archtop bevel, the third had binding flaws but otherwise perfect. The goldtop finish is so thick and durable, real 50's feel to it. Solid, beautiful guitar. String retainer was screwed down way too tight, had to ruin the slots just to loosen the bolts. Many quality problems with these but otherwise we'd be paying $3000 for them- and it's true that the gibson finish is squeaky and slow, and this epi finish is much better. Action & intonation from factory was terrible, 8 hours later perfect.

Brand New, Gold Top, Mahogony body, Alder top, Grovers, P-90s

Love the Sound. Neck is bright and crunchy, neck is velvety smooth. I'm using this with a very expansive Vetta rig with two 4x12 bottoms, a pedal board with vintage fuzz boxes, rack effects and a wet/dry set up using 2 PA/Keyboard amps. When I run it through my main sound it rocks, when I use some of my vintage amp settings it sounds right on! Very authentic. Drips with vintage tone

This is a beautiful, well made, great playing, very expensive feeling guitar. I was floored when I picked it up. The neck is a dream.

Very, Very solid guitar

N/A

I've been playig for 37 years. I own 29 guitars. I own, have owned and played a lot of vintage guitars over the years. This is one of my favorite guitars at the moment. I can't get over how expensive it feels. At first I was concened that, because it had Grovers instead of Kluson style tuners, the 1956 visual vibe would be ruined for me (I know it sounds stupid), but this thing is amazing and it doesn't matter (Gibson told me that the Grovers are actually better than the "classic" style tuners that they were using). I would be devastated if something happened to this guitar. I'll tell you...Epiphone is really making some great guitars lately. I own eight and love them. I know I got a deal (I knew someone), but even at the going rate, this is a steal. If you love vintage Les Pauls, do yourself a favor and buy this guitar. You won't be sorry.

See countless reviews below.

This is a $500 guitar? It sounds better than my PRS McCarty!

Overall: It has that Gibson vibe -- sounds similar to a humbucker equipped Les Paul, but less powerful and less 'dark'. It gets' dirty quicker than a lot of guitars, but a very pleasing dirty sound at that. Sustain is really, really good.

I keep my amp set for moderate distortion at full guitar volume. I like to use the guitar volume control to 'clean up' the sound for rythm work. This guitar does get a nice clean sound, but it has a narrow range on the volume knob for that clean sound. Rough volume control response (depending on your amp and gain level) is 10= bright and distorted, 4 thru 9 = a little muddy and still distorted, 3 = pretty clean with only minimal volume loss, <3 = very clean but mucho volume loss.

Neck Pickup: Superb. Dynamic and sensitive to touch. Inspiring sounds. All strings sound powerful and full, all the way up and down the neck. It's got that Gibsone timbre -- focussed, kinda nasal gibson Les Paul tone, with a little brighter hint of telecaster. It's a pure Gibson sound though, not Fender at all. Just a little brighter than humbuckers.

Bridge Pickup: Very bright if you want that, and easily toned down with a couple clicks taken off the tone knob. A little less powerful than I would have preferred. So it sounds just a bit thinner on leads than I expected. Power chords are excellent on this setting. And if you want slightly meatier lead sounds, select the 'both pickups' position, and turn the neck volume down to 7 or 8. Gives you like 90% bridge pickup, with a little extra beef from the 10% neck pickup mixed in. Again, a VERY gibson tone, with a little more brightness.

Both Pickups: Sounds absolutely spectacular.

This is a $500 guitar. I think that matters in grading the sounds. It's better than all similar priced guitars with P90's, and better than many of guitars costing much MUCH more. Been playing 50 years, owned lots of guitars. . . and I give it a 10.

I like Gibsons. Their sound is unique -- they've got personality and vibe. They have a great image and history. BUT The American made gibsons usually have some minor to significant quality issues though. I think that's sad, and I wonder where their pride went?

So why bring up American Gibson quality when this one is made in Korea? Because the quality (action, fit, finish, setup, etc) of this low priced guitar is virtually perfect. And this one costs a fraction of even a cheap American made les paul. The neck is perfect, straight. The frets are finished very well. The finish and other parts have no flaws. I've read that the electronics (knobs, switches) are better on American s, but this one works just fine!

A great guitar for practice, for giggin, for anything. For the price, it's an easy 10.

Ok, Here we go. I'm going to be as simple as possible. I was fortuned too plug this guitar trough a variety of amps and these are the sounds I got from it:

FENDER BASSMAN 59'REISSUE: From the early Freddy King and Howling Wolf albums to Mike Bloomfield on the Paul Butterfield's album "East West". It all depends on how the amp is set.

FENDER 65' DELUXE REVERB REISSUE: Cranked up Neil Young's tone. With the vibrato channel the swampy John Fogerty tone in songs like Born on the Bayou and Midnight Special.

MARSHALL BLUESBRAKER REISSUE: Peter Green's tone on the John Mayall album and early Fleetwood Mac.

FENDER 65 TWIN REVERB REISSUE: From BB King (normal channel) to Albert Collins (w/ bright switch on). Again, depends on how the amp is set.

50w MARSHALL PLEXI REISSUE: Carlos Santana on his first 3 albums.

It has some flaws in the binding but that's not a big deal for me.

The first one I got had a problem on the pick up switching togle. Took it back to the store and they gave another one witch so far (3 months) I had no problems.

Been playing for nigh 10 years and always be a Fender man. Fender Guitars are great but for me they are too demanding if you want a great tone (eg:heavy strings, tune down, special pup's...).

With this guitar I get a fenderish kind of tone but with the grip and sustain of the Les Pauls with light strings (I'm using 10's now).

