Epiphone Elite Les Paul Custom

This guitar features book matched maple top, book matched african mahogany body, 1 piece mahogany neck, bone nut, true mother of pearl inlays, abalone headstock design, gibson style headstock font for "Epiphone", all gold hardware, Grover tuners, USA double wax dipped pickups (magnetized at Gibson U.S.A.), all american hardware, rosewood fretboard, set neck at 16th frett.

The tone on this guitar is truely sweet. I play off of a Fender 65' Twin Reverb-Amp and you couldnt ask for a sweater tone. All the highs, mids, and lows of a real Gibson les paul, as well as the famous growl. The pickups are hot, but warm at the same time. The breakup in natural distortion from the pickups is thick and creamy. Not at thick as a black beauty, but definately worthy of a mid-high end 59' replica(not the historic re-issue).

I bought this guitar used and the action had already been set to perfect. I never get any buzz, the action is damn low, and the string tension is light enough to bend anywhere on the frettboard, starting at frett 1. the finish on this guitar is fantastic, you can tell that a lot of time and care went into the makeing of it. I dont see any over-glueing, the bindings are perfect, the guitar stays in tune even if you bend the hell out of the strings, intonations are perfect, fretts are very well placed and leveled. This guitar is custom shop perfect, easily on par with a "Gibson" brand custom. I compared this to my friends Epiphone Les Paul Deluxe: Limited Edition guitar and its just a joke looking at his guitar and then mine. PERFECT.

the first thing you'll notice when you pick this guitar up is the weight, mine weighs 26.10 lbs with the case. the case isnt that heavy, so do the math. This guitar isnt a cheap epiphone money maker, it IS a les paul. it will last longer than you will, guerenteed. no fuzz in the knobs, switches all work well.

never had to contact them, hope i never do.

I've been playing for roughly 10-11 years (with breaks now and then). I own a Fender 65' Twin Reverb, too many pedals to list but i got all the classics and then some, a fender strat with 3 gold lace sensors, an ibanez talman tc420 (the grunge guitar from the late mid-late nineties, the les paul. I play just about everything from Jeff Buckley, STP, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, and onto infinity. This guitar can take you where you need to be, whatever the style you play. I put it on par with a true les paul custom. epiphones elitist line is probably the best deal in the entire industry, get it while you can. i really cant think of anything more that you could want out of a guitar, its that nice. if it were stolen i would cry, and then i would buy another and miss my ebony goddess of a guitar forever. you'll grow attached to this guitar if you buy it, its a really powerful feeling instrument, you dont want to let it go. it practicaly plays itself.

This is an '03 model, which had to be ordered by Guitar Center, and nobody seems to be stocking these, which I don't understand. Mine is a black Custom with gold hardware. Hardware is just as you'd expect from Gibson. Yes, the hardware is all from Gibson USA! Good stuff.

Absolutely gorgeous! Out-sustains my Gibson Les Paul Standard, and exactly the same tone as the original p'ups in the Gibson. It is 100% Les Paul!

Now, I'm no expert, which is why I defer to one. My guitar tech, who has the distinction of having built many guitars from scratch for a world-famous band (I'm not saying which), has told me that this guitar, out of the box, is as good as anything Gibson is putting out right now, in both build and finish, as well as playability! The frets did need a little dressing, but other than that - perfect.

I would expect this guitar to last every bit as long as my original Gibby.

I have no idea.

An unbelievable guitar at an even more unbelievable price! I couldn't be any happier with this guitar. I wanted a LP Custom, but never could've been able to swing the $2900 for that. So instead, I saved $2000 and got one that's just as beautiful, is built as well and sounds the same! Bravo Epiphone!!!

You all know the features - standard LP stuff. Comes with Gibson pickups - a bonus, and the tuners are Grover, which are much better than the ones on the normal Epi LP custom.

I play through a Line 6 Spider 2, and this sucker gets a hell of a sound. Ok, so the strings that come on it are a bit light, but put something a little more solid on there and the upper register really sings.

This thing is totally beautiful. Good lord. It's the hottest thing I own. I got the Antique White one, and it takes my breath away. Gasp

Built like a tank. Get strapslocks, natch, but seems like a dependable axe.

Customer support people by nature suck, and Epi's website isn't the greatest thing I've ever seen, but I haven't used them, so...

The value alone on this makes it worth the purchase. It sounds as good as all the gibsons I've played, and costs like a quarter as much. Use the extra money on a great amp, some effects pedals, and a clean pair of shorts for when you crank this dude up for the first time. You won't regret it.

