Epiphone '56 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue

2008 made in China, all standard options, bought it new. P-90s, etc.
9 for features because it's a re-issue and contains almost every feature of the original, except accurate tuners. Why would they make that beautiful accurate gold top, cream binding, red mahogany back, and put modern chrome Grover tuners on it? I'm not a fan of the Epiphone headstock shape either, but it is what it is.
The neck shape, if you're familiar with the fat Gibson 1958 style ("baseball bat") and the thinner, faster 1960 style, this is right in the middle. Faster and thinner than the baseball bat, but more substantial than a 1960 thin neck. Very comfortable.

I bought this to use as a blues guitar, looking for that fat growly woody P-90 tone on a solid platform.
Acoustically (unplugged) it is a very bright guitar. The body is one-piece mahogany (not maple capped as the Gibsons are), and that mahogany must be a very hard piece of wood, harder than a maple cap would be.
It's a punchy tone, it hits hard then fades fast, not much of a sustaining guitar. Easily corrected with a bridge/ stopbar upgrade if you want to.
Plugged in, the neck pickup is fantastic. Rich, fat, balanced with a nice edge when pushed, cleans up well and allows the tone of the string and body come through. Sounds like an amplified version of the acoustic tone. That neck pup driven very hard into a tube amp can get muddy, it's better to stay in that magic zone where the amp is just compressing and will grind if you push it. The richness of this pup largely makes up for/ smooths out the punchy lack of sustain that the guitar naturally has. Singing edgy blues solos are it's forte.
The bridge pup is a disappointment, most obvious when you've played the neck pup for a while then switch to it. You'll be wondering what happened to your tone. The up side of this is that pushed hard into a well overdriven tube amp (master volume amp, etc), the bridge sounds great. It's thin-ness at a relatively clean setting translates to a lack of mud and a fantastic heavy metal distorted tone. Power chords rock, single note is punchy. Problem is that at that amp setting, if you switch back to the neck, it's mud city. In other words, the two pups are not a match made in heaven and it's hard to make them work well together.
A pickup upgrade (at least one of them) is needed for a pro player. I used a set of Duncan SP90-2 and SP90-3. Hotter than stock, but very well balanced and perfect for this guitar.

I bought this guitar new, as a factory second/ blem item and saved some cash. For the life of me, I can not see the flaw. They are capable of doing very, very good work in the Asian guitar factories, as good/ better than any of the big USA/ Mexican factories. The binding is perfectly applied and well finished, the gold top paint is perfect and VERY authentic looking, the red stained back and neck are all very well done, no issues that I can see. The mahogany back is a dark red, but translucent enough that you can see the grain showing through. Neck is straight, action good, truss rod properly set at the factory.
I did feel the need to polish the frets at the first string change to make them perfectly smooth and add some lem-oil to the fingerboard, but I do this on all new guitars that I buy as a matter of basic set-up.
However, as well applied and beautiful as the finish is, I grew to hate it. It LOOKS fantastic, but it feels cheap and plastic. I own a Gibson Custom shop Historic 1960 reissue Les Paul with a thin nitrocellulose finish that is absolute heaven. When I switch from the gibby to the Epi, it feels like a piece of plastic. What I've done is remove all of the hardware, etc, and wet-sanded the whole guitar with 800 grit to remove most of the clear poly, and rough it up. Then, I brought the finish back to a soft matte texture with automotive polishing compound, by hand. MUCH better, looks and feels more like a vintage "instrument" less like a shiny piece of plastic, but I'll probably eventually completely strip it and re-finish it vintage correct with nitrocellulose. THAT will be a fantastic guitar.
You can probably tell that I'm very picky, most users will be very happy with the finish on this guitar. I'm just crazy.
10 for the quality and appearance of the finish and construction, minus 4 for the cheap feel of the thick poly finish for a 6 rating.

It's built like a tank. Neck/ body joint is rock solid, the thick hard poly finish will last forever and stand up to dings and hits very well.
The first thing that I did with this guitar is remove all of the electronics and replace them with pro-grade stuff. Switchcraft pickup switch and jack, CTS pots and MojoTone PIO tone caps all with the Gibson 1950's wiring configuration. Vintage style Gibson steel braided wiring throughout. The pots and switch felt cheap, bottom line, and I would expect them to cr*p out and fail or start to make noise rather quickly with regular use. CTS pots have larger shafts than the Chinese pots that came stock, so I had to slightly enlarge the holes and get Gibson knobs as well.
I also swapped the tuners out for a set of Tone Pros Kluson vintage keystones. Seems odd on a 1956 vintage recreation guitar that is so accurate elsewhere, that they'd use modern chrome Grovers. The tuners seemed solid, but a heavy user would probably want to replace them with USA made quality tuners at any rate.
With these upgrades, I have complete confidence in the guitar's ability to last and perform consistently. No problem gigging with it.
7 because of the cheap feeling electronics. With the Switchcraft/ CTS upgrades, it is a 10.

Have not experienced Epiphone customer service. They're a huge company owned by Gibson, I'm sure they'll take care of business if I need it.
My guitar is so modded now though, I'm sure the warranty is void anyway.

For a lot of players, younger/ newer players, this is a fantastic guitar right out of the box. You need something built well that will last, stay in tune, perform reliably and allow you to practice and learn. It has a cool vintage vibe but will work well as an all-around guitar.
For a more experienced, pro player, some parts will need to be upgraded.
Electronics, tuners and pickups. This will allow the owner to build a niche guitar, suited for a certain tone or style he's looking for to add to his collection. This is a specific type of guitar- not a heavy metal/ thrash/ hard rock guitar. It shines with a clean fat tone, or my favorite- tube amp just on the edge of crunch/ break-up. Modern jazz, heavy blues, PERFECT. It offers a lot of nuance and is a very playable guitar.
As well, since it's very well built (good wood, good construction) and relatively inexpensive for it's quality, it's a great platform for modding and customizing to build YOUR perfect P-90 axe.
8 because it's not perfect out of the box, but can easily be made much, much better.

2006 Epiphone 56 Reissue Les Paul Gold Top (P-90's)

I have been anti Epi for the last 10 years or so, I've always got the impression that they were over priced and not worth the price tag even as a beginners guitar. That was until today when this 2006 56 reissue I picked up used renewed my faith. It has a great feeling neck and decent sound out of the box. To all of you coming down on the guitar for it's factory setup equaling a large volume/Tone difference between the neck and bridge pickups - please read my portion of this review under "Sound".

Out of the box it plays great for a beginner/intermediate player or someone who hasn't owned USA Gibsons in the past. You will love it if you are looking for a blues guitar or for something with just enough jangle to not be a Fender.

As stated it plays and sounds good out of the box but, I like others found some weak points/dislikes in the factory setup as well...

......... Dislikes ......

1. The stock plastic nut is garbage, it binds and the plastic is not dense enough to offer any tonal advantage.

2. The Bridge pickup couldn't keep up with the Neck pickup in terms of volume, tone and feel.

3. The intonation was sharp on every string and the factory strings would not stay in tune, it's like they were constantly stretching with each bend and/or re-tune.

4. All the hardware on the Grover tuners were loose.

5. The neck had to much releif which caused buzzing around the tenth fret.

........ Solutions... Don't give up this is a great little guitar if you can find one!

1. I had a new Black Tusq XL Nut made by Graphtech laying in my parts bin for a Les Paul. As soon as I installed it I could hear the difference acoustically, night and day, literally! (I replace standard Gibson Bone Nuts with these on my USA Gibson guitars - It's an awesome product, the nuts are pre slotted and sound better than even natural bone material because Tusq is a more consistant material)

2. I turned my amp on a low volume level and adjusted/raised each pole piece on the pickups individually for the right amount of attack, sustain and warmth for my liking. Do this one pole piece on one pickup at a time - be sure to take your time. Start with your bridge pickup since it is the one that sounds weak compared to the neck pickup. Adjust the pole pieces under each string until you can play each string with even volume, warmth and sustain. Use a scale, the notes will help you hear any volume, attack or sustain differences between each string. After you setup your bridge pickup this way move onto the neck pickup and do the same - play with this until you get even volume out of both pickups and until open chords sound full and pleasing when strummed.

3. After taking care of dislike number 5 by adjusting your truss rod until the neck has only slight relief, intonation is the next step. If you do not know how to intonate your guitar there are lots of instrustions on the net just look up "tune-o-matic intonation adjustment" Intonation is easy and my guitar seemed to intonate quickly with little effort.

4. Check your tuners and make sure all the hardware is tight but, do not over tighten the screws for the buttons. Nothing feels worse than sloppy tuners.


After I did these few things this guitar is a blues machine, literally a tone monster. It has more feel than any NON Standard USA Gibson. It plays and sounds way beyond my expectations and it's price point.

Hopefully my experience helps some of you! Play On!

Read Above

We'll see..

No Thanks, I purchased the guitar used even though it has rarely been played I am pretty sure the warranty has ran out!

One of the most under rated guitars available.

Made in Korea by Unsung in 2002. Epiphone reissue of a 1956 Gold Top Les Paul. Cream P90 soapbar pickups- neck measures 8.3k and bridge measures 8.6k as far as output. Beautiful gold sparkle finish with cream binding, set neck, rosewood fretboard with white pearl inlays. Grover tuners. Neck feels nice- REAL nice. Medium sized feel to it. Mine was bought used and came with an Epiphone hard case. I upgraded the toggle switch and output jack to a Switchcraft brand switch and jack, and upgraded all 4 pots to 500k CTS pots (they were 500k stock). Also upgraded the tone caps to .022uf Mallory's (they were .022uf cheapy film caps stock). It gets a 9 because it has all the features of the original '56 Gold Top, and that's about all you can expect from a reissue.

It sounds amazing! I sold my Mexican Fender Telecaster and bought this Gold Top. My Tele had a P90 neck pickup and a humbucker bridge pickup, and this Gold Top has even better tone than that did. This Gold Top gets great P90 growl! Bitey and raw, but nice and thick too (not thin like a my Tele sometimes was). I play this through my 1965 Ampeg Gemini 1 with original Jensen C12Q speaker and I get GREAT vintage rock tones. The neck pickup sounds especially good. I wasn't digging the bridge pickup (sounded dull/lifeless compared to the sweet neck pup) so I raised it closer to the strings and that helped- but I think I can do better so I ordered a Lindy Fralin 10% overwound bridge P90 pickup for it. That should push this guitar into the "dream-boat" category as far as tone goes. I can't say enough good things about the sound of this guitar. The electronics upgrades I did were merely for longevity sake. The stock toggle worked fine, but upon inspection/replacement it was obviously cheapy quality compared to the Switchcraft. The stock pots were also very cheap and were slightly scratchy- who knows what value they were actually (forgot to measure before I threw them out) but they said 500k on the back. Now the tone caps seem to have added a LITTLE extra "mojo" in my opinion but that is supposedly not possible (in such a low-voltage application, there is scientifically no perceivable difference in sound when changing from low quality caps to high qulaity caps, especially since there is no optimal value in the first place) BUT, nevertheless, in my opinion it sounds a bit more lively/clear as if the signal is being filter more properly. Before the upgrades it was a 9 but I'm thinking this Fralin P90 could push it up to a perfect 10. I mean it- this is the best sounding guitar I've ever owned. And I know there are far too many Epiphone reviews that say this but I'll say it anyway- I don't see what Gibson could offer that would justify spending $3999 on a Gibson Gold Top reissue instead of this Epiphone for far less. Has great sustain and harmonics and sounds loud and tone-full even when you play it unplugged.

I got mine used so I can't say how it came from the factory, but mine is setup PERFECTLY. Plays like a dream. Has action just a tad lower than I like personally (since I play slide too) but I have been playing just fine with it so far. The tuners took some getting used to. They hold tune well but they are very touchy- that is, just a slight nudge on the tuner changes the pitch of the string quite a bit. Tuning is a delicate procedure here. Might end up replacing those tuners someday but no real reason to other than preference. Frets are all nice, no issues. Nut is great. Plenty of sustain and harmonics. Feels very solid and well put-together.

I upgraded the switch, pots, output jack, tone caps, and changed the strap buttons out for some chrome Schaller strap-locks. I think with these upgrades, this guitar is VERY dependable. Without those upgrades, I would only give it a 8 since the quality of the stock pots/jack/switch was not spectacular. But with the upgrades it gets a 10.

Not sure. Haven't had to use them.

Been playing for about 10 years. I've owned at least a handful of other guitars and this is easily my favorite. Sexy, tone-full, and fun to play. Great vintage vibe to it. Can't wait for the Fralin bridge pickup to arrive so I can slap that in there. If you are looking for ballsy, raw, vintage P90 rock and roll goodness in LP form, go ahead and get yourself on of these little beauties. I can't believe how good the stock pickups sound. I'm only replacing the bridge pickup because I'm picky. Most folks would be more than happy with it. I wish Epiphone wouldn't have cheaped out on the switch/jack/pots but that is typical of asian-made mass-produced guitars I guess. It might be cool if it had a Bigsby...

got it used. mine has the "limited edition" logo on the back of the headstock. classic features, already described by past reviewers. to me it has all i need.

i play a mix of punk & r'n'r. i'm not looking for that modern sound - i was still a bit sceptic about the P-90's but found out how great they are! i'm running it into a marshall 900 or jmp super lead, through both it sounds great. i'm also using a boss overdrive stompbox, but i use it only as a booster. the P-90's can be a bit noisy... but you know, shut up and play & you won't hear any noise :)

i think it's all stock (except strap-locks). might change the pickups in the future, but i don't know. i don't think there's any real need for that - even stock it sounds great!!!

i checked the serial when i got it, i think the guitar is from '96 or something. it still looks great, except a couple of scratches gained in time it's flawless!!!

i have 2 other guitars, an epiphone LP standard (with new pickups - you have to change them there) and a gretsch 6120-1959 (reissue). each one has its own sound, all three are great. i always take 2 to gigs, just in case a string problem, even if i never had to pick up a "backup" guitar during a gig till now. i'm pretty much sure this beauty won't let me down during a gig.

never used it... so i don't know.

a great guitar. got it used in great conditions. sounds great stock, not like the LP standard where you have to change the pick-ups. i just put on strap-locks, but if you move when you're playing you have to do that with any guitar, i definitely don't want her to drop on the floor.

Made at Epiphone's factory in China, 2007. Two P 90 style pickups, 2 volume, 2 tone controls, stop tailpiece, tune-a-matic style bridge, Grover tuners, dark, rear stained, alder body, with maple veneer gold top finish, typical carved styled single cutaway Les Paul body. Cream colored top body and fretboard bindings, trapaziodal inlays on rosewood fingerboard. Gibson scale and fret count.

This guitar, especially with neck pup or with both pups on, are wonderful for fat, creamy, clean or raunchier,overdriven blues.I also play some jazzier tunes, and some southern country rock too.I use this guitar with Fender Princeton/Deluxe/Super Reverbs,loaded with a mix of Jensen, Oxford or Utah spkrs,a Marshall Bluesbreaker, a Vox AC 15, both w Celestion Greenbacks and a 50 watt Marshall plexi into a Marshall 4x12 w Vintage 30 Celestions.
With the bridge pickup on,one can get some Telecaster-ish sounds, that are bright, crisp and trebly.Good for country style pickin'.
I use either the neck pickup alone or both pickups 95% of time.

I was simply amazed at the quality of the fret work and the excellent setup from the start.I have raised the action slightly to fit my prefrence and for slide playing in open tunings.
The pickup's outputs are poorly matched with the neck pickup way hotter than the bridge.This is not a big deal for me, since I always adjust volume & tone controls as I play anyway.
The finish work was also surprisingly very good to excellent considering,this price point,and,for a Chinese built instrument.
I prefer the Gibson styled amber volume/tone knobs which are easier to see the settings, than the dark amber ones supplied.Again,no biggie, since I adjust by ear as I play.
It is much lighter than my other "real" Gibson Les Pauls, and this is a BIG plus, and the guitar resonates differently from the Gibson's historic mahogany/maple wood body setup..I like both sounds.
The nut needs a minor adjustment to enhance tuning and intonation stability.

I do not know how this guitar would hold up under constant live performance work. My impression is that it is solid, yet like most guitars one should be careful.

I have not contacted Epiphone regarding this instrument

I have been playing since 1965, and own a mix of Fender, Gibson, Guild,Martin, Dobro, & Taylor electrics and acoustics. In addition, I own a mix of Fenders, the two Marshalls and Vox previously mentioned, plus an Epiphone 5 watt amp head.I generate overdrive and distortion from driving the amps hot, and use reverb. The only outboard gear is a Fender reverb unit, and some different flavored analog delays.I played a Gibson version of this which retailed for $2,800, and it was a superb guitar. At under $400, this is a very nice instrument, and an excellent value, and I would gig out with this. However, it is clear to my ears that the pickups could be upgraded, and I may eventually do that.This guitar feels great, sounds great, is light for a Les Paul,and it looks very close to the Gibson version. To summarize, this guitar at this price, is an outstanding value.

07 Made in China Epiphone Les Paul 56 Gold Top, Features two P90 PUPS, 2vol and 2 tone Controls, plus selector switch. Mahogany body and mahogany set neck.

Played clean, through a 68 Non MV Marshall 100 Super lead, the guitar sounds overall very good. With the selector switch in the middle position, theres a nice hollow sounding honk, great for leads or rythm work. seperation between strings is really pretty good, i never found the sound mushy or congested.

With the bridge pickup selected it sounds a bit thin, more so than my 2001 Gibson Les Paul std, or USA Strat for that matter, dont think i would ever wanna play it clean on the bridge pickup. The neck pickup on the other hand sounds fat and round, not as deep or as rich sounding as my Gibson, but with a little bit more lower mid honk which i liked a lot.

Through an overdrive pedal the bridge pickup starts to come to life, and sounds pretty good, a touch harsh but easily tamed with a tweak of the tone knob. When you get this guitar cranked up and rockin its easy to get some great sounds from all pickup combinations.

I used to own an Epiphone Les Paul Standard some 8 years ago, but sold it as i found it lacking in clarity and tone, it was dead and mushy sounding. Not so this 56 Gold Top which i found very lively expressive and sweet sounding. In fact, i liked it so much i am contemplating swapping out the Humbuckers on my Gibson for some P90s

The Pickups are noisy, about on a par with my usa strat, also there is NO hum canceling in the middle position like there is on a strat, but having been a strat player for many years, you learn to deal with it.

Purchased second hand, so not sure about the factory set up. Intonation is spot on, its well fretted with no sharp edges, frets are reasonably well polished, neck correctly adjusted with just a bit off relief.

Action was set medium low, maybe not low enough for shreders, but i like to get under the string a bit for bending, perfect for that, i think it would go lower without buzzing with a tweak of the bridge.

The nut is well cut, i dont get any string binding in the nut unlike my Gibson which cost 8 times more!, the Chrome grover tuners work smoothly, and the guitar stays in tune very well.

The guitar is quite heavy, hard to say how many pieces of wood its made from as the back finish is fairly dark, but no obvious joins that you can see. Trapezoid inlays are nicely figured and well executed, i cant see any filler around them, unlike some epiphones i looked at a couple of years ago. Strap buttons and most of the attached hardware seem secure and of good quality.

The Knobs are cheap looking and wobble a bit when turned though the pots operate smoothly and quietly, i will probably replace these just from a looks point of view, and maybe the pots too as the rest off the guitar seems very well made and of very good quality. And it sounds good! and feels good.
Top Body and neck bindings are well fitted, though the gold finish has run slightly onto the neck binding where the fingerboard sits on the body, a minor thing which dosent detract from the sound or feel of the guitar, this is the only finish fault i can find.
All in all i would say excellent for the price and beyond.

I would say this guitar could withstand just about anything you could through at it.

No Idea!

