Epiphone Les Paul Elite Hollow-body

Black gloss finsih; other details are pretty well covered below.
Retrofitted with Sperzel locking tuners (love them!) and a strap-lock system without the strap pieces (don't really care about that, but the strap does fit on really well and they seem very solid, so it's a small bonus).

"2ND" is embossed into the wood on the back of the headstock, right below the serial number. The guy I got it from claims that it is from a small run of US-built epiphones, but I have no ide if he's right about that. The truss rod cover is marked "gibson" too, for what that's worth.

Kind of like a combination between a Les Paul and a hollowbody Gretsch. Woody and twangy at the same time (does that even make sense?), with a rich low-end. Neck pickup sounds great clean, a bit muddy with distortion and tends to feed back when you don't want it to. Bridge pickup sounds great clean or distorted, and actually has a nice, controllable feedback response. Actually sounds good with a wah-wah before distortion, which suprised me. It does tend to whistle with the toe all the way down, which is a bit of a pain when turning the wah on and off, but avoidable with judicious use of the volume knobs.

Flexible, pleasing array of tones. Perfect complement to the Parker, whihc is a fantastic guitar (especially if you need a great deal of control over feedback - I've never found a better guitar for that purpose) but sometimes sounds too precise, and can be a bit broght with a lot of solid-state distortion pedals. This guitar basically does everything the Parker doesn't, tone-wise, with a fair amount of crossover between the two tones. Great, unique-yet-classic sound.

I generally don't like playing Epiphone/Gibson guitars becasue I'm not used to the neck scale, but this one is definitely very playable. It was well set up when I got it (although I had to raise the action a bit for the low E to clear the upper frets). I have playe dmuch more desirable Gibsons that have much rougher frets, which is nice for me - I like extremely smooth frets whenever possible.

Seems solidly built. My main guitar is a '96 Parker Fly Deluxe, which you can literally stand on without breaking it (it took the full weight of an airborne, 6'5" man right at the neck joint at a basement show years ago with no damage!), so compared to that this thing's a bit fragile, but I would (and will) gig with it. Finish seems OK to me.

There were some broken solder joints on the neck pickup volume pot when I got it, which were fairly simple to fix (a pain to locate, though, since they were hidden under the main wire bundle). The volume pots actually seem like they're linear taper rather than audio taper - there's a big lump in their response at around 7. Not a huge deal for me, really.

n/a

I just stumbled on the chance to trade for this guitar yesterday, and don't really NEED it, so I doubt I'd replace it if it disappeared. But I would definitely miss it. It is going to get a lot of use! Second best guitar I've ever owned; I'd take it over any PRS I've played.

Only things I don't like are:
-Black finish (it looks good, but every guitar I own is black! I don't want any more black guitars! Is fate telling me to join a nu-metal band or something?)
-weird, nonlinear response of volume controls. Minor annoyance, but for someone who did swells or something it would be a bigger issue. It's possible that this guitar had work done and someone put in linear-taper pots by accident, so it might not be an issue for others.

Made in 1998 in Korea. 22 Frets. Looks like solid top mahagony to me. Has two tone and two volume controls with a 3 way selector switch and two chrome covered humbuckers. Body and neck are mahagony, it is a set neck, looks like it was carved from a single piece of mahagony. Mine is a beautiful wine red suburst, so if you can picture in your mind a Les Paul, with F holes and a trapeze bar stop piece and tunomatic bridge, then you got the picture. Nice grover style tuners, except the tuning pegs look cheap, but they service their purpose and it stays in tune well. Nice thin, fast neck. Came with a hardshell case and a cord. I just picked this up a couple of days ago and it's a nice guitar.

Well I am stuck in the 60's and 70's style of rock music. I lean towards beatles, stones, zeppelin, cream, hendrix, that type of music, especially the blues rock. I've got 4 amps now, one is a Marshall MG10CD, the other is a VOX Pathfinder 15R, then there is a VOX AD15VT and I just bought a Marshall AVT20. I only play at home, so I don't need a lot of volume, but all these amps crank pretty good. Don't use any effects, just a boss distortion pedal. Sounds great on all the amps for any music. Has a nice rich full slightly twangy sound on the bridge and a nice jazz or bluesy sound on the neck pickup. Gets a lot of good sound variations. I like everything about it.