This Guitar was made in 2003, I believe in Japan.24K gold-plated hardware, large block neck inlays, and headstock inlay. Features: Bookmatched maple top Bookmatched mahogany back One-piece mahogany neck set at the 16th fret 24-3/4" scale Rosewood fretboard 22 frets 24K GOLD PLATED HARDWARE,ONE PIECE NECK,ALL INLAYS ARE REAL ABALONE AND PEARL,HAND RUBBED HIGH GLOSS FINISH ANTIQUE WHITE,BONE NUT,GROVER TUNERS,GIBSON USA PICKUPS,ALL AMERICAN PICKUPS AND CIRCUITRY,EVEN THE TOGGLE SWITCH. Deluxe Hard Case Black Snake type looking material looks just like the new Gibson Cases. with Purple interior, Also comes with Keys to lock it.

The Pickups are prettty good. For scorching heavy metal or Shred I would put EMG or a Gibson Tony Iommi in it.

This Guitar arrived to me nicer than my new Gibson Les Paul Classic, Better than my old Gothic, 80's Studio. I dont get where some people dont think they compare it's usually the Die hards who just cannot live without the Gibson name. I love Gibson also but the truth be told this Guitar is a Gibson. I dont care what it says on the Headstock,as long as it is a quality guitar I have been playing for 18 to 19 years I am 31. I have had so many Guitars this one really sticks out for Quality all around. I also have 2 USA Jackson SL1 Solist Guitar's. This Guitar is right there in build and quality

No problem this Guitar is built like a Tank!

Epiphone Les Paul Custom Elite 2003 model made in Japan. Black with gold hardware, 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard, real mother of pearl inlay, bone nut, 2 Gibson made Humbucking pickups, grover tuners, mahogany body and neck with a maple top. Comes with hardshell Epiphone Elite case. The neck is kind of like a 59 rounded neck, very nice feel.

This guitar has a good sound for any type music. I use a Crate GFX65T amp. It is noisy even at low distortion volumes. The sound is rich and full, leads are bright sounding but they do pierce and are clear. Nice sustain. Pickups in my opinion are really good.

Now the bad news...for the price they sell these guitars for, how hard could it be to turn out a guitar with properly leveled frets with no buzz or drag. Mine buzzes and drags playing leads, the pickups were adjusted terribly and the guitar jack was very loose. It could have been a really nice playing guitar but the terrible fretwork is discouraging to say the least. Also, the grover tuners will not keep the guitar in tune.

The Epiphone Les Paul Custom Elite would be a great guitar with proper fretwork. The hardware is good overall except for the Grover tuners. The finish is very nice and I would say it would be extremely durable. The strap buttons also are solid, no problems here. Overall it would be very dependable with some work, but why buy a $1000.00 guitar that needs work?

Never had any dealing with them, don`t have any plans to.

I have been playing 35 years and have had numerous guitars. I like the 59 style rounded neck on this guitar. I absolutely hate the poor fretwork and non-ability to keep it in tune. I bought it because I had read a lot of customer reviews on it. Almost all of them gave it high marks. I honestly would not buy another one at all and wouldn`t recommend it to anyone. I can`t sell it fast enough.

Ebony finish Epi Les Paul Custom Elite. Not quite as classy as the real thing, but from a few feet away you'll never know.

Ok sounding, but a little bright. Pickups sound ok but kinda bland w/no real personality.

Here is where I have to pick some nits. These have been hyped to be same quality as a USA Gibson for not quite as much money. This particular guitar (described by the dealer as one of the best Elite's they've had) is nowhere near the quality of a USA Gibson guitar (or old USA Epiphone made by Gibson). The frets and playability of these are not on par with even the cheaper Gibsons. Frets are not properly rendered - they're pretty low to begin with and once you do the 1st fret dress they will be definitely cause problems with string bending (unless you like the "fretless wonder" feel). The bridge and hardware (except for the nice Grover tuners) are not in line with what you'd expect for the $. I have a real LP Standard and I can attest that the Epi is not even close to the fit, finish, and playability of a Gibson - do not believe the hype. I've been playing over 30 years and owned many a Gibson and OLD Epiphones.

Hardware is higher quality than a regular Korean Epiphone (don't gig with one of those without a backup!)

Should hold up for regular playing.

Don't know

A bit better than your standard Epiphone but if you're going to pay the price for one of these go ahead and upgrade to a USA Gibson, you'll be money ahead when your resell and you'll have a much better quality guitar. Or buy a used LP cheaper that what you'll pay for a new one of these. Unfortunately, I bought this sight unseen at an ebay auction (with recommendation that these are on par with the USA guitars). I should've tried one one in person before going on evilbay - my bad! Dealer will not exchange or let me upgrade to a higher quality guitar (I was willing to spend more money at his shop but no go) buyer beware. Probably end up selling on evilBay. But I may try a re-fret and upgrade to Gibson hardware and see if it can be salvaged. Email me if you've got questions and I'll try to respond in a timely manner. Thanks

2003 Japanese model; wine red polymer finish with gold hardware; bookmatched African mahogany back, bookmatched solid maple top, 22-fret set mahogany neck with 1-11/16 bone nut and bound rosewood fingerboard with pearloid block inlay, 24-3/4 inch scale; Gibson USA humbucking pickups (50SR neck, 60ST bridge), 3-position PU switch, tone & volume pots for each PU; Grover rotomatic tuners, Gibson tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece; Epiphone Elite plush lined hardshell case included.