I have been playing guitar for 30 plus years, Mainly Strats, currently i have 2 Fender Japan Strat 68 reissues, 2 Fender Japan Strat 62 reissues, A 2003 USA Strat and a 2001 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
Ive had a few Les Paul style guitars during this time , a couple of Japanese Aria Pros, and a Korean Epiphone Les Paul Std, but never got along with them, mainly for sound reasons rather than playability issues, though i could never get the intonation right on the korean Les Paul.

I bought this Chinese Epiphone after reading good things about the p90 PUPs, and i have to say i am very happy with it, for a cheap guitar it really delivers, feels very solid, and apart from the minor finish fault where the neck binding meets the body, it really is excellent. Swap out the pots and the knobs and its one killer guitar.

A lot of people say the chinese epis are junk, i did look at some a couple off years back, i didnt try one but i did notice quite a bit of filler around the neck inlays. This one was made Feb 07 and it really is good, way better than the previous korean model i had.

I reviewed one of these before I think--anyway, we all know what it is and what it does.

This one was made by Saein, in Inchon, Korea, in 1999. I Previously had an Unsung model-- the gold finish on that was nicer. Otherwise very similar guitars.

Now, for those who have played guitar more than a couple of years, and have maybe had a couple of GOOD guitars, no disrespect to the others, but let's be frank--anyone telling you these things stand comparison to Gibsons is just full of it. This is one of Epi's cheapest set-neck solids, and it shows.

It has the usual Korean scarf-joint in the neck-- how could you advertise cheap construction better?

The OE pickups make a kind of a stab at sounding like P90's, but they are muddy, wimpy and unbelievably noisy. Swap them. I put in Kent Armstrongs. Instant huge improvement. As ever with Epi, the other electrics match the bucket-shop pups. Expect toggle switches and jack sockets to die at an early age.

Neck is one of the strong points, action is good, frets are well finished. Outside the guitar, it looks okay; inside the guitar is just a mess. (It tells you something about the Korean mindset--take a look inside any Japanese-made Aria Pro2 from the 80's and wonder at the difference. The Japanese know quality comes from within; the Koreans just care about what you can see.)

The neck joint as seen from the pickup rout isn't even a fit, never mind a tight fit, and it has been bodged together with a big slap of what looks like epoxy. Yahoo. forget craftsmanship with these things, they are cheap, mass-produced factory planks. Solid enough, though, and anyway you're never going to want to take it apart to repair it-- these are essentially disposable guitars.

The guitar will definitely stand live playing. Agricultural they may be, but they're tough. The hardware is decent quality chrome plated, and the tuners are replica Klusons that sem to work as well as the real ones. Fitting Grovers would be a smart move. The electrics will die, but they're so poor you won't miss 'em. Get new stuff when you kick out the old pups.

Never tried that.

Yet again, the truth about Korean guitars is that most of them are pretty damn poor. Apart from the very top-line Epi's like the Lucille, the Sheraton or the big jazzers, Korean Epi's bear no comparison whatsoever to either US or Japanese products. They're cheap and there's a good reason why. It is worth rememberimg that all of these guits are cut out on CNC cutters using the same software, so the difference between a US Gibson and a Korean Epi is in things like the woods, the fit, the finish, the electrics-- all the places where Koreans really seem to struggle to get quality.

If you get one really cheap, and are prepared to stick in some new pups and sort out the electrics, you'll have a good gigging guitar for very little cash--and you genuinely won't care if it gets damaged.

It is to be fervently hoped that the new Chinese Epi's show an improvement in quality over the Korean stuff.

These are okay for what they are-- at the low end of a low-price guitar range. Just don't be kidded into thinking they are what they ain't.

China made Gibson clone,mahony body and maple top white cream bindings.
2 P90 pups volume and tone controle.
Mahony neck whit rosewood board.
Nice gold finish whit chrome hardware and grover tuners

Bridge pick up is little to sharp and to soft,
bridge pick up is a real mean dog!
Hey man this ting really got the blues!
I intend to replace the bridge pick up for a mean one like a Seymor Duncan or a dimarzio

Great action right out of the store and need no set up or adjustments.
Has a very comfortible neck and a low action.

Only play it as a back up guitar at home,but it stay in tune when its tuned.
The quality of the finish is nice,to my opionion it wil last as good as a expensive one

never dealt whit them

Play for over 25 years had a lot of different guitars

This guitar has a great value for the money and really: forgot the name on the headstock and try this one,you be amazed!
Owned a lot of Strats, Gibson Standards en recently brought a Les Paul studio but this one is someting else.
You might not compaire it whit the Gibson,it`s 6 time cheaper but

Gold Les Paul with P-90's. I think everyone knows what it is.

I have to agree with others and say the neck pickup is quite wonderful and the bridge pickup is a joke. I replaced the bridge PU with Seymore Duncan's hottest P-90 and it is much more balanced. I usually dont care for "hot" pickups but for this LP with P-90's it just seems to give the guitar a nasty attitude that I really like. The electronics are not bad at all. The body resonates fairly well. I can only give it a 7 because of the bridge PU, but the guitar can be made to sound much better. A matched set of Lollars would be quite nice too, but the stock neck PU is just really cool.

This is my 2nd new Epi in the last few years and I am very impressed with their build quality. The other is a 335 with a flamed top. I have seen some that were not up to par but you should never buy a guitar without comparing it with others. Both of these guitars play as well as anything in my collection. Of course some work is required if you are able to do so.(The 335 has a set of gibson 57's and it is just a blast to play). Both guitars needed very little in the way of neck, bridge, nut, or fret work. Less than an hour or two. For the price I rate this guitar quite high. Not as heavy as my Gibson LP but I look at that as a blessing.

Seems to be very sturdy.

I did have a problem with the 335 when it was new. The bridge post was locked up and the ferrule had spun it the body. I e-mailed Epiphone and told them what was wrong and that I was quite able to fix the guitar without having to take it to a shop and they sent me the replacement parts and an apology. I was very impressed.

I bought this LP at Guitar Center in Orlando during the Fathers Day sale last year (2007). They had 2 on hand for $399. There was an obvious difference in the shade of the gold paint and the fit and finish. The one I took was missing a couple of screws but had the better paint and the neck was much better in my opinion. I had them install new screws and went on my merry way with a brand new Les Paul for $399 plus tax. If their quality control was more consistant their price would go up. Just shop around and you will find an Epiphone thats a good deal. I have been through way too many guitars in my life and stiil have a decent collection. Gibson LP, 2 Epi's, matching Strat and Tele, 2 Reverends, Dean, 2 Dano's, Gretch, Fender Jazz, and Taylor. The Epiphones fit in my collection very well and I see no reason to replace them. A lot of bang for the buck.

My Les Paul is in the gold top finish, which looks quite nice. It is older, a '97 I beleive, and the gold seems to be a tad darker than some of the newer models of this guitar which I have seen in stores. 2 P90 pickups, usual 2 tone and 2 volume pots, comfortable neck with nice binding, and body binding too. I imagine its all Mahogany, but I don't totally know, because I don't know the specs on the older models. It's got the usual Les Paul bridge, and the old style tuners, the ugly kind with the greenish heads. The usual for a Les Paul, and seems to be a good representation of a '56 model, though I have never personally played one from that time.

As far as music style goes, I'm all over the place. I guess most of the time I'm doing jazz, blues and classic rock, though I also like some indie rock, punk, hard rock, ect. Just not metal, or real hard progressive. When I'm playing, I'm either playing through a Fender Princeton Pro 112, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 112(wonderful amp) or an Epiphone 5 watt valve junior through an old Ampeg 212 cab (great head for the money) It fits pretty much everything, I mean, the neck pickup sounds great, warm and punchy, cuts through, and with some gain and the tone turned down a bit, I can really get a Warren Haynes sound. The bridge pickup is a bit pathetic though. It sounds good, but it is MUCH quieter than the neck, and sometimes just can't cut through. I know as far as playing goes, humbuckers have a tendency that when you play softer, you can get a different sound than when you pick harder, and it will cut through more (just my findings) and although P90s are single coils, the neck pickup seems to be able to do just that, while the bride just stays the same. To me, the bridge pickup seems tonally refining, because I just can't get it to sound the way I want, and its much quieter. I even shimmed it, and brought it up a little bit, and though it made a difference in volume, not in sound.
The pickups are a bit noisy, I mean, they are really just kind of beefed up single coils, so a little noise can be expected, though its not as bad as my strats. I love the neck pickup on this guitar, because its warm, and cuts through, and has many possibilities, and the bridge, like I said, is a bit lame, but I don't use the bridge pickup much, so I guess its okay for me. I give it a 7, because, although the neck pickup is just incredible, the bridge is lame.

I got this guitar used, well, my father got this guitar for me. Since we are into fixing guitars as well as playing them, he went to town on it before I even saw it. According to him it was kind of lame in general when he got it, I think there was something wrong with the switch, as well as the output jack, and I think it was buzzing a bit, and needed a neck adjustment. Now some of this could be the fault of the previous owner, due to "guitar neglect" and I am a very picky player, and tend to keep my guitars in very good playing condition. The neck feels real nice, its got a heavy finish on it, and is comfortable in the hands. Like I said before, the bridge pickup was quiet, and I raised it, but it still wasn't quite right, I think it is just the pickup. I think there is some evidence of glue around the binding on the neck though, and with the original tuners it doesn't stay in tune well at all. Though I haven't gotten new tuners for it yet (it is inevitable, it really needs them) I have tried ruling out other flaws, as when I change the strings, I've put them on different ways and with different techniques, and adjusted everything to as near perfect as possible on the entire guitar. The tuners are just horrible, as in, I will turn them nearly one entire turn, and nothing will happen, and all of a sudden, in about 1/8 a turn, they will go up atleast a half step. I don't know why it does that, but the only cure I can think of is new tuners. Another thing is, the finish is kind of weak. Now, my main rig is a MIM sunburst strat standard, as well as a strat I custom assembled myself, and both of them have very sturdy finishes, and I'm not to careful about banging my guitars around, because personally, I don't care if they are all dented up, as long as they sound well. Well, one night at a gig I went to pick the case up, and it wasn't latched (stupid me) and it opened, and one of the latches caught the guitar right near the back top curve (where the arm curve is on a strat) and left a pretty nice gash. The thing was, it didn't hit it too hard, and it scratches easy, so just beware if you care about the finish on your guitar with this. To sum it up, it doesnt stay in tune well with it's original tuners, there is some evidence of glue on the binding, and it scratches easily. Oh, and there is also a problem with the input jack that when I plug in with a certain cord, (its kind of a bendy, twirly kind, so it kind of goes at odd angles) and it will cut out, and though I've investigated, I can't explain it, and I know its not the cord, its something with the jack itself.

Like I said before, it dents and scratches easy, so if your not a crazy player, you should be fine. If you move around alot playing, or just carry a guitar around like another limb like I do, you have to be carefull. When I went to tighten one of the nuts on the volume pot, it exploded, it just blew into peices even though I had very little pressure on it. The neck tends to be quite suceptible (I have no idea how to spell that) to the environment, and since I'm a New Englander, my summers are hot and muggy, winters cold and dry, I have to adjust my guitars seasonally, and this one tends to be more affected than others. I wouldn't use it as my only guitar at a gig, but then again, I wouldn't use my MIM strat as my only guitar, it's just not my way, I always have a backup. But, considering it's tuning issues, as well as the thin finish, output jack and tendency to be easily affected by humidity, I wouldn't use this as an only guitar. Not to mention you always have to be carefull of banging the head stock, because a Les Paul tendency is to crack where the headstock and neck meet, as well as where the neck and body meet. So it really couldn't take a hit like a strat or tele.

I got it used, and do my own minor repairs, anything major goes to a pro.

Though I've only been playing about 4 1/2 years, I study guitars. I play and work, and research them constantly, I'm kind of a nut I guess. I've also got two strats, a Peavey Wolfgang special EXP, and an old Kramer/Striker 200st. This guitar plays better than the peavey and Kramer, and sounds better in my opinion too, but it has it's flaws. I love it's neck pickup, am dissapointed by the bride, as well as it's tuning problems and thin finish.

My latest guitar purchase is a used 2007 Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop Reissue finished in ebony, rather than the gold top. Made in China at Ephiphone's plant. Two volume and two tone pots. P-90 "soapbar" PUs. Non-locking Grover tuners. Stop tailpiece.

I play jazz, blues and some rock through a Peavey Studio Pro 112 amp. Generally play clean but sometimes use a Zoom 505 processor. I bought the guitar because I had sold my Gibson Les Pauls (had two) years ago, and wanted another one. The P-90s made this particular guitar more interesting to me. The guitar is not noisy, but this is after being set up correctly. When I got it, it was a mess. My tech filed some frets, widen the gaps in the nut, tweaked the truss rod a bit, flipped the bridge, and tightened the tuners. Put 11s on it with an unwound G string. It now plays and sounds very good. I get a big, bold tone out of the neck PU, but the bridge PU is the real surprise. Never had a neck PU with so much bite! Not harsh, but a really sharp attack. Very interesting. It cuts through everything. Switching to both PUs gets a very intermediate sound: full but not harsh. Sharp but not too sharp.

I think I addressed this stuff in the previous paragraph. The only thing that I didn't mention was the pots. I think these are pretty cheap ones, because they go from nothing to about a three setting when you turn them. No gradual increase: just pop and their on. I may replace them in the future. No crackling or anything like that, just no smooth transition at the low end. That's really my only complaint with the guitar. Otherwise, it seems, to me, a very, very good value for the money.

On this question, it will remain to be seen how it holds up. But, I suspect that it will do quite well.

Nope, nothing yet.

I've been playing off and on for 20+ years -- sometimes more seriously than others depending how busy I was or what I was into at the time. I've owned a couple of other Gibson Les Pauls, and this one seems lighter in weight than they were. But they were both like anchors! I've owned a Gibson ES345, ES175D and a Taylor 310 acoustic. I now have this Epiphone Les Paul, a Mexican Strat, an Ibanez Artcore AG75 jazz guitar (I love that guitar!) and an Alvarez Regent acoustic with some sentimental value that I've had for years. I've finally gotten away from being stuck on brand-names, and focus now on value.

I'd replace this Les Paul because it seems to have a lot of value for the price. I had heard that the early Chinese guitars were pretty hit-or-miss on quality, but that they had gotten their act together by now. I think that's true. But my Ibanez and this Les Paul are Chinese-made, and though they both have some cheap components (easily replaced) they play very, very well. And, their prices make them literally too good to pass up.

This guitar's not about "features" -- it's about tone, fit and feel. You want "features" go buy one of those goofy guitars with all the switches on 'em.

Love the tone -- as others have said it's like a Tele on steroids.

I was amazed how good this guitar and felt. No flaws at all, nice smooth neck, etc. etc. Now I did try out another one at GC that was crap for crap--rusty strings, a volume pot that didn't work, no pretense of setup. Can't stand that place.

So far so good, tho' the input jack does seem to be a little fragile.

This is the coolest, best sounding guitar you can get for the price. I was looking for something between a telecaster and a thick ol' humbucker Les Paul and this fits the bill exactly. Go get yourself one.

Epiphone Les Paul '56 GoldTop Reissue, with gloss finish over traditional goldtop metallic & dark mahogany back & sides. Standard tune-o-matic bridge & Alcino P90 pickups. Possibly the best sounding Les Paul and I may even go as far as the best sounding electric guitar ever. Flawless finish and feels just right :)

This guitar suits my blues and jazz playing to a tee. Even more than my Ibanez AS-83 archtop which is utterly subline! A little hum comes from the pickups, but that's normal for P90's, I'm led to believe. Capable of all sounds, from bright on the back pickup, to mellow and full rich toned on the front pickup. Nothing to dislike at all!

The action and neck relief was just about perfect. Needs some lighter strings, but apart from that, I've played it for hours since picking it up. No flaws at all as far as I can see.

It hasn't gigged so far, as I mainly play as a professional bass player & guitar is mainly a hobby and a personal challenge! I'd play this guitar without a backup, no problem. Feels solid and built to last.

N/A

If you're after the most lovely sound possible from an electric, get a goldtop - I thought it would be inferior to my archtop 335 copy, but it's even better. I work with a player who has to real Gibson Les Pauls & this feels and sounds even better than the real thing. It feels absolutely right in the hands and I couldn't ask for anything more - Go buy one!

56 Reissue Goldtop, made in Korea in 2005. Bought new about a week ago. Features are the mentioned below, goldtop finish, P-90's pickups, etc...

The sound is very good. I was very impressed with the acoustic sound as soon as I played it acoustically. I had played one in the shop and the sound was exactly the same. The pickups are very good. Theres a huge imbalance between the neck and bridge pickups though, even with the neck totally lowered and the bridge totally up,this seems typical with Epiphone guitars, since my Sheraton was like that with the stock pickups. The neck pickup has a beautiful sound. It's loud and powerful, with a kind of nasal tone to it (a characteristic of the acoustic sound of the guitar also) and it's great for all kinds of clean sounds. It's a bit bass heavy for some stuff though. With the tone a bit rolled off it has a beautiful jazz sound. The middle position has a great sound too, similar to the neck but with less bass. Great for reggae sounds, funk, etc... The bridge pickup I don't really have much use for. It is very piercing, very bright, but a little underpowered. Generally speaking I rarely have any uses for bridge pickups, so I am not the best person to evaluate this.

The guitar had fret buzz issues with the open 6th string before I strung it with 11-54's but now it's fine. The intonation was close, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect a guitar to arrive with a perfe3ct setup if you buy it online. The temperature and humidity changes in the transportation are enough to throw everything out of whack. The finish is flawless. After one week I still didn't manage to find any flaws on it. The only let down with this guitar is the nut. Very bad cut job. It's a shame really. Such a perfect guitar with such a nut. I am replacing it with a graphtech next week. The binding and inlays are perfect. Bridge is decent quality, my only grip with it is that I much prefer philips type screws as they much better to adjust at an angle. Setting the intonation is easy.

Solid as a rock. Weights 3.8 Kg. Epiphones are usually very sturdy and this is no exception.

Never used epiphone costumer service.

If this guitar had a Gibson headstock with the Gibson logo on it people would happily pay 2000 more Euros for it. I am totally in love with this guitar. I also have an ESP 901 and a 91 Korean Epiphone Sheraton and this guitar is every bit as good as them. If stolen I'd buy another immediately. For the money is a 10, no doubt.

Nice "Goldtop" finish. Not flawless but for the price (asking price $599)you would expect way worse. I was in the market for a Gibson Goldtop but at $1800-$3000 and finding ridiculously flawed paintjobs I couldn't justify the price but that wasn't the only determining factor. I understand the $499 "made in China" models are available now. Look for the Korean model if you have a choice. It seemed to have a little better quality to it and it will retain a little more value if they stopped the Korean production. Regardless of the origin, it handles well and does what is supposed to. The Epi P90s are great. Cheaper hardware, but easy to replace. It's a Epiphone Les Paul so it has the same features you would fine a "Gibo"

The Epi P90s sound great. The bridge pick-up is "bitey" in a good way, but this guitar realy lights up with both the bridge and neck pickups engaged. The neck pickup alone is a little "woofy" but I haven't really spent a lot of time setting it up yet.
These are P90s so don't expect to sound like Zakk Wylde, unless you are of course Zakk Wylde. Think telecaster on steroids.
The pickups are as noisy as a single coil is expected to sound. Not a flaw.

A nice finish, not an exact copy of an old Goldtop finish. Take a look at the Guitar Center Special "Bullion Gold" Les Paul for $1899.00 (horrible paint job, slopped together guitar) and this Epiphone will seem like a steal.
Pickups may need minor dialing in, but what guitar doesn't.