Flawless..........even being a 6 year old guitar.

Well it hung in there for 6 years with the guy that owned it, and he gigged with it. He died of a heart attack last week, and his wife, being a friend of my wife, gave it to me, said he would want me to have it. Everything is solid as a rock.

Never dealt with Epiphone.

Been playing about 35 years, never a pro. Played mostly acoustic, just started to collect electrics a couple of years ago. Have a Fender Strat, Fender Tele and an Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I like the sound of this guitar the best of all of them.

1997 Epiphone Eltie Les Paul Hollow body, mahogany/alder body
mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard,22 frets
2 humbuckers,2 vol + 2 tone controls.Standard Les Paul features.
Black colour and gold hardware.
Abr 1 bridge

I have change the pickups to Seymor Duncan Alnico pro II.
The sound is very good with the Duncan pickups.
Awesome guitar with the right pickup configuration.
Not that good with the stock crappy pu.s

Bought it second hand (3000 sek) = 350 us dollar.
Ive made a complete setup myself with new strings/intonation.
Switch both pickups and toggleswitch + some more things.
The previouos owner didnt know how to do that.

Black (ebony) = tiny scratches that needs alot of polishing.
The hardware has fainted from its original gold finish to nickel.
With the right setup you have a pretty good guitar but the
Abr bridge and saddle needs a little work.(or change)

Never needed.

If it were stolen i probably woudlnt find another one.
They are hard to find.
With a professional setup and a good pair of Duncan/Gibson pu.s
I give it 8.
With stock crap it only gets a 5.

1996 Les Paul Elite. I heard a lot of differing descriptions of the design of this guitar. Let me lay some of the myths to rest. First, the guitar's body appears to have been carved from a single piece of mahogany with a center piece that runs the length of the guitar up the center. The top is maple but it is 1/4 inch thick. I had upgraded humbuckers installed - Rio Grande Texas BBQ, and Texas Genuine. This guitar has a few dings from being played. That's all. The label on the headstock says made in Korea, another label says inspected and set up in the USA.

This guitar sounds great. Sustain, excellent. Warm and jazzy through the neck. Can dial up many different sounds. No problem with effects - comprocessor, tube screamer.

It was set up by music store. Low action, fast neck. I had them set it up with 11's

just got it, but seems built to last.

This guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Florentine without the fancy AAA woods, but the AAA woods do not affect the sound. The key to this guitar is the mahogany back/sides; the chambers - f-holes, and the thick maple top - this has all of this. It's just not quite as pretty as a flashy figured maple, but it sounds marvelous. The design of the guitar is very similar to the new Gibson releases - 336, 346, Pat Martino, Paul Jackson Jr., Heritage Ultra.

It is interesting that the Gibson/Epiphone folks discontinued the Florentine and then introduced these other models. I think the Les Paul label attracks rockers and the design of this guitar is more suited for diversity - jazz, fusion, blues, rock players who might be more inclined to but a 336 or a 346. So, Gibson, recognizing this, brought it back in a new skin - but, folks, it looks like the same thing and most likely sounds like the same thing. This is one of the best deals in the guitar world. If you find one, buy it. Do the math and you will quickly figure out what you got.

