Epiphone Les Paul Classic Quilt Top

Guitar was made at the
Qingdao Plant (Epiphone), China
December 2005

This ia a quilt top with a tobacco type sunburst finish, with the smaller burst. Very smooth finish, high gloss. Neck seems to be 60s type and is very nicely bound with cream binding. Hs the Grover tuners.

Nothing in this world is a "10".

Nice clear sound played through a crate Palomino V32. It si all in the knobs and how you play.

Pickups have their unique sound - even though other say "muddy" I do not agree. Simply turn them down and learn how to adjust your amp.

Can get the harder edge of AC/DC but not Black Sabbath. Need a pedal for that.

Nice factory set up but the guys at Woodsongs (Greg and John) set this up nice. My advice - find a good shop and develop a good relationship. You will not regret it!

Neck Pick was replaced under warranty due to one pole piece would not adjust. Get used to it nowadays.

Solid and dependable. Probably crush just about anything not made of metal or concrete!

Excellent customer support for Epiphone! Very fast response and extremely helpful. Gotta love that!

Overall, this guitar is a 9.5. Way more reasonable than a "real" LesPau. Nice quality, fit and finish. Very satisfied!

-First off, I've had this guitar for almost 4 yrs now. So this review isn't a starry-eyed, new owner's review. And I've also done my share of picking over the past 28 yrs.

-2002 Les Paul Classic Quilt built in Korea's Unsung plant. Standard Les Paul configuration. Amber transparent "quilt maple" top. Parenthesis are because it's a thin layer of quilt maple veneer over an actual alder top. 2 piece mahogany body and also a mahogany neck.

-22 fret rosewood fretboard with medium junbo like frets. Frets weren't in bad shape, but a little elbow grease with 0000 steel wool really made them smooth as silk.

-Originally has Epi's Gibson Designed Alnico p'ups in it. Standard neck and overwound bridge. Almost like the Gibson 490R-498T set. Not too bad for import p'ups but I was going to yank them out and replace them with something of a more vintage PAF flavor. This was already figured in before the purchase was ever made.

-Gave a 5 because it's a typical Les Paul setup. Not a low grade, just typical.

-Originally the sound wasn't too bad. A bit hot for my taste. I pulled the stock p'ups and replaced them with DiMarzio Virtual PAFs. These lowered the output quite a bit and opened up more of that vintage Lester tone. I play everything from SRV to Third Day to Megadeth with this guitar. Even though the p'ups are lower output, they can still cover quite a few bases. Especially with a pedal in front of the amp.

-Using a modded Epi Valve Junior amp. I had a Fender VibroChamp when I was growing up, and all I can say is this little sucker has that TUBE TONE! Mine was one of the early ones, so the mods were almost a necessity. Do NOT underestimate the power and tone of this amp!! If people realized how many albums were recorded with small amps, they'd fall off of their chairs.

-I also gutted the rest of the electronics and installed a matched set of CTS 500k pots and a Switchcraft p'up switch. The stock Epi switch died after about 4 months. Also I have Orange Drop caps in it. A .015 for the neck and a .022 for the bridge.

-I give it an 8 on sound. But now I'm thinking of installing 'bucker sized P-90 p'ups. The madness never ends!!!!! The score may go up, or it may go down after the next phase of mods.

-The guitar wasn't set up too bad. There isn't a "one size fits all" setup, so I didn't care. The action was playable and the intonation was right on. After this, the guitar was restrung with GHS Nickel Rockers 11-50's. I tweaked the truss rod, lowered the action a tad until a faint buzz appeared, then I backed it back up until it went away. Right now she's sitting at 3/64" on the treble side and 3.5-4/64" on the bass side. Measurements taken at the 12th fret with no capo.

-The only finish flaws I could find were a few spots were the stain bled onto the binding and wasn't cleaned before finishing. And a small spot on the back of the neck heel that looks like someone rubbed the stain with an eraser before the clearcoat went on.

-Hardware is a-ok. Those stinking booger green tuners are actually doing their job. No need to replace them yet, but I've been eyeing up a set of Grover Sta-Tites or Imperials from Stew-Mac. Just something to dress this beastie up a bit.

-Next items for her are a new aluminum Stop bar and a bone nut. Is there any end to this madness of modification?????????????????????

-But as it goes, all of the mods I've done, including the DiMarzio p'ups, only ran me about $150.

-This guitar is totally dependable. Especially after the electronics upgrades. It's common knowledge that Epi uses budget electronics, but the rest of the guitar is rock solid. Straplocks are a must though. I have them on my Strats and my bass. Wouldn't go anywhere without them. Don't take stupid risks!!

-Never dealt with Epi's C.S. I bought it knowing I was going to void the warranty, so why even think about it?

-I've played guitar off and on for about 28 yrs now. If it were lost or stolen I'd probably get another one like it to replace it. But then again I AM kind of fond of the new Epi Les Paul Plain Top. I jut wish Epi would use a true maple top like Gibson instead of alder with the fancy veneers. Get a bit closer to the "real thing." But you gotta have that eye candy too I guess.

-I had to have a Lester. Growing up I was a member of the KISS Army. Ace was my hero, and still my biggest influence. Life wouldn't have been complete without a Les Paul in the stables.

Open Humbuckers, Cherry Quilt Top, Grover Tuners, Crafted in China and set up in the USA.

Pickups are good but not great. Good sustain and muddy tones near the 6th string, otherwise decent for the price. Might change the pick ups, but not necessary. Does good job for the price. I would definitly Gig with ths Guitar, although my Gibson Dot has a better sound. But for the price the sound can deliver what you need.

This is where I can lower the rating. Although in general this is a good looking guitar and the finish is stunning, there are some minor assembly flaws noticeable at the neck to the body and some color over run on the binding near the neck. One of the bridge pickups has a plastic burr on it but can be fixed. The neck and action is good on this guitar but have seen some bent necks on other quilt tops I tried. The action is very good. The frets are more than adequate and the neck is excellent. Grover tuners nice touch. Some roughness at the pickup sleeves although very minor - overall pretty good for $450.00 guitar. Pick up cold use beter adjustment/placement.

So far I have not had it long enough to know.

No experience

OK - I have been playing for over 40 years. Have had my share of good and bad guitars. I've owned a Clapton American Strat with terrible action and cost three times the price of this LP. But when you consider the price you getting: an absolute amazing guitar for the price. I would recommend this guitar to anyone interested in owning a Les Paul who cannot afford the Gibson.

This is an addition to my previous entry.

I went back to Guitar center to exchange my red quilt top for an amber one that caught my eye. I liked the fact that I could see the grain better on the sides and back. GC exchanged with no problem. Great guys.