Play this guitar. A ding in a $599 guitar hurts way less than a $3000.00 guitar, This guitar is easy to make your own.
It seems to be pretty durable. It does have a good weight to it.
I would absolutly use this with out a back up, but I would make sure I bring a back up tuner.

"Limited" lifetime warranty.

I own a nice selection of guitar including "real" Gibson Les Pauls so giving a good review to a "copy" seems like it should carry some weight ( No Les Paul pun intended).
If the Epi was stolen I would go down to the nearest guitar shop. Check the headstock sticker to see if the price is closer to $499 or $599 and buy it. Easy to replace seems to be a nice feature.
Don't be stupid, get a case. It's already in the cost even if it's not "part of the package".

56 Goldtop,Made in Korea,2 Gibson designed p90's,body seems to be three pieces of mahogany stuck together and covered in a dark stain so the grain of the wood is nearly invisible.It's fitted with grover rotomatic tuners, the mahogany neck is 60's style and has pearl inlays on a rosewood fretboard, Epiphone headstock logo is mop and the truss rod cover has 56 Gold Top on it. Its the usual set up for the electics that you get on a les paul 2x Volume 2x Tone 3 way switch for PUP's.(Would of give it 9 or 10 if the body was one solid piece of mahogany)

This is a totally different from a hummbucker driven guitar the p90's are single coil PUP's on steroids.The neck pup on a clean setting with some reverb = bluesland switch to the bridge pup ad some gain = growl some great lead tones,In the middle setting both pup's on it gives you a strange out of phase sound which I love.There is bit of 60cycle humm but it's soon forgotten about when immersed in play.

The action on this guitar is really low (no fret buzz and I'm a bit heavy handed)The pup's needed ajustment to get a balanced sound when switching between them.The grovers do the job nicely and keep tune well.There a no noticable floors in the laquer finish and the frets are well finished.Recently the tonepot for the bridge pup has become noisy but a squirt of switch cleaner should sort that.

I've owned it about 4 years now and the only thing that's gone wrong is a scratchy tonepot,There is no visible signs of failure It's reliable, you could and I do depend on it.

Never needed to use them

For the price I paid this is one good guitar and holds it's own against my other guitars,I own a Gibson LP Standard LE. With Burstbucker Pro's, a Tokai LP Standard (Made in Japan) an American Fender Standard Strat and a Fender Deluxe Player Strat.Overall I never compared the Goldtop To a Gibson Goltop in the shop I liked the sound it made and bought it for that.

This ia an update to my 2000 review. You can read all about the features in other post.

Since I've had this guitar for over 7 years I have to tell you I think it's been one of the best guitars I've ever owned. I have owned several other guitars, none I have I like better. This one is a keeper. Sure it isn't a $3000 Gibson but for the price it's way better. I have compaired it to a friends Gibson '56 Goldtop and they are very close, but the Gibson had a thicker neck and some of the plastic parts like the switch and knobs were a darker color and the finish was better, well for $2500 it better be better. There ate a few differenced in the Korean and the Chinese models. Mine is the Korean model with the "Limited Edtion" Logo on the back of the peghead and the Mother of Pearl Kluson type tuners. The newer Chinese models I've seen have chrome Grover type tuners and don't have the Logo. I'd go for the grovers but don't want to drill out the peghead to do it. I've never had tuning issues with this guitar, why bother changing it.

I could tell how wonder full it sounds but that's too subjective what I can tell you is I could not tell the difference in sound between the Gibson and the Epiphone versions of this guitar. My friend sez' he can tell the difference, I doubt it. One of these days I challenge him on this with a test. I like the tone better than my SG with humbuckers for most stuff.

For me the action is almost perfect. The finish is a tad thin, after 7 years it's still holding up okay but I've added a few scraches and dings to it.

The only complaint I have is the binding on the neck has little cracks in it where the fretts have expanded and pushed against the binding in several places. I think this is due to changes in tempature. Where I live it gets below "0" and over 100 F. so I think over the years it just happened. No other guitar I own has ever done this. I think they didn't trim the fretts back far enough into the neck to allow for expansion. But It has no effect on the playing at all.

7 years and still going strong.

Never tried.

I've been playing over 45 years, been in bands most my life and still gig off and on. Now days I mostly play jazz and 50's-70's rock.

Yes, I would buy another one of these guitars maybe a different color, Black or Sunburst? but the same basic guitar with P-90's. I usually play this guitar through a '75 Fender Twin or a Reverend Hellhound and sometimes a Roland Spirit 60.

My other guitars include a Fender '62 Strat RI, Epi 400 (SG), a home made Strat, Fender Tele Custom, Ibanez Artcore AF85 Jazz guitar and several acoustics.

i bought my 56 goldtop on-line from Bellones Music in London, On. it arrived in excellent condition
It was made in China.
This guitar is hands-down the best guitar I have ever played in it's price category ($650 cdn).
Very little noise, (it does have glorious p-90 pick ups, so some noise is inevitable. A hum-ex on my power bar virtually eliminated all noise.
This guitar switches from a deep, rich bright tone to an in-your face, thin lizzy-gary moore tone at the flick of a switch and a stomp on a box (i use boss overdrive). I would not beccessarily recommend this guitar for you `dimebad darrell' heads out there.
the action was a bit low, (easily adjusted). Had a litlle fret buzz but the action adjustment eliminated this. And lastly, this guitar is simply a beautiful piece of art. I highly recommend this guitar.

this guitar is solid, and i look forward to years of both studio and gig work alike with it.
The hardware is very solid, though I did have to tight two tuning heads.
I never use any guitar on the road without a back up. In this case, I actually use an Epiphone Studio Les Paul as back up.

I have never had to worry about warranty a I have never had a problem as of yet. I am an optomist, but a realist too. No guitar is Excalibur.

I have been playing twenty years proffessionally. If I lost this guitar, I would immediately seek out a replacement. I had a Gibson 56 re-issue, but due to its' worth, it was to valuable to take on the road. This guitar gives me everything my Gibby did, and plays a little less tempting to those sub-human axe snatchers out there.

Goldtop ie... Gold Metallic on the Maple/Alder top w/ dark cherry on the Mahogany Back and neck. Single cut away LES PAUL style. Tone -o- matic style stop and bridge. Grover tuner. 24 3/4 inch scale. Medium Jumbo frets. Rosewood fret board. Hand made in China in 2006. Three way switch, 2 volume, 2 tone. 2 Epiphone passive P-90's in the neck and bridge.

I run this Epi through a Peavey renoun 400 and a Mesa Boogie nomad 45 with a compressor and stero chorus. I find I use the effects much less with this guitar as I am usually looking for a more vintqage sound when I play it. While this guitar sounds great at all tone, gain, and volume setting it shines the most compared to my other guitars (12) when combining puckups and turning down the tone and cranking the gain. I found going this way gave me a very unique tonal quality that is not just fun to mess with but, really cuts through the mix. This guitar does pick some noise from external source but is far better than my strats in this category. I would give this guitar a 10 if I thought there was such a thing.

Everything on the guitar was perfect except the pickup mounting and height adjustment. I ended up filling and redrilling the mounting screw holes and adding some foam rubber padding to get the angle and height. This extra work paid off in spades as it really brought the guitar to life. I did refret the guitar with biggest jumbo wire I could find at Stewmac but that was just personal preference as my finger tips are a little doughy and I can play much longer and cleaner with the taller and wider frets. String height (measured with Capo at first fret) from factory at the 12th fret was 4/64 treble side and 6/64 base side. After refrett and leveling it is now 3/64 treble side and 4/64 bass side at the 22nd I did not have to level the fret board and it could go lower.

This guitar is a tank. It is heavy, has great perfectly installed hardware on it, and has a very durable finish on it. I would never gig with only one guitar/one amp unless that was all I had. But, this guitar would be a safe bet to go it alone with.

Bought at Guitar Center, Terre Haute, Indiana. First one of these I got had was a 2005 model made in Korea and the bridge posts were mounted too far away from the nut to set intonation. As I could fix this I refused to do this kind of work to a new guitar, period. That guitar was perfect in every other way and was the basis for setting the newer 2006 China made guitar up as far as pickup height and orientation. Guitar Center Imediately ordered the replacement for me from their warehouse. Had some minor communication problems concerning when the replacement would actually be in, but, all was great in the end and I am satisfied with the effort and service I recieved.

Been playing/giging for 25+ years and own or have played everything I could get may paws on. I am always looking for a new sound to go with what I have already. If I lost this guitar I would be heart broken and start looking for a replacement. While this guitar is great for vintage stuff 50's 60's it also does a very mean Little Wingand any rock or country until the wide use of active pickups; this is by far my favorite "electric blues and boogie guitar". This guitar's identity is made by the P-90's it came with. That sets this guitar apart from the other. I would not change a thing on it. I did compare this guitar to several others with p-90's most notable the Washburn WI-66 PROG which had buzz fieten and noiseless pickups. The Washburn had better fit, finish, and playablity stock for the same retail (start bargining here) price $599.99. The Wi-66 PROG had a more modern sound and I just could not get the killer vintage sound that the Les Paul could. Don't misunderstand me the Washburn sounded great too, just different and more like my hummbucker guitars. Rate this guitar as a 8 the way it came and a 10 now that I have it exactly the way I want it.

Mahogony body. Alder top. Same thickness as a Gibson Les Paul. Rosewood fingerboard with simulated MOP inlays. The top of the body and the neck have creme binding. The neck and back side of the body are finished in dark cherry. Two creme colored P-90 soapbar pickups, Grover tuners, chrome plated ABR-1 bridge and stop bar. Three way switching. Amber colored Tone and Volume knobs set up in the typical Les Paul configuration.

I play mainly Blues, old rock, and Rockabilly. This guitar suits those styles of music to a tee. You jazz musicans who like woody, mellow and clean in a small package buy one of these. You musicians who like raw and raunchy primal rock and roll sounds, buy one of these. You Blues players ??? YOU MUST GET ONE OF THESE. You pure country twang guys, it probably won???t be your cup of tea. Rockabilly, slide guitar, oldies ??? you bet. You thrash and death metal guys . . . maybe.

Even though these are single coils they do not sound anything like Fender SC???s. You can instantly tell it sounds like a Gibson. A Les Paul to be precise. Where Fender SC???s have a chime to them, the P-90???s have a clang. For pure twang I prefer the Fender SC sound.

The pickups are very touch sensitive and depending on pick attack and the settings on your guitar and amp you can get just about any kind of tone from them. If you are right in front of your amp the pickups are very noisy. Back off a few feet, or to the side, and you???re fine

The bridge pick up has some balls and, if cranked, really wails. Not nearly as thin as on a Strat or Tele Put both of them on, and depending on how you blend your controls, and it will sound like two humbuckers or two good Tele pickups being on. The neck pickup is mellow and sounds very similar to a humbucker but more woody. Some reviewers have mentioned that the neck pickup sounds very muddy. When I first got the guitar I found that to be the case too ??? but only on the three low strings. After doing some tweaking I found that a lot of that muddiness can be cleaned up by turning down the bass setting on your amp. Speakers also make a big difference in bass response and clarity. I am anticipating that a new bone nut will give even more clarity to those strings. Until I get that done I do not see any sense in messing with the pick up height or adjusting individual pole pieces.

You want raw power ? Think ???Won???t Get Fooled Again. Think ???Young Man Blues??? off the ???Live at Leeds??? album. You want raunchy and primal ? You want sustain ? Think Clapton on ???All Your Love??? on the Bluesbreakers ???Beano??? album. You can get some nice swampy sounds ( think CCR/ John Fogerty) out of this gutar too. Oh, by the way, this was without any effects pedals through either a Tweed Princeton 5F2-A clone or a Blues Junior. Makes me wish I had a Marshall half stack or at least a Bluesbreaker.

Weeks later . . . I finally got around to playing this guitar through my ???66 Deluxe Reverb. All I can say is WOW. This thing really barks though that. I thought it sounded good through the amps mentioned above but the DR elevated the sound to a whole new level.

Finish excellent. Binding excellent. Paint job excellent. Inlays on fingerboard, absolutely perfect. The routing for the inlays is so precise it makes me wonder if they were cut with a laser. The fingerboard inlay work is far superior to what was done on my USA made Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium +.

Much to my surprise the body appears to be a solid piece of Mahogony. I cannot see a joint anywhere. The neck is solid mahogony up to around the third fret. At that point there is a strange joint that I have never seen before. I think one reviewer said it was called a scarf joint. The headstock and part of the neck join the other part of the neck at around the 3rd fret. The angle of the two joined pieces is quite severe. The two pieces are glued together from the 3rd fret to around the 8th fret.

The rosewood fingerboard has been darkened with an ebony stain and looks classy with the gold body and the pearloid inlays. The MOP patterns on the fingerboard inlays are beautiful and look very realisitic. Again, better looking than on my Gibson. That has MOT inlays.

In a few spots there are some light file marks on the edge of the fingerboard that are only visible upon close inspection. I assume that was a result of beveling the frets and binding. Fretwork is excellent. The frets are not as huge as on my Les Paul.

Right out of the box the action was pretty darn nice. It came with .010???s on it. BTW I don???t know what brand of strings they are but I really like them and they held up well.

The nut was not cut real well. I get some binding on the G and the B strings. This guitar is too nice for that crappy nut. It deserves (and will get) a nice bone nut when finances allow.

The electronics seem quite good. The switch is quiet. The controls work like they are supposed to.

Minor nits: Side dots on neck a little too small for my taste. Although I like the amber colored control knobs I can???t read the numbers on the knobs. That is because the numbers and the knobs are the same color.

The neck is a dream to play. It is very similar in size and contour to the 50???s neck I have on my Gibson LP. The poly finish on the neck is slick and makes it a pleasure to play.

This guitar feels rock solid - like a Les Paul should. The chrome hardware will last just as long as any other chrome plated hardware will last. The Grover tuners have been time tested. Although I only jam with friends these days I would not hesitate to use this guitar on a real gig.

No idea.

I have been playing for about 40 years and have accumulated some decent guitars (Gibson LP, 2 AV '57 Strats, Epi Dot Deluxe, USACG Custom Tele to name a few) and amps ('70 Vibro Champ, '65 Princeton, '66 Deluxe Reverb, '59 Tweed Princeton clone, etc.) along the way.

I have been wanting to get an EPI gold top outfitted with P 90???s for a couple of years but was put off by the weight of them. Prior to finding this one, every one I picked up weighed a ton. This one is very light (almost too light for an LP) and the body is very resonant. As a point of reference it weighs about as much as your average Strat.

Although I have only had this instrument a couple of months it feels like I have had it for years. It???s like slipping on your favorite pair of worn-in sneakers. I get a real comfy feeling when I play it. That makes me want to play it even more. I love this guitar. It is a fantastic value. I would buy another one in a minute.

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?

Made 2004 or 2005. Korean. Mahogany body, alder top. Beautiful rich dark back with gold top. Epiphone alnico P90 pickups. Some people have told me the pickips are Gibsons, but it's more likely they are "Gibson designed" meaning they are off the Gibson specs and built in Korea. Grover tuners, decent electronics, solid tone switch. Really well built overall.

I play rock music mainly and this guitar fits that style perfectly. I use it against everything from a 1x8 tube amp to SS to software modelers and it sounds great all around (but it loves tubes, or rather tubes love it).

The pickups are single coil so they make noise, no more than your average strat. Older reviews claim that the middle position is hum cancelling but this is no longer true. I confirmed with Epiphone/Gibson directly that the RI models the original Gibson in that it's not wired for hum cancelling. The pickups are outstanding for an Epiphone Les Paul clone. For the humbucker-based Epiphones I recommend a pickup swap, but I would be hard pressed to change these P90s. Thick, creamy, woody, smooth are all words that come to mind when listening to them. Some people say they are too "humbucker like" but that's not true at all. I can't say how they compare against other P90s, but they do have a character all their own and are well worth keeping in the instrument.

The action was way too high when it came in so I lower it and it's fine now. I have not touched the pups at all as they sound perfect. No flaws in the finish, in fact it's a little too flawless -- I'm afraid to play it out!

A lot of older reviews slam the hardware for people cheap. These were pre-2003 models (identified by the green plastic, non-Grover tuners). Epiphone re-did the line somewhere around 2003 and everything is high quality now. The pickup selector is solid and I never had the amp jack go loose (which is always a problem for me). No problems whatsoever with the bridge or any of the other hardware. I had it for over six months so I can't complain.

Epiphone are great. When I go the guitar I was concerned it was wired wrong (no hum cancelling) and called over the weekend and reached someone. While he was not sure he did get back to me on Monday after talking directly with the Gibson engineers. You just don't expect service like that these days.

Overall a 9. Fantastic quality and sound overall. I don't know what deserves a 10, but I am holding off until I find one.

According the serial, built in 99, but was liquidation stock and as far as I can see is new, with no playing wear.Everything has been said, p90 pups, on a Les Paul. These don't have features. They're Les Pauls.

It does exactly what I want it to do, the pups are punchy and bright and overdrive really really well. If you like the p90 sound, this is a fine way to get it.

This is where the truth be told. I brought this home and picked it up and played it, and then picked up and played my '77 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Well, one of them is a Gibson, and the other one is a fine guitar, but it ain't a Gibson. Even unamplified with the same gauge strings, the Gibson is louder and has more sustain. Remarkable.

Having said that I have written a few really snippy reviews about Korean guitars, but Epiphone have got the specs sorted on this. There are plenty of other Korea-made guits that are marketed as being as good as an Epi. Not on the evidence of this they ain't. This is a quality instrument

BUT Koreans just don't have the eye for detail that the Japanese have, do they? The frets are well fitted, but are undressed. Easy enough for the competent owner or shop to do, but still. The pup selector is loose and rattles. Not much, but it does. The tuners are fake Klusons....Klusons are not great at the best of times and these are noticeably looser than the ones on my Gibson, despite the age of that guitar. And the buttons are green! And worst sin of all is the dreaded Korean scarf joint in the neck. Really what would it cost to not do this? Having said that, none of these (apart from the joint) are major issues, so it gets

Seems like a good strong gig guitar. That's what Epis are. Just fer chrissake don't let it drop. Finish is nice-- I've seen Korean guits that looked like somebody poured candy all over them the lacquer was so thick. It's thicker than nitro, but that's okay on a solid, and it's well done.

It's a great guitar, well up to pro service, and for the money I paid a real bargain. But don't let anyone kid you-- the devil is in the details and the instant you pick this up you know it's not a Gibson. Unless maybe you never played a Gibson.....

Mahogany body, alder cap i think, p-90s, grover tuning machines,rosewood fingerboard w/trapezoid inlays. gold finish isn't quite as lustrous as the gibson gold-top, but has a good vintage look nonetheless. tuneomatic bridge. Heavy as hell.

I play in a greaser/rockabilly/r&b band. This guitar is used as a backup and for a few particularly gritty tunes that we do. I wanted the 56 goldtop because I have some footage of Carl Perkins using the real deal from on Town Hall Party from back in the day. Gibsons quality control seems to have slipped while there prices have gotten ridiculous. There was no way I was going to pay big bucks for a new Gibson Goldtop and I'd have to mortgage my house to get a vintage one.

I aspire for pretty raw 50s-ish guitar tones like you hear on old Sun/Chess/King/Federal etc records. My main guitars are a couple of modded strats and a modded tele. I use a Fender Reverb Deluxe reissue or a Fender Pro Jr depending on the venue. I do use pedals. my standard setup is: Boss TU-2>Guyatone ST-2>Jauernig Luxury Drive>Tech 21 Double drive>Voodoo Labs MicroVibe>Danelectro Dan Echo. When I use the Pro Jr I lose the double drive, add a Boss TR-2 tremolo and Fender 62 reissue reverb tank. When I use this guitar I don't need the double drive for either amp.