Has the legendary LP sustain in large supply; the solid maple top, rather than the less dense alder used on the Korean models, improves the tone immensely. The USA humbuckers used on the Elite model LP's are noticably hotter than on the standard Korean-made Epi LP's. I prefer the USA pickups especially for rock and blues-rock playing, which is my major interest - it's easy to make this guitar scream with a little distortion dialed in. The bridge pickup on the Elite seems a bit bright compared to the classic '57 LP sound, approaching a Strat but dirtier - great for lead playing. Using the neck PU with the highs backed off, you can easily get a darker, mellower tone for some cool jazz playing - but not as woody as a semihollow or hollowbody. Played clean through a Fender tube amp (twin reverb) the sound and tonal range are excellent; growls nicely through my little Champion DSP-30 practice amp, too.

This category falls down mainly on the basis of the factory set-up, which in my case was abysmal. The guitar ships with LP "custom light" strings, .009-.046; I found the trebles too thin and buzzy and I immediately replaced with Elixir 10-gauge. The action was set impossibly low, and the pickup distance was poorly set (neck PU too far, bridge PU too close to the strings). None of the problems were serious, and after about an hour of tweaking the setup (I like the action a hair lower than factory), it plays superbly with no intonation problems whatsoever. The bookmatched maple top is gorgeous, with the grain showing faintly through the deep, glass-smooth wine-red finish. Only a flamed maple top would be an improvement in the looks department! The fingerboard is smooth and flawless and the fretwork absolutely first rate. Bindings on the headstock, neck and body are flawless. The gold plating on the hardware looks higher grade than the Korean models, and the controls and electronics are solid.

Like all LP's, this is a heavy, solid instrument. The hardware is all top-grade, switch and pots seem to be the same as Gibson USA in durability. The finish seems durable but not overly thick (as with the Korean LP's). I wouldn't hesitate to gig with this rig night after night - it's already one of my favorites.

Haven't dealt with Epiphone customer support as of yet.

I've played acoustics (Gibsons, Guilds and Taylors) for over 30 years, and am just getting back into electric guitar after a long hiatus (played a cherry red Vox Super Lynx Deluxe hollowbody through a 1968 blackface Fender Vibrolux Reverb in my youth; I'd kill to have them back!). I haven't played too many other LP's (Gibson LP studio and '57 goldtop reissue that friends own) but the Epi Elite stacks up just fine and, at the price, seems to be an outright steal. I wouldn't hesitate to buy again, despite the set-up time (which no sales tax and free shipping from Musician's Friend more than compensated for in dollar value)! It's like Lexus versus Mercedes-Benz; some people just have to have the tri-star ornament on their hood. This baby has the look, sound, feel and quality I'd expect in a modern Gibson-branded LP model; if you can live without knowing the finish is nitrocellulose and without the legendary name in pearloid on the headstock, this is a fine instrument that I highly recommend.

Epiphone Elite Les Paul Custom - made in Japan 2003. Standard Les Paul hardware layout. One piece mahogany (African) body, one piece mahogany fixed neck, two piece bookmatched maple top (correct depth maple cap, not a veneer as used on cheaper Korean made Epiphones) - timber quality is excellent with good grain and medium density. The guitar is slightly heavier than the 1957 Goldtop Standard I once owned which used the superb quality Honduras mahogany available at that time, but much lighter than an early 1980s Nashville manufactured Les Paul Custom I had a few years back. Wine red finish wih gold plated hardware. Pickups are USA manufactured for the Elite range(the literature does not state whether this is by Gibson or another manufacturer) and use alnico magnets (seemingly alnico V). Selector switch and pots appear to be of Japanese manufacture, but of high quality. Bridge and tailpiece are GE101G ABR1 replacement and GE101ZG tailpiece from the excellent quality machined Gotoh range and are of far better quality than than the original type ABR1 and the very shoddy cast tailpiece as originally fitted on my Gibson USA SG Standard. Tuners are Grover Rotomatic and appear to be their top of the range models with 18:1 gear ratio. The neck profile is quite chunky for a current model guitar and is very similar to the '59 neck profile currently offered on some Gibson USA models (although that itself is nowhere near as thick as the real tree trunk my old genuine '57 had). Necks are of course a matter of personal taste, but I find the Elite's very comfortable and fast, aided by the superb rosewood (not ebony as on the USA Les Paul custom spec)fingerboard - not at all over dry as you so often find with new guitars these days. A high quality hard shell case is included with all Elite series models.