Since the Epi wasn't an expensive guitar, I succumbed to the idea of changing the electronics. Not that it needed a change, just wanted to experiment. This gave me a chance to open everything up and see the quality. To Epihone's credit, these guitars are well put together. Except for the pots, the electronics are pretty good quality. The wood is 3 solid slabs of Mahogany. The veneer top and back are very thin, but who cares, they are beautiful. Channels and routing holes were smooth and clean, all coated with an electronic-deadening paint.

I purchased Sperzel locking tuners, Seymour Duncan 59's neck and bridge pickups and an upgrade kit of CTS 500k pots, Hovland capacitors and switchcraft parts from Specialty Guitars in Tempe Arizona (these guys have great upgrade kits all put together and are extremely helpful, highly recommend them). I did all the work myself. filed a couple of frets that were high and put everything back together.

With all that done, the output of the new pickups were about the same but had a more acoustic, fuller tone than before, taking this already good sounding guitar to an exceptional tone level. If you have the willingness to go into your guitar (this was my first time to do electronics. It's not hard) Then you can have a truely exceptional Les Paul for about a 3rd of the cash for a Gibson.

Epiphone Les Paul Classic Quilt Top, built 12/05 in Gibson's China Epi plant. It's got a stunning top of Quitlt maple veneer in Vintage Sunburst, that has a surprising amount of depth for a veneer. There are no visible flaws anywhere. It's got the urethane gloss finish all over. The sides, back, and neck are all very dark reddish - they look black except under intense light. The body is made of 3 peices of African Mahogany, with the center peice being about the width of the pickups, and there is a one-piece mahogany back to cover up the lines (I think it's unnecessary). 22 jumbo fret neck is Mahogany, made of 3-pieces typical of the Epi, and it's got the slim '60s LP profile. Typical Tune-O-Matic fixed bridge/stop tail, metal Grover tuners. It's got a cheap plastic nut that needs to be swapped out someday for bone, but at least it's cut right. It probably takes away a little bit of sustain. Typical LP controls. Typical two passive pickup configuration, but they are open-coil, "Alnico magnet" humbuckers that they put on the "Classic" models. I do not know if it's just a normal Alnico bucker with the metal cover removed, or if it's made special for the Classic. They sound phenomenal. No accessories were included, not even a case.

When I brought this guitar home, I figured I would change the p'ups like I've heard so many say. But I don't plan on changing these open-coil humbuckers. I'm playing it through a Marshall MG30DFX, and with some drive, it gets tones of classic rock, or soaring, mind-bending soloing sounds. The bridge is very bright, maybe a bit too harsh, but I like it because it has some flexibility with the tone control. The neck p'up with the tone rolled all the way down has a deep, round, full sound with that unmistakable LP tubular singing tone (like Slash's intro to Sweet Child o' Mine) and there is a wide range within that area. With both p'ups together, neck rolled down, and bridge tone rolled up, I am getting these buttery-smooth, vocal quality tones that just sustain forever, and with some tremolo from the fingers, it just sings like a goddess. Playing with the amp settings and tone controls, I can make it roar with chunky thunder - big fat chewy chords. I am addicted to playing it - I can't go a day without picking it up. I don't know if all the classic p'ups are this good, but I have no plans to change them.

Set up from GC was good. I lowered the action a bit, and had to fix the input jack, which I figured on anyway. After 3 months of daily use the p'up switch is fine. I am prepared to change out the electronics - they do have a cheap feel to them. The bridge hardware is all good. The tuners are installed properly, and it stays in tune for long periods of use. The bridge pickup cavity is slightly tilted. It doesn't seem to detract from the performance. As for the quilt veneer top, it is stunning, flawless, a mirror image of surprising depth. I did not expect this from a $375 guitar. It's Vintage Sunburst, and the middle GLOWS when any light hits it. It stops people in their tracks. Cosmetically, it's 99% perfect with only a tiny rough spot on the binding in an out-of-the-way spot. The wood sounds great acoustically, the neck joint is tight and solid (sustain!!). The Rosewood fingerboard looks a little dry in spots, and I had to clean it a little bit when I got it home. Overall, it's beautiful to behold, and I polish it every time I put it away. I take away 1 point for the crappy input jack (easy and cheap to fix though).

It feels solid. I knew when I picked it up in the store - it had "the feel" of the one for me. The strap buttons will unscrew themselves, and I will be repairing them. Right now I play this guitar at home sitting down most of the time, so it's not a problem, but I would address this before taking it out on a stage. It's only 3 months old with daily use, but nothing has happened to it cosmetically. I have heard that the chrome can flake off over time, but no sign of it now. If that happens, I'll replace the hardware with Gibson-type nickel. I bought this for home hobby use, not for gigging. I am a bassist in my gigging career. But I am finding that I love playing it more than I ever imagined I would. I give it a 10 with a minor ding for the strap buttons.

Have had no need to contact service.

I have played acoustic guitar for 27 years. I have played electric bass for the last 10, semi-professionally, gigging with 4-5 bands + many sit-ins. My bass gear is very HQ, pro-level gear. I wanted an electric guitar for years, and dreamed of a Les Paul with a Marshall stack. I went out just to get an inexpensive axe & amp just for fun, in the home, for my own amusement. I tried out Jacksons and Peaveys some other Epi LP customs, all sorts of guitars. When I was asking about the little MG30DFX, the GC guy went over to the Epi LP area, reached way back into them and pulled out this Epi LP Classic Quilt VS to demo the amp for me. When I took it and sat down to play, it felt like it was calling my name. Instant comfort, like an old friend. I bought it and the amp on the spot - $550 for the pair! ($375 +$175). I had my LP and Marshall, although not the $$$$$ rig.
I love the way it feels, the neck, the solid feel, the tone of the wood, and the quilt top, but most of all I am crazy about the plugged-in TONE! It is like melted psychedelic electric butter. It sings like an angel, screams like a demon, and roars like a Rock-n-Roll machine. The tones are seductive in a way that was unexpected. The Marshall MG30DFX is it's perfect mate. If I lost it, I would look for another one like it immediately. It amazes me daily. It was built 12/05 in the China plant. I don't know if I got an unusually good one, like maybe it was made the day the Chinese officials were touring the plant. Could they all be this good? Reading these reviews, it appears that the LP Classic Quilt tops are a special run of instruments. So many positive reviews.

Quilted maple top
Transparent black finish
Mahogany body and neck
24-3/4" scale length
Body and neck binding
2 open-coil humbuckers
Rosewood fretboard
Trapezoid inlays

I play a classic rock style and this guitar suits me perfectly. I play it through a small Vox amp and I can't hear any noise at all. This model featured open coil pickups and they are really quite hot.
Pretty nice sounding clean if maybe a bit sanitary. Add a little distortion and it becomes obvious what this guitar was built for.
I originally thought I would have to replace the pickups, but three years later they are still there.

