Epiphone Les Paul Special 2

Made in Indonesia, basswood body, mahogany neck, rosewooed fretboard, 2x open coil humbucker pick-ups, dot inlays, black hardware. Fantastic Wine Red finish with a black hardware. Paid 149 EUR at Thomann/Germany. A real baragin for that fantatstic guitar.

Needed a guitar with humbucker sound as a supplement to my Fender Mexican-Strat single coils. Warm sound with the neck pickup up to a brilliant "board" sound with the bridge humbucker.
Unplugged, I was positively surprised about the long sustain which is an indication that it's not such a plywood peace of junk.
I'm running the LP Special II with a Fender Frontman 15 rehearsal amp. Admittedly,
this is my first Les Paul so I do really have no idea how the Gibson ones will
sound. However, recently I played an Epiphone Standard LP which costed more than
twice as much. But I liked the sound of the Special II better.

The factory setup for the action was good. Action was set pretty low so some buzzing could be heared if the strings (especially the lower ones) are strummed harder. Since I'm playing classick rock and gospel I'm not complaining at all. I love this low action since the playing is very comfortable. Also the neck is setup properly. No sharp edges at the fret-wires.

Now the negative impressions: with the factory delivered strings it was almost impossible to get a right tuning. After I changed the strings to a set of D'Addario .009 (I might rechange to a set of 0.10) and an thorough adjustment of the octave (factory setting was good but not optimal) the tuning is perfect. The machine heads look kind of cheap but keep the guitar tuned pretty well. I might think to replace them with some Klusons or Grovers, but currently they are doing the job.

The wine-red finish is a dream. No flaws in the coating. Pickup adjustment was ok.

This guitar is sturdy and would withstand any gigs. The strap buttons are ok.

I'm playing guitar for more than 35 yrs now. I bought the Special II as a backup for my Mexican-Strat. But currently I prefer to play the Special II. I love the warm humbucker sound. It's a perfect combination to the single-coil sound of my Mex Strat. If you correct the setup of this guitar (especially replacing the strings) you'll have a nice, proper-sounding instrument which is not only for beginners but also for advanced musicians.

Made in China, 22 frets, maple/alder body rosewood fingerboard, sturdy, great finish.

i use a Marsahll MG-15CDR, sound is rich, it has a grat sustain, i play punk-rock and its sound great, i suitable also for metall (has a rich dark tone)

Very well made, sturdy, its a heavy guitar (5 kg), glossy finish,

Strap buttons solid, hardware looks ok, can be played live.

grat guitar i got mine for like 160 euros, from Germany, (i live in Romania), i recomended to all who want to begin playing guitar

Made in Indonesia, 1 Vol. 1 Tone Knob, H/H config, Basswood body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, Vintage Sunburst, LP body, Tune-O-Matic Bridge, bought it as a starter pack with a gig bag, 10W amp, strap, cable and whistle-tuner. Not bad for $200! The strap buttons had to go, since it fell off one button the first hour I had it on (landed on my foot, so no damage!) Replaced them with Dunlop Dual Design Straplocks; problem solved.

Right now I'm sending it through an Ibanez DE7 Echo/Delay Pedal and a Boss '59 Fender Bassman Pedal for that vintage tone. I replaced the factory strings with Ernie Ball Super Slinky Pure Nickel wound, and this really brought out a great "warm & full" LP tone. The bridge pickup is pretty twangy when run through the pedals just mentioned. Gets a great rockabilly sound that way! The neck pickup has a nice "laid back" acoustic-type tone. IMO, the pickups make for a pretty well-rounded axe.

The action seemed a tad bit too high when fresh out of the box, but no biggie. It came in pretty good condition. Basically it was plug n' play. Great deal!

I think the guitar would be okay for live playing. The switch and pots seem pretty durable, but only time will tell. The finish is great, and I baby my guitar: spray polish and wipe down & string conditioner wipedown after every playing session, string change once a month with a lemon oil fret polish and a microfiber wipedown once a day to remove dust. Hey, a guitar is like a beautiful woman, it needs to be pampered, no? With this kind of care, I have pretty good confidence in my guitar. I would depend on it, and since it IS a starter guitar, I would not use it as my primary, but this can definitely be a solid backup! The machines seem a bit chintsy, but I haven't had a problem with it.

Never had to get it repaired nor have I needed to call tech, and I hope it stays that way!