Typical Les Paul sound. Thick and raunchy with superb sustain. The pickups are maybe slightly too bright and modern sounding for me so I will probably rebuild them with alnico II magnets and maybe a rewind. Their character strikes me as similar to the Gibson 498T and 490R which were originally fitted on my SG Standard and would be well suited to a contemporary rock sound and most other syles. I want something just a softer and more woody in my tone, but I find I have to modify all my guitars that way so it's probably just my personal taste and I'm probably being over picky. I can't fault them on quality though and there is no comparison between these and the poor quality pickups used on the cheap Korean Epiphone Les Pauls. They seem thouroughly wax potted with no evidence of micophonics even when I checked this factor with extreme gain levels dialed in on the amp. Tone and volume controls work well with good graduated response.

The guitar was well set up with a medium action and playable right out of the box. Some players might want a lower action but that should be no problem with a few minor adjustments. As supplied it was just fine for me. Fret were well finished and polished with no evidence of fret buzz. The bone nut was well cut with no creaks when tuning or excessive friction points. The guitars construction and beautiful wine red lacquer finish is flawless. The lacquer is probably polyester based rather than the nitro-cellulose used by Gibson USA but is applied very thinly and does not have the thick plastic appearance that is common to the finish on so many lower end guitars including Epiphone's Korean made models. Standards of construction and finish are superior to just about any post Kalamazoo factory USA made Gibson I have seen. Timber and hardware quality is at least as good or in many cases superior. My most recently made Gibson, an SG Standard required a lot of work to get it up to standard. The bone look, but actually moulded plastic, nut was poorly cut, creaked and stuck when tuning and needed replacing with a hand cut bone one, the 'Gibson Deluxe' badged tuning pegs were of dreadful quality and had to be replaced, fret finishing was poor and required a full fret dress. Nothing of this sort is necessary with this Epiphone. While you might want to make some minor adjustments to suit your own playing style or preference you could take the Epi straight out of the box and into a gig.

With this standard of contruction and hardware I see no reason this guitar shouldn't stand up to years of use as a regular working instrument provided you carry out the usual common sense maintenace that you should with any instrument.

Hard to say. The reputation in the business of Gibson/Epiphone's UK distributor is less than glowing. I have heard many tales of it taking months to get hold of some replacement parts. However, I hope to be pleasantly surprised if the need should ever arise.

I got this guitar at #200 off the shop's usual price because it had a small dink in the body finish from some rough handling. That's about 40% of the usual discounted shop price for a new Gibson USA Les Paul standard or custom. Even at the normal price this guitar would have been a absolute steal, let alone the price I actually paid. If I wanted to make a Les Paul replica from scratch timber and hardware of the quality used here would have cost me almost the price paid for this Epiphone, let alone the time and labour involved. I have been playing for some 35 years now in a range of pro, semi-pro, and just-for-fun capacities. I've worked as a guitar repairer/restorer, built custom guitars, and have spent the last few years with a guitar supplies company. In all these capacities I have owned, worked on and handled hundreds of guitars in my time, from cheap beginners' instruments to fabulously expensive custom shop types and vintage originals. So I hope I have some idea what I'm talking about by now. In this time I have owned a number of USA made Gibson Les Pauls, a late 1960s Custom, an early 1980s Custom and a 1957 Goldtop. I also once had one of the fabled early 80s Tokai 'Loverock' replicas and spent a few weeks using one of the Korean made Epiphone Les Paul replicas I had taken in a px deal before selling it on. So how does this Epiphone Elite compare? I have no hesitation in saying it is superior in every way to the late 60s and early 80s Les Pauls. The '57 had a vintage vibe that just can't be replicated and not even the Gibson custom shop can come up with timber that compares with the fabulous low density honduras mahogany used at that time but even that was not without its faults and quirks. The Tokai was an excellent guitar which I would rate higher than either than either the 60's or 80s Gibson's, however, although the Tokai's pickups were perhaps a little sweeter sounding, the Epiphone Elite beats it on quality of construction and finishing. The Korean Epiphone just wasn't in the same universe - good value for money and it looked a Les Paul but just didn't sound or play like the real thing. Make no mistake, the Epiphone is the real thing in sound, feel and playability. If it bothers you that it doesn't say Gibson on the headstock you probably spend far too much time worrying about designer labels. What do you want a guitar for - a tool to help you express your music or to hang on the wall and admire?

The Epiphone Elites are superb guitars and at the discounted prices they are currently available for in the shops they are an absolute steal which make the price difference between these and their Gibson USA equivalents unjustifiable. I'm going to buy another one before Gibson get wise and withdraw them when they realise they've shot themselves in the foot by releasing this bargain price series.