This is a dense, heavy chunk of wood and that's how it sounds. It is a bit of a one trick pony, but if you use the pickup switch and tone pots you can get some cool vintage tones.
The p-90s on mine are hot. Hotter than any other guitar that I have.
The p-90s are a tad noisy. I also have an Epiphone Wildkat. The pickups in this are noisier than the wildkat. Whatever. It's rock and roll. It's supposed to be noisy. Oh yean this thing has great sustain too.

This came right out of the box. I had it set up before I paid for it. I use 10s on all my guitars and it seems fine. The neck is straight, the pickups are fine. There are no finish flaws, but the Gold finish has a little more brown to it than a Gibson reissue. The pickup selector is tight, but I've heard (and read) that the epiphone toggles can be bogus.

That being said. I am friends with some guitar guys from G.C. and I hear a lot of horror stories about the Gibsons that they get in. Les Pauls come in new with tone and volume pots mis-wired, broken switches and finish problems. New Gibson LPs cost a bundle. This is a pretty good guitar for under 500 bucks.

My band usually plays 2 75 to 90 minute sets on an average night. We play 2-3 times a month. I have played this guitar all night. It seems like it can take a sound thrashing. It holds it's tune fairly well. I'm a basher and I have yet to meet a guitar that I don't have to fine tune at least a few times a set. I always have a backup or two. I don't gig without a backup. This thing is heavy. It feels like it could stop a bullet.

i haven't had to deal with epiphone. i've never had a problem with any of my epiphones. I have a Wildkat, a dot 335 and the 56 goldtop.

This is a good guitar for someone that wants standard features and vintage styling on a budget. I would definately encourage someone to get one. If it were stolen or lost?? I have several guitars and trade and sell often. I've had this one for about 6 months now and it has served it's purpose, but I doubt that I'll have it a year from now. The only guitars that I'd hesitate to part with are my Fenders.

If I do replace this then I'd consider yellow a t.v. special, an LP Junior or one of the newer melody makers with the single p-90. Primarily due to the weight issue. I don't think that I could, in good conscience, play a Gibson Les Paul and if I had a real vintage one I'd probably sell it to buy several cooler guitars that I could play out with and wouldn't make me cry if they got beer dumped on them.

Same features as already listed. Mine has the Grover tuners. I replaced the strap buttons with locking ones. Common sense.

I play blues and funk mostly. This guitar completely nails the sound I love. Thick and creamy. The P90's may get upgraded but the stock p/u's are very good already. I've always been a Tele player but this guitar has really turned my head around. I don't find it overly heavy and have found many Tele's just as weighty or even heavier. The sustain is just wonderful as well. I'm running it through either a Hot Rod Deluxe or a Deluxe Reverb RI. Tuner > EQ > OD-3 or Sparkle Drive > Tremolo > amp. No complaints from me and lots of compliments from other players on the tone.

Had it set up by a guitar tech. Action is fairly low with no fret buzz anywhere. I adjusted p/u height myself. All normal stuff. No jagged fret ends. Frets nicely polished and level. Nice work. Will replace nut with probably Tusq from Graphtech. Stays in tune very well and no binding when I bend strings. There are no real flaws in the finish. At least nothing that you wouldn't find on a very expensive Gibson.

Overall this axe is very solidly built and I believe it will last many years of happy, drunken playing. The pots and switches will probably crap out before too long. Again, normal stuff because the electronics are not going to be first rate. No problem,simple fix.

I just deal with the retailer and their pretty good.

When all is said and done this is a fabulous buy. If it were stolen I'd go right out and steal another one for myself. I'm still paying for this one. I've been playing about 35 yrs. and have had lots of guitars. This may be my favourite. I've always got the itch to get something new but when I come home from the music store and pick up Goldie it just kills the urge to buy. I love it.

2004 Epi reissue GoldTop Les Paul,2 P90 Pickups, Grover Tuners, Alder top, maple or mahogony body. The gold top is kinda puke green in color. It is somewhat heavy, heavier than my 2004 Black Les Paul. I guess I'm kinda on an LP kick right now. The rest you know...

Sound is bewitching, as good a great hummy PU, maybe better. These do not sound like typical Epi PUs, got a classic sound to them, not overly microphonic as on other P90 guitars I've owned. Because they are single coil, by them selves, they are noisey, not more so than my Tele with Texas Specials, they HUM, spit, growl all by themselves. But, when being playing, the sweetest sounds come outta them, they are truely possesed. Rythym position is chunky but not muddy, the Treble position doesn't shreik but lets everyone you're there. You can play any thing and sound good. Just strumming and it sings to you. When using the middle position of the switch, its dead quite, just like using a single hum-pup on the Bridge. Just enough Bite to let you know who's boss, but mellow enough to sound nice.
Sustains all day like a LP should!

The action is a bit high, like my acoustic and suits me fine. There is next to nothing fret buzz at this height .. I hate fret buzz, distracts me while playing. I'm guessing here, but like any guitar, the lower the strings the more likely this guitar will produce fret buzz. Previously, I owned a WildKat which had P90 PU's and a Bigsby Tremolo. The guitar had bad string buzz, even with the strings adjusted higher than the stratosphere. So i traded it in to get this axe with P90's.
This is no shred guitar since the neck's back is painted and the fretboard on the wide side, but I do manage to perform a few fast scale runs and sweeps on it from time to time. I'm not saying one couldn's shred on it but that's not it's main purpose. Great Blues , Classic rock guitar and Heavy metal crunch can be had.

The neck is thinner than my other LP's but fatter than my Tele and Strat, it is also a little thin at the neck set. If this thing should fall wrong, I fear the neck will break at the joint. The bonus is , a thinner joint allows easier upper fret access. Frets are dressed perfectly. Finish is impeccible though the puke green paint may, in time, wear on me. Best built guitar I own and I own far too many.

This guitar looks like it will last, the pots and swich are better than the ones on my other Epi LP's. The puke green finish should hide minor scratches well. The tuners are Grover, I doubt these will cause any problems. The only issue as stated earlier is the neck, which if the guitar should fall sideways a bit hard, there a good chance of cracking at the joint set. For that reason I would not gig with it but don't think it detracts too much from its reliablility.

Haven't dealt with Epi

This axe has such a bewitching sound that when I first played it in the store, I thought it was a Gibson, I can't say that about my other Epi LPs. The puke green color makes the guitar look like its from the 50's. My wife who is into guitars and guitarists :-) thought at first I spent a small fortune on this guitar thinking it was made in the 50 or 60's.

Made in Korea, 2004. Mahogany body with alder top (Gibsons have maple tops), 2 P-90 single coil pickups, grover tuners, gold top finish, two volume/two tone controls, did not come with case, but I bought the epiphone hardshell case to go with it.

Sounds great. I don't know what the Gibson '56 goldtop reissue sounds like, but this has to come close. I think this is probably the best sounding pickup Epiphone makes. Clean sound is crisp and clear, distortion is good also. Gets a good early rockabilly sound with both pickups on, neck pickup nails Scotty Moore's tone on Elvis's Sun recordings, bridge pickup is somewhere between a tele and Gibson humbucker. There is nothing I dislike about the sound.

I was kind of worried about how the guitar would stack up in this category, but so far, everything seems tight. To my surprise, the guitar came with Grover tuners instead of the cheapo green plastic ones. These do a great job of staying in tune. Finish is great, action is good. The only, and I mean ONLY, flaw I can find with this guitar is that there is a gap between the pickups and the body. I don't know if this is normal, but it doesn't affect the sound or playability, so it's no big deal.

This guitar is going to take over as my main gigging guitar. It seems to be very solid, but only time will tell. Some other reviewers have mentioned scratchy volume/tone pots, but so far, so good on my guitar.

Haven't dealt with them

Been playing for 20 years, now. I have a 2003 Gibson Les Paul Standard with Burstbucker pickups, and this Epiphone sounds every bit as good. I wish I would have bought it earlier, it's that good. I wish Gibson would make an affordable P-90 guitar with a real finish. The faded guitars are neat, but the finish will wear off before you know it. My advice? If you want a P-90 guitar, don't buy a faded-finish Gibson, get this Epiphone. This is the best Les Paul that Epiphone makes, period.

Bought this year, so I presume it was made 2003 or 04. I presume you don't need the spec - it's a standard non-modified Epi LP 56 Reissue with a staggeringly beautiful finish.
Personally I have aproblem because the guitar is so heavy and I have some tendonitis in my left shoulder - bummer. This means sometimes when I wanted to use the LP, I've used a strat instead because it's lighter. However, the weight must be part of the reason the guitar sounds so good.

I play a variety of styles - mostly blues and rock. However, I occasionally gig supporting a local worhip act playing very rocky modern worship music, so a wide range of styles is required. I use it with a Peavey Classic 30 and a Fender Blues Jr. I have a JCM900 but have not had an opportunity to gig with that amp yet.
I play strats mainly and had a Sheraton for something different. That was great but I wanted something else so bought an Ibanez SZ. Sounded good in the shop but hated it at home. The shop were good enough to exchange the guitar for this LP, and I have been amazed at how adaptable this guitar is.
The P90's mean that it can do anything from really heavy power chords where the guitar sounds so much more meaty than my strats, to lovely bluesy overdrive, to beautiful clean tones. I use a V twin for really heavy rythm and leads, a TS9, TS808, or the amp for bluesy leads, and the sound is a complete knockout for that stuff. excellent range of clean sounds - every pickup combination is useable on this guitar.

The sound is go good that the first time I used the guitar in church my wife complimented the sound as "really gutsy sound". That's the first compliment about my guitar sound in years from my wife and really says a lot about the guitar.
There certainly is a problem with noise - just like any single coil pickup.

The guitar looks absolutely excellent. Other than the name on the headstock, I think that the appearance is up there with any Gibson. Rrally I am completely floored by the quality of this guitar. I don't know if it's an Alder or Maple top, but I would bet good money it's maple because the sound is so excellent.

PLayed 2-3 gigs and the sound is superb - quality is excellent. I had problems with my Blues Jr squealing and feeding back - but it did this with my strats too - so no bad reflection on the guitar. However, I would be tempted to change to P100's if I thought it wouldn't destroy the sound.

Unbelievable that guitars of this build and sound quality can be bought for #300. I've gone through several guitars before arriving at this one which has the perfect sound to me. The weight has led me to look around again, but I cannot find another guitar which looks or sounds this good. I've auditioned some of the PRS Soapbars, Santana's and Tremonti's. I like those guitars, but don't think that they really measure up to my Epiphone in sound or look.

2004 guitar, made in Korea. Les Paul features. 2 P-90 single coil pickups. 3-piece mahogany back. Maple top. Metallic Gold top finish. Came with grover tuners (great!) and a very well made nut. The neck is not as fat as Standard Les Pauls, but larger my other Les Paul (Epiphone Classic Goldtop).

This guitar sounds great for the price. The P-90's are great for clean sounds and for moderated overdriven bluesy style. Very bright. I'm using it through a Fender Twin, no stomp boxes. The guitar sounds very good acousticaly too. It brings lots of sustain. Just loved it. Suits my needs for hard rock and blues.

I boght this axe via internet. And here comes the trouble: the top finish has some irregularities on the surface. But what really frustrated me is that the 3rd fret was lower the the others, wich means I had to go through a fretwork before I could use it. The rest was perfect. The cavities are very well done, clean and with a coat of shield paint (wich really helps with noise in this case). The electronics are fine, clean, organizes and well-soldered components.

This is a very well built guitar, and will withstand live playing easily. Just fit in some strap locks and go. The hardware will last as long as you take good care of them. And so will the finish. I can and do dependo on it, though I always gig with more than 2 or 3 guitars (for different sounds).

Never dealt with.

I've been playing for 17 years. I have another Epi, a LP Classic Goldtop, a Condor LP custom, 2 home made teles, a SG Pierced from Epiphone, a SG G-400 from Epiphone, a Giannini Supersonic modified to get closer to a Jaguar, and some othe experimental axes.

If this guitar was stolen, I'd probably buy another.

Likes: great looking guitar (the goldtop finish is great), great sound for the money.

Dislikes: The Quality Control should be more careful.

Korean made Les Paul with (2)P-90 pick ups. Usual layout - 3 way selector, 2 volume, 2 tone, Tune-O-Matic bridge and (low and behold) it came with stock Grover machine heads!!! From what I can tell, this is a 2000 or 2001 model and they must have changed out the tuners recently. I dont like those plastic "feather" style and when mine came with the Grovers, I was a very happy camper (saved me 45.00). The neck is a perfect size, not too big like some Gibson Les Paul's and not too thin. Gold finish, mahogany. Very nice and solid Epiphone case and all the candy.

For the fisrt time in my life, I use the neck pickup more than the bridge. The tone is so nice and full. I play country/blues/rock and this guitar will be a perfect fit fot these styles. I play it through my very old but beautiful 1950 Gibson GA-20 amp and it is so very ORGANIC. Talk about rockin' blues-no need for reverb or really and effects, its all there. Possibly a more low end tone than a Gibson LP but P-90's are much nicer sounding than humbuckers (in my humble opinion). Select both pickups for a humbucker sound.

I've read bad reviews about the tuners and switches, but with the stock Grovers (I have a newer model), everything seem very solid. The three way switch seem very sturdy. The strap buttons are pretty small though (this I will change out). One other thing I was VERY happy with was the frets. Alot of new guitars I have played have very poorly dressed frets. These are silky smooth, like a 20 year old guitar. The edges are VERY clean! The finish is beautiful and to be sure, this Epiphone is as heavy as a Gibson LP. I was a bit leary about a Korean guitar, but so far this guitar is as quality as any USA guitar (though I'd prefer to buy American).

I'd take this thing anywhere. It's very, very solid. I did put a Bigsby B-7 on her just to get that occasional tremelo in there. It doesn't seem to change the sustain (which this thing is full of). I kinda wish the beautifly goldtop finish will fade some over time. I like guitars that are kinda flat, but you will not be dissapointed in this one.

Haven't had to yet, but comes with lifetime warranty.

I've been playing since 1973 and have been through Fender, Univox, Gretsch and a 60's red finish Gibson ES-335 that faded to a beautiful goldtop that I still lament for letting go. This one will be a keeper for a long, long while (hopefully). I was so glad to get the Grover tuners and the feel right out of the box was outstanding. If stolen, they better hide it away good. I'd probably get another quick. I'd like to have a Strat or Tele to round out sooner or later. But the LP setup is classic. I've played Gibson LP's and this guitar is as good if not better. P-90's to me have a better sound and though I have had experience with that 60 cycle hum inherent with single coil pickups, this puppy is so very quiet.

Korean made Les Paul with P90 style pick ups. Usual layout - 3 way selector, 2 volume, 2 tone, Tune o matic bridge and grover machine heads. Gold finish, mahogany, no case or candy.

I'm playing rock, blues, soul, funk - all sorts. Using it with a 1995 Fender Blues Deluxe, Marshall Bluesbreaker II pedal and a Boss ME50. This combination enables me to get a wide range of sounds. In particular, the neck pick up is full of warmth and depth, especially with a nice valve amp. The bridge pick up has plenty of attack, so the variety on offer here far exceedsa the epiphone humbucker equipped les pauls. The pick ups are single coil, so you only really get rid of the hum by standing away from the amp or selecting both pick ups, but it's not bad. Did a gig recently using both my american series strat and this - and decided to leave my Gibson SG standard at home. No regrets - had all the sounds I was after.

Bought new with the factory set up. I usually use .009 guage strings and I'm guessing these are factory fitted .010's so they're a bit heavy. I'll try both nine's and ten's before deciding if I want a set up, but the action came pretty close to ideal. Finish is flawless, frets are tidy and everything works.

I never play without a back up, but it's been solid so far. I've heard lots of complaints about switches, tuners and the jack socket, but I have no problems with mine. The tuners are Grovers, and I'm impressed - I go a long way without tuning. I was expecting to have to change but so far, so good.
Fitted some straplocks though - didn't want to take a chance.

No experience. Website's rubbish.

OK. I wanted a Gibson Les Paul Standard - but I'm buying a house this month, and couldn't justify the purchase for the time being. Leave it til next year. I wanted something with P90's that wasn't going to cost the earth. Also important was Gibson style controls - I like to have the neck pick up volume on 4 and the bridge pick up on 7 - giving me lots of tonal and volume range at a flick of the switch.

I loved the PRS SE soapbar, but it was a fair bit more expensive and didn't have the controls. Hated the les paul double cut, and came close to getting the Squier Tele Custom II, which is a fabulous, and surprisingly well made guitar for the price.

Also tried Epiphone humbucker les pauls, and thought they sounded distinctly average. In my humble, the 56 reissue was the best I could get for hardly any money. These are listed at #515 in the UK, and Peter Cook's in london are always competetive - #280 + #70 for a quality hard case I thought was splendid business....

Also have an American Series Stratocaster and a Gibson SG standard so with the '56 completing the set I reckon I have all my tonal bases reasonably well covered.

Ever since I saw a picture of John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters with one (Gibson) and read that at times in there career they recorded and/or played live with one I had to have one, if Hooker is part of your catalog, listen to his original version of "Bottle Up Up And Go" and with it toggled for both "soap dishes" that whiney slimey slippery sound is at your fingertips thru any amp I've used. (you gotta use the meat of your fingers) I had one before and I shifted heavy into acoustic country blues, and I always regretted selling the Goldtop. Now I'm back to electric and acoustic (you know how it is.. manic and impulsive creative behavior) so I've got back to both and can't tell you how happy I am with the Goldtop. Like most of you I've had the whole line of usual names and payed big bux for Gibson, American Fenders and Heritage, you know the drill .. To my eye the GoldTop looks homely under some lighting or a sparkling beauty. But the play-a-bility is really great and most importantly, many sounds canbe coaxed from it.. I'm not into speed but its very responsive and you get a lot of nice "freebies" when traveling the neck (I play almost all open tunings) Both Goldtops I've had have been emaculate. I give it a ten dor features because the soapbar P-90's are hot, slippery and different.

I think I gushed enuf above. I'm really trying to fined a fly in the ointment and I honestly can't. It can sound bright, slippery or fat.

once again, nothin to b__ch about. ESPECIALLY for $499.00.

It is a heavy ax which is why Muddy Waters changed to the tele (according to a quote from him) , I think the only weakness if it fell out of the trunk of your 56 buick on the highway would be the plastic covers on the pickups.

been a guitarists since 1962. I've noticed that as time goes on, the guitars I have been liken the sound and feel of have been imported. I use to make sure my guitars came from USA, nowadays, I grab a guitar from the wall and don't care where its made if it feels good and has a special sound and I got the ching, I bring it home. In my opinion, this Goldtop with the soapdish P-90's is a playground of sound for short money and will satisfy the itch for a great utility guitar, wrapping it up... as an aside, if you have seen the piece in the BLUES BROTHERS where HOOKER plays BOOM BOOM, this guitar can nail that sound... decadents at its best!

The guy I bought it from said it's 3 years old, which means it probably is a 2001 model. Bought it used for 2500 norwegian kroner, including shipping, which is about $300. Half of new price.
You know the specs, P-90 pups, standard les paul body, stunning gold finish. It's not as heavy as my Gibson lp classic.
It comes with epi tuners, and like some of you do, I find them a bit cheap and "plastic-ish". But hey, it's epiphone. My previously prejudical expectations are crushed to pieces.

I play a lot of styles, ranging from Johnny Cash to Sepultura. It fits 'em all, but for the heaviest music I'll use my lp classic.
I've just tried it through my Marshall Master Lead combo, which is an old, simple, lovely, (believe it or not) transistor amp. Can't wait 'till I try it through my even older Music Man tube amp.
The P-90's are just so wonderful, sweeet, bluesy clear tone, with a little more gain, warm buzzy distortion.
I like the neck pickup, it's just so full and warm sounding! The bridge pup is bright, great for lead with the tone adjusted.
I think they are very versatile with separate tone/volume controls. I find this guitar even more versatile than my lp classic.