I've been playing for 6 months, and I play rockabilly. I'm saving up for a Gretsch G5129 Electromatic, and this Epi LP will be my backup/quick jam session guitar. I have NO regrets at all getting this guitar. I would defenitely buy it again if it was lost or stolen. What I like the best is the the quality for the price. Yeah, it's a starter, but you really get some bang for your buck! It's easy to play and sounds okay out of the box. But, first chance you get, replace the strings. The factory ones are horrible and stretch way too much, they hardly ever stayed in tune. The Ernie Balls I put on took a set in a couple of days and stay in tune pretty well, plus they really brought out the tone of the guitar. Same goes for the factory cable. Ditch it, get a good cable like a Monster or the like. It would be nice to have seperate tone and volume controls for each pickup, but hey; it's a starter. Overall the guitar is great for the price. I would highly recommend it for newbies.

one tone, one volume, one switch, I would sometimes prefer this setup on my higher end les paul models.

First off i love playing cheap guitars. To me there is no better thrill than taking a cheapo ax and making it play great. Some guitars need a ton of work to make them sing , not this one.I was really surprised by the tone of the pickups in this guitar. I have two other LP style guitars , both agile models (which are great guitars for the money) but i never liked the stock agile piks. I took one guitar and put in a set of gfs 59's and it was better but not great. Wen i brought home the epi I was expecting i would need to change pickups but to my surprise the pickups are really quite good. go figure. you can buy a set of these pickups on e bay for about 10 bucks because EVERYONE upgrades them- but they sound better than the gfs 59's! The guitars sound is quite clear with a good LP tone and a bit of snarl. Dont get me wrong , it doesn't sound like a gibson but it does have a bit of the character of a gibby and a good useable tone. not muddy at all. Of all the amps i own this guitar seems to sound best with my 60's gibson skylark. very snarly with a great attack. Its not nearly as nice as an agile (which only costs about 50 bucks more) but ( and i hate to admit it) it SOUNDS better. more articulate ,with a better bite. The thing i like most about this ax is they made about a billion of them and you can always find one in a pawn shop for about $90.00. Great giggin ax. good tone . Amazing tone for the money.

I bought mine used so i cant coment on the factory setup of mine. I have played quite a few in the music stores and the factory setups are pretty bad. They all needed the nut slots filed down, and on mine the bridge saddles needed to be filed correctly. Frets are pretty good but the fret end bevel is a little steep, which takes up some playing area of the fret. tuners work good and hold tune well but they are pretty cheap. The body is plywood but then again it sounds good so who cares. pots feel good and work well. hardware is cheap but works good. fretboard is pretty nice. The grounding wire under the bridge post was not connected when i bought it, so that needed to be fixed ( grounding buzz). neck is good and stiff, i had to loosen the truss rod until it was almost slack to get enough relief. everything you need is there it just needs a little work but thats half the fun.

Whats great about this ax is thats its cheap and simple. The finish is alright. (mine is black)
I would bring a backup if playing it out live. Mostly because of the plastic jack plate, the rest of the guitar could take a good beettin. I doubt if you could ever crack the body ( plywood you know) the headstock has a scarf joint so its actually stronger than the expensive one piece necks you get on the high end models. You might want to change the tuners if you plan to play out a lot. Strap buttons are the same ones used on every other chinese guitar.

I fix my own guitar problems so i wouldn't know.

I have been playing for almost 20 years, recorded three albums and have owned TONS of gear. Some guitars that are supposed to be great are just so so and some that are supposed to be begginers instruments are just awesome. This guitar is definitely in the second group. Great bang for the buck. Fun to play , good sound , what else could you really want. and for 90 bucks its a no brainer. You know a guitar is good when you play it and dont find yourself thinking " it's just missing something" . This little epi has earned a spot in my collection. I play with a friend who uses a gibson les paul through a dr z mas 18 ( his setup costs about 2,500.00) My epi and gibson skylark together cost me about 240.00. and sound about 90% as good on most stuff. Absolutely one of the best guitars you can find for 90 dollars used!!!!!

Not sure about the year it was made. But its new.
Made in Indonesia.
22.5 frets
Solid top i think.
1 Tone 1 Volume 3 way pickup switch.
Not sure about the pickup model. Could probably use some help IDing them.
Heritage Cherry Sunburst. Slightly transparent.
Tune-o-matic bridge.
Non-Locking tuners.
I would like to see better knobs and better tuners but this i can fix.

