Epiphone Les Paul Black Beauty

Made in 1998, gold hardware mahogany body and neck I think, with a rosewood fretboard. It has 3 pickups and 2 tone & 2 volume knobs with a 3-way selector. The switch selects bridge, bridge+middle, neck. It is not possible to have all 3 pickups on at once with the standard wiring.

This guitar can give pleasant clean and overdriven sounds from all of the p/ups. The clean sound is typical Les Paul, lots of body and not too much top end, and the overdrive sounds are very crunchy and have plenty of whack. The stock p/ups on this guitar really let it the rest of the guitar down though. There is no sustain (I get more from my Strat with single coils) and they are very prone to microphonic feedback even at low volume. I am used to Seymours and Gibson stock pickups on my V, and I will soon be replacing these with Seymours (JB & Jazz). Don't get me wrong though, this guitar can make some good sounds, but the pickups aren't up to high gain antics. I give it 7, but would rate it 9 after the pickup change(after hearing a friend's Epi LP with JB's in it)

I got the guitar 2nd hand from Ebay and the set-up was ok but I stripped it down anyway and set it up to my spec. The guitar was in very good condition and apart from a few flaws in the finish, mainly around the neck join, this is a very nicely built guitar. The hardware is ok (i've never been fond of gold hardware as it seems to go to crap unless it's very good quality) and the tuners work well. They do have a higher ratio then most tuners I have used though.

I am now a firm user of fixed bridge guitars based solely on reliability. This axe is very solid and I would use it live without worrying. I give it an 8, and it only really loses marks because of the gold hardware's tendancy to discolour and because of the electrics (I'm never a fan of stock switches and pots on cheaper guitars. I always use Schaller now, and would recommend them to anyone.)

Not dealt with.

Compared to my other guitars (88 Strat, Gibson V, Epi Sheraton & Steinberger Spirit) this is very good for the cash. The pickups let it down but they are easily changed (#240 approx for gold cover Seymours though!!!!). If it was stolen I would save up and get a Gibson Black Beauty. Part of the reason I bought this guitar was for the look. If you really don't need 3 pickups, and are not fussy about image, get an Epi Les Paul standard and bang a couple of decent pickups in it. It would make a lot a guitar for the money!

VERY PLEASED WITH PURCHASE....OF EPIPHONE LES PAUL BLACK BEAUTY BOUGHT THROUGH MUSICIANS FRIEND.SOUNDS GREAT..

CLEAN&LEADS ON PEAVEY 212BANDIT SOUNDS GOOD...DIRTY TRY THE MARSHALL:)

ACTION & FINISH VERY PLEASED GOLD PLATE WEARS WITH USE BUT THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED...

VERY DURABLE

N/A

OWN SEVERAL GUITARS ONE OF WHICH IS A GIBSON AND AM PLEASED WITH MY PURCHASE FOR THE PRICE YOU CANT REALLY COMPLAIN..

1997,three custom pickups, vibrotone tailpiece, made in Korea

I play in a band that plays a variety of music from early rock n roll to hard rock to blues to country. The sound of the lead pickup is good the middle pikup is pretty good and the neck pickup is crap. This guitar does not stay in tune for the length of one single song.

I like the action and the guitar is very attractive looking. frets are kind of out of whack.

does not stay in tune, so what is the point. A song only sounds good if it is in tune.

I've been playing for twenty one years, I have a fender strat that I can play all night long without retuning. I think from now on I'll stick with fender guitars.

This is a beatiful guitar with a gold finish it is a pleasure to play
it has 23 frets easy to play and very good for impressing the girls and it is very light.

It is perfect for the punk sounds like green day and the offspring the overdrive sounds go perfect with it, the sound is fantastic it has a full sound to it you cant beat it.

This guitar was fitted together perfectly even if if is a bit hard to pluck the strings with the pickups getting in the way. The only flaw i can find was that the tuning pegs are loose when they touch something and it goes out of tune which can F**K you off a bit

What can i say it is perfect there is nothing wrong the one problem is that the strap lock screw was coming loose so i just bought a new screw. it can cope with anything.

