Epiphone '57 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue

same features as a les paul...i thought the tuners were high quality based on the fact that my guitar rarely went out of tune.

i don't know if it was the p-90's in this thing, but i like it better than my 2004 les paul standard which is the stock humbucker. i parted with this guitar because i thought the gibson would be better....price, name and reputation isn't always where it's at.

great action, and i liked the scale of the neck. much more playable. gibson necks are too wide and big for my hands.

i had some one assess it at peekamoose in new york, it seemed like the frets were waring out, and the neck wasn't as straight as it should be. i rarely notice this stuff because i'm more of a 'feel' player but if you're really on top of having good intonation it might not be your guitar.

never dealt with them.

i liked this guitar more than my real les paul. people used to rag on it because it wasn't a 'real' gibson. i always wanted a gibson, but didn't have the money. finally once i got my wealth i swapped it out for a real gibson. looking back i was happier with the epiphone. gibsons are so expensive that i don't even feel comfortable handling the thing without worrying about nicking it or scratching it.

2001 Korean build, at Smaick factory. Mahogany neck and body, body seems to be 2 part but good join. Thin laminate skin on top, a lighter wood. Finish is metallic gold but a darker, grainier colour then the classic Gibson goldtop which has more / bigger metalflake.
Tuners are a Kluson copy and work just as well (or badly) as the real thing. Tunomatic-style bridge and tailstop are local copies, not USA, not as well finished but probably make no difference to performance. Pickups are Epiphone, bridge is their "classic hot" pickup. Jack socket plate is plastic rather than metal and vulnerable to damage, but cheap and easy to replace.

Using with Marshall AVT275X combo and various effects. I changed the capacitors to .022 orange drops and get a very bright sound on both pickups, decided I wanted more bite on bridge pickup so swapped in a Kent Armstrong 15k humbucker. Find the tone controls still over-muffle the sound on bass frequencies so not completely happy with the clean tone on the neck pickup.

I got this second hand and had to set it up myself, adjusting truss rod, bridge height and intonation. Took a couple of days off and on, still get a rattle on the bass E above the 12th, but not a big problem. The natural resonance is as good as a Gibson, and the finish is very good all round. Nice neck. Weighs about a pound less than a Gibson, not sure if it's a thinner body or less dense wood (but it's welcome).

Woodwork and tuners are dead solid, toggle switch and jack socket are weak points but cheap and easy to replace. I'm sure it will give years of good service and I would gig without a backup if it was one of those venues where there isn't room for a spare plectrum onstage.

Playing in bands since 1976, own 1991 Gibson V, 1988 Japanese Squier strat, 2005 Fender Tele standard, 2004 Ovation Celebrity.
This is a lovely low budget alternative to a Gibson, if you want to pick up a good quality Les Paul style guitar occasionally but don't want to spend all that money. It's built to last and a nice finish, I would recommend upgrading the bridge pickup but the neck pickup isn't bad. If you want to be cheeky and put a Gibson logo on the headstock...well, you can get them on e-bay, can't you. The feel is very similar and from 5 yards away even an expert couldn't tell.

99, Korean made 57 Goldtop Les Paul. Two open coil humbuckers with passive electronics. 22 frets. Mahoganey body. It came with cheap cable and an allen wrench.

Sound was not bad through my marshall, but the with the 5150, it smoked.

The guitar was set up ok, but the toggle switch was very intermittent. When switching back and forth from treble to neck it would cut out or be only at half of the volume. If I had know of this website, I would have not bought this guitar. It seems that epiphones are prone to bad toggles switechs. Called Gibson and they sent let me sent the guitar free of charge to fix the guitar. They installed a new toggle. Worked ok for a little while, but the problem returned. Took the guitar to a relative that builds jazz boxes and he found that the problem was the pickups and cheap wiring . Called Gibson again and they sent me new pickup,(Gison designed nickel covered humbuckers and another toggle switch. Had relative rewire guitar and install pickups and do a fret job. It is absolutely the easiest guiatr I have every played!!!

For a mid priced guitar it was not bad, but the toggle switch problem was real annoying. For $500 the guitar should have a functional toggle.

Company was helpful. It really depened on who you spoke too. The first guy was would only have the guitar sent to factory or aurthorized service shop. The second guy just sent me the pickups and toggle with no hassle. I received the pickups and toggle within two or three days of talking to the service tech. Pretty cool!!!

I have been playing 21 years and have owned a lot of different guitars and amps. But for the money, Epiphones aren't that bad.