Sounds great. Unplugged its fairly loud! Almost like an acoustic.
Plugged it has a nice clean dreadnought like tone.
Nice chunky distortion which is surprising. I was surprised how nice the factory pickups sound. May replace them later on with something a little more aggressive but for now they are plenty adequate.

The finish is a good news bad news thing. The body and finish are great. Better than expected. But i would wish for better tuners and a metal jack plate. And a more substantial looking access panel for the electronics. Most of this i can have fixed at the local music store. And i plan to. Neck seems fine but im getting a little fret buzz when i bar chord. I don't know if this is because of me or the action. Ether way ill probably have it adjusted. Its not a major problem simply annoying when it does crop up.

It has been bumped around my room a bit and it has a few minor scratches if you know where to look. But nothing structurally wrong with it. It seems plenty durable. I wouldn't be to rough with any guitar regardless of price range.

I haven't needed to talk to them.

For the price it is a definite dark horse. If the music industry was in the right place for it i could see it being the next Melody Maker. Not being made in the US is a bit of a put off sure. But for the price and considering where its made this is a wonderful guitar. With a little work it can be a real screamer.

-Sunburst finish
-les paul body shape
-chrome tunomatic bridge
-cheapish tuners, but they get the job done
-nicly shaped neck, same colour as the guitar
-mine is a 2001 model made in indonesia
-it is a solid top non Quilted.
-1 volume, 1 tone and a 3 way selector switch
-2 open coil humbuckers
-passive electronics
it is a nicly built guitar but the shitty tuners bring it down for this catogory.
the pickups in this guiatr look great.

i play alot of Rock. it is a good guiatr for playing rock music. i run it through a 40 watt peavy amp.
it has a deep, almost metal kinda sound when using the rhythem pickup, but a sharp, twangy sound on the treble pickup, similer to that of a strat bridge pickup.
hardly any feedback, even at full tone and volume.
the humbuckers really complete the sound of this guitar

the action is a little bit high for my likings, but managable. i adjusted my pickups very high up to the strings and it doubled the whole feel of the guitar. the routing arounf the neck joint is a bit dodgey but i spose you dont even see that.
a thing that i dont like about it is the selector switch is down the bottom, instead of the usual spot for les pauls.

def. gig worthy. the pickups are so good infact, that im comtemplating whether there would be any good in buying a set of EMG's for it.

i have a set of grover tuners on there way, becouse these tuners that are on it at the moment are abssolute rubbish. but they do work.

the strap buttons are very solid and feel like they are part of the guitar.

the finsh is extremly hard, and feels like it could survive a sandstorm.

as is, i would have full confidence getting up at a gig and playing my heart out.

never had a problem with it

overall it is a great guitar for the price.

all i would wat in a guitar

Great sound,the humbuckers give a wonderful sound

no problems,nicely lamenated

i can take a good knock about

never had any problems

ist all good!

This guitar has black finish, tun-o-matic bridge, mahogonay body and neck, rosewood fretboard, two humbuckersm 1 vol, 1 tone, 1 selector

I play ina blues rock band and yes ia am ona budget, I am 13. This is my backup for my Gibson SG Special, and I bring it to ebery gig. It sounds like a Paul, the bridge pickup is very biting and the neck is pretty warm. It suits all rock genres and probably even metal.

This does not play like a great guitar, bit it sereves a purpose, for 150 bucks this is a friggin great deal. Its not made really well, so the action is a little off, but I found that it needs a proper set up and new strings.

I have carried this guitar around without any protection for two years until I finally forced myself to go buy a case. And this baby has NO problems, this guitar will last a while, and can be throughly abused.

Ive beeen playing for five years, been in two bands, and have recorded two CDs, my first entireley with this guitar. THIS IS A DECENT GUITAR. IF YOU ARE INA BUDGET and needa backup guitar, go out and buy it.

This is a used lefty sunburst Epiphone Special II les paul guitar. 22 frets, rosewood board. Medium, nice feeling neck. I dont know what year it was made. Bought it on ebay for $80.00 with a like new hardshell case. Best bargain I have ever gotten on ebay! It has a alder body. Pretty light weight for a paul. Has 2 pickups and a 3 way switch. No name tuners of dubious quality, but they do the job for now.