The action out of the box was a bit high for my taste, but a small amount of tweaking made it just right. The finish was literally flawless to my eyes. The machine heads could be replaced without breaking my heart. I could swear the G string falls out more often than it should. Other than that a very solid axe right out of the box.

I wouldn't hesitate to gig with this guitar, but nobody should ever gig without a backup. I replaced the standard strap buttons with strap-locks, but everything else is holding up nicely. Seems rock solid to me.

N/A

I have been playing for 30+ years. I have many other guitars. Iwould definitely replace it if stolen. It is a sweet feeling axe and I liked it enough that I ordered another Epi LP.

Transparent red quilt top. LP with stop tail piece. Chrome hdwr. Sticker on back says "handcrafted in China". Grover tuners. Open alnico Humbuckers.
2006. Typical Les Paul stuff.

The punch that this Epiphone produces is impressive and accurately Les Paul by any standards. No reason to replace these pickups. Quiet when needed, loud when needed. Great separation betweeen pickups from the cheesy but working selector switch. Tone is, well, Les Paul.

Action, fit and finish is surprisingly good. The factory adjustments were pretty solid. The action can go LOW without fret buzz anywhere on the scale. The wood is as good as it gets for this price range, maybe even a step above. The quilting will tiger-eye about 1/3". No flaws. Glossy, thick poly finish. Very nice. Neck is dark rosewood and arrow-straight. Neck radius is spot on 60's LP. Fat wire frets will get great pitch bends. Grovers are smooth. Pots are smooth, but top hat knobs are off center.

Hardware, wood and finish are all VERY solid. No problem touring.

Been playing 30 years. My main electric is a Wolfie Standard for rock. For blues, a 1952 Gibson ES 150 and a 1975 Strat. Amps: Marshall Valvestate 4X12 and Line6 2X12. Lots of electronics. Got this guitar just to have at the shop. Ended up with a much nicer guitar than I thought. Lost? Probably buy again. Went in Guitar Center for a PRS Standard ES. Compared that, Schecter and a couple others. The Epi blew them all away for the price.
Not the most comfortable guitar, but played, sounded and looked better.
1 pound lighter than the LP. Nice.

All of the features have been listed ad nauseum - but one thing - when I saw the guitar in the MF catalog, it had Kluson - type tuners with the plastic buttons - I was very pleased to see chrome Grovers when it arrived!

I play Classic Rock, Punk and some Blues with it. I play other styles, but they're better handled by my other guitars. I mainly use my Marshall JTM 30 1x12 with matching 1x12 cabinet. This guitar and amp combo were made for each other. Great, punchy lows, good mids and a stinging treble. The pickups are double wax potted and I can't see myself hacking up the guitar to upgrade them. I will say though, that I'll be upgrading the pots, as they are definitely not linear. All things considered, IT IS A LES PAUL SOUND, which is precisely what I wanted.

I took the guitar out of the Gator Camoflage case (I ordered it with the guitar from Musician's Friend), tuned it and havent done anything to it yet. The action and intonation were spot on - no need for any adjustment whatsoever. Very pleased. Pickups were adjusted well, no need to adjust them either. Either a fluke or someone actually took the time to make them right.

Will this guitar withstand live playing? Hell yeah. It weighs within a pound of a Gibson, solid as a rock. The finish is chrome and although I prefer nickel, it will do just fine. The guitar's finish is flawless - it's poly, not nitrocellulose, but I prefer it anyways, as the neck doesnt get sticky. The fretwork is great - at least as good as a Gibson. Not sure about the pickup selector, but I'll swap that out when I change the pots.

The top: I want to love it, but I don't - the figuring is nice, yet the figuring doesnt change with the angle in which you look at it - indicative of a very thin top, but for $399.00 it's still a steal. If I paid double what I paid for it, it would still be half the price of a Gibson!

No idea, and I hope I never find out.

I've been playing almost 40 years, and have a bunch of guitars, some expensive, some not - each has it's own vibe and purpose, and I love them all. I own an EPI Dot and an EPI AlleyKat. I love them both, as they each have their own signature sound and play exceptionally well. I own Fenders, G&Ls, and others, but I am not afraid of taking the stage with an EPI - a true workingman's guitar. It is 1/4 the price of the cheapest new Gibson, but the Gibson is nowhere near 4 times better. For the $$$ I paid for it, it is a ten out of ten, a steal at the price.

I think mine is a 2006, possibly made in Korea, but I don't know as it isn't labeled anywhere as either. The truss rod cover has a scrip Les Paul signature written on it, along with the word Classic. Mine has no pickguard either and no holes for a pickguard. It's a clear amber color. I haven't seen that color advertised for a Classic Quilt Top online, so this might be older though I bought it new. Two open coil humbuckers, position switch, volume and tone controls, Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece, tuners marked Grover. It has the "good" '59 Les Paul neck, 22 frets w/jumbo wire. Came with .10-.46 strings.

I play with a lot of rock/blues influences. I use a Marshall Valvestate 2000 and a Vox Valvetronix amp, play straight through the Marshall using only gain and reverb, but use a variety of effects and modeling through the Vox. This guitar is flat out quiet as compared to my Telecaster with Texas Specials. I'm used to the Telecaster and I like its note articulation better (so far), but I wasn't prepared to respect the stock Epiphone pickups this much. I don't think that it quite measures up to today's Gibsons in sound, but it is equal in quality to my '73 SG without question and comes so close as to raise the question. For an Epiphone, I don't think they've ever sounded this good, and I've played a couple of nice Epiphones like those fabulous early '60s models with the mini-humbuckers. It isn't fair to compare it to a Gibson. However, it sounds much better than the one Les Paul I used to have, a Black Beauty that sounded dull and muddy, and it sounds as good as my SG. I have to rate this as an Epiphone and not a Gibson, but it sure rates favorably as a Gibson anyway. Rates 8-9 as a Gibson.