The guitar had been pro set up right before the guy sold it, and it's noticeable. Low action, 100% intonation and new strings. Pups adjusted perfectly. Hardware shiny and blank.
One very small scratch on the neck, over the 9th fret, some buckle marks on the back, and a small scratch on the top. Nothing to worry about, hey, I bought it used.

At the moment I don't gig. I have before, and hopefully will again. I find the tuners a bit cheap, the switch is not to my satisfaction, but if these things wear out I will replace them with new better ones.
If I start gigging I will use both this guitar and my lp classic. I'm sure this guitar would last forever if taken proper care of and, ahem, with the tuners and switch replaced. Otherwise it's a rock.

No experiences.

Been playing for 10 years. I own a Gibson LP Classic, which I love,
Marshall Master Lead combo, Music Man RD110 combo, Rocktron Taboo Twin combo, and lots of pedals and stuff.
I've read all your reviews here, which I found very helpful.
The main reason I bought this guitar is the pickups(and gold finish..who can resist!). The sound is absolutely fabulous. It's my first P-90 guitar, but now I'm in love. I'd definitely buy a new one if it were stolen etc.
I'm gonna give it an overall 10 despite the tuners and switch, because the price I paid (half of new price) and the sound outweighs those details.
Don't hesitate if you consider buying this guitar!!!=)

My 56 is a 2001 model.It has the regular Les Paul controls and has the p-90 pickups. I don't think the wood is the same as on a real Gibson but the shape is the same and the paint is really cool. I worked in the cabinet shop while in prison, so I made cases for this guitar, also for all the equiptment my band uses. It's features are standard, but it is built like a tank and stays in tune. I have big hands so I love the huge neck style. I think this gives it a good tone.

My band plays heavy riffing rock (early G&R, Buckcherry, old UFO style stuff) all we have are epiphones and they rule for this style. I use a sovtek head and a sound city 4-12 cab. I run a Boss multieffect with distortion, delay, flange, and other stuff. I also use a Morley wha for some solos. The Epi gets a wicked crunch sound and looks awesome at gigs. I love the single coils but the other guitarist likes the humbuck type. We get a sweet contrast and our tones work awesome together.

We got all our guitars from a guy we met in the slam whose dad has a business buying blemished and second imports and re-selling them so all of them have cosmetic imperfect things. My LP has a crack in the finish and never had a pickguard. i had to get out some noise in the pots with some TV tuner cleaner. also we had to do minor setup and change strings on all these Guitars (56 GT, 2 cutaway Epi junior with a p90, white SG custom, red firebird, Tbird bass, all Epis) This dude made me a deal-they are all marked "2nd" or "used" on the back of the headstocks) I gave 700 for all 5 of these Epi's and I can't complain. It wouldn't be fair to judge Epi quality because these were damaged goods, really. I will give a no opinion to be fair

It can take a lot of gigging I have no problems with it. The knobs were chipped so I got some gold barrel knobs for it better now. The hardware is getting milky, but I sweat a bit. I screwed the straps onto the guitars using hardware store stuff-homade straplocs-costed 13.00 for all 5 guitars. I can depend on it, but I have the yellow Epi LP jr in case a string breaks.We try to be professional and have backups for all but the bass but I ordered a P-bass kit from a place for 119 dollars and am building it now. also we carry a backup head for the guitars in case one would blow.

They are used 2nds so we just fix stuff ourselves

We all met in med. security lockup in Indiana and satrted playing on equiptment in the music room. When released I couldn't drive so I sold my car and bought gear. My buds were all released within 3 months of me-we played practised,and planned for 6 years. We got everything cheap-wholesale guitars, pawnshop amps and effects and drums and PA put together from pieces.Harmony central was a source used to learn about all the gear. My 56 looks cool, sounds great and is my favorite piece of gear. If it were gone I'd try to get another. We are done with crime and parole is satisfied with letting us work and travel as long as we check in. We play for Law enforcement parties and functions a lot. We are getting by and getting laid and having all the fun we dreamed of. in the can. I love my time singing and playing my Goldtop and am living the life!

My most recently bought Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop '56 reissue was built in 2003 with solid top, 2x volume & 2x tone, 3-way switch controls. It has 2 Gibson P-90 picks (which really give the bluesy, "Use Your Illusion"-rock feel to the overall-sound by the way). The body is of course the everlasting classic Les Paul shape, with the golden glittery & glamoury finish.
Just by looking at this beauty things get kinda errected...

What I personally was looking for in this guitar, was the soulful sound that I heard the first time I listened to Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses (think of "Sweet Child of Mine", but also trax like "Out ta get me" and "Nighttrain").
The way those guitars sounded made such an impact on me, I really started to get interested in guitars and amps and sh*t.

Through the path of my musical tastes I never really lost sight of this sound, and a couple of years ago it just went fucking retro on me!

When I use it for clean parts it sounds a bit blue, direct, but always crispy. This is the foundation of my guitarsound, so no matter which effect I use, I always keep in touch with it's core.

When I use it for an overdrive-sound, the full core is there again. It seems that I could push the overdrive to a large extend, without losing the bluesy sound or the clear edge. These Gibson P-90's rule!

I use a Marshal JCM900 100 watt amp with 2 Marshal speaker cabinets.
A boss GT-3, and a Jim Dunlop Cry baby.
I use the GT-3 as an extra preamp, because the Marshal stack alone sounds a bit too rocky for the sound I need. The combination of both creates a sound that lies between the real preamp of the Marshal and a homemade preamppatch on the GT-3.
The Cry Baby for the characteristic wah sounds which no digital processor will ever be able to sound like.

This guitar appeared to have only one flaw, so I noticed within a day or 2. The pickup switch sometimes didn't work properly.
Returned it to the store and the next day: problem solved.

Everything else was perfect. The bridge was properly adjusted in height (as it not always is when buying a new guitar), and the quality of the wood is fantastic!

I also have a Gibson Les Paul Studio Special, and when I compare those two, the Studio plays like a feather. At first I had to get used to the little heavier feel while playing, but now, I feel like the affords of the rougher play are firmly overcompensated.

I would never use only one guitar while playing a gig. Even a 3000 bucks Gibson could fail during a show. But I can surely say that I could trust my Epiphone. It's super solid and thus able to withstand the rigors of playing live!

So far not necessary.

Every once in a while a guitarist gets this hunger towards new wood with iron strings to devour.
A couple of months ago it started again with me. After some research I came across this beauty (love @ 1st sight?). So I read a lot about it, and not just at epiphone.com.
What really attracted me was that it's the remake of a 1965 model classic LP. The best of the past, with the best of today, all in one guitar. For an easy price....

Brand new model bought from Unervisal Music on ebay. Features well covered below so won't go into detail on that here.

Suits my musical taste great, I play blues and classic rock. I use it through a 68 Fender Pro Reverb, Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue, and a peavey classic 30. Won't list all the effects, but for overdrive, use a modded Tube screamer.

It can be noisy depending on where you play and the lighting. These are single coil pichups, but it isn't too bothersome, just when you are not playing is it noticable.

Very nice sound, lots of character and definition. I did not have a guitar w/p90s and this is why I bought it (plus it looks fantastic).

The solid body combined with the single coils makes a very nice combination, kinda in between a les paul with humbuckers and a tele.

Its is very versatile, I could see using this guitar all night at a gig without switching out to my les paul, strat or tele. I am going to give it a 9 for sound reserving the 10 for that one guitar that is just perfect (have not found yet).

The quality of this thing is truly great. I have a gibson les paul that is not made as well that cost three times as much used. The weight is much less than my gibson though and it is nice. When not strapped into the thing, it sits nicely balanced on my lap. The gison wants to fall over my knee so does not get much time at home, jsut when playing out.

As other users have stated, the toggle seems a little suspect, but so far so good. Mine came stock with grover tuners which work very well, and although I prefer the look of the tulip style, will likely keep the grovers as they are more reliable.

Never had to deal with so no opinion here.

I have been playing for 25 years, own lots of gear, gibson, fenders, and epiphone. I'm a gear hound, the other guitar player in my band says I have a problem and need an intervention so as to stop buying stuff (he's probably right). But that said, I love this guitar and am very happy with the purchase, its a keeper. Sounds fantastic, is very versatile, and looks great. Plus, I can feel good about taking it out to some dive bar and not worry too much about it as it is a $500 guitar and not a $2,000 guitar sitting in that environment in between sets. I have a peavey classic 30 that fits the same bill, sounds great and is not so expensive.

I highly recommend this guitar sounds great right out of the box and no pickup swaps required.

It is made in this year, i thinkz.
Got gold on top and would underneeth.
Lokes like a Less Pal, but it is Epifone gibson witch is beter thain gibson cause it has two names

Sounds like a gibson butt only better 'cauz it has too nams.

came with strings and sum nobz and gold finish.
Beter tahn gibson 'casse it is cheaper and the same guitre only made in forin cuntree

it is gold, so it will paly beter and luk nizer than pretti guitrz.

Epifone is hard to spel, sew I cannnott sa.

Beter tahn gibson cause of the cust and ephifone is better name.

First of all I would like to say that I am reviewing this guitar with the asking price of $599.00 in mind.

This is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with the Goltop finish. Epi P-90's. Standard LP features with a 3-way pickup selector. Cherry-Red finish throughout except the Goldtop of course. Binding on the body and the neck. Generic Kluson style tuners.

It fits my style just fine but I wouldn't give it a poor rating if it hadn't fit my style. I am tired of reading reviews where people trash a guitar's sound because it didn't "give me the Duane Allman sound I thought it would" so it sucks..............sheez. This guitar sounds good and it may not give a specific person what they want but it is as versatile as I have ever seen a guitar. The P-90's are the best stock Epi pickups made. If you are thinking of getting and Epi and you want to get one that has good pickups then buy this one and forget the others as the pickups are not up to par on any other Epi...........PERIOD. I have a Gibson with Gibson P-90's in it and I have done some serious comparison and they are virtually identical. I am not exaggerating either. They are not quite as clear and bright but very close.

I have several Gibson LP's and I assure you that this one plays and feels as good as and better than some of them. It has a very fast neck and it is a very thin neck as well. The finish was pretty good but of course it is not flawless. This is a $599.00 guitar. The action was in need of personalization and it was a half hour job. I tinkered and set it up to my tastes rather easily.

This sucker is very heavy. It is actually heavier than any of my Gibson LP's believe it or not. I wouldn't recommend anyone purchasing this guitar if you are concerned about carrying around a heavy instrument. It does get to the shoulder after a little while and I have to set it down after while myself. Alot of people complain about the toggle switch going bad or the tuners being horrible and I agree. Let's remember that Epiphone is a sister company of Gibson's and not the parent company. If you want nice switches, pots and tuners then spend the money and get a Gibson Lp. If you want something that looks nearly as good and feels great then the Epi is a great choice especially with the P-90 pickups sounding so great. I changed the tuners but haven't had problems with the pots or switches as of yet. Those things are an easy fix anyway.

It may be a bit pricey at the $599.00 but if you want a solid guitar then it is a nice alternative to paying $1,500 to $1,900 for a Gibson. That price is so out of line for a Gibson it makes these look like they are free. It is 1/3 the price of a Gibson Standard but it is not 1/3 as good of a guitar. I would say it is about 80% as good as a Gibson Standard. Now of course I have only had mine for a few years but that is my opinion as of today.

2003 56 gold top made in korea
this guitar came from the factory with grover tuners and a pair of p 90 pickups that are a little noisy but superb.
the fit and finish of this guitar is a 9+ After looking at a lot of gibsons with a lot of quality control problems, for the price, I am very surprised at the quality of this $550.00 axe.The neck is first rate and thin for a lp, and I would say they did thier homework on this model. If you like the "Blue Skys southern rock sound" then this is your axe.

Go out and gig with this monster!

Don'nt know.

I have played and ownwd many guitars and this one is a keeper!

It has Les Paul fetures.
Of course the finish won't be never like a Gisbon finish but it's ok for the price.
The neck was very straight so the strings rattled a little but that is fixed very easy.

I read some reviews that said the sound was great but i didn't believed, because half a year i bought an Epiphone The Dot and the sound of the bridge pickup was very poor, i also had a "strato style" epiphone and the sound wasn't good either. So i thought that epiphone pickups where of very low quality, but when i plugged in this beuty i got surprised with the sound. For the price it has a 11 rating sound!!
And it's perfect for me that only have like four years playing guitar.

As i said the strings buzzed a little beacuse of the straightness of the neck but it was easily fixed.
The tone and volume pots seems to be of very low quality (as usual in an epiphone) but also they can be changed.
The finish is not like a gibson's but it's nice for the price.
The switch seems to be ok until today, but i know i'll need to replace it later.

I think it will last for a while, except for the tone and volume pots an the switch, every thing else looks fine.
Because of it's price and beauty i got no fear to take on a gig.

Don't have traded with this guys.

excelent guitar it sounds owesome trough my jcm900
my efects are: boss chromatic tuner>boss compressor sustainer>ts9>tone bender>proco rat>boss chorus>voodoo tremolo>boss dd3>dunlop cry baby>mxr micro amp.
Highly recomended!

2000. as far as i can tell everything is stock, except for the strap locks. all of the features have been listed before.

the sound suits my style well. i also have a standard plus les paul, between these two, i got just about all of my sounds covered.

i dont see why people would spend a chunk of money on this kinda instrument and then want to modify it.

everything is great as far as the set up. since it was used when i bought it , it had a few scratches on the back and bottum. the top was perfect.

this guitar is solid. i don't question that it will last.

i email Gibson to see what year it was made it. they responded right away.

i am playing this through a Crate VintageClub 50, all tube. the clean sounds incredible. to me it sounds totaly different that my standard les paul, probaly do to different pickups.i dint realy compare this to any others. i walked into a pawn shop and saw it on the wall and went straight to it. i made sure it worked and told the guy to hold i'd be back in an hour. $325.00 for the guitar and a hard case was a awsome deal.

Oct-2002 Goldtop Les Paul 1956 reissue. Made in Korea by Saein.
Not being able to afford an historic Gibson Les Paul Goldtop '56 I upgraded an Epiphone Goldtop '56. The Epiphone Goldtop provides a good starting point because its only weakness is due to its cheap hardware.

In some aspect this guitar is amazing: I've change most of the hardware, I only let the nut, the pickguard and the pumps (which are excellent) unchanged. Tuners and their bushings are Gotoh vintage, Nickeled TOM and Stop-bar are also Gotoh (the gotoh bushes too thin don't fit on the body).
The pots and the switch, the Swichcraft jack from Stewmac, the knobs, the jack plate and the vintage wire the Gibson switch ring from Greggrogers, the pickguard bracket and the straplocks from Schaller.
Eventually I have realized the '50 wiring of the the Historic Gibson.


You can have a look on my site to see all my improvements http://membres.lycos.fr/thieeryt/indexe.html

(rating before upgrade= 7)

I mostly play blues and rock using a PX4-Korg Pandora and a Marshall MG15CDR.
I'm fond of P90 sound, and with the improvements I have brought (the '50 wiring, Hovland Musicaps, TOM, tuners, etc..) this guitar sounds as well as it is possible.
(rating before upgrade= 8)

Even if the global aspect is fine, the only thing I was not able to correct was the finish which presents many flaws.
(rating before upgrade= 6)
Final rating 8 mostly because of the imperfect finish.

Very strong craftmanship but with unreliable hardware and electronics.
(it cost me only $150 to change almost every wrong part.)
(rating before upgrade= 7)

Now the job is at its end and even if I know it doesn't worth an historic Gibson nor a standard one I'm proud of my axe which sounds and looks almost (except for its finish and its ugly head) like a top vintage guitar.
(rating before upgrade= 7)

This is a 2002 model, made in Korea. It's a copy of a 1956 Gibson Les Paul. 22 fret neck, laminated-and-pressed-on top, 2 volume pots, 2 tone pots, one for each of the two Epiphone alnico P90As. Per Epiphone, the body is mahogany/alder and the neck is mahogany. Finished nicely in polyurethane. Decent ABR-1 bridge copy, 24.75" neck scale, just like the "real" Les Pauls. Cheap Kluson knockoff tuners, also just like the "real" Les Paul. (I also own a "real" SG.) Came with absolutely nothing- case was separate, and that means no "case candy" either. For $500+ street price Epiphone should really consider charging a little more MSRP and including a case or at least a gig bag. I'm deducting a point for it.

I play a little bit of everything and center around indie rock, classic rock, blues, and "alternative rock." I'm convinced I can cover all of those styles with this guitar. I'm recording with a Line 6 POD XT and/or a Tech 21 Trademark 10. The P90s are noisy, like any single coil would be; I'm considering replacing the factory P90s with the Lace 900 set. P90s are a wonderful thing, though- they can do just about anything from clean to high gain well. This guitar sustains wonderfully now, and I'm confident the Tonepros bridge and tailpiece that are on their way here will only enhance that.

My local shop told me they did nothing to this guitar short of pulling it out of the box and tuning it. If that's really the case, Epiphone did a great job. I normally do my own setups on all of my guitars, but this one was fine "as-is", so I didn't feel the need. The pickups could have been better adjusted, but that's two screws and 20 seconds per pickup. There were no obvious flaws of any kind in this guitar- the electronics function as I'd expect and everything was well mounted and aligned. The weight was right where I wanted it- about 8 pounds, actually a little shy of that.

I'm confident this guitar would handle live playing well. The hardware seems to be decent-quality, short of the Kluson knockoff tuners, which are easily replaced for all of $25. Yes, I'm replacing the bridge and tailpiece, but that's for convenience, not because there's anything wrong with the hardware that was on the guitar. I can't imagine wearing off the finish on this guitar, but I do wax all of my guitars regularly, so I don't anticipate problems. At the end of the day, guitars are fairly simple pieces of equipment, and I'd trust this one as much as I'd trust any of my others, which means of course I'd have a backup guitar at the gig.

I've only contact Epiphone once about a Les Paul copy I owned a few years ago. They were courteous and responsive then. I never leave my instruments stock, so the warranty on this one will be voided shortly. The bright side is that short of woodwork, I do my own setups and repairs.

I've been playing guitar for 16 years, and own several other guitars and various other pieces of gear. For project studio stuff, I have this Les Paul, a '99 Gibson SG Standard, a '98 Fender Telecaster Plus with a Barden Tele set installed, a Bill Lawrence "Tonekaster" Strat copy with a Lace Sensor Hot Gold set installed, and one of those cheapie Kramer P-Bass copies from musicyo.com. They get played into a Line 6 POD XT or a Tech 21 Trademark 10, and from there into a Tascam US-428 and into my computer, usually into Cakewalk Sonar or FL Studio 4.

I had a pretty good idea of what this guitar was and what it was capable of. Gratefully, the Internet is a fantastic resource for information, so I was prepared the day I bought it.

I really like Les Pauls and despise the weight (and the nitrocellulose finishes) on Gibson Les Pauls, so I'd absolutely purchase another of these if I ever needed to replace it.

Les Pauls are wonderful- lightweight ones that still sound right and sustain well, even more so. I like the P90 routes (if not the noise factor of the pickups), the neck is great, it's absolutely worth what I paid for it.

The best thing about a good Epiphone Les Paul copy is that if you know what you're doing (I do), you can selectively replace hardware and electronics to make an instrument that's convincingly 90% of the "real" thing (and I've played plenty) for under $1000. This is especially true of the Goldtop with P90s, as the Gibson reissue has a street price of over $2000 (which would prevent me from gigging it). When I'm done with this guitar, it'll have the Tonepros bridge and tailpiece, the Lace 900 series pickups (silent P90s) a bone nut, and 14:1 Gotoh tuners, and I still won't have $1000 invested in it- and it'll weigh under 8 pounds. I've owned and still own Gibsons, I've owned PRS, high end Fender, and even a Reverend. The same advice applies to all of them- start with a good one, one that you've played, and you can't go wrong. I'm confident I didn't, and I expect to be happy with this guitar for years to come.