Never had a big problem but i guess they would be helpful

This guitar is brilliant it has a perfect sound and it is very beautiful i have been playing for 5 years now and i havent had a better guitar and i have had about 15 different guitars and if anyone hasnt got one get one you B*****DS.

I think it was made in Korea in 1998. 22 frets. Black finish on a mahogany body. Mahogany neck. Carved maple top. Rosewood fretboard. 3 gold humbuckers. 3-way selector for pickups. 2 tone & 2 volume knobs. Tune-o-matic bridge. Whatever. You can scan the other reviews for more detailed descriptions, because I don't like you enough to be more specific. You're a bit odd looking.

I get tired of people classifying gear to different genres of music. "Oh, you have to have a strat if you're playing punk.", "To be punk you have to do things this way." Screw all that. This guitar is a great guitar for whatever music you're gonna play. I happen to play punk stuff. My favorite bands are Nirvana, Bad Religion, Green Day, Pennywise, Mudhoney, Weezer and Pearl Jam. You can get a really heavy sound or a really great high end sound. The only thing that I don't like is the fact that if i'm sitting in front of my computer monitor playing, it buzzes on high end settings, but what guitar doesn't? To alleviate this problem, I just turn my monitor off, which is a pain since it takes 10 seconds to turn back on, and when you're recording, that can be annoying. Anyway, I love the sound, this guitar has helped me become a much better guitarist. Its great for soloing or anything. I used to use a whoppin' 22 watt harmony amp with a BOSS DS/2 pedal for overdrive and distortion. Now, i play through a Marshall VS100 Combo Amp, which despite some of the reviews for IT, ROCKS HARD!! I havent' been using the BOSS pedal anymore, because the amp's built-in distortion far surpasses the power of the boss. One of my favorite things about this guitar is that it NEVER goes out of tune, even when being transported in my cloth bag, with the exception of the g-string, which everyone knows always goes out of tune on any GIBSON guitar.

It came by way of UPS one fine summer's day. It was a glorious departure from my JCPenny bought Synsonics guitar. I couldn't contain myself upon seeing it. It played great right out of the box. But, since then i've had several problems with the pickup selector switch and knobs. For a while i lost complete control of the rhythm pickup, because the selector switch had faulty wiring. I jiggled the wires and foudn that in certain positions there were no problems. I (as strangly as it may sound) jammed some tissue paper in under the wiring after locating the best position for it. That seemed to work, but later, when one of the nuts holding in the tone knob started coming loose, I attempted to tighten it, but it the process ripped apart some of the soldering in the electronics. I quickly tore open the back panel and used some speaker wire to repair the break, and it it appears to have worked, with no loss in quality. The action was good out of the box, but needed minor tweaking to my tastes. There were no apparent cosmetic flaws.

Ha! Of course this guitar will withstand live playing. As many people have stated, this thing is built like a howitzer(Its a tank!), but with that comes the inevitable truth that the thing is heavy as hell. My friend plays a Squier Strat and this thing weighs a shitload more than the Strat. The gold on the hardware is wearing off after about a year, but that doesn't matter, cuz it was sorta tacky looking, but it actually looks more like real gold when there's a silver tint to it. The finish seems to be a couple of inches thick. Mine has a few nicks but i've never seen the wood and I'd like to keep it that way. The strap buttons were immediately replaced with strap locks and they havent' failed me yet. With a few minor repairs, it seems to be the most dependable guitar I've ever seen. I'd never need a backup with this guitar.

I've heard that the customre support is shit, but I've never heard of a guitar company with good support, but I hope I never have to contact them.