I've seen one surface bubble. It has to be viewed in a certain light to see, but it's there. Mine came from the music shop perfectly intonated and setup. That's why you pay for the local guy vs. the warehouse, the little value-added stuff. Mine had been on the wall and probably handled a bit, but the setup and intonation were fine. I can see just one seam, and I had to look for that. It gives a high quality appearance in person, very dressy compared to the standard models and worth the extra money because of the classy appearance. If it didn't invite a Gibson comparison, I wouldn't mention it. It looks slightly more plastic than those fine current Gibson finishes, like spray car wash wax vs. polish and buffer. Gibsons today are from another planet when it comes to quality of finish. They deserve their current reputation and prices, much like Harley-Davidson and for the same reason, if you value such detail. The Gibsons I owned weren't anywhere near as good as this Epiphone. It was common to have neck pearl inlays fall out, binding come off, crappy wiring, cracked finishes, both visual and functional flaws that were inexcusable back in the 1960's and 1970's. I switched to buying Fender after the mid 70's because I got tired of Gibson shoddiness and the Fenders were better. I'm not very adventurous. It's a single coil Fender or a humbucker Gibson for me, although other guitars have their strengths and I've enjoyed playing some others. This Epiphone is the first of the Gibson type I've purchased with my own hard-earned money since then. I like guitars, but I don't like to keep more than two or three at any given time. I wanted to try the humbucker/mahogany/maple platform again but didn't want to throw away a couple of grand should the quality be as shitty as some older Gibsons and Japanese Epiphones I've seen. This seems to be well made. I love the neck. That's usually been Epiphone's downfall, but this one is like the best of the Les Pauls. This weighs just under 10 pounds but feels heavier. I'm used to a Telecaster which I thought had some weight, but this feels much heavier.

No idea.

They write good newsletters. If I have a problem, I go back to the store I bought it from and see the salesman who took my money.

I've been playing guitar in many capacities for 42 years. I keep playing harder, faster, and louder, and I keep learning all the time. I did a lot of research online before buying this guitar, and I did a lot of shopping comparisons, particularly to Gibsons. I think that motorcycle analogies to Harley vs. rice burners is where guitars are today. I overheard a music salesman say as much while he trying to sell a Gibson to some rich mofo looking for something for his son. "Ya can't lose money on a Gibson, nope, just like a Harley." Can you buy your way to heaven (or hell, like many people prefer)? Sure, just buy a Gibson. Does a Gibson say potato-potato-potato? Sure. Like nothing else. Can you make your money back in trade on a Gibson? Without a doubt. Maybe more. But damn if those Kawasakis aren't pretty nice at half the price, and you can run the dog shit out of them if you don't care about reselling them and they don't break and last thirty years, and I think this current crop of Epiphone Les Pauls are like that. I don't know that I will or won't change pickups. I don't mind, and I like to fuss with my gear. But it's the sound that tells me so, not the marketplace. Too many fat, incompetant slobs out on bar stages all over the country (saw one last night) making up for lack of personal charisma by unpacking a Gibson, too many rock stars who forgot what it took to get there driving up the price of "collectbles". I respect Tony Iommi for making sure there was an Epiphone model named after him that real fans could afford on top of his insanely expensive signature Gibson. He's also a great player I've had the pleasure of hearing live. I think that Gibson is well aware of it's pricing problems and does a pretty good job of filling the market. Like Harley-Davidson, I think they see a handwriting on the wall too. This Epiphone is a fine example, so far. It would be sour grapes to say that a Gibson Les Paul isn't a fantastic guitar. However, it is incredibly foolish to pay those prices for a workingman's axe that is this close to perfection. If you want to invest, call Price Waterhouse or buy a Harley. If you want to play guitar, though, you could do little better than this Epiphone.

2005 Vintage Sunburst. Normal Classic features, 2 open HBs, etc. Beautiful finish, Maybe there's a flaw somewhere, but I can't find it.

I played Strats and frankenfenders before this one. Didn't fully get it. I could hear the diffs when others played a LP, but I liked the Strat sound. Now I get it.
I still like the strat, but the LP is on a different level entirely.

Again, no flaws that I could find. Set up beautifully out of the box, beautiful top pickups perfectly adjusted, etc.

Great hardware stays in tune, solid as a rock, built to last. Take this guitar out and use it. It wants to sing!

Amazing guitar. I've played the Gibby and yes it's better. But I don't know if it's 1500$ better.
get this guitar and play it. You won't be sorry!

Not exactly sure what year it was made, neither did the original owner! Approximately 2000? This is a "Limited Edition" model, as per the sticker on the back of the headstock. Bought guitar used, but in Excellent+ condition. Beautiful Tobacco Sunburst over quilted maple top. Serial number is U02030909. Standard L.P. set-up as far as pick-ups, controls, switch. This guitar is a factory 2nd, and I almost didn't buy it, since I wasn't told about that fact up front. Truss Rod Cover says GIBSON. Has the open coil humbuckers. Has the Tulip type Kluson Tuners. Body and neck binding. It's a Les Paul and that's what I wanted. Came with an Epiphone Hardshell case and installed Straplocks.

Play in a 4 piece band. Play covers of Classic Rock, Southern Rock and Classic and Top 40 Country. I play thru a Traynor YCV40 1x12 combo with an add'l. Traynor 1x12 Ext. Cab. Use an Ernie Ball Volume Pedal and a Boss Chorus Pedal. No noise at all from the guitar or the amp. I normally play Tele style guitars, but wanted to try another Les Paul (have owned many Gibson and Epiphone L.P.'s over the years). This guitar has such an awesome tone, it may become my #1 stage guitar, over my G&L ASAT Classic Premium or my Fender Std. and Nashville Tele's! Very nice clean tones from both pick-ups and some of the most awesome crunch and lead tones with distortion settings! I only change out pick-ups on a guitar if the stock ones don't "measure up". No need to change these out! Couldn't ask for a better L.P. sound!

Bought used. Always set my own guitars up to my specs. Action is superb! Neck and frets are great! Pick-ups were already adjusted perfectly. The top is BEAUTIFUL!! Finish on rest of the body and neck is top notch. Don't know why this would have been marked as a factory 2nd? Except for the normal play wear you can expect, guitar is just outstanding! Maybe this guitar was professionally set-up previously, I don't know, but it is a wonderful instrument for an import. As good quality wise as the last 2 Gibson Les Pauls that I purchased from a dealer!

I gig all the time without back-ups! If you feel you need a back-up, then you don't have much faith in your equipment! Until I started reading reviews on this site, I never even thought of taking a back-up of anything! I know all my gear inside and out. If I don't feel like I can make it thru a gig with a piece of gear, I don't take it! Hardware and Finish are top notch. Strap buttons were already replaced by previous owner to straplocks. I wouldn't keep it if I couldn't depend on it!!

Never had to deal with them. Bought used and make my own adjustments and set-ups. Anything that I can't handle, I take to one of my long time dealers.

I don't doubt that some guitars need to have pick-ups, tuners, electronics and hardware changed out after purchase. I don't do this on a regular basis, only if the items REALLY don't "measure up". I don't see the need to replace anything on this guitar right now. If, in the future, something wears out or breaks, it will be replaced accordingly.
I have been a gigging musician for 35+ years and have owned so many guitars, I don't even want to think about it! I don't do the "vintage" thing anymore. I have owned more guitars at one time than some of the dealers that I have dealt with over the years!
I almost didn't buy this guitar, when I found out it was a factory 2nd. I'm so glad that I did buy it and now have a very enjoyable guitar to play and admire!