Goldtop. P-90's. Mahogany-alder body. volume and tone knobs for each pickup as well as a switch to use either pickup or use them both together. Knockoff tuners. Thin neck.

The sound has amazed me. I had never had p-90's ever before this and I was in shock as to how well they performed. A little side note is that I was so impressed with the stock epi pickups that I thought if I put a set of Gibson p-90's in the guitar that I could improve on the sound even more. I bought a set of Gibson p-90's and took them back out the next day. THE EPI'S SOUNDED BETTER!! You cannot go wrong with these pickups. They do well distorted but clean they rip. I have heard alot of talk about them not being good for Heavey Metal type of music but I disagree. They are not suited especially for that but they work fine and give a different sound as well compared to dual humbuckers.

This guitar had a few issues in this department but it is also about a grand less than the Gibson Les Paul so I would expect it ya know?

THIS THING IS SOLID AND IT WEIGHS A TON.

Been playing for 20 years or so. I own alot of other gear including many guitars. I wished I had bought this guitar years ago. I love the looks and I dislike only the weight which I also love if you know what I mean.

Sweet Gold Top-This is basically a Standard but it is a limited addition and it has the Gold color on top with Cherry stain on the sides back and back of the neck. P-90's of course.

I really have tried alot of guitars and this one is a great sounding guitar. The p-90's are so nice. Warm sound and mine does not feedback unless I am attempting to get some.

I agree with the review from above. I cannot really judge a guitar maker for the action not being exactly the way I personally like it. The really cool thing about the Les Paul is the adjustments at the bridge. It is so easy to raise or lower. We of course have a truss rod which can improve the guitars action as well if it needs adjustment. The finish is sweet as well. This guitar is not perfect but it does resemble perfection.

Feels very strong but it is a piece of wood for heaven's sake. I guess it might last longer than the lightweight guitars out there but who's to really say. This thing is heavy for sure. Sounds great acoustically as well which is nice if you dont always plug in. The strap buttons are very basic and really should be replaced if you are using a strap. Straplocks are fairly inexpensive and a great way of insuring your guitar stays on your shoulders instead of hitting the floor.

I did read alot of the reviews here before deciding which Les Paul to get. Alot of the reviews trashed the switch, tuners, pots and the input jack. I have found that the pots are fine with the exception of them not being real forgiving. The switch on mine is still working fine after six months. The input jack has come loose but it has not malfunctioned in any way. The tuners really could stand to be replaced but they do work fine. Some have even said the pickups dont sound so good. I have no idea why someone would say that. I appreciate the sound of these pickups and although they may not be the best for extremely heavy music they sound superb for nearly every other style of playing. I think you may be able to find other Les Pauls for a slightly cheaper price but I think the extra money they charge for the Gold top over the regular standard is worth it. The custom is about the same price but then you get humbuckers which may not sound nearly as good.

what everyone else has said. 2 p-90s and boy what a pretty gold finish. pearloid inlays would have been a nice.

this guitar sounds lovely, simply. i just bought one and it is perfect if you play alot 'clean' or with light distortion. i play mostly indie rock and blues, and although not surpassing fenders in the indie stakes, it still does a bloody good job. using an orange ad 15/12 and marshall mg100dfx it performs brilliantly with the valve amp, warm and very clear, and even sounds the shit on my solid state. p-90s do distort unlike any other pickups i find, you either like the sound or not i guess. theyre bright, yet the neck pickup is very bassy. nice contrast, well rounded sounds. metal heads need not apply, although this is a cheap guitar to have in your arsenal regardless of what style you play...you'll always find a use for it.

bought mine second hand and it was set up brilliantly. the action can get so low and so comfortable on these guitars without even a hint of buzz. playing all the way up the neck is a dream.

havent gigged with it, but i wouldnt forsee any problems. tuners are alot better than this than on any other epi or gibson ive played, but thats probably just down to luck. built like a rock nonetheless.

never had to find out.

great price for a great guitar. epiphone have finally got it right with this one, dont bother with their h'bucker guitars unless youre gonna change the pups. i was certainly surprised at the quality of the p-90s having never used them before. mellow and RAWK! and also very clear. good sustain too. if youre a total indie kid, then jazz's and tele's are probably what youre after, get a nice medium-21esque twang...but this guitar is one of the nicest clean sounding guitars ive ever played, as good as a fender, and is definately the nicest guitar to play...faster and smoother than my gibson sg! everyone who can afford to own one of these should.

2002 Goldtop Les Paul 1956 reissue. Made in Korea, inspected at the rossetti workshop December 2002, cost #350, new. 3 way selector switch, 2 p-90 pickups, goldtop finish, non locking tuners. Beautiful. My girlfriend bought me this for valentines day.i was so shocked i nearly cried. She purchased it online from sound control, it arrived perfectly packaged from dundee, i live in birmingham.

The sound of this guitar is amazing. I use Marshall MG amps and this is my third guitar, the last two both being squier strats. i wanted to step up from the budget range as i feel i have progressed. This guitar provides the sound i have always wanted. From clean, warm tones to tangy, distorted sounds i dont know how but its got it all.

I dont think the guitar was set up very well at the factory but then, on the other hand, i suppose they may have decided to keep the guitars 'options open', meaning it is left to the owner to be set up to their desired taste.
Everything else was perfect, the only probelm i had was the jackplug was loose but that was by no means a huge problem, i just tightened it. I think this was because being on the shop floor of sound control, people were just playing it all the time.

Obviously this guitar is so much better than my last two, i would use this without backup anyday (unless i needed alternate tunings).I feel it will be very reliable for me in the future and it will be a very long time before i purchase another one.

Ive never dealt with them, but their online resources are quite useful.

Ive been playing for 4 years now and i think if you are looking for a non budget guitar but dont want to break the bank, this is the one for you.
If this were lost or stolen, i would definetly get another one (thats after i cried my heart out).
I love everything about it.The colour is phenomenal, the shape is cool, and, most importantly, the sound is perfect. Plays like a dream.
I didnt know whether to get a standard fender strat or this, my girlfriend picked it although i wanted one for ages. When i opened and saw this, i knew id made the right choice.

Epiphone 56 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue (hessle music centre, coolchords.com) special edition.
Its basically a gibson copy of a goldtop, but its just about the best copy you can get for the cash, P90 wax dipped picks, Nice weight,I've fitted schaller strap locks,and Gibson tuners from ebay (off an historic gold top, nice touch).
3 way selecter went dicky on me, soon fixed by howard at coolchords.com (hessle music centre).

its good for les paul fat tones, p90's give a bit more ring.(its a bit free, alright now ringing, with right amp.
i'am using a jtm45 (re-issue)for the bluesy stuff,(at home only, amps to good to take gigging, and gig with a vs265 +1987 gibson les paul, The goldtop is back up, I have used it in past...no probs after the 3 way selecter beefed up.
tone pot on treble has minimal hiss..but nothing to worry about.
wait for it.
I have a vs265 for gigging and a custom made ts-808 clone.(bought jan 2002)
(thanks Ian, newcastle).
The epi Goldtop is now a Tone monster on this rig. as good as my gibbo. proberly the p90's but it out sustains anything else i have used. this thing plays the lot. I'am tempted to use the epi for gigging full time...but vanity stops me.

I've set my own action on it...by simply taking saddle bridge to minimum. tuning in....bend all strings on 19th fret, if they buzz.slacken off..hike bridge up..re-tune untill they don't buzz...hey presto...nice low action.never touched the truss rod.
jackplug bracket came loose...just tightened it up...

Solid ...with the new 3 way selector and scahller strap locks, i don't thrash em anyway.
would not use it without a back-up. solid all over.
(got 10's on it, keep frets polished, smooth fret board.).

Never used em.
got a 12 month warranty from hessle music ( coolchords).
And the shop owner, took it back after 2 months to check/set-up etc.
(helpfull guy, Howard Jennings)

Its a good buy, its not gibson..but its got the tone, wish three way selecter was gibson parts.
I love the weight of it...chunkey feel,,,I may fit linley fralin p'90's to it,,,as theses picks do the bizz,
Nice cream/chrome/mahog stylish looks...nice guitar for #400.
same as any other decent guitar...needs decent amp/strings, no fret buzz, or pops/crackles....I like it.

Korean made-late ninties. mahogany-alder top. two way toggle for pickups. P-90 pickups. Gold top. Les Paul. Standard Les Paul features. Neck is pretty thin.

Very pleased with the pickups. Both can actually be used which is rare for and epi les paul.

The action was too low really. I worked it over myself and it is great now. A few minor finish flaws from factory but basically it is sweet.

Tough - heavy - solid

The guitar is sweet. The tuners need to be replaced. The volume-tone pots need to be replaced. The toggle switch needs to be replaced. The input jack needs to be replaced. I am not dissapointed at all because I read the reviews here and I already was prepared for these minor issues. NO BIGGIE.

2002 Epiphone '56 Gold Top, archtop, I believe the top is Alder, solid top, made in Korea. Guitar is stamped "Limited Edition" on the back of the headstock. 2 P-90s, pretty standard Gibson '56-type design. This is the second one I got from the dealer. The first one was damaged in shipping, and the best surprise with the replacement, is that it's a little heavier. The first one felt like balsa wood, probably 4-5 lbs. The new one is closer to 7 lbs, and feels more like a real guitar. Moral here, is try a few, there's quite a bit of variation in weight between guitars. Go for what you like, here.

Pickups are Epiphone, but look different from the pickups on the model I returned. The covers are a milkier color, and seem to sound better than those on the model I returned. They sound awesome, and don't seem to have the noise problem that many folks here, have described. They sound very "Les Paul." My you, I won't be selling my Telecaster for "max twang" but the Gold Top is a different animal all together.

The Gold Top is just terrific. Not greenish like some have described, but a nice yellow-y gold color. Very nice. Stop tail, Tune-o-matic bridge, all the standard Les Paul hardware. A nice (new) feature, is the screw adjuster at the top of the bridge-post, that allows you to use a screwdriver to adjust the post height. A very thoughtful feature. (BTW, de-tuning makes bridge-height adjustment much easier).

I agree with everyone who has posted here. The tuners are pretty low quality. They look OK, but the gearing sucks, and they don't hold tuning very well. I'm looking for a replacement set. These have to go. The 1st string (high-E) tuners doesn't feel like it has a gear in it at all. It spins very loosely. The others work better. Having a lot of experience with Asian sourcing, I know Epiphone could find a better supplier for tuners, if they looked. Gotoh is there, and they make a better tuner for not a lot of cash, so my advice to Epiphone, is find a better source for tuners. They're not up to the level the rest of the instrument is. My research on tuners, is that Gibson offers a "Historic Series"
tuner set for this peghead hole size, that is a direct drop-in for the Epi Gold Top. They're a little hard to find, but they're out there. And expensive (about $60-70/set). Other good replacements are Gotohs, that can be had for $25-30/set. Depends on how "Gibson" you want to keep the guitar.

Scale length is standard Les Paul dimensions (24 3/4") I believe, 22 frets, and excellent access to upper frets. I play slide, and this is a nice feature to have, since it extends the scale range considerably over other designs, and simply makes it much easier to access. Neck is faily thin, pretty standard Gibson-type profile. Nut is pretty plastic-y and could also be kicked up a notch, although it works well, and doesn't bind with the 9's that the guitar ships with.

The input jack doesn't have much retention, and a plug doesn't seat properly in the jack, so I'll replace it with a Switchcraft, I'm sure. For now, it works, but here again, Epiphone could do a better job with component selection. A Fender, in the same price range as this, is equipped with much better componets than the Epiphone (IMO).

No case or gig bag inclused, but I bought a TKL, which fits the guitar well, and has an arched-top to accommodate the geometry of the guitar. I believe TKL is Gison's suplier for their high-end cases, so you'll do well with a TKL for the Gold Top.

I bought the guitar for the kind of "overdriven" southern rock stuff that I play, and for slide, as well as blues. It's perfect for both. I sold a 2002 PRS Santana to get this one, mainly because the PRS open-coil humbuckers are a little too dark for my taste. The Gold Top's single-coils are terrific. Not too noisy, very quiet in the "combo" (middle) setting, since they appear to wired to provide the noise cancelling effect that humbuckers provide. You can get a nice Chet Atkins sound, a Dickey Betts vibe or a nice Duane Allman slide tone out of the Epiphone. Sustain is great, and the pickups (for my taste) are heads and shoulders above the Epi Les Paul Standard humbuckers.

I like everything about the Gold Top, from a sound & tone perspective.

Factory neck-relief setting was fine, but bridge height needed lowering. I do this stuff myself, and didn't have any problems getting string-height adjusted to my taste.

Pickup height seems good, although I would have raised them a bit, had I not lowered the strings. They now sem perfect for the string height I'm at, at the moment. Pick-up routes are clean, and fit pickups well. The pickup covers don't come close to matching the pickguard (or vice-versa), but I don't care much on this point. Fit and finish are a 9. I'll subtract a point here, since there are some polishing swirls on the top edge, near the strap button. Looks like they polish it after they install the button, then try to get around it with the polisher. Could be better, but it's passable.

So long as you don't throw it around, I'm sure it will hold up. It seems very solid, and glued/screwed together well. I've never owned an Epiphone solid body for any long period of time (although I have a mid-60s flat-top acoustic), so I'm not certain how it will hold-up over time, but this wouldn't be a major concern about this model. It's very solid. HArdware seems well-plated (stay away from Asian-sourced
gold-plated hardware, though, since it will wear off before you get the guitar home) and should last a long time. If not, these parts are easy to replace. This guitar will withstand any kind of playing you do, live or otherwise. Finsih is clearly a 9 (would have been a 10, but for some better poishing that could have been done). Removing the rear cavity-cover for the pots revealed a very tidy job. No polishing compound or dust, very neat soldering, and good screw-fit to the cover. I'd use it as a gigging guitar, although I don't gig much anymore. Sorta retired
from the concert-circuit.

Never dealt with Epiphone's customer service, but as a company that's been around longer than me (and I'm no youngster), I'm sure they have it pretty well figured out. The dealer (Musician's Friend) was very responsive in replacing the Gold Top when the first ne ordered was damaged. Had a minor problem with billing, but they sorted it out. I don't like buying guitars through catalogs or on-line, because it's nice to play them before you buy them, but I had a gift certificate I had to use before it expired, and I'd always wanted a Gold Top. Had I had a spare 3-4 grand, I'd have purchased a Gibson, but the Gibson 56 Reissue, is very pricey, for what I'd use it for. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised in the Epiphone. They could easily upgrade the tuners & jack and put the Gibson name on this guitar. It looks, sounds and plays better than any $599 Gibson Faded SG that I've played. That guitar looks and feels toy-like compared to this model.

Been playing 35 years, and have three Fenders-two Teles and a Strat, a DeArmond M-72, two Yamaha Acoustics, one with a Fishman pickup, an old Epiphone acoustic, a Hohner solid-body electric-classical and a Sho-Bud pedal steel. Really didn't need any additional information on the Gold Top, since I'd played them a number of times. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably get another one. It's that
nice. The only thing I dislike is the headstock shape, which for my taste, should be the Gibson shape, as Epiphone used for a while. It just doesn't look like a Les Paul headstock should look.

I compared the guitar to a Godin (Duncan Equipped) P-90 model, I believe it's in the "L" series. It was quite nice, but tough to find in the stores to get some test-drive time with. It's a nice model, and roughly in the same price range, but tough to find. I have a local dealer who orders them as needed, but the Gold Top was similarly equipped.

Just wish it had better tuners and input jack. Other than that, it's the most Gibson you can get (new) for $599, that sounds good. I looked seriously at the Gibson Les Paul Junior Lite, but didn't want P-100s, since most folks end-up putting another $200 out to replace them. I only found three solid body P-90 guitars out there. The Gold Top, Fender/Japan Jazzmaster or the Godin, all able to be had in this price range, and I went with the Epiphone. Since I'm overall pleased with this purchase, I's like to add a 330-Casino to the list at some point. It also seems to be a reasonable reissue of a great guitar that I recall from the "old days."

This Korean made Goldtop was manufactured in 2002. It is a Les Paul Standard configuration with the exception of the pickups, which are P90's instead of humbuckers. See the Epiphone site for the nitty gritty details about wood, etc. Need I say more? It has that classic Les Paul design in every way, except for the maple top - Epiphone uses Alder / Mahogony instead, which actually makes the axe a litte lighter - a nice touch. The only problem is that the tuners suck - this is typical of Epiphone. My other Epi also had crappy tuners. I replaced those, and have already ordered the replacements for this one. On my other Epi (a LP Junior), the replacement tuners made an incredible difference in keeping the guitar in tune, and I am expecting the same benefit here. I ordered some Gotoh Kluson look-a-likes. The tuners are the only reason for the rating being less than 10 - Epiphone should have spent the extra $5 on better tuners and saved me the trouble.

I am into classic rock and blues. Thats why I wanted another P90 based guitar. I already have 2 others, but this is the first one with 2 pickups (the others are both Juniors). The sound is nothing less than great. I love P90's and these are pretty screaming versions. The bridge pickup has enough high end to rip your ears off (or just sparkle if you play clean), but I tend to roll off the tone control a bit to get a really warm sound. The neck pickup has lots of depth without getting muddy (like my PRS Santana SE does). Together, they give you lots of range by playing with the balance through the use of the 2 volumen controls. Of course P90's do hum a bit, and they can also squeal if you are not careful (thats why I didn't rate sound at a 10). But the tonal benefits far outweigh these pitfalls. No disapointment here.

Factory setup of the action was considerably higher on the bass side than the treble side, and I was expecting to re-adjust this when I next change the strings. But after playing it for a while, I think that the tech that set up this little baby was right - it feels super. Quite frankly it feels as good as my 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The finish in the guitar is simply beautiful - the Goldtop sparkle is really nice and the brown back and sides reveal some nice wood underneath. This guitar compares favorably with its $2000-$3000 Gibson cousins for a lot less money. Once again, only the tuners are a disapointment.

We'll see - I have only had it for 1 day.

In the past, I have called Epiphone, related to my Junior, and found them a little less helpful than I would have hoped. At the time, I chalked it up to the fact that I had their cheapest guitar, although that really is no excuse. But generally, I don't expect to use their cs very much anyway.

I have been playing for almost 35 years. I own several other guitars, including a 1969 Gibson SG Standard, a 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom, a 1996 Gibson Historic Reissue of the 1960 Les Paul Junior, a 1999 Epiphone Les Paul Junior, a 2000 PRS Santana SE and a cheap no-name acoustic. I play through a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55 1x12 combo, and also own an old Crate practice amp. I use a Boss Blues Driver, a homemade Tube Screamer clone, a Cry Baby wah wah, and Morley volume pedal, a Korg Pandora's Box 4 and an older Zoom multieffect pedal (503 or 504 I think). If it were stolen or lost, I would buy this one again - I am very pleased with it so far. I love the sound and the neck profile, and I hate the tuners (but they'll be changed before the end of the week).

I bought this nice guitar for circa $400 in South Africa.It is a limited edition goldtop with mahogony back.The top is probably alder.
You are all well aware of the standard features of this guitar.
The neck feels perfect and the playability is excellent.It is well made and has a classy look.The tuners on my guitar is standard.

The P90 alnico pickups are excellent.I use the guitar with a Vox AC30.
The sound is rich and brilliant.Has more depth than my Fender USA Strat but slightly less depth than my Gibson Les Paul Custom.I feel it is relevant to compare with some standards of the guitar industry.
The bass string response is better than the Les Paul Custom.
The pickups can be a bit noisey especially at the bridge position, but stepping slightly away from the amp rectifies this problem.I am very impressed with the versatile sound of this guitar.

