Epiphone '56 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue

Quick review of this guitar. See specs from other submissions. It's supposedly a copy of a 1956 Les Paul, after they put a bridge AND tailpiece on it, but still had the P-90 pickups. It has a, uh, gold top, natural (stained) back, sides and neck. Epiphone's website says body is "alder/mahogony", whatever that means. Some other reviewer here said it had "sound chambers", but the Epi site says nothing about that. I bought this new, and asked the store owner. He wasn't aware of sound chambers. It is a light guitar, nothing like my cumbersome but wonderful Gibson LP Custom.
The rosewood fretboard on mine is very attractive, the pearloid inlays are authentic and have a little of the sloppy wetness from the glue that I see in real LPs, so no big deal. This one is a 2nd, and I think it's a second cuz of some globs of glue under the gold, along a two inch span on top of the body where the neck butts the body. I ain't buying this for the museum, so no big deal.
So it's got the two P-90's. Those are the features. Rating is for what was expected.

Here's my little story: I had a Epiphone LP Special double cutaway, the cherry finish, that I really liked. I replaced the stock pickups in that little baby with real Gibson P-90's, and it made VERY LITTLE IF ANY sonic difference. Either that doesn't say much for the Gibson pickups, or it says volumes about the quality of the Epi stock pickups. Anyway, I bought that guitar cuz it was cheap ($250 in an Austin pawn shop) and its body was one piece of mahogany, not many pieced together. Fun little guitar. I also have a LP Custom, which I love for some stuff, but I play in a church band with piano, lots of vocals, sax, etc. Humbuckers on LP Custom are great for heavy stuff, but for clean stuff I used Strats and Teles. Had used the Epi Special a few times and liked it okay. My dream guitar has always been a Goldtop model, though. So recently I came across this Epi one, and A/B'ed it with my Special (with Gibson pickups). The 56 Goldie sounded considerably better. Fuller, bigger, more robust sound, I guess. The middle pickup position, especially, blew me away. Just fantastic. I had considered looking for the real Gibson reissue model, but was pretty sure it would be out of my price range. And PRS just came out with a McCarty soapbar model that's getting rave reviews. Again, a little too rich for my blood.
So I got an excellent trade-in for my Special. Here's the kicker: a local store had a 1952 LP, the very first model. Asking $4500. Goldtop, trapeze tailpiece, no bridge, two P-90s. I asked the owner if for fun I could A/B the two guitars. That old guitar (almost 50 years old) sure has character. I tried to get it in tune with itself, and couldn't. So I just played it. The tone was there, sounded good, pickups almost sounded "acoustic", they just were different. Didn't seem like they had the standard P-90 midrange honk. But anyway, it was a hard guitar to play. Didn't feel particularly good. So I picked up my Epi. The pickups sounded fuller and richer, with the cool midrange, but still the articulate highs and beefy lows. It may be the perfect pickup. The neck on mine felt the same as the original. After that, I was VERY impressed. Given a choice, if the original had been the same price, I'd have still bought mine. (Or bought the other, sold it, and bought the Gibson reissue or PRS McCarty soapbar!)
Seriously, this guitar sounds wicked and plays great. For under $500, and for it to stand up regally and best a 50-year old cousin, that's quite a complement.

Like I said, mine's a 2nd, so it had the glue glob problem, but it's not noticeable. Other than that, the finish was actually closer than I would've thought to the 1952 model. Played good all the way up the neck. Feels solid.

Think it will be fine. Never dealt with Epi. Never dealt with any guitar company that I've purchased equipment from. It all works fine.

Think it has a 5-year warranty.

Been playing (goofing around) for about 15 years. Own Strats, Les Pauls, Fender amps, Boss pedals, etc. All the usual stuff. Like I said, I was looking for something to cut through a dense mix, with more power than a typical Strat but less power than a Paul. I think this is it.

I think this guitar was built in '98. Gold top and creme P90's 2 tone and 2 volume controls, 3 way switch. Chrome hardware. The neck is nice thin and has no defects like some guitars I have seen, no 12th fret rise syndrome or sharp edges on the fret ends (I hate that). plays ao smooth I hate to put it down. I like the neck better than my American Strat.