Made in 2005.Bought this guitar new,made in Korea.22 frets,transparent black quilted top(really nice!).

I must say for "stock" Epi pickups,these sound really good,no need for replacements.I usaully replace the pickups in all the guitars i've owned with Seymour Duncans,but these pickups have enough bite and clarity,distortion for my taste.On my Korg amp modeler w/home stereo reciever as an amp,they sound the same as my Jackson with emg 81's,so i think i'll leave them in.No mods needed here.

I must say for a $500 guitar made in Korea,this guitar is exceptionaly put together very well.Being a former owner of a Gibson les Paul flametop,The fretwork on this Epi i would say ,far exceeded in quality,fit and finish.One major plus i noticed over the older Epi les paul classics,is that the new Les Pauls have the 'Closed"crome tuners,as opposed to the open style pearl tuners.These tuners are "grover" style and work very well(no need for upgrade here).The quilted maple top is exceptionable!Over all the guitar is a definate "Bang for the buck"guitar!It also weigh's considerably less than my Gibson counter-part,and is much easier to play(my opinion)There is how-ever just one flaw that got my attention,was the binding on the top of the body by the input jack,it looks as though the binding was cut a little short(1/16th of an inch),other than that,nothing else has caught my eye.Of course i knew this before i bought the guitar.There were 3 exact models avaliable in the store,and i just had to have the best-lookin'quilt top,and one tiny flaw wasn't gonna make me pass it up.

I have been playing for about 20 years on and off.Ive had at least 15 or so guitars in that time.This guitar is a definate "value",compared to a Gibson,I'd buy another EPI,before i'd buy a Gibson.I'm not one who pays xxxamount for a name.My Gibson had more flaws for 3 times the money i payed for it.

Everyone knows the Les Paul features. Mine is a 2003 model, I bought it brand new. Made in Korea. Mahogany body, maple neck, and a beautiful red quilted top that I always get compliments on. Did not come with a case.

Stock pickups and factory electronics are passable. When I had the pickup switch, pots, jack, and wiring replaced, the guitar sounds Absolutely Awesome and has more of a definitive Les Paul sound. This is where Epiphone really skimps on things- the electronics. I was planning on replacing the stock pickups, but with the new components, the pickups sound excellent. The replacements were CTC pots and Switchcraft jack and switch. The guitar sounds more Gibsonlike than before.

To those who choose/own an Epiphone Les Paul, I can not reccommend this modification enough. The woods used are fine. The pickups are great. Its the crappy electronics that set this great guitar back a peg. The 10 rating in this category is after the electronics change, before that I'd give it a 7-8

Action is great, as with any guitar, it has to be set up with your preferences. Flaws- the Treble/Rhythm plate was turned slightly, and the neck pickup ring is pushed in slightly by the neck. Grover tuners are excellent- I never have tuning problems with this guitar.

Excellent Les Paul, but needs wiring, pots, and switch replacements to be truely great.

2004 year model, Indonesian made, 2 piece solid maple quilt top, mahogany body & neck. Very attractive tobacco sunburst finish accents the quilted maple cap. Typical Les Paul pickup control layout - 2 vol., 2 tone pots, 3 way switch, etc. Neck is on the slim side, same feel as my Ibanez Artist, very comfortable to play. Came with modern style Grover tuners but my son had me install Grovers that are replicas of the old Kluson tulip-knob tuners that came on the 50's era Gibsons. Nicely compliments the guitar's appearance. No case or gig bag included, though at the price, there really should be a good quality gig bag at the very least.

It's got that rich, meaty Les Paul sound - loud as hell with great sustain. Every note is pronounced, even with effects added. Through my Fender Super Reverb amp, it's blues deluxe. Add tube overdrive and you can see why all the blues greats from the 60's loved this guitar. All the electronics, pickups, etc., work and sound perfect. Even though it's my son's guitar, I play it a lot. It's even got a wonderful, resonant sound unplugged.

The action was a bit too low out of the box, but adjusted easily enough. No flaws anywhere that I could find. The finish is gorgeous, although I thought the very dark cherry stain on the neck and back should be a little lighter to show off the mahogany grain, but that's a minor thing really.

Everything about the guitar looks and feels solid as a rock. Good quality all around. I have no doubt to it's reliability or durability. It's a well-built, professional instrument.

Warranty is limited lifetime. Haven't dealt with customer support, so I can't say one way or the other.

My son ordered this over the web, something I would never do. I prefer to try a guitar in person at a music store so I know exactly what I'm getting but I've got to admit, he got a real winner in this guitar. I wish I'd bought it myself. Once you pick it up, it's hard to put down. I've been playing for over 40 years and I've played some wonderful Les Pauls, old and new, in that time. I can honestly say the only difference I can see between this guitar and a Gibson Les Paul is the name on the headstock - that's all.

2005 butterstoch quilt maple top made in Korea LP Classic, 2 open hummys, no pickguard, the rest you know

With the Gibson designed open hummys the sound of this guitar is very near my LP Standard with SD 59's. Not quite as good, a sound of its own ofcourse, but they have the sound expected of good humbucker PUs - growl, articulate when using distortion, smmoth when clean. The PUs on the Classic are MUCH better than on the Epi LP Standard.

I purchased this guitar used. The finish is perfect, nothing stands out as an imperfection. The quilting on the maple top is beautiful along with the butterscotch color, though it would not be my first choice in color. Action is quite low with no fret buzz. Body is heavy enough which makes me think it is mostly mahogney. Looking at the back it looks to be 1 piece or at least very carefully matched with other pieces.

Solid and on the heavy side I think this thing will hold up, strap buttons are suspect, easy enough to change

haven't dealt with them

If you are looking for an EPi LP get this one. MUCH better build quality than the LP Standard. The standard comes with an alder body with maple top. The electronics even seem better on this one, I had to replace the electronics on my Epi LP Standard. And this guitar new is $100 LESS than the LP standard!

2005 TRANSPARENT AMBER MADE IN KOREA.QUILT TOP MATCHED UP TO NEAR PERFECTION.SEEN TOP END AND CUSTOMS THAT AINT MATCHED SO WELL.ALMOST LOOKS LIKE ONE SOLID PIECE.22 FRETS MEDIUM DARK ROSEWOOD AND SOLID ONE PIECE MAHOG BACK-CANT FIND A SEAM ANYWHERE.OPEN COILS THAT HAVE ENOUGH MEAT AND CLARITY TO COVER ANYTHING I NEED FROM CRYSTAL CLEAN TO ALL OUT THRASH.