Excellent in all respects !

Solid and well built guitar

I have been playing for about 38 years.I also own two Gibson Les Paul Customs,a USA Fender Strat (Standard),and a Juno Archtop jazz guitar.
The Epiphone Goldtop is on par with all above-mentioned instuments.
I can honestly recommend the Goldtop.

Alnico V - P90 pickups etc...

I use a Marshall VS-100 with the Supervibe and the Vibratrem pedals. The guitar sounds like a dream, it doesn't matter if I play it on the clean or the distorted channels, I can always get the sound I want.

No complaints, the neck feels very good, the frets were on the sharp side, but that was easily fixed.

The tuners do not quite cut it, other than that I haven't noticed anything to complain about yet.

Haven't been in touch

This guitar is a very good buy, the only complaint I have is the not so good tuners stuck on there which is a shame. They are kind of ugly as well (greenish plastic)...

Update to previous post.

Since then I have replaced the entirely unreliable toggle switch (with switchcraft) and muddy pickups (with duncan antiquity p90s). I had already replaced the tuners. All these upgrades were much needed.

Warning: if you plan to upgrade your epiphone with gibson or other standard gibson-fit parts, you will find great difficulty, since almost NONE of the fittings (except pickups, thankfully) are gibson-standard on epiphones. To install new tuners, i had to widen the drillholes. To install a new switch, i had to widen the drillhole. If you're unsatisfied with the sub-par stock epiphone parts, you'll end up spending quite a bit to make it a worthy guitar.

Now that I've done all this, though, the guitar sounds great, feels great, and performs very well. The only further improvement i'll be making is a refret with much larger frets (6000s? by ibanez, i believe), but that is a couple years away. At the moment, I have a guitar equal or superior to any Gibson LP standard/classic. Unfortunately, with the extra cash for upgrades the net cost is within several hundred dollars of Gibson. Still at a savings. Realize that you'll be getting what you pay for--significantly lower price, significantly lower quality. But again, with work, it has definite potential.

Stock pickups lacked definition and tone. I got the SD antiquities because they were the only soapbar i could find with alnico II magnets, as opposed to the often-raspy alnico Vs.

Upgrade and replace as many parts as you can. It all needs replacing. I'm now extremely satisfied. Except that the pickguard doesn't fit very tightly (gibson historic part soon to be replacing it).

You all have already read about all the features of this guitar so i will not go into detail here about all that. It is a very nice instrument and all in all probably better with todays technology than the Les Pauls of the past. Especially the early 50's. The binding on mine is well done. No flaws, paint is awsume and fit and finish are top notch. I had nothing included with mine but a cheap cord, and thats it. I purchased the hard case because it is mindless to buy any guitar that doesn't have a case to protect it.This by the way is not a "sparkle" type finish but rather a true gold top with what looks like ultra fine metal flake in the finish. For those of you that weren't around when metal flake finishes first came about..it is very very fine flakes rather than larger sparkle type flakes. I have noticed that the finish varies in the "gold" in the finish. I have one that is perfect. But, i have seen one at least that looked much "greener" over all..a bit like baby shit yellow if you will. But,Don't let that bother you. Look around. This thing is worth it in every way. I have had my share of Gibsons in my day..after all i started playing guitar in 1963. Enough said. Fit and finish on this instrument is just as good as it gets.

The type of music i play is my own. I have been influenced by everyone so many you young guys wouldn't have a clue. I play music period. Everything from Hendrix(whom I've seen at least 7 times) to stuff like "It had to be you". These pickups are the real deal. I know I've owned them before on many guitars. They are full, rich, trustworthy and bright, clear and they rock through my Marshall bluesbreaker..you gotta hear that combination dude..
I have also a 65 original Fender Showman amp and at big Fender watts..buddy..it is sweet. But, i don't play loud much anymore. It does have single coils on it and they have a rep for some noise. If you know anything then you can live with that. Don't buy them if you want sterile guitar..but, if you want to blow through schools..kill small mammals with a single strum at high volume..then come on down and get one. Either you know guitars or you don't. In the end..the sound is wonderful. Don't worry about the noise, a Marshall full stack on 10 is noisy too..no one worries about that.

Like many guitars they may vary from instrument to instrument. Mine is flawless..perfect. The finish is lovely. Mine was set up by the dealer where i bought it. Perfect is all i can say. The pickups are adjusted nicely and the sound reflects that. Routing on the pickups and bridge and all that are as i said..great. Finish is as good as any Gibson. I would replace the pots at somepoint not that mine do anything bad, i am just that way. The switch too. Probably with some known thing like switchcraft or something just so i know what i have got in there..and since i haven't been in to the guitars guts i would shield anything at that time in the cavity that needed attention. Like i said..mine works just fine. I just like to know what i have and where i start..nothing more. It works just great the way it is. I will say that when i got it the string angle from the back of the saddles to the stop bar were too steep. The strings were in contact with the back of the bridge as they left for the stop bar. I didn't like that. I simply raised the stop bar a bit to counter that. When i did that the strings rang true and clear even more so than before. Simple man.

This guitar would stand any normal treatment. If your a fool and mistreat your equipment than it probably won't see the light of day. But, if you respect it for what it is..a quality and precesion piece of equipment then it will last a life time. Finish wear again depends on if your wearing a leather jacket when playing then you may wear some finish at contact points but if you are a careful and respectful player it will last. Strap buttons are as good as any. I would and do depend on this guitar use it all the time for recording. I don't play out anymore but would not hesitate to Rock out on this thing. It is solid. I gave it a 9 because no guitar is rock solid. It is the owner whom determines whether it lasts or not. it is well made.

Don't know about this. I don't like to deal with factories. They may be good. I won't bad mouth them because i don't really know.

I have been playing guitar and bass, drums, and a number of things since 1963. I own a number of nice instruments none of which i will go into here. I currently play through a 93 Marshall Bluesbreaker combo(which is lovely with this instrument) and a 60's Fender Showman amp. I also have tons of fun with a J Station as well. Neat stuff. I have nothing i would have asked before buying this guitfiddle. I am one that does my homework before hand. But! i will say that i prefer to put my hands on an instrument before i purchase it. I am more prone to support my local music store before buying through a catalog. Those people are fools i feel. I don't like return policies or any of that crap. I want to see it first hand, feel it, play it and then i buy it. I don't take chances i prefer a "known" thing. I would kill and bury the person that stole this guitar. I do wish they offered it with the Bigsby tail piece and would be willing to pay the extra price for that unit.

As you are well aware by now if you're reading this...what sets this guitar apart from the rest of the pack is it's 2 p-90 pickups and beautiful gold top. Other than that it's all Les Paul...solid as a rock and a dream to play. If I have one complaint it's that it could have come with better tuners (they're the Epi/Klusson style). They look great but it seems I'm re-tuning after every couple of songs. Please dont let that discourage you from this wonderful guitar though(I'm of the opinion most guitar manufacturers realize what a huge demand there is for aftermarket parts...so they figure, why not stick the consumer twice, first when he buys the rig and then again when he/she realizes how much better it could be after a few mods). You can either spend another hundred bucks on new tuners or shell out a couple thousand for a real Gibson '56 goldtop. The p-90 pickups are like butter. So many different tones to choose from, I'm still having fun just plugging in to see what she can do.

I use a Peavey Delta Blues 115 and a Fender Blues Junior. When played through either amp it sounds anything but bad. I love it when I hear a player say how a peice of gear is able to make them sound better than they actually are. That is certainly the case with this guitar. It sits on my shoulder and begs me to play it. F.Y.I.... I have experienced no single coil pickup noise that you sometimes get, just very rich tones from both the neck and the bridge pickups. It's just a real joy to play.

I actually stoped into the guitar shop to buy a new pedal, when the salesman asked what guitar I wanted to plug into to try it out I saw my chance and grabed the '56 Gold Top and proceeded to fall head over heels. I took it home just the way it came down off the rack, when I asked the guitar tech if he had set it up, or if that was the way it came, he said he couldn't remember, so I'll give them both credit for a job well done.
I cant find any flaws on this guitar and I cant imagine that anyone would want to spend three times as much for a real Gibson Gold Top re-issue. But hey, it's your money...

Again, let me stress how much better this guitar will be when I stick some new tuners on it. Other than that this thing is solid! Completely dependable in every other way.

I've heard some good thing about the Epiphone people (and some baaaad things about Gibson's), so I'm confident they would do the right thing. And even if they don't, I'm sure the store I bought it from would help me out. Limited lifetime warranty.

If you look at this guitar and appreciate the classic beauty of it, and understand its place in the continuing evolution of the electric guitar (although I realize it's not the "real deal"), then I urge you to find one and give it a try. You will be glad you did. Even if you dont want to own one, or it doesn't fit your style of music, you'll at least know why I (and others on this review board) get such a thrill out of playing it.

2001, korean. the other reviews cover this pretty well. I would have preferred a mahogany body to the alder that i got, but it's a beautiful guitar. The stock tuners are horrible, though. They hold the tone for about an hour (literally).

Gives great tone, though with pickup noise except in middle setting. Great 'vintage' brightness on the bridge pickup, but with the neck pickup added it mellows nicely. Neck pickup is a little muddy. Love the P90s though. I can get most anything out of the guitar, though it definitely adds its own tone to it. Perfect for blues/rock.

From the factory, poorly set-up. Good amount of fret noise which I know can be reduced. Unless you have it professionally set up, you will probably have issues. No flaws in construction or finish, though.

As it stands, from the factory, it needs work. But it's a fantastic guitar. I love the feel, and once I install some electronics and tuners I can trust, I would use this without a backup. It's very well finished, very solid.

Bought it on auction, no warranty.

2001 korean made. 22 frets. 2 tone 2 volume. 2 alinco P-90's. Mohagany neck and back, mohagany/alder top. Gold finish. Les paul body. Tune o matic bridge. Some cheap plastic tuners which i am gonna change. 25.5 inch scale i think.

I play all styles of music and i can get any sound i pretty much want. I am using a marshall mg50rcd. Its a little noisy but i don't care. I like everything about the sound

It was setup pretty good at the music store. I need a setup though. Everything was good on it.

I am pretty sure that this guitar can take a beeting. Everything seems like it will last. I would play a gig with it without a backup. Very dependable.

I've heard stuff about epiphone sucks but i really like this guitar. I havent played any other epiphones except the les paul standard and i liked that too but i really like this .

Ive been playing for 3 years. Ive had an ibanez and some others, i played alot of guitars in the store but i really like this guitar. If it was stolen i would bust a cap and i would replace it.

Typical Les Paul body, knobs, and switches. I always loved the feel of a Les Paul neck, with its shorter scale and glossy back. Two Alnico magnet P-90 pickups, soapbar style. This guitar differs from lower-end Epiphone Les Pauls, I think, in that the body is slightly declined after the bridge. The downward slant contributes to the guitar's resonance, according to a salesperson I asked. Other than that, it's what you'll find in any other Les Paul at this price: cheap plastic tuners, tune-o-matic (what in God's name is that supposed to imply?!) bridge, etc..

The Gold Top finish is extraordinary, a real class act. Not a champagne sparkle, but a very subdued sheen that changes in different kinds of light sources. Impressively done, and something that will probably catch the eyes of many customers for Epi.

Prior to purchasing this guitar, I pretty much turned all the knobs up to ten and just flicked the switch when I got bored. This guitar struck me in the store as being much more dynamic and open-sounding than a Les Paul with humbuckers. The store was crowded at the time, so I couldn't give it a comprehensive analysis. I took it home, put it in my Peavey Delta Blues 210, and a half and hour later I was memorizing all these knob positions that gave me the best articulation here, less hum there, more punch there...very adjustable instrument, this. The pickups sound their worst when used at full volume and tone. Familiar Epiphone syndrome: the neck is too muddy, the bridge too shrill...same case here, only it's simple to remedy if you use your imagination.

I purchased the Gold Top in order to approximate a Bill Frisell sound, which I'm still building upon; the results so far are pleasing. The selector in the middle, neck tone all the way down, neck volume and bridge tone down two notches. It's a trick I use on a lot of Epi's to get a more bassy, full-sounding bridge sound...and that's what it sounds like, because the bridge volume is at full. Mixed with the neck pickup at zero tone, it has a nice, spread out drone, like early Frisell. Soon I'll put a Bigsby-type vibrato on this baby, and put an analog delay-chorus in my effects loop...then I'll be satisfied, hopefully. But this configuration is my favorite, even on non-P-90 guitars. Distortion with this setting gives me a muted square wave sound at the rhythm position, a chunky all-purpose sound in the middle, and a screaming bridge position for lead work. GOTTA have a compressor and a noise gate going in, though. Without a compressor, at least mildly, the guitar is tough to keep controlled (I'm not a very proficient player yet, so this is my shortcoming). And without the noise gate, there's a spot you have to position yourself respective to the amp where the least amount of hum will be produced, and even here there's a substantial amount. Overall, a fine sound for unique jazz hybrid music, which covers a lot.

Like many Epiphones, the first two frets on the high E and B strings are too high, or something, producing a sitar-like quacky twang on those notes. The A tuner was loose somehow, which caused it to buzz loudly (not a problem plugged in, unless the volume was really low). The input jack was practically hanging off the guitar...it needed some work, but it was easy work. I raised the action on the high strings to compensate for the ringing on the first fret, and had to also raise the pole pieces on the pickups for those strings. I don't know anything about setting up guitars, so maybe this contributes to my next problem.

Intonation is difficult, because the G string on this, and another guitar I tried to adjust, is always problematic. The B and E are also annoying, and sometimes I find myself tuning more than I'm playing. Anything below and including the D is fine, so I'm thinking that when I raised the action I screwed something up...oh, well, that's what luthiers are for!

I don't gig. If I did, I wouldn't worry about this one, or anything I own, because I'm careful. I always play seated, and don't move around much...got the hardshell case with the Gold Top, so there's not a big chance of anything bad happening.

The warranty service was from the shop I bought it from, so I've never had any experience with the company.

As I said, this is my Bill Frisell guitar. It gives me a fulfilling experience in that regard, and it's good for lots of other stuff, too.

56'Les paul Goldtop, was made in 98' i think, assembled in Korea, set-up in the states by epiphone, 22 frets, 2 volume 2 tones, 3-way selector. I bought mine used and the P-90's were replaced with humbuckers, It gives it such a warm tone, the guitar is so versatile sound wise. You could play anything out of this guitar, blues, metal, rock. I myself play emo music, and this guitar just rips. The only downfall are the tuners, they don't keep in tune very well. Also, the tune-o-matic bridge was a real big string eater for me, but that can be easily fixed by taking it in to your local guitar shop and getting it checked out. I fixed mine myself, the problem was, the angle that the strings had towards the bridge was too sharp, and that was really easy to fix.

This guitar suits my music style really well, it gives me the nice warm tone that i need, i play emo music, and it provides me with a sound that is very unique, it's very rich and very warm, but, you can also add a little brightness to that with a few tweaks of the knobs. I am using this guitar with a zoom multiple effects processor, and recently gave it a whirl just with the amp and it's distortion. I was blown away!! I realized what great tone the guitar really has, it's amazing! My pickups are humbuckers, so, they are relatively quiet, but i have heard that the P-90's really hum. This guitar, like i said before, Is very versatile, it doesn't matter what kind of music you play, you can get the sound you want out of this thing.. I really don't have any dislikes for sound on this guitar, i mean sure, it's no gibson les paul custom, but it has amazing versatility for a really great price.

Now, this guitar is assembly line, don't forget that, so there can always be problems with the set-up, the knobs may jiggle, the bridge may be mis-aligned, but because I had my local music store set it up for my specifications, there was no problems whatsoever. But remember to always check it out, and make sure that it is well assembled. Because 20% of epiphones are substandard. I didn't see any flaws, it's such a beautiful guitar, i looked over it hundreds of times, and all i could find was a little impression on the neck, most likely from the past user.

THIS GUITAR IS A TANK!!! It's 10 lbs of pure toughness, besides the cheap machine heads this guitar will stand the test of time, the finish is very strong, not much chance of wearing this off unless you take an industrial sander to it. I depend on this guitar more than I ever thought i would, this is my musical pillar, it's so strong, and besides the fact that i used to religiously break strings, this thing hasn't caused any problems. I would definately gig-it without a back-up, in fact I have done it before.

I emailed the company about my strings breaking all the time, and they responded within 1 day, i was amazed, they were very nice and offered much help. I haven't had to get it repaired, because i do it all myself, since i bought it used, i guess i don't have a warantee.

I have been playing for 3 years, and i own a Gibson SG 61' re-issue, and an American standard tele. And I love this guitar as much as the others, It was the cheapeast of the three but i believe it is the most versatile, it may not be the best built, but it is incredibly strong. The only thing i hate about this guitar, well i don't even hate it, but it is a dislike, is the weight, it's ten pounds, it's heavy, but it's bearable. The thing that i love about this guitar, is the fact that, even though it is an amazingly low-priced guitar, the quality is still there. If this guitar were stolen, i would buy the same one, all over again.

Epiphone Les Paul with gold top finish. I like the color!!
Two P-90s (single coil pickups). two volume, two tone controls.
3 way pick-up selector switch. Set neck model. Cream binding, rosewood fretboard with trapezoid inlays. Chrome hardware. Beautiful mahogony body compliments the gold top finish. I believe its a 1998 model.

This guitar sounds pretty darn good for an Epiphone. Without spending lots of money, this guitar produces vintage sounds and rocks in hi-gain settings. The P-90 are single coil pickups, not humbuckers (incase you may not be familiar with p90s), therefore they do have some hum when not playing. This does not intefere with playing though. Pickups handle hi volumes well. The P-90s do add brightness, this can be taken care of with the tone contols if needed.
Rhythm setting is very warm and doesnt lose treble clarity- must be those P90s again!

Action was a little low at first. Little bit of fret buzz was taken care of after purchased it. Action is still good at med to med-low setting. I prefer the feel of the Les Paul neck as compared to some of the thinner neck guitars ive picked up. The gold finish is pretty good. No imperfections visible to me. Binding is well, frets are not scratchy, intonation is pretty on as well. Pots have worked finely. Only drawback are the stock tuners dont hold their tune well. this has been easily fixed by putting in some betters tuners. Just make sure that you get the right size!!

So far so good. No crap outs, crash landings, sparks, or fires.
Hasnt fallen off my shoulder yet. It is only 2 years old though!

N/A

I would recommend this guitar if you cant afford to spend $1900 on a Gibson Les Paul Standard. This guitar does the job of a Les Paul and was not so much of a choke hold on my checkbook. Sounds good, not as good as the Gibson I played in the store but pretty good. I really like the color too!

Made in Korea, set-up in the USA by Epiphone, then set up again by the store I bought it from. 22 Frets, set mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. Mahogany back and mahogany/alder top. 3-way toggle for two stock alnico P-90s. Tune-o-matic bridge and cheap stock tuners with green plastic "No, really, jade has seams" handles. Beautiful goldtop finish with creme binding on the neck and body. Chrome hardware. Gold "Limited Edition" logo on the back of the headstock.

I bought some Sperzel Trim-Lok tuners to replace the stocks. If it came with them installed, I'd give it a couple more points. But alas...