22 frets, semi-hollow body, a volume and tone knob for each of the two pickups, 3-way selector, passive electronics, awesome finish - im not sure what everyones talking about with the sensitive to scratches.. ive had this for 6 years and its only gotten a few, and im not obsessive about keeping it clean. picture a black les paul, gold hardware, cream trim, with F-Holes. my only complaint was the epiphone tuners, which are notorous for being of poor quality... so i put in some sperzel locking tuners. great tuners. so easy to play.

the guitar sounds awesome. the f-holes really at a TON of sustain. the guitar has an overal warm and thick sound, but maintains its integrity at really high volumes with lots of distortion. really rich and full. ive used it for jazz, indie-rock, even experimental noise and hardcore. it works for everything.

i love the action, though im going to raise it up a bit in a few minutes to reduce buzzing on a few of the higher frets. the fit and finish are perfect.

never EVER had a problem with anything

never had to deal

awesome guitar

I don't know where or when it was made. I assume Korea. It has 22 frets. It is laminated, according to the specs. It has been heavily modified. It has a Seymour DUncan Pearly Gates pickup in the Bridge position, and a Seymour Duncan special/special (designed to be mounted in the bridge)at the neck position. This makes the neck pickup mounted "backwards", like Peter Green of the early Fleetwood Mac. The pickups are not coil tapped, but a Vari-Tone switch was installed in place of the rhythm tone pot. It has an Alder top over Mahogany. The finish is Black, with white binding. It's Les Paul, with f-holes. There's a stop bar tailpiece. The neck seems a little slimmer than a Gibson - I like it better. I got the case with it.

I play a lot of different styles - I love electric guitar - I hate pop music with a "star" and a bunch of video and dancers and utter nonsense. The Epi Elite is great for a session or studio guitar - it can dial in any sound, as if a recording engineer had already put it into the mix - it can sound like Peter Green playing "Bare Trees", or it can sound like the Beatles on an AM radio. I play it through a Marshall Slash head and a 1936 cab, a Session 75 (it blew up) or a Laney VC 30. It is noisy in the plug and the lead pickup, but if I use it more, the noise goes away. I call it a Baby King - it covers a lot of territory, and beautifully. The sound is the most lush Les Paul sound I have ever personally owned, but it can be extremely scooped out and thin, or produce these fat, wooly jazz sounds thatare good for rhythm comping. It's a little boomy, and I think the pickups are wired for coil taps, but the feature isn't used with the Vari-Tone - if they were hooked together for the optimum - whoa! I give it a 10 - it really does sound great.

Action is fine, exceot for a 10 on the e string - it's out of synch with the other strings, but it was used. Pickups seemed fine. The guitar itself was fine, but some finish things have gone south. Over time, and none of my other axes have done this, the finisj on the back has cracked and the binding around where your right elbow would be has sort of exuded glue from the binding, although it doesn't seem to have come loose.

I would not likely use it live, but that doesn't mean I couldn't. It looks like it would hold up. The strap buttons were replaced. I play it and it works. I always have abackup - I would never take an Epiphone without a backup, but it would probably be ok.

I haven't contacted Epiphone.

Playing 38 years. Lots o' gear. No questions - this is a one-of-a-kind instrument. If lost, I would try to replicate it. I love the Vari-Tone with the Seymour Duncan pickups. I hate the finish coming apart. It really has a gorgeous tone, and the Vari-Tone allows one to dial in a notch filter to sit in the mix - I consider it to be a great recording guitar. I did not compare it to anything else. I didn't have a Les Paul at the time, and it sounded good. Ilater got a Jimmy Page, which sounds 'way different. This guitar was re-wired by Dan Dola for a former guitarist for the Bay City Rollers, who traded it in on a Tele instead - he plays blues in Orlando. His loss was my gain - I can cover a great tone range with this axe.

Allo. 480 Canadian is about 340ish US? anyway this is a fantastic guitar; Les Paul semi-hollowbody with two F-holes to testify to that. I bought it used from this fellow who really trashed it. There was grease, pizza stains, and it seems like some colossal hamster was chewing it at the bottom near where the patch chord jack goes in. Massive dents and dings everywhere. I love it.

I'm not too sure what year this is, as the original owner didn't either. I think it' 98 or 99? doesn't matter. I think the tuners are original, and the do stay in tune quite well. I have no issues there. The pickups are also really nice! I think they're original too cause the gold pickup covers are kind of worn out. But they sound great. I am strongly against buying epiphones, but I've always wanted to try a Les Paul Florentine, or "Elite", and I was just stunned with this piece (And under all that grease and dust... what a beaut!)