THIS THING IS A PANDARA'S BOX OF TONE!!!! I HAVE MANY STOMP DISTORTION BOXES TO SATISFY MY URGES-PROCO RAT I GOT IN 1985, AMERICAN METAL,METAL ZONE, RAMPAGE JUST TO NAME A FEW.ROLL OFF THE VOLUME ON EVEN THE METAL ZONE WITH THE NECK PICKUP AND ITS A BLUES TONE WITH JUST A LITTLE RASP TO IT. FLIP TO A WIDE OPEN BRIDGE AND YOUR CHUNKIN SOME HEAVY THICK METAL INSANITY.PLAY THIS AXE UNPLUGGED AND YOU CAN FEEL THE WOOD ON THIS BABY TALKING TO YOU-VERY RESONANT AND LOUD PLAYED ACOUSTICALLY.

DECENT FACTORY SETUP BUT I'M A HABITUAL TINKERER. ILL SOON GET MY OWN SETUP ON THIS ONE AND IM SURE ILL GET THE LOW ACTION I LIKE. BINDING IS SMOOTH UP AND DOWN THE NECK AND AROUND THE BODY AS WELL. TUNERS ARE ADEQUATE AND I CANT SEEM TO GET IT TO GO OUT OF TUNE NO MATTER HOW LONG OR HARD I PLAY IT. IVE ALWAYS OWNED FLOYD ROSE AXES AND HAVING A NON LOCKING SETUP ALWAYS SEEMED TO KEEP ME AWAY FROM AXES LIKE THIS.THIS GUITAR IS AN EXTREMELY WELL BUILT TOOL AND I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE ITS AN IMPORT.IVE PLAYED GIBSON PAULS AND THEY ARE ONLY SLIGHTLY BETTER FOR A WHOLE LOT MORE CASH.

IM A HOME PLAYER NOT A WEEKEND WARRIOR.THE ONLY CONCERN I HAD WAS THE STRAP BUTTONS(JUST LIKE ON EVERY OTHER GUITAR I OWN)MY FIX IS TO DRILL OUT THE SCEW HOLES AND PUT IN TIGHT FITTING DRYWALL BUTTERFLIES(THE LITTLE PLASTIC ONES) . I THEN INSTALL DUNLOP STRAP LOCKS -THE SCREWS SPREAD THE SOFT PLASTIC EXTEMELY TIGHT.I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ON ANY GUITAR IVE DONE THIS TO AS FAR AS THE BUTTONS POPPING OFF.AS FAR AS I CAN TELL THE POTS AND SWITCH ARE GOOD QUALITY-NO NOISE TO SPEAK OF.OF THE GUITARS I OWN THIS ONE IS BY FAR THE BEST BUILT.MY ESP M302 IS GOOD BUT NOT WITHOUT ITS PROBLEMS-NOISY SWITCH AND POOR QUALITY POTS- WHICH ARE CURABLE WHEN I GET PROPERLY MOTIVATED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS.IVE ALSO GOT AN IBANEZ RG320 WHICH ICNT IN THE SANE LEAGUE WITH THE OTHER TWO.

LIFETIME WARRANTY AGAINST POOR MATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP. WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT ESPECIALLY FROM A GUITAR THAT WAS LESS THAN 600 CLAMS.

IVE BEEN PLAYING ON AND OFF FOR AROUND 20 YEARS AND HAVE PLAYED MANY GUITARS FROM HUNDRED DOLLAR SQUIERS TO PRS AND ALL KINDS OF CUSTOMS AND FRANKENSTEINS.DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR THIS EPI PAUL IS BY FAR THE BEST VALUE FOR FIT AND FINISH ,LOOKS ,AND ABOVE ALL ELSE-TONE.EVERY INSTRUMENT HAS ITS OWN PERSONALITY AND IT COMES DOWN TO WHAT A PLAYER LIKES.MONEY DONT MEAN NOTHING IF YOUR GUITAR DOESNT SOUND AND PLAY THE WAY YOU LIKE IT.END OF STORY.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SERIOUSLY NICE GUITAR FOR NOT MUCH CASH THIS IS ONE TO LOOK INTO. BUT TRY AS MANY AS YOU CAN BEFORE YOU DROP THE CASH. IT TOOK ME ALMOST TWO YEARS OF TRYING OUT THESE GUITARS TILL I FOUND THIS ONE AND IM GLAD I WAITED.

Mine is a 2004 made in Korea. 22 frets, solid top, 3-way with 2 volume and 2 tone tophats, stock passive humbuckers, tune-o-matic body, Grover tuners. Much higher quality than same priced LP Standard.

I play classic rock, country, and worship. It has a full, rich sound, especially from the neck pickup. Not at all noisy. I am going to change the pickups to overwound 4-lead pickups to better match my style and allow me more configuration options, but the stock pups are not bad.

It was setup quite well out of the box. After about nine months I adjusted to pickups to get a sound I was happier with (my personal taste, not because of problems!) Action was dead-on for me. Selector switch cap broke, but that's minor.

I've been playing it in Church every week, and some gigs without a backup. It still has no scarring or buckle rash. It is solid mahogany.

I called their customer support for questions, and they were extremely helpful. I haven't had a need for any repairs yet, so I can't really say how that would go.

I'm running this axe through a Behringer GX210 amp and a Korg Toneworks AX1500G processor. I also have a modified Ibanez that I use mostly for power rhythm. My LP is perfect for lead and rhythm. I have played other people's Gibson LP's and found it to be similar quality as their studio or standard models that cost 3 to four times as much.

Made in 2005 in Korea. Didn't count the frets, I'm not worried that. The top is made of quilted maple, which is a little softer than standard maple, and way softer than bird's eye maple. The top is also a lot thinner on an Epi than Gibson. The color is gorgeous black/ dark grey with black burst on the edges. The body is Mahogany, there might be some alder in there as well according to Musician's friend, not sure why Epiphone would use three types of wood in the body. The neck is mahogany and fretboard is dark rosewood with pearl inlays, very nice touch. Tuners are stock made in Chine crap. Pickups are alnico humbuckers. No case, gig bag, not even a freakin box. Deduct 2 points here.

I use this for mellow stuff like jazz and clean stuff. Beefy sounding neck pup, but horrible sounding bridge, way too thin for an LP. I already have replacement Pups, Seymour Duncan Custom 5 in bridge ASAP.
It sounds awful with distortion. I use a Marshall tube amp, no, not an AVT, but rather a JTM 45, bluesbreaker. It is quiet, but the God-awful bridge pup is useless to me, so I use s strat for lead anyway.
I give it a 10 for neck pup and only a 6 for the neck, only becuase it makes the neck a tad brighter in the middle position. Average score = 8 + 1 for sound of both pups on at once.