I've been playing for about 4 years, but seriosly for about 2 years. The first 2 years were good for solidifying my rhythm skills. I mentioned my gear above. I'd defintely get another one if it mysterious vanished. What do I love about it? What don't I love about it!!!! It just plain rocks. I've played several other guitars and I think this one is great. I've found none better for the value. I wish sometimes that the neck wasn't as thick or wide, so i could move around a little faster, but its not a big deal.

Solid body, volume, tone, 4 knobs, 3 way selctor, 3 humbuckers.
black finish, duh, came with perfect fit case, and tools.

sound is very versitile, i play many kinds of music from blues to rock to somewhat folky songs and it fits into every genre. the sound can be so deep and rich to very high toned. I actually use an acoustic amp with it and it suites it well or clean, crisp deep sounds. I also put a zoom 505 multi effects pedal which doesn't suite my style but i got it cheap so some effects work great for getting that distorted style lacking from my amp. The guitar can wale when i get the right effects going but plainly it sounds great. Its always clean. nothing i can think of that i dont like about it.

From what i know, its was set up well, it had all of the humbuckers set at the right heights and it even came in tune! THe action is amazing right out of the case, perfect height for the strings. No flaw. The pickup selector does make a flick sound when you change while playing through an amp but i am pretty sure all guitars do that.
THe tuners were loose the first few times but after a few plays they stay tuned well.

This guitar can withstand playing hard, the pickguird takes all the scratches and the body is left looking beautiful. the hardware does seem like it will last, it was recommended to me to get new pickups, but im very happy with these, i see no reason to. The strap button are solid, finish is very good. I would use this guitar on a gig without a backup

got a tune up free from the company, sent it at their cost!

I have been playing for 3 years. I own an epiphone electric acoustic guitar model AJ18sce and an AR acoustic amp and a zoom 505 multi effect pedal. If it were stolen i would definetly buy another one. I love the finish the hardware, the action, the variety of tones and the reliability. I compared it to some other epiphones and some fenders and i liked this one. I also found a very good deal on it. Great buy for any level player.

Black body, Maple neck and 3 beautiful gold humbuckers. Mother of peal inlays.

When I first played this in the shop, I fell in love with it. It has the perfect tone for 'Stairway'. Amazing sound.

I got it second-hand, so it wasn't set-up at all. But after messing with the truss rod, the action is as good as it can be (although still not as good as my Strat).

I have been gigging with this guitar for only two years, so its difficult to judge. In that time though it hasn't failed me. I got it second hand, but it is still in near mint condition. One problem is that the jack input always comes unscrewed.

For the price I paid for this amazing guitar I can't give it less than 10/10. I love this guitar more than my life. If it was stolen, I would cry myself to sleep, for weeks. I would deffinatly replace it, even though it would cost four times as much as what I originally paid.
For the best sound use a Marshall JCM900, on the clean channel.

Standard L.P. layout. 3 humbuckers instead of 2. 3way selector switch. Stock pick-ups

In my band we play a wide range of songs. All the from Eurythmics and Lene Marlin which is more pop-rock I s'pose, to the more alternative stuff like Cranberries and Garbage. My very own preference is Oasis, which I tend to categorize is Rock/Rock 'n' Roll. Until recently I've been playing through a Park 15 watter and a Cheri 40 W.(Yes, neither are tonemonsters) I've just bought a Marshall JCM2000, cause I wanted some thing bigger and better. I got for a really good prize. My pedalboard is made up of the following: Dunlop Crybaby(soon to be raplaced by a VOX) > Boss SD-2 Dual overdrive > Marshall Jh-1 Jackhammer > Marshall ED-1 Compressor > Boss TR-2 Tremolo and a DOD flanger i borrowed from a friend. In the begin when I was playing it, I only used the neck pick-up, coz the two others just didn't do a good job. It appeared there was some faulty wiring, and after I got it fixed, it sounded better than ever before. Having described what we play in the band, I guess you can tell our repetoire is somewhat wide-spreading. The L.P. B.B. isn't the best guitar if you're looking for that bright shimmering jangle, then you should buy a telecaster, but if you're looking for fantastic overdrive sounds, it's nearly perfect. I say nearly, coz I'm thinking of changing the pick-ups. Some 57 classics or latest generation humbuckers would sound great.
The neck pick-up tends to tell you it's there.