I play rock, country blues.. Duane Allman style slide. Very surprised by the pups in this thing! They are louder than my new Michael Kelly Patriot lefty I recently bought new. Sounds like a paul Thick and creamy. Sounds terrific with my Line 6 pocket pod. You can play any kind of music on this baby. Loads of fun to play!

Guitar is used, but action was fine. Slightly high, but great for combo playing slide and regular. Nicely finished sunburst finish. didnt see any flaws. Owned a 72 Gibson Sg, which I bought new back in 71. Had to wait 6 mos to get it, and it had orange peel on the neck. Also the neck had side markers on both side. So someone in the factory grabbed a right handed neck and printed lefty marker on it. Shabby indeed! This guitar was put together better. It does need quality 3 way switch as there is a slight wobbly feeling to the switch and the pots of course as cheap. Its a budget guitar and they need replacing too. A set of new quality tuners are in order as well. They are hard to fine tune as they are geared wider than a quality tuner. They will be replaced with Grovers soon.

Im sure this guitar can take a beating. Why not, most will unless you drop them. Then any of them can break the neck etc. just dont drop any guitars ok? Buttons seem fine. Sure you can play it live, why not. Any guitar you can play live. You dont have to have a $3000 guitar to be a player. Remember playing is in you and your fingers, not the instrument you play. With replacement hardware this guitar is a keeper. I love the paul shape, but the regular size paul is heavvvvyyy. Not so, this little guy...he is cool all the way.

Dont know, dont care. Its not rocket science to do general repairs on a guitar. Replace tuners, pots, switches and wiring.

I started playing in 1971 after I heard Duane Allman and the brothers on the radio playing, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. I bought a new Gibson Sg then, because the Pauls have always been too heavy. I love the size and playablity of this guitar. Inexpensive and sounds great. You dont have to spend a heap to play and have fun. Dont take life or guitar playing too serious. Rock n roll is fun, man. So tuner up and play! If it was lost or stolen I would find another one to replace it. Cheap and fun...Plays comparable to anything out there. You pay for the name and epiphone is not a bad guitar. Very respectable in fact. like it alot.

Mines is an, Alpine white les paul
single cut away, Tune-O-Matic
Smooth mahogony and rosewood neck
Made in China 22 fret
Laminated top
3way pick up selector
2 chunky wide humbuckers sound great

Excellent all rounder For sound, it has amazing sustain, even for a les paul! I use mine threw a 15w roland cube amp, the 2 seem perfectfor each other as i can create any sound usin them. Also used it on my friends 1000watt pa system and it sounds better that his Vintage metal axxe v.

The action of the factory was great the tune-o-matic bridge was well prepared. The only thing is that, out of the factory the part where the neck joins the body is a bit uneven, however even if you were looking for this flaw you would deserve a medal if you spotted it!!! but i suppose im being extreamly picky. It looks amazing in alpine white its differnt from a custom and dependn on your tastwe you would prefer it to a twice the price custom

It is well laminated so i dont think i will have any problems as far as that is concerned. The hardware does seem that it will last, It is all pretty high quality materials. I would, without a doubt, gig with this guitar. My band was going to gis in october 2007 but our drummer quit. Strap buttons are goodwithout a doubt they are nice and tight into the body

Never delt with them but i have heard nothing but good things

I have been playing for 2 years now, I have absolutly no regrets in buying this guitar, it looks great and sounds better!!! If it were stollen or lost i would go straight back to the shop i got it from and buy the exact same again, Best feature is, apart from the looks, the sound, I compared it to a ??220 mocking bird, A ??170 sg, a ??190 flying v and a ??340 Explorer

Dark red Les Paul flattop style. Tune-O-matic bridge. Probably made 2005-2007 in Indonesia, 22 fret rosewood fretboard. Two open coil humbuckers. Basswood body.

I play emo-ish grunge, and this guitar pretty much fits that style. With overdrive, it's got a really great full-sounding tone. I play through a variety of pedals, usually a Pocket POD and Micro Metal Muff, to a cheap Ibanez practice amp. It's a quiet but nice sounding guitar on clean, with a lot of noise on overdrive, but no squealing or loud buzzing. Very full, solid tone but you can get a nice bright tone easily. With my setup, I can get all sorts of sounds from this thing.

Nice setup from the factory, although I completely re-set up the guitar the day I got it. Pickups were nicely adjusted, but I changed the angle to get the sound I wanted. Everything seemed to be in great shape and I didn't see any quality control problems.