Action was set up way too high from factory. I lowered it by 1/8" and it still has no buzz! Amazing for an Asian guitar. I removed the Treble/Rythem sticker, it looked so stupid, being cream color. As if I don't know which pup I'm using. I replaced the switch and placed it sideways, so it now points in the direction of the pup. Why hasn't Gibson/Epiphone thought of this? I removed the God-awful pickguard, let's just say it never existed. I replaced the God-awful cream colored pickup holders with black ones. What was Epiphone thinking when they put gold knobs on a black and chrome guitar? Are they that stupid? huh?

I think it hold up.

I have never contacted them, but Gibson support is flawless. I wish that other big American Musical Instruments company in California would be more like them. I had my LP (not this one) repaired and set up by them (Gibson), did a great job, also sent me free switch. I have owned 5 Epi's and 3 LP's. Quality is always an issue with Gibson.

Been playing many jears. Don't waste your money on Gibson. Some guy picked mine up by accident, thinking it was his Gibson $2500 LP, but it was my Quilt-top! I listed all the things I hate; gold knobs, cream-colored plastic parts, no case, crappy bridge pup, faulty switch, thin sound for such a heavy guitar. But i love the neck pup, which is what I use 70% of the time, both pups 20%, bridge maybe 10%. I planned on buying a PRS Billy Carter guitar, but it looked stupid with the green bats or beer cans, whatever it was on neck. I also played several Epiphone LPs and SGs all under $500.00. I liked the Scheckster flametop, but wasn't sure, so I picked this stunning LP and am glad I did. Amzingly enuf, it sounded a lot better when I got it home than in the store, and I was using a Marshall Plexi Reissue. Go Figure!! That has never happened before. I usually get home and think , "why did I buy this?

2005 Les Paul Classic Quilt Top. Made in China. Mahogany body with Cherry Red Quilt Top. Epiphone--but Gibson Designed--humbuckers, Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Grover tuners, 22 frets, wonderful neck and beautiful cherry finish!

The sound is fantastic! I tried a $1,800 Gibson Les Paul Classic before buying this and I could hear no difference between the two! The bridge pickup growls and the neck pickup is warm and full sounding. After I had the guitar professionally setup (which every guitar should be set up correctly) it just sounds great!

The guitar needed a professional setup--which isn't unusual--they all do! The neck pickup needed to be raised slightly and the bridge pickup lowered. The workmanship on the guitar is incredible for the price range. I had the switch replaced with a Gibson one, the jack replaced and all the pots. This cost about $75.00 dollars--plus $75.00 for a proper setup--but it is worth it! You get the quality of a Gibson Les Paul at one third the price! A professional guitar builder I know says these are excellent guitars once you replace the
switch, jack and pots---and have it properly setup. I would give the guitar about a 7 before having the work done---and a 9 after!

This is a well built guitar except for a few things that I wanted to upgrade right away. I had the strap buttons super glued and re-enforced. Strap buttons on mahogony guitars are nortorious for coming loose--now they won't! The finish on this guitar--and all the neck and fret work--is as well done (or better!) as the new Gibsons I've seen.

I've always had good luck with Epiphone. I don't anticipate any
problems. I chose to have some hardware upgraded right away---it
wasn't causing me any problems--I just wanted it upgraded to Gibson standards.

I've been playing for over 15 years. I own two other electrics plus a Takamine acoustic guitar. I love this guitar! I highly reccomend it! Do yourself a favor--and buy one of these--spend an addtional $150.00 dollars and upgrade the switch, jack and pots--have it properly setup--and you'll have a guitar that is 95% of a Gibson Les Paul at one-third the price! You won't ever need to upgrade the pickups--they're that good! If you don't do the upgrading you will have a good guitar---with the upgrading--there's nothing under $1,500 dollars that is any better.

I bought this used. Everything is stock with a trans- black finish. Control scheme is identical to a Gibson LP.

I play metal mostly and this guitar fits the bill just fine. The pick ups are surprisingly quiet for stock Epiphone pick ups.

Action is nice after I adjusted the bridge and truss rod. The finish is great on this. I notice there is a lot of variance on the trans- black models: some, like mine, are very dark and others I've seen almost look gray! I guess it depends on which batch they made.

I blind tested this with a Gibson LP and noticed virtually no difference to my ears or fingers.

I've played for over 25 years and have owned/own 8 guitars. I've always liked LPs but couldn't afford one. I'm pleased with this one. That being said, I will add new black hardware, clear knobs, and locking tuners to fully customize this, as it will be my final guitar purchase. Pick ups and fret upgrade are possible in the future.

Dual "Made in USA" humbuckers, trans. orange quilt top, chrome grover tuners, rosewood board with 22 med. jumbo frets, mahogany body with maple top.

My band has a funk, rock, soul sound. I bought this axe as a backup for my Gibson SG Special Faded. I have several strat like guitars that I love, but they sound too different from the Gibson and do not sustain quite as well. This LP sounds very close to the Gibson SG. It has the thick, fat, Warren Haynes type lead tone that I rely on when using overdrive on the neck pick up. The bridge is really very good, with biting, edgy, classic rock tones spilling out like a mo fo. Clean, it sounds surpisingly good, especially in the middle pick up position. Though when distorted, I don't hear much difference between the mid and neck positions. Strange. All in all, I prefer the tone of my SG, which is more complex and a tad fuller; but the difference is so subtle that I don't think many others would notice. This is a perfect back up for the Gibson. Heck, it might sound just as good with Gibson 490's. I should note that I owned an EPI LP Classic years ago (made in 1995) and the pick ups and tuners on this are far superior.

Was surprisingly well set up off the rack at Guitar Center. Intonation is good and I put some 10's on it, lowered the action a hair and was set. The fret woork here was better than on my Gibson which needed a fret levelling to get rid of some annoying buzz. I played the guitar for hours and compared it with several other Epi's and high end Gibsons for comparison. It came out ahead of the pack in many respects (though it did not have the tonal magic of the Gibson Les Paul Special Faded -- man did that thing sing).

I gig regularly and plan to use this as my back up for a Gibson SG Special Faded, as mentioned above. I have every confidence that it will be useful to me. I think I could even use it as a main guitar, though I prefer the neck and tone of the SG. (The Paul wins in the look dept. though).

Gibson is great in this area, though I have never called Epi. Is it the same customer support team?

I have been playing 20 years and have toured the states and Europe; and apart from my own band, I get paid for my services (though not enough to splurge on a Gibson as a back up). I consider my skills to be professional level and my needs are that of a professional musician. Hence, I don't buy junk. This is a pro instrument, with quality build, tone, looks, and playability. It is a remarkably good Les Paul and compares favorably to my Gibson SG. Check out www.urbansun.net.