The action was set a bit high, so lowered it. the result: you can now play lightning fast.
No problem with the pick-ups, but I think the guys at the store check-out every single guitar they sell.
Very attractive finish. On the other hand you have to be pretty gifted to screw a black guitar wouldn't you!?!

I wasn't pleased the fact that there was faulty wiring in a newly bought guitar. It did cost around 750$. After I got it fixed it has never failed me once.
The strap buttons aren't a week spot. I will replace them with some straplocks, as I find it hard not to jump up and down the stage.
I will always bring a backup guitar, but that's not coz I can't trust my LPBB, it's in case I snap a string or 6.
At the end of the day, after it was fixed, my guitar won't fail me.
I give this category a 7, because of the horrible wiring it initially had.

Never dealt with the company, just the retailer. I think the warranty is 3 years.

I've been playing for some years (I don't know how many)
My gear: Epiphone L.P. Black Beauty, Epiphone PR-200 Acoustic, PARK 15 watt, Marshall JCM2000 DSL50, 1960A lead cabinet, Boss SD-2 Dual overdrive, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Marshall ED-1 Compressor, Marshall JH-1 Jackhammer.
If it was stolen/destroyed I would get another one.
I love its looks, playability and sound and I dislike the very limited use of the tone- and volume controls. You have to turn them all the way down to 3 before anything significant happens. I now it's best to keep the guitar at max volume, but if you're giging without a soundengineer it's to be able to control you sound yourself.
I compared my guitar to several single coiled guitars (read: fender) but they just didn't do anything for me. They had a nice clean sound, but I found that they couldn't handle overdrive very well. I wouldn't use single coils for any overdriven jobs, okay maybe 1 or 2. I had already ddeclared my love to the Les Paul guitar, and when I compared it to the SC's performances in overdrive mode, I knew which one to get. It's rather important to be able to produce a good overdrive sound, when your favourite band, and thus sound, is Oasis.

I bought mine at Sam Ash in the Philly metro area in July 2000, so I am assuming this is a '99 or '00 model. Made in Korea, set up in the US. 22 frets, 3-way selector, three gold stock humbuckers, passive electronics, mahogany wood, beautiful black finish with white body bindingm Tune-O-Matic bridge, seems to be standard Gibson tuners, medium frets on 24.75" scale neck. I purchased mine with an authentic Gibson case, which is only $20 more than the Epiphone and definately worth it. Plush all over the place with a three-digit combination lock, and has the Gibson USA logo large enough so that people know that you're playing the best.

The guitar has an amazing, endless sustain, punchy, not boomy, bottom end and bright, not overly-trebly top end. Warm creamy mids. I am using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amp with this, and I use a DOD Death Metal Distortion pedal for bedroom practice, when I can't saturate the power tubes. I play mainly late '70s style punk rock, and this guitar is perfect for that. At bedroom levels, the guitar has an amazing sound, however the pickups are VERY noisy and feedback constantly once my amp is at 3 (the loudest I have heard it so far, and believe me those 40 Fender tube watts at 3 out of the 12 that the knobs go to, was MUCH louder than the other guitarist's Marshall Valvestate half stack cranked to 10) so this may just be because I was standing 10 feet from the amp while it was loud enough to play a large club unmiked. My only problems with the pickups other than that is that the neck and middle pickups seem to sound quite similar when distorted, and the mid and bridge pickups sound similar when clean.