This guitar is insanely tough. It's fallen off stands face-first, I've hit it accidentally on my metal bed and also hit the head on tables and such, and this thing isn't even scratched. This guitar was a display guitar for Guitar Center and was played heavily for at least a year, and the fact that there isn't a single dent or scratch on the finish says something about how well it's built. The strap buttons tend to start to unscrew themselves after about 20 hours of playing, but that's not a problem as long as you check them before a gig. I would still use a backup, if only in case strings break from my somewhat wild playing style.

Never had to deal with them because of the reliablility of this tank.

I've been playing for only 6 months or so, and this is my second electric guitar. My other axe is an almost 40 year old Harmony which tries to be a Gibson SG with P90s and fails miserably. It's made of plywood and makes every other guitar I've ever played seem like [insert awesome guitar here]. If my Epi were stolen, I would buy another if I didn't have the thousand bucks for the custom guitar I've been looking at. I will probably replace the pickups with a P.A.F. in the neck and an EMG in the bridge position, just to get the perfect sound for me, but everything stock on it is awesome.

Chinese cheapy; off ebay. Curious to see what this sorta quality was like, at this very low end price ($250 Australian). It's a Les Paul by name, but it really is a Melody Maker meets Junior shape with two humbuckers and a tune-o-matic. Basic, but all you need by way of controls.

Body laminations of basswood I think, neck alleged to be mahogany. Very thick fretboard alleges to be rosewood. Feels quite good actually, in feel and weighting.

I have, and have had, some very top-end guitars. Have also played quite a bit in my time. So, I know what a Les Paul sounds like. I just had very low expecations of this thing, and at that price, hey, ya can make a decent dedicated slide guitar out of it if it's a complete dud. You know what? It does indeed have a quite a distinct LP sound! And a fair bit of it! I have read a lot about the muddiness and lack of tone of these pups. But, hey again, I was impressed. There was clear definition between bridge, middle and neck - you can indeed get those Page middle pickup sounds, and you can indeed hear the warmth of the neck pup. The bridge is a little screechy, but that may be a little tinker up-or-down to find the sweetspot - don't know yet. Cheap doesn't equal awful here.

Out of the box it's a dog - intonation awful, action high. The manual gave no markings that any of this had been inspected; though there is a general 'passed' sticker at the back of the headstock. Big deal - $250 bucks? Any serious guitar player should be able to, or learn to, do this stuff. The machine heads are as the reviews say; true dogs - real cheap. A cheap set of Gotohs soon put that right. Intonation was achievable with new strings (your reviews are right, the factory strings are awful, but what out-of-the-case (in this instance 'box') guitar's aren't? Quickly sorted. $250 bucks? Worth spending another 50 on it to get it useful.

Looks pretty good - the vintage sunburst. The wood on the neck is crap - but $250 bucks? - so much so that the screws for the new tuners had to be glued in. The body is laminations. But, again, $250 bucks. What are you expecting? Archbody LP?

The jack felt OK to me, despite your reveiws so frequently to the contrary. Immediately tightened it and replaced the screws and a bit of preventive glueing of the screws. I think the cable that comes with the guitar is so badly made, it reefs at the jack anyway. Nice cable/jack goes in and out quite easily.

Feels a bit cheap - but it sure is as heavy as a 'real' guitar. The electrics seem a little frail. But I didn't buy it to gig with. But I'd have reservations about its toughness. The strap buttons, another general fault in the reviews, seem OK, at least so far. Again, $250 bucks? What do ya want?

The tune-o-matic looks a little die-casty, by that I mean cheap. So, if I was going to use it seriously, I'd have a backup tried-and-true jobby with me. Every serious player knows that anyway.

Haven't dealt with them yet; if I ever will. Most things wrong, or likely to go wrong, you should be able to do yourself.

Impressed! $250 bucks of Chinese guitar. Not bad! Real LP tones (Roland amp, tons of FX and it responds well to all of them as my good ones do), dry LP tones very reminscent of the real thing. Nice!

Be a good muck-around guitar, and very, very suitable for beginner.

China is the way it is all going for cheap/midrange guitars - so curiosity has been quenched. I give it '8' simply because if its price. Make no mistke, this is a budget guitar - but it would, and does, indeed hold its own with a bit of cheap tinkering.

My Epi Les Paul Special 2 was found abandoned by a dumpster. It was a bit beat-up and dirty, but cleaned up very well, and so its strengths and weaknesses have become apparent. The instrument I found was the yellow/black burst. It is not my favorite style, but I will say that it has a very classic, distinguished, dignified appearance.