Same features as the previous reviews. Glad to see the Grover tuners and Gibson designed pickups. I got the wine red quilt top which is absolutely beautiful. The wife even thought it was pretty! (Had to get a pretty one to justify the purchase! :-) The neck is perfect! I was worried that it might be too fat, but it is perfect. I dont like the ultra slim necks or fat necks like BC Richs. The first thing I did when I took it out of the case was look at the neck, and I dont think Ive ever seen a straighter neck on any guitar.

I plugged it into my Digitech RP100 > Peavey stereo chorus 400, and OH MY GOD! This guitar has the sweetest sound I could have imagined. The pickups arent too hot, or too cold, just perfect. I play everything from Rush to AC/DC to disturbed, and it fits the bill for anything. The RP100 will give all the gain you could want, so I guess its up the the amp for that. It has all the "bite" and "growl" you could want - unless you like pickups that will melt the pick guard.. I dont like pickups that are too hot, because thats all they can do is distort, without being able to turn them down to get a cleaner, more vintage sound. This guit has the perfect sound for me. No noise at all even with the distortion cranked.....

It was set up with the action way too high, you could have stuck your pinky between the low E and the 12th fret. But a few turns of a screwdriver on the bridge, and alot of turns on the G string saddle it has perfect action and intonation. Other than that, setup was fine. I looked at this sweetie for a good 20 minutes trying to find anything else wrong with it, but it is perfect..

Its been a while since I was in a band, and it will be a while before I will be again, but I would have no problem gigging with it. I wouldnt gig with any guitar without a backup, but this one would my primary axe for sure. Also, I dont plan on dropping it, but I would think it would hold up the test of time against any guitar. Its a Les Paul, so how much more solid can a guitar get?

I got it through Musicians Friend, and there was a slight problem with the advertised color, but they made it right by me with 1 phone call...

Ive been playing for uuuuuh... 28 years... OK, im 42!! Ive owned about 20 guitars in my life, and have always wanted a Les Paul, but could never afford the thousand plus price tag.. Ive played plenty of Gibbys though, and have always been impressed with the feel and sound. And if anyone is in the same boat as me, and wants a Les Paul, and doesnt care that its made overseas with a different name on the headstock, then dont hesitate to fork out 500 bucks.. you wont be sorry.. Epiphone Les Pauls ROCK!!

2003 MIK Epiphone Les Paul Classic Quilt Top (Transparent Blue). Bought new from Musician's Friend for $499. All the typical trimmings associated with this model and discussed in previous reviews. However, this one has chrome Grover Tuners -- not the plastic green thingies.

Pickups sound fine -- no worries there although they'll probably be replaced -- pickups are usually the first thing everyone changes. No complaint here though for stock pickups. I use it through a Fender Blues Jr and a small Marshall 10 wat solid state practice amp. Guitar has a rich fat sound and sounds nice. It can play clean and it can get crunchy too. Really an awesome guitar.

Really, can't find a flaw on it. The transparent blue quilt top finish is just superb. Binding is smooth. all switches and pots properly installed and feel sturdy. Very happy with the Grover tuners so far. Setup was fine -- plays great. I was really surprised, for the money here, compared to a GIBSON LP -- I think it's perfect.

Built like a damn brick and about as heavy as one. Damn, I thought my telecaster was heavy! But, hey, it's a Les Paul -- I would have been worried if it was a lightweight. Finish is nice and thick, but smooth -- no excess finish anywhere. Strap buttons solid. Looks like this thing will last a lifetime

I'm rating Musicians Friend here -- they are always great!

This is a perfect value. Why would anyone "introduce" themselves to the world of Les Paul by buying a $1,400 Gibson LP? Way too much. Buy this for about 1/3 the price and if you fall in love, then throw down the cash for a Gibson if you want to.

I really like the neck, perfect width for my hands and jubo frets! This thing is a dream to play. Haven't experienced any of the problems sited in other reviews of this guitar. I read the reviews here before I bought and figured I'd have to replace the tuner (but these are just fine!); thought I'd have to replace the switches (they're fine); the only thing I may replace on this baby is the pickups -- and that's just because everyone's ear is different and guitar players are kind of weird when it comes to pickups (we gotta have what we think is best). I was getting ready to chunk this old Marshall S/S practice amp of mine, because my other guitar (telecaster) sounds like crap through it -- but this Epi LP sounds just fine -- I think I'll keep the amp. Really, don't be afraid of this guitar -- Epi seems to be reading the reviews here and have made some pretty good changes to the product here.

great trans black finish, grover tuners, vintage gold colored speed knobs. Korean made.

I use a pignose (all tube) g40v with a celestion vintage 10, this guitar has all the classic les paul sounds. Neck alone, classic santana, bridge alone, AC/DC, and all the Zep sounds in between. The pickups are much better than I expected. I read allot of reviews that people didn,t like the sound. I think it sounds just like it should. I use emg,s (s,85,81) on my other guitar, these don,t quite have the clarity on the top end but, I think that is part of the les paul sound.

It,s funny the only thing done here in the US was the set up and it sucked. The intonation was way out. I had to flip the g string saddle around to get it to intonate properly. The factory action wasn,t bad, very low action. I use heavy strings and had to reset everything accordingly. The top isn't bookmatched, it's a single piece. The only construction flaw I could find was, under the neck pickup, there is a big gap where the neck is glued into the body. It doesn't affect the tone and probably won't come apart. the finish is stunning.

The entire guitar seems sturdy and like it will easily stand the test of time. The hardware is good. The toggle switch crackles once in a while but nothing major.

limited life time warranty.

Iv'e been playing for 24 years. I like great tone. this guitar has it and looks great too. Intonation aside, this is a great deal for the money. Even if your anal, you could replace all the hardware and electronics and still have far less invested than a gibson.

This is a recent Epi Les Paul. It has 22 frets, a quilt top, like every other Les Paul control wise and pickup wise. Tune-o-matic, grover tuners. The Grover's were in it when i bought it, im not sure if they are stock.

I play mostly metal with some lighter pop stuff. I use it with a real cheap Rogue 100 watt amp. It can be nosiy at time, espially with alot of distortion. Very deep sound, but I put an Invader in the bridge position so it helps with the noise and it does make it very hot. Tons of variety in this guitar. I like pretty much everything except the crappy strap buttons and the lack of binding on the headstock.

It was set up great out of the box, i had to ajust the action, but only becuz i put some heavy strings on it. There was nothing i had to really adjust anything on this guitar. The binding is kinda of sloppy in some spots.

I think it would be extremly hard to break this guitar in any way. I have played with it alone, without a backup a couple of times. STRAP BUTTONS SUCK!

I have been playing for 3 years, and I love this guitar. Although it isnt my favorite (it loses to my Ibanez RG570) i do play it all the time at gigs. I definatly recommend some new pickups. Im putting some EMGs in it for Christmas.