The guitar was set up rather well, but the action was a bit too low. It's not a Carvin, and the fretwork wasn't enough for the action to be that low. There are a few black paint streaks on the rosewood fretboard, other than that it is an amazing and beautiful guitar that definitely puts it center stage. My pickup selector was a bit noisy going from mid to neck pickup when I bought it, and unfortunately it has now reached the point where I have to jiggle it to get the neck pickup working. Guess I get to call customer support soon. Also, the G string sticks in the nut after bending the string, and can only be put back in tune after a sharp bend behine the nut. Otherwose it stays in perfect tune, although I will definitely be replacing the nut with a Teflon replacement.

I always have a backup guitar, even if it's the $100 pawn shop special. The hardware has already started going bad on me, but the finish is gonna be there for life. I replaced the strap buttons with Shcaller strap locks the day I bought it. The guitar is dependable, but I cringe everytime I use the neck pickup.

Lifetime warranty to the original owner. I'll soon know how well this works.

I have been playing for 13 years, and I am playing this through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I think I just had bad luck buying this one. I know it's a great guitar and was probably abused at Sam Ash as a demo. I would suggest getting it from Musician's Friend or a similar dealer. If I lost this baby, I would replace it with a Gibson Les Paul Special or Studio.

It was made in 1999 or 2000. I got it in 2000. It was made in Korea and set-up in America. It has 22 frets. It has shiny and black finish(hence "Black Beauty"). Two Volume. Two Tone. 3-way pickup selector for the 3 classic Epiphone pickups. Mahongany body & neck. Carved maple top. Rosewood fretboard. Cream body, fingerboard and headstock binding. Regular old block inlays. Regular old tuners. No included accessories. Musician's Friend was cheap in that aspect.

Well, as has been said before, this guitar is good for any style, but tailored more for blues and jazz and sh*t like that. I mainly play grunge/punk/rock stuff. This guitar is great for that. I don't have anything fancy in the way of amps and effects, but I use the Boss OS-2 OverDrive/Distortion pedal. I use a 22 watt Harmony amp for practice and recording. I haven't gotten to play any real gigs, so I haven't needed a good amp yet. I'm not made of money. I don't know what everybody else is talking about, but this guitar isn't noisy at all, except for when its close to my computer monitor, but what else is new? It has an amazing sound clean or distorted. I love the way it sounds. I recommend if you can afford it, buy it. This guitar can make any sound you want it to. Great sustain. Good for rhythm. Good for soloing and everything in between. haven't found anything that I dislike yet. It would be nice to have a little more control over the pickups, but everything sounds excellent.

I don't know how this happened, but somehow I actually got something in the mail that wasn't completely f*cked up. Nothing is wrong with this guitar at all. Its beautiful in every way. The action is good. Some say its too low, but I like it. Its easily adjustable. Apparently, the gold finish on the hardware will wear off after a while, or so I'm told, but the gold finish isn't that cool anyway. Nothing was on backwards or missing. Looks perfect. Always will if I have anything to say about it. I can't complain about anything. Its flawless

As far as I can tell, it seems to be unstoppable. its heavy as hell, but thats good if you can handle it. Again, the gold on the hardware is supposed to wear off sometime soon. Hope it's silver underneath. Gold sucks. The finish is thick and glossy. No problems there. I ditched the strap buttons as soon as I pulled her out of the box. I didn't want anything to happen to her, so now she has lovely Dunlop straplocks. It never goes out of tune EVER. I've only had it for a short time, but I've only had to tune it a couple times. I've never actually played a real gig, but in my opinion, one should never play without a backup, even if it is some crappy Fender. I don't think you'd ever need the backup though.

Too early its life to tell you much in this department. Most of the time the term 'Customer Support' is an oximoron. Chances are that it sucks. Can't blame that on the guitar though. Its not its fault

I've only been playing for 3 years, so I don't really deserve this guitar. Its way too sweet for me. I don't own much gear. I make a lot of home recordings. I use a Peavey MD IIB Mixer along with my computer (equiped with a SBLIVE card). I use Shure Access mics, which aren't top of the line, but I can't afford top of the line, so f*ck off. I record a lot of my solo songs a long with songs for the three bands I'm in. All of which are punk or grunge/punk.