I play mostly harder alternative stuff with some emo and metal thrown in for good measure. This guitar can do it all easy. The P-90s are awesome, but noisy. Love the tones you can get out of these pickups. Distorts nicely, but works just as well clean. I'm playing it through a Boss GT-3 and some random DOD pedals into a Roland Spirit 10A while I wait for my Tech 21 Trademark 60 to arrive. Even through my ancient and god awful Roland practice amp, this guitar kicks. Nothing can keep this guitar from sounding good.
...
Except the pickups hum like crazy. Thought it was my crappy amp, but I tried the guitar through a friend's JC-120 and it was just as hissy. They're high output pickups, though, what do you expect? I may look into some stacked P-90s (Duncans maybe, or P-100s) but I'm afraid I'll kill the hum at the expense of the tone. I can't win. Some sort of hush pedal before the amp might alleviate the symptoms. Rolling back the volume and tone a few notches removes most of the hum. I'm just used to playing with everything at "11".

Noise aside, the soapbars ROCK. This is my first guitar with P-90s, and I doubt I can go back to humbuckers ever again.

Action was nice and low, and the strings were pretty loose. I don't know who to thank for it, Epiphone or the music store, but it's ridiculously easy to play. Played it next to a Guild Bluesbird, and while the Bluesbird was a NICE guitar, the Epiphone played better. I'm very impressed, Epiphone.

I like .10 gauge strings, but I'll wait until I replace the tuners to take off the 9s that it came with. The tuners, although I complain about the general crappity of them, DO stay in tune fairly well. I'm just in love with locking Sperzels.

This guitar is supposedly a factory 2nd, due to a finish flaw, but I have yet to find said flaw, so I'm pretty happy. That phantom mistake saved me a bunch of money.

I wish the body was solid mahogany, but it sounds so good I don't care. The set-neck has a little glue run-off near the pickup. Barely noticeable.

I cannot reitterate enough how easy it is to play this guitar. I have a Parker owning friend who said he can go between the two without noticing the difference in feel.

Seems solid. I'm going to baby it for as long as possible, though. Tough or not, nothing's going to happen to this guitar while I still live.

I've been playing for about 8 years, but I hit a plateau and decided to take lessons, at which point I learned I was doing everything incorrectly, so I feel like I'm starting from scratch. I sound like a beginner again, now that I fixed all my bad habits. Oh well. It'll pay off later.

I have another Les Paul, and a Kramer Focus (excellent cheap-ass guitar. Get one. It costs less than a day of work), and I got rid of my Ibanez RG570 a couple months ago. This is definitely my favorite. I'd probably buy one again if it was lost or (gasp) stolen, or possibly save up and look into a Schecter Tempest. I wouldn't even consider getting the Gibson '56 Reissue. No way I'm paying over $1500 for a non-custom shop guitar, no matter how nice it is.

You owe it to yourself to at least TRY this guitar if you see one. I left the store after playing it, and missed the damned thing almost instantly; I bought it three hours later. Haven't seen one in a store before or since, so keep an eye out.

I passed up a Musicman Axis at half-price for this guitar, and I don't have a single regret. Except that I didn't have enough money for both, of course.

I wish it didn't hum, but it's easy to forgive; this thing cooks.

Anyway, awesome guitar and the price is right. Nicely done, Epiphone.

update from last post:

I discovered the guitar was picking up interfernece from my PC (i play mostly in my room, which is small) and it couldn't be fixed.
I went for a '93 wine red Gibson Les Paul Studio instead.. review soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so I am searching for a guitar to give me that Iron Maideny metal sound, i've tried a Kramer Focus 6000 (with EMG select pickups) which sounded like a beast, but felt all cheap and shitty to play, and I noticed this baby in my local guitar shop, and promptly borrowed it for testing. It's 2nd hand as follows:

98 Korean made, 22 med\jumbo frets, very nice gold finish,cool 'Limited Edition' logo on the back of the headstock.

Made out of really nice mahogany wood, feels just right weight wise, very good quality, a few dints but it is 2nd hand so that i expected.

2 p90 pickups, 2 vol 2 tone controls, 3 way selector, cream pick guard.

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW DAMN GOOD LOOKING THIS UberAXE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As i said, i want the Iron Maiden style metal sound, and Adrian Smith has been partial to Les Pauls in the past, so I had high expectations.

I'm running it through a Marshall G30RCD amp, and i have a Zoom Studio 1201 effects rack for reverb etc.

The guitar looks and feels sooooooo good i couldn't wait to plug it in......

CRUXZHZHXHHXH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

erm.... the hum is VERY LOUD INEED, loads of noise, especially when i select the Treble or Rhythm position on the selector switch, i have to turn down the volume to get rid of the noise, but then i lose the sound I want!!!!!!!

If i just imagine the noise isn't there, then the sound is near enough what i am looking for, although I think humbuckers would be better than these'soapbar' style pickups.

I was soo disappointed with the amount of noise produced, and it IS the guitar, my amp has been fine with all the other guitars I've tried.

Maybe it's just a fault, i will get my guitar shop on the case, although in the shop when it was run through the shops Crate amp, i didn't notice as much noise

The setup was fine, althoug I disliked the heavy gauge strings that the previous owner had put on the guitar, other than that the action,intonation etc were perfect.

It's certainly built well, so i guess it would with stand giging, although i've only been playing 7months, so i can't say.

well, my local guitar shop is really good, so I'll give the owner of it a 10 !!!!

Well, since i started playing in Feb this year, i've had an Epiphone SG-400 Custom, a Vantage Strat (with floyd rose trem), an RGS Super Strat (made by my local shop, and pretty good), a Kramer Focus 6000 (with EMG select pickups and some other modifications), and now this 56 gold top reissue.

A lot of guitars i know, but i still haven't come across one I want to keep, so i keep trading them in for different guitars.

I really thought this would be the one when i picked it up, on the wall it looked ok, but as soon as i held it the word "QUALITY" was the first thing that entered my head.

How disappointed i was when i got it home i can't express, i will see if it's a fixable problem, if not i may enquire about getting 2 EMG\Seymore Duncan humbuckers whacked in it.

There is a nice black Gibson Les Paul Studio in the shop too, for #600, i will probably have a go on that aswell..

Probably a 99 model. Korean. Two P-90's, Goldtop, I don't know what the hell the wood is, it feels good though. 2 vol, 2 tone, 1 selector switch, tune-o-matic and stop tailpiece. Hey, it's a Les Paul.

Call me a sentimentalist, but I like P-90's. (I HATE P-100's). These don't quite have the output of an old Gibson, but then neither do new Gibsons. The neck PU is the real deal - plenty of lows and mids with enough highs to let you know this is a single coil.

The bridge PU is just "OK". A little bright and thin, but if you roll off the treble with the tone knob it's fine. Both PU's slant a bit so that they're not quite at a 90 degree angle to the strings. Roll up your sleves, boys, it's time to fix that yourself. Just add some appropriate foam under the PU's. I like the Bridge PU close to the strings, as it seems weaker than the neck. Epiphone should address that.

But you know what? This baby sounds good! I've been using it on a new solo CD I'm recording thru a POD and she smokes! Great for blues. The body must have some cavities in it because it's pretty light. I'm primarily a Fender guy and I swear, this Les Paul is lighter than a Tele!

Medium size frets - ugh. I wish they'd put jumbos on. But you can get by on them OK. Jumbos make for easier bending.

My bridge rattles! Weird. I'll probably replace it soon with a Gibson one (which means I'll keep the guitar).

OK, here's the deal on these Korean and Chinese guitars - They're cheap because they're CHEAP! Wanna Gibson? Then pay 3-4 times more. But dollar for dollar, these are great guitars for the money. Period. And believe me, in 40 years they'll be talking about how great these guitars were made. It's all relative.

I bought this puppy used 6 months ago. I'm not afraid to use it live or in the studio. Sometimes the bridge PU doesn't make good contact at the switch and I have to jiggle it back and forth a few times. Big deal, same as with my old Kays.

I never have to deal with factories. Either I can fix the problem, my tech can, or it's firewood. The little things you can take care of. The PU's are really good, especially the neck one. P-90's rule! I bought a Gibson LP Special TV that came with P-100's and I ripped them outta there and replaced them with the 90's. This Les Paul sound's almost as good at a fraction of the price. Buy it. If you don't like it, sell it on eBay. I'll be looking for it.

If it were stolen, I'd track the slimy Yay-hoo down, kill him and his family, take his other guitars, sell them and buy me a Harley and an Epiphone reissue.

I'm a pro, been at it for 25 years. I'd play this anytime on stage or in the studio.

1999 Korean made. Standard Les Paul controls. Mahogany/Alder body with a set neck. Epiphone Alinco magnet P-90's. Gold top with a surprisingly well done stained Mahogany back & body/neck binding. Kind of cheesy klusen style tuners with platic/pearloid buttons that have a little parting line along the parting line of the casting mold. Standard Les Paul scale length 22 fret neck with medium jumbo frets & a rosewood finger board. Overall I would say that the price/value factor of this guitar is outstanding, the high rating reflects that factor. Have already purchased Gibson pearloid/kluson tuners (although I'll wait until the stockers break, they actually hold tune). hardshell case was a 59 dollar option I chose.

Just getting back into playing after a 10 year hiatus. I am not an expert but have been around enough "quality" musical equipment to judge this guitar for what it is. The neck position is quite warm with a fair amount of tone adjustment. The neck is somewhat bright at all times but offers a solid midrange if you let your amp do the work. The middle position offers a nice compromise between the two & cancels the overall feedback when used singly which is significant, I don't think there is any potting or shielding in the pickups/cavities. Once again the price/value relationship is very good. Sending the stock pickups off for potting or repalcement from Harmonic Design may come when I learn how to play again.

This is what it all comes down to. Bad controls & hardware can be replaced but a dog is a dog. For just over a 600 dollar blind leap of faith internet purchase I was prepared to possibly deal with a dog. Particularly considering the negative comments I had seen towards Epiphones from other posters. The thing that pushed me over the edge on this model was the overall scores here at harmony central. I am absolutely amazed at the overall quality of the guitar in this category. The mahagony finish on the neck, back & sides is stunning. A proper dark red proper Les Paul finish. 2 small blemishes on the goldtop finish you have to look really hard for. Very nice binding. VERY good fretwork & nicely done trapezoid inlays on the rosewood fretboard. The headstock has a "Les Paul" signature & '56 reissue script in gold both very nicely done. The action is smooth & buttery, when a capo is applied to the 2'nd to 4'th fret & aroound the 14'th as well a business card barely slides between the strings & frets just the way it's supposed to. The intonation was spot on out of the cheesy cardboard shipping box (with no manual no nothing!) as chceked with a good digital tuner. A little sticker says that it is set up & checked in the USA & I have a tendency to believe that based on my guitar. No loose jacks or controls. Amazing, I'll take this Korean made Paul over a fake "Fender" any day.

Time will tell. A solid well built guitar. In addition to the new tuners I've also obtained strap locks. No need for them yet. I son't play live mind you.

Haven't had to use them. See other post's.

As I previously staed I'm no expert but know overal quality when I see it. I would advise anyone in a similar situation to at leat check this guitar out. I may have been lucky with a blind purchase. I feel that the overall quality of this guitar for someone getting back into playing, just starting out or on a limited budget can't be overlooked. It's a helluva guitar for the money. The Ironic part is that I can afford a "real" Les Paul. I may purchase a Gibson classic with humbuckers down the road but can't hesitate from giving Epiphone a thumbs up. The Lennon Casino's look like a steal as well.

The guitar has 22 frets, two P90's (which are brilliant) and the les paul offers really easy tuning and re-stringing. There are 2 tone and 2 volume controls. If you have a play with these, then you can create an amazing sound too.

If you are thinking about buying this guitar, don't hesitate, buy it.
I play blues, rock, and heavy rock. You can adjust the guitar to suit
each style. At the moment, I run the guitar through a G50RCD, Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah, and a DOD Phaser. The only thing which is imperfect is the hum. But when you hear the sound, you will see that this is greatly outweighed by the amazing sound that every guitar should have. I also have a Jackson Kelly, which cost over 100 pounds more, but it just isn't in the Goldtop's league!

When I bought the guitar there were no extras which came with it, the hard case had to be bought. The selector switch was a touch loose, but you can just tighten that up of course.

I've had this guitar for a few years now, and I've used it in all the live gigs I've ever done. It's never shown any signs of wear, apart from the frets which get marked by the strings, but that happens on every guitar.

I've never needed to consult them.

I actually think it deserves a 9.5 because it's better than a nine but it's just the hum which stops this from getting a ten. I was particularly impressed with the P90's, I had never had a guitar with P90's on, and I must say, I was pretty impressed with the sound.

This guitar was made in 1998 in S. Korea. It has 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard, mahogany set neck, and I think the rest is made of mahogany and alder with a maple top. It has 2 P-90 pickups, 2 vol, 2 tone, tune-o-matic bridge. The features are pretty basic but simplicity is good. The guitar didn't include any accessories but I got a H/S case for $60 extra.

The guitar has a really nice clean or moderately distorted sound, but I don't think it's meant for heavier distortion, doesn't sound great. The bridge pickup is kind of bright, sounds good but I usually only use the neck pickup It has a full,smooth sound but with the tone turned all the way up the notes sound more abbreviated and kind of plunky in a good way. I think this is a good guitar for blues rock or jazz. The pickups aren't noisy except if you are near a TV thats on.

This a really nice looking guitar, and the finish is fantastic for this price range. The action and set up was good when i bought it. No other flaws exept the tuners are kinda sloppy and imprecise, but I think its just because they are cheap.

The guitar seems at least as well made as my American Strat except the output jack came loose a couple times and the wires had to be soldered. Warranty covered it. Everything else seems very solid but I never play live so I couldn't say how it would perform under those conditions

I think it has a 10 year limited warranty. When I bought it, it came with a year of free set ups. I've never dealt with epiphone directly but when I needed to get the output jack fixed, the store fixed it promptly under warranty no questions asked.

Been playing about six years just for fun this is only my third electric Ive owned, I usually play my acoustic. Before buying it I compared it to the humbucker version. Sometimes I wish I bought that one but its a trade off either way. I really like the sound and the looks of this guitar. I hate the fact that it won't stay in tune, maybe a graphite nut would help and maybe better tuners. If it got stolen I'd miss it but probably buy something else just for the change

It's a Les Paul with a maple top, mahogany back and neck and rosewood fingerboard. It's made in Korea and when I bought it brand new all it had with it was a cardboard box, allen wrench, and a short cable, no user manual whatsoever. The toggle switch is standard three way, and the bridge is the tune o matic with stop tailpiece. Pickups are a pair of P-90's.

It sounds so good I think I'm the luckiest guitar grunt in Manila, where you have to really save up for a year or two to buy stuff like these. The P-90's really must be the x factor and I just had to pick the goldtop over Epiphone's humbucker equipped Les paul Standard sunburst. I play rock and a lil' jazz, so by adjusting the gain settings on your amp (mine's ahumble Fender Campion 110) to low and backing off the bridge pickup's volume you can get a sound that can jam along nicely with saxophone tracks (i.e. lou donaldson stuff). Yes the pickups hum but the tone is still too terrific to ignore. I don't gig anymore but if I got back to it I might buy a second gold top as a back up.

The finish is not as perfect as you would expect from let's say... a Gibson which explains why this is much more affordable. But the cosmetic flaws are hardly visible except for the most discerning eyes. I asked to try another gold top when they bought it out the action was miserably much higher so I bought the first one I tested. I guess the set up isnt consistent.

It actually fell flat on its face once on a hard floor, and I was the one who nearly broke up. Seems tough but as always I'm careful as it's a set neck guitar. The only reason I'd buy a backup as I said earlier is cuz I snap the higher strings easily because I bend a lot and the humidity here takes its toll on strings (they become brittle after you don't use them for a few days). Other than that there's no reason this guitar's dependability should concern me, cept maybe for the toggle switch which I might wear out in a year.

The retailer here is a monopoly, so I had no chice with the crummy 1 year warranty. I've had no experience with this so I really can't say.

This guitar is a million miles away from my first guitar, a Yamaha pacifica. I jam along many types of cd tracks i.e rock jazz blues and I can compare the tone of my GT to the tracks and even though my amp sounds cheap the guitar can hold it's own. Thank God i dont have to save up to own a Gibson. THIS IS SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO PASS ON TO MY DECENDANTS.

The serial # says it is a 98. The rest you already know.
It did'nt come with anything, not even the paperwork.
It had been hanging up in the store for over a year collecting dust.
So, I imagine any paperwork that came with it got lost over time.

I am admittedly a Fender person.
I have played alot of guitars in the last 30 years, and came to the conclusion that it is a Strat and only a Strat that does it for me.
My own Gibson Les Paul did not do it for me way back when I thought I'd try one out. And I have played many of my friends Les Pauls over the years and walked away with the same conclusion. Does'nt do it for me.
This particular axe was not as heavy, and the neck and body resonated like no other Les Paul before.
The body is mahogany, and the top maple. The neck is mahogany as well.
The sustain of this instrument was what I was after, along with P-90 pups as they are a bit more versatile that humbuckers. As mentioned earlier, many LP's are out there, but none of the ones I have played have the sustain and resonance that this one produces. Awesome.
It is definitely a great addition to my collection.

Factory set up includes .12mm relief of the neck. I adjusted it to .04mm.
String height was 5/64th's&quot; at the 12th fret on bass and treble sides. Adjustments were made to 4/64th's&quot; on bass side and 3/64th's&quot; on treble side.
The bridge pup was too far from the strings. The factory measurement was 3/8th's&quot; from top of polpieces to bottom of strings. I could not adjust it further. So I took it apart and found foam rubber adhesed to the bottom of the pup. This was what gave the pup its ability to be raised or lowered. I took it off and replaced with springs.
The neck pup is fine as far as adjustments are concerned.
The edges of the frets were sharp. A little filing fixed that.
With a little elbow grease and graphite powder in the right places, this axe is a great player.
Everything else on this axe is well done.

So far so good.
I'll probably switch out the toggle switch.
Everything else seems well done.

I'm a do it yourselfer.

After so many years of not being impressed with the Les Paul, it amazes me that here I am with one in my collection. AND that it took Epiphone to change my mind!!!
Definitely worth it to buy. Sure, you may need to address a couple of finer points, but after all, they are only minor.

This is one fine piece of craftsmenship!! A lot of people dismiss korean made guitars, and even more feel that Epiphone is a rip-off of Gibson!! Let's get something straight folks, Gibson bought out Epiphone after the owner died, and because they were potential rivals to Gibson in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. To compete with other markets, Gibson established their Epiphone facilities overseas (go figure...some kid sweats for pennies to make our fine instruments...just wrong!) anyhow, this particular model does not only make Gibson proud, but epiphone as well. The gold top is maple/alder, the body is alder/mahagony, with a mohagony set-in neck, jumbo frets, with rosewood fingerboard, vintage kluson-style machine heads, trapezoid inlays, and two of the best alnico V-P 90's I've ever heard!! Fantastic finish...can't say enough!

This puppy smokes Gibson anytime...The P 90's have a thick mid-range honk, while the high stay glassy, and the lows are crisp, never muddy! This guitar has all the vibe of a real 1956 Les paul Gold-top, at a fraction of the price... I paid $650.00 Canadian, and its worth every penny, and then some... The guitar is adaptable to almost any playing style, and it just dominates any amp I try it through( I especially like it through Vox AC 30's and Vox AC 15's, It also gets great vintage tone through Fenders and ofcourse Marshalls, but I prefer pumping it through Class-A amps...they just sound capital together!! Tonally awesome, if you kids ever come across one snap it up, they're better then Gibsons at $3000.00, trust me...(word to the wise, set up the intonation, if you don't know how take it into a shop...keep your guitar in shape!)

Beautiful neck...huge frets, you can't go wrong with this guitar. Its also not that heavy...much lighter then some Les Pauls out there. Once again, make sure you set it up, cause the factory guys don't know shit!!

Never needed to contact the company for anything. Its built to last.

don't need it!

This is just an amazing guitar...words are cheap, I seriously suggest you try one out if you get the chance...It completes my collection of guitars! Pricewise, its a steal. Check it out!

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.