Its got great sound. I just love that "soapbar sound" That was the real reason I got this quitar. Fenders single coils are OK and Humbuckers are fine but the soapbars has a little of both.

Told you about the action al ready. The finish is OK a few small spots that were not coated as well as others but I didn't buy this guitar to stay pretty or be a museum piece or for the color that was a plus, so it will get plenty of use and some wear on the finish. It will ad character.

When I got it one of the Tone controls needed to be replaced, so I did it, a new 500K pot, it cost me $5. and 15 minutes. All the pots are the large ones (I like that) they seen to last better than the small cheap type I find in so many other guitars. This guitar will be used alot at gigs, I hate to take one of my $1000+ guitars to a smoky bar full of drunk stupid people, just to make a $100. This will work just fine for that purpose. I always have a backup guitar at gigs this will be my main player I think. I will switch to my Tele for country.

Unknown

30+ years, 20+ playing gigs. Own several other guitars: 335, strat, Mex tele, and SG and 3 Fender amps. Twin, Deluxse, Blues Jr. If I lost this guitar I would try to find another like it.

This is a 1998 Epiphone '56 Les Paul Gold Top Reissue. It features a mahogany body with sound chambers and a pressed mahogany or maple top. The neck I believe is made out of maple or something like that. It's finished in a mettalic gold color on the front with cream body binding and a deep red clear finish on the back. Electronics are passive, and the pickups are two Alinco V P90s. It has a three way selector switch, and four knobs, Bridge Pickup Volume and Tone and Neck Pickup Volume and Tone. The bridge is a Tune-O-Matic. All in all it's almost an exact copy of the original '56.

The sound is classic Les Paul. I play all kinds of music and it can do it all. It's heavy, but it's not as heavy as the Gibson Les Paul, due to the sound chambers in the body which promote resonance and sustain. It doesn't sound as muddy as Gibson LPs, and the P90s cover a wide variety of sounds, from Fender-ish highs to deep sustain-filled classic LP sound. If you want a good LP for an unbeatable price, go for this one.

Fit and finish, as well as action were perfect from factory. There were some problems, such as a bit of fret buzz and some knobs were loose, but all of those were fixed by the great guys I bought it from. Everything on it is perfect. There are a few finish anomalies, such as a few splatters of gold paint on the beautiful red back, but other than that it's a great guitar.

As far as reliability and duribility goes, this thing is solid as a rock. It's heavy, solid and and I feel would be great for playing live, or whatever. The hardware, being not high quality may need replacing in the future, but the body is rock hard. The finish is nice and thick, the strap buttons are solid, and it's going to last a long time. It's a beautiful guitar that, because of the price, I woulden't mind taking on stage, to a gig, whatever. Something I would never do with a $2000+ original Gibson '56 LP gold top.

Never had to deal with the company, but the people I bought it from set it up and fixed the few problems it had for free and did a great job. I hope I never have to deal with the company!

I've been playing for something like seven years now, and I own a Fender Stratocaster (Modified), a Harmony Rocket and a Hagstrom 12 String. I also own a Fender Frontman 15R amp, a Zoom 505 multi-effects and a Fender mini amp. I have yet to try the LP on the Frontman, but I'm sure if it's good on the Mini, it'll be even better on the Frontman. The Gold Top has been my dream guitar for awhile now, next to the Fender Jaguar, and now that I've found a much cheaper, but still good quality realization of that dream, I am very happy. This is a wonderful guitar, but I would suggest that if you are interested in buying one, make sure you get it from a reputable dealer and play it and inspect it before purchasing. I have heard many horror stories about Epiphones from mail order, and so make sure you know what your getting. There are duds, and there are great guitars, so check them all. If this were stolen, the guy who stole it better run fast... Thats all I can say.

This is a 1998 epi les paul reissue with 2 P90s and gold finish. It has standard les paul controls, 2 volume, 2 tones and pickup toggle switch.