It's pretty versatile :) After owning it for half a year, I still enjoy experimenting with the different sound combinations. Honestly, I hate to say it because it's useless information, I like all settings. Except with the tone controls turned down all the way. Bridge PU gives great lead tones. I am also an owner of a PRS Mccarty, with (in my opinion) is rather useless for many reasons. One being, the bridge pickup on that one splits my ears like an ice pick, the middle setting sounds wonky. The Neck setting is rather nice, but for a 3000 dollar US piece, i'm only making use of 1/3 of it's potential... that kinda sucks.

As opposed to this piece of crap 300 dollar chewed up mother, all PU settings are usable and clean.

Some fellow mentioned that this guitar sounds better clean rather than distorted? I'll not dispute that it sounds good clean, but I love it distorted too :D It also sounds great under Chorus too.... wah, i dunno if it's because of the hollowbody, but, I nearly wet my pants. I can't describe the sound... sorry.... useless i know.

Wow man! I hate Epiphones because I hate they're frets! But I dunno if the guy before me refretted this thing or not, but they're so smooth! On other Epi's i've played, bending the strings feels like... scratchy sand paper. But this Elite fellow is smooth as butter. Almost as smooth as the PRS.

I love how this thing's all scratched up :D That's another thing I don't like about my Mccarty... it's too nice. Every time i get a scratch on it, I freak out.

Which makes the LP much more playable :D Which makes my experience a lot more enjoyable.

Ooh yeah! I love the Diamonds on the stockhead!! I LOVE THE DIAMONDS!!! In my opinion, every Les Paul should have them :D

Right, The finish... It's pretty well done :P The finish is black with gold pickups to contrast. After cleaning all the mold off, she was really pretty. shiny with a lot of scratches :P Classy, yet... a girl who's been around. I love it.

I give it a 4, because I'm only speaking of the condition I got it in. I'm sure If I got one brand new.... this thing would get a rating.... that's a lot higher.

Even after cleaning, i was stunned by it's good looks. :P but then... there were still a lot of dings and what not. Plus, the gold on the hardware's wearing out :P

The hamster marks were the result of the previous owner dropping it. I think it's been dropped more than once. Anyway, very solid :D Tho I've only taken it live twice. Tuners haven't failed me... and I don't trash my guitars around. I take pretty good care of them :D I think. Still, I don't want a guitar that I'm afraid to play.

Never dealt with.

Music is my life. My life is music. Is music my life? Life is my music. Is that how you spell life? crap... it looks wrong all of a sudden. anyway, as I'm sure you all know by now, I also own a PRS... On top of that I also have an Art & Lutherie Dreadnought, Simon & Patrick 12 string, and a Martin DM. I love my acoustics... I love my electrics too.... bah, even my PRS. I hate my PRS. I can't decide... I think I only like it cause it's a PRS... but anyway, the Les Paul! It's great! If you can get a deal on it, go for it! you won't regret it. And if you did... and do regret... then seek mental help. It's well worth the price. I will no longer badmouth Epiphones as badly as I do to my friends anymore. But still... If you guys want a Gibson without the Gibson price, I would HIGHLY suggest Dillion Guitars. They're beyond fabulous. Beyond anything I've ever seen. And handcrafted too! Do yourself a favor and readup the reviews on Dillions! Besides, Epiphone's not gonna die anytime soon, but these smaller better quality companies who are devoted to making good guitars... We gotta support them! Underdogs!!!! UNDERDOGS!!!

Bah! Off subject again... where was I? oh yeah, the Les Paul! :D It's great! I love it.

Its got some nice gold hardware, a low action, awesome sustain, beautiful finish, f holes in the body, and to top it off sweet looking block inlays. For being an Epiphone it sure is sweet.

I play alot of differant stuff and it fits nicely with my style playing. I like it clean for blues and distorted for metal. Every Epiphone I've played has sounded horible but this is the one exception it sounds great.