It suits all my music venues (Blues, Jazz and classic hard rock and rockabilly). I thought about changing the pup's for Gibson's vintage P-90. The guys I play with said that the guitar sounds fine with the stock ones and that would be waste of money.

If you're a vintage tone junkie like myself and don't have too much cash, this guitar is for you. I'm thinking about getting another one of these and instal a Bygsby tremolo bar on it.

Check out the artists I mentioned above and you'll have a pretty good idea on how this guitar sounds like. Remember folks, most of the tone comes from your fingers, hands, forearms, etc.

2 p-90's pups
2 volume Knobs
2 tone knobs

It's a vintage like guitar, so it's enough features for me.

Ok, here we go. I'm going to be striaght forward. I was fortuned enough to play it trough a variety of amps and that's the sound I got:

FENDER 59' BASSMAN REISSUE - From Freddy King to Hubert Sumlim to Mike Blommfield (Paul Butterfield's East-West album). It all depends on how the amp is set.

FENDER 65' TWIN REVERB REISSUE - B.B King.

FENDER 65' DELUXE REVERB (cranked up)from Neil Young to the "swampy" John Fogerty tone with the vibrato channel.

MARSHALL 62 BLUESBREAKER REISSUE - Peter Green on Jonh Mayall's album.

MARSHALL "PLEXI" Santana's 1st 3 albums.

CHECK OUT THESE ALBUMS!!!

It has some flaws but it's not that big deal for me

The 1st one I got had a little problem in the swithing togle. Took it back to the store n' got another one wicth so far I had no problems.

Been a semi-pro musician for 10+ years. I've always been a Fender man, but for me, fender guitars demand too much to get a great tone (eg: heavy gauge strings).

With this one I can get a heavy Fenderish kind of tone and not compromisse my fingers (I'm stringing with 10's now).

I'm thinking of upgrading the guitar with Gibson's vintage P-90's, although some pals of me say that the tone is great and that I'd be wasting money.

If you're looking for a great sounding unexpensive guitar this one is for you. Soon I gonna get another one of this and have a Bygsby tremolo on it (watch out Neil Young).

Check the artists I stated above and you'll have a pretty good idea on how this guitar sounds like

Great for the money - could be better but that would cost more of course. P90's at this price can't be sniffed at - an awsome achievment!

I brought this guitar to suppliment my 60's re-issue strat I'm not going to compare the 2 no point. I brought it as I'm learning ZZ Top songs and I wanted something gritty and with a lot of sustain.
The sound is increadable for the money I really mean it - I can't believe that this guitar could be so good so cheap it incredable - this is entry level money we are talking about but I don't think I'd change it unless I won some big bucks and could get an origional.

I small additon to consider - I am no way an expert on the Les Paul sound (Strats I know my stuff) but with that a side this is excellent.

Top notch where it should be plays a dream, god I love tuneomatic! a Little rough finish on the pick guard but that's all - this guitar this cheap!

It's a les Paul so you would pretty much kill anything you hit with it - I would gig without a backup no issue.

I've played off and on most of my life - back in the saddle again. I own a 60's strat and brought this for a beefier sound.

You really can't ask for more for your money - entry level or an addition to the collection this will please all!

The best noting, finest feeling guitar I've ever played(and I own 2 gibson's, a les paul sl humbucker model and a SG special and i'd choose this guitar over them both any day of the week.) The P90 pickups are fabulous i was always afraid to commit and buy a model with them since i've heard such horror stories about them, but as it turns out it was the exact sound i'd been looking for. Striking gold top and awesome gold tone what more can I say. I was tempted to purchase an epiphone paul standard but the tone on this thing just desimates anything the standard can do.

I've played for 9 years and never really felt that I had settled into a guitar that really suited my playing style or that of our band's, which consists of odd variations of jazz chording and overdriven surf style rhythems in many cases. This guitar does it all(except maybe metal but i bet it could handle that too) jazz, surf, brit-rock, indie rock, rock-a-billy: the guitar is so versatile on clean settings or overdriven. My primary guitar was always a Gibson SG, but I don't care what anyone says the Sg is a lead player's guitar and can easily be washed over in terms of sound when playing rhythem and specifically intricate rhythem that is vital to the song. I wanted those parts to stand out, not be drowned out so i went on a quest to find the perfect rhythem player's guitar and the 56 goldtop is it. The p90's are bright and punchy enough to stand out against anything but the sound is not thin, it has major balls and an exciting and pleasing growl. Each note in a chord stands out with crystal clarity and there is no fuzzy breakup at loud volumes as with humbuckers, the guitar can definately maintain its sound integrity at any volume.

The action is fabulous, the action and the pickups are the 2 attributes that make this guitar a must have.

It seems very durable, hardware is great but i'm kind of afraid to play it out because its so pretty lest it be stolen or broken. But I will, it sounds to good not to. I always have a backup though, it's stupid not to because you never know what can happen. I trust it, but I've been burned before and I guess only time will tell.

Epiphone has always been great to me. They are so helpful and always get back to you in a timely manner.

Epiphone is winning over my heart, I play through one of the new valve standard amps they've been producing and the sound is phenomenal especially with the goldtop. I also run through an electro harmonix English Muff'n overdrive which sounds delicious. If the guitar were stolen or lost I would cry and cry and then begin the arduous task of trying to save for a new one( even at full price ). I compared this against sooo many other guitars before buying: gretch projets, tele customs, epiphone wildkats, various sg's and pauls', casino's, dot's, seymore duncan pickup strats and many more. They say the right guitar can reignite the love of playing, well this guitar has done that for me. I am forevermore an advocate for the p90 sound. The only thing that I wish it had is a Bigsby tremelo unit; Epiphone? Gibson? C'mon guys is that too much to ask?