I play in a Church band which plays a blend ranging through reggae, blues, rock and pop styles. This guitar (plus my Korg effects pedal) gives me the the tone i thought I could never find in an instrument at this price. I wanted something with the strength of a humbucker but the tonal clarity of a single coil and these pickups give me exactly that. The coils alone produce a little buzz which I can dial out with a noise gate in my Korg or use the two PUs together to eliminate the noise.

I played a bunck of Epi Les pauls in a few megastores and their set-up was just disgusting. If all the fenders were'nt terrible also I would have leaned towards a powerhouse strat or something. This guitar came via mail order from a store which promised a pro set-up in the price. They were right, this plays at least 10 time better than any guitar I played before. The finish seems very even and all the inlays seem fitted perfectly, maybe I got lucky with this Epi judging by other reviewers. The only problem was a cracked toggle switch cap which probably broke in transit, the shop is sending me a new one. The nut is not totally perfectly set but is close. Also the balance of the guitar has a very vintage feel about it but nothing you can't get used to.

This is a very solid piece of timber. I think the main problem may be in a year or so if the tuning pegs get loose (hasn't been a problem yet though). I bought this guitar accepting that I may have to upgrade these and maybe the pickup selector one day to better quality.

limited life long warranty apparently, i doubt I will use it, minor problems aren't worth waiting for any companies customer support.

been playing for about 6 years and this was the first electric I have bought new, previously had suprisingly good strat and tele copies and a Takamine acoustic. I had the cash to buy something more expensive but this baby was just like coming home. Compared it to Other Epis, Gibson LP Studio, Powerhouse strats, teles, fat strats and Yamahas. It was a bit of a gamble in terms of the range of sounds and quality but I think I got a great guitar. Best feature is the lush thick tones, worst is probably the cheap looking tuners. I would cry a lot if it got stolen and would go to the same store and order another one.

Check out Epiphone's website at www.epiphone.com. It's more or less your basic Les Paul with a mahogony or alder body, 2 P-90 pickups, and a chunky Les Paul neck with binding. Mine is somewhat unique as it has been refinished in a sparkly wine-red by PRS. It looks really cool. The neck is really chunky compared to a generic Fender or Jackson and it is not unfinished on mine, so it feels a little strange. The neck has trapazoid inlays and well sized frets. I don't like itty-bitty frets. As far as a Les Paul goes, it's got it all!

A lot of people here don't like the sound of the stock pickups. I think they're fucking awesome! They have the power of humbuckers but they kind of have the jingle of a Strat single coil. It's something you'll have to try. I am more than pleased with the crunch that pours out of my Peavey 5150. Don't forget about the sustain! It just sings and sings and sings.... and sings and sings...
Only problem is that being single PUs they buzz like crazy! Especially when you set your gain up really high. The buzz is worse than what I get on my '73 Strat.
Ohhhh, but the tone!!

I have only problem (I think). The strings bind at the nut. Other than that, every thing is damn near perfect. The finish is flawless. Whoever refinished the guitar at PRS did a superb job! Intonation is spot-on. Probably have to thank a guitar tech for that.

I'm sure this guitar will survive a much stronger beating than I can ever give it, but I'll baby it like my others. The only thing I would change are the tuners. There's nothing wrong with them I guess but I just don't feel good about them.
Other than that you could probably kill somebody with it if you swung it hard enough.

Bought it "used" so to speak. N/A.

I am impressed with this axe! Another thing I should mention is that it is signed by Mick Mars of Motley Crue. I've removed the signed plastic and I'm going play the guitar quite a bit. It would be a shame not to play it. The sound is awesome! I'm used to playing Strats so the neck and body contours (what contours?) feel different. The shorter scale kind of throws me off but after a while I got used to it and I can go between the two seemlessly. I'm also not used to having the sound jack on the side of the body. It gets in the way when I sit on my bed and play the guitar.
If I could have one Les Paul, this one would be it. Any Les Paul cravings I might have had before are now satisfied.