Everything was set up and inspected in the USA and is set up very nicely. The only buzzes I get are on the low E string but when I'm plugged in I cant hear them at all. Everything is adjusted fine.

It seems like a solid guitar and it dosent seem like its going to break at all. Its a little scratch sensative as I found out when my friend played and it rubbed against his pants button through his shirt. But it seems like if I try smashing it it'll stay completely solid.

I have been playing for a few years now. I have a Carvin tube half stack, some boss petals (my favorite being the super overdrive used with the tubes) and a cry baby wah. I wish I would've asked the specs on it before I bought it. I'm not quite sure of some things. If it were stolen or lost I'd definatly buy it again. I've heard they sell for around $500 and for that price its an excellant guitar. I loved everything about this guitar except for the fact that it says epiphone. I love the sustain most of all though. I havent really compared it in a store because it was given as a trade but I've played many guitars and some were extremely over priced but I actually think this one is under priced. I do wish it had the Gibson name though so I dont look like a cheap ass playing it.

Made in Korea. 22 Fretts, carved top, F-holes-they add some nice sustain. Has two pickups, volume knob for each pickup and tone control for each pickup. Its a les paul with f-holes basically.

It sounds BEAUTIFUL!!!! clean it is warm and expressive. Very nice sound. Obviously it depends on your amp etc but the guitar is beautiful!!! I play it through a J-station into a Fender 112 Deluxe 90 Watt amp. I created a great tube like setting and it sounds great. It also sounds great with some distortion.........heavy and relaxed. Good Sustain on it, probably due to the f-holes. No faults with the sounds. I use a triple rectifier setting and it sounds great. I have tuned the whole lot down a 1/2 step and the Low E down a further step: drop D tuning a 1/2 step lower, I think it sounds great goos full sound.

The action is a amazing, really low and no significant buzz except the type you get on any guitar with really low action. I recently put on a lower height nut so teh action iis even lower so there is a bit of string buzz on the first frett. The freets are very nicely finished and tapered and over all the finish is beautiful. The gold harware is slightly tarnished but still looks great. The tunign pegs are fine no problems and seem solid enough.

Seems very durable but i have never gigged with it.

NA

Excellent guitar. Cant really fault it. Excellent price excellent finish set up etc. Nothing bad about it........most of all BEautiful sound.

USA

I like to play Jazz with this guitar! Sounds perfect and looks perfect. The pick ups have a lot power and this likes my Marshall Amp.
It's a litte bit sensitive on high distortion cause of the f-holes, but anyway it's better to play this guitar clean.

Have to fix regulary the nuts for the tuners, but the rest is perfect. The surface has be treaten well, it's sensitive for scratches and fat finger prints.

Perfect for live playing, i have it now for 3 years and play regulary live without any problems.

it's got yer basic les paul features. Nothing special. does have f-holes which do add a some nice sustain. I reallly like the gold hardware, which makes the guitar look sharp. I heard the tuners on epi's were kinds shit but these seem ok. I'll probably end up getting new ones eventually though. Probably some new pickups eventually too.

i'm into bands like Oasis, Stone Roses, Verve and it seems to fit that sound pretty good. Iy has a great treble distortion sound. I've only played it through a shitty little cheri 20 watter ( my marshall stack getting tuned up) so shoudn't really be commenting on the sound anyhow but it seems great. the sounds are pretty versitile on this guitar as well.

EVERYTHING HERE IS GREAT!!!!!! this guitar was put together execellently. i've heard of some peoppe complaining about epiphone for being put together really shitty but mine is great! maybe i just got lucky?

once agian this seems to be awesome as well I've only had the guitar a week so i don't know if it's going to last but it's seems really solid. you may not wanna be careful when you strum because There's no pick gaurd so if may not suit punk players , but they can F%#@ off anyhow. You can get a pick gaurd put on for little cash but i like it without one.

no comment

if you want a epiphone les paul and yer intersted in the custom i reccomend this one instead. i really think the f-holes add a lot. Great guitar happy with my purchase!!!!!!!!!!