This is a Les Paul-style instrument, but the body feels more like a Gibson SG, except that it has a single cutaway. It is a slab body (without belly or forearm cuts). Tune-o-matic type bridge, stoptail, non-locking 3-on-a-side tuners, truss rod under cover, 24.75-inch scale, two open humbuckers (no metal cover). Three-way pickup switch marked "rhythm" and "treble" in between the tone and volume controls. The body is basswood (very light) and the neck is mahogany with a maple board.

The feature set is quite good for a basic instrument, but I am knocking off a couple of points because I would have preferred a more flexible control arrangement and locking tuners.

I have not tested it very extensively yet, but the first thing to note is the "unplugged" sound. Thanks to the very light, resonant body, this guitar has a very loud "unplugged" tone. I set mine up with Ernie Ball 11s and it is quite the twanger.

For the plugged-in tone, I have only played it through a little portable amp. The tone distorts very nicely, and gives you pretty decent pick harmonics and crunch. With the 3-way in the middle, you get a nice "hollow" tone and it is very responsive to finger action. If you roll down the volume to reduce distortion, it has a somewhat thin (trebly) but very clear clean tone. Rolling down the tone just tends to make it sound muffled.

I can't guarantee that I am rating the factory setup fully since I didn't get it new. But it appears to me that the previous owner did not set it up (or even change the strings) so I will make a few comments. I think some of the other reviewers are right on the money when they suggest that the setup was done to err to the side of high action and avoidance of fret buzz. It played OK as-is, but the first thing I did when I put 11s on it was lower the bridge.

I played it for a while, then left it overnight to see how the neck adjusted. Looking at it the next day, I decided to crank the truss rod about 3/8ths of a turn tighter. Then I let it sit for another day, and it seemed to have about the correct amount of relief (curvature) to the neck. Then I brought the bridge up just a bit, and it seems about right now.

What I concluded is that it is a little tricky to get very low action on this guitar. The board is very slightly uneven, particularly at frets 12-18 or so, and some strings will give you just a touch of buzz. Backing the bridge up just a bit helps this. But you can get reasonable action.

The fit and finish on the neck is reasonably good: no sharp edges to cut you, fairly flat and even fretwork. It won't compare to a nice custom shop job, but it is serviceable, especially for a beginner. The neck joiont is clean and tight. The strap pins are also decent and serviceable although you might want to install some kind of locks. One feature I'd particularly like to point out is that the single cutaway gives you very easy access to the high frets.

The tuning machines on this guitar are not very good. They have a relatively low ratio, which means you have to tweak them in very small increments, which can be a pain. They also are not quite a stable as they could be. But they aren't terrible; they work, and you can keep the guitar in reasonably decent tune.

There are a couple of items I'd list as flaws: first, the electronics cavity is unshielded. This doesn't matter all that much since it is wired with two humbuckers, but it would have impressed me to see a fully shielded cavity.

Second, the output jack plate is plastic, not metal. It is a bit of a weak point, and was not fully screwed properly into the edge of the body by all four screws. It turned out one of the screws was stripped. I would have been more impressed to see a metal jack plate.

A slightly more major flaw: two of the tuning pegs also had screws that were stripped, so one of the pegs was misaligned and not flush with the headstock. It is hard for me to judge whether it came from the factory that way or not.

If I decide to mess around with it, rather than just play it, I will probably see about replacing the relatively flimsy tuning keys and installing a new jack plate. I might see if I can get a luthier to help with this since with stripped holes it needs a little more woodworking skill than I've got. I could probably get the pots changed out and the cavity shielded while I'm at it. All of this would probably cost more than the guitar would cost new, but that might still be a bargain.

I can't judge by experience, but by the feel I would say that this is not a real workhorse instrument. It feels light, and that makes it nice and resonant with a lot of nasally tone, but I would not trust the flimsy tuning keys to stay really solid and handle lots of use. The bridge seems quite solid. With some extra work and better tuning keys and jack hardware I'd say it would be a bit more solid.

I am also a little unsure about the neck -- I am not sure how stable it will be in the long run.

No information.

I've been playing for about 25 years, on and off, and have played many different types of guitars. What I love about this guitar was that it was FREE. (Or, if you buy one, you can get it nearly free). For the price, or even for list price, it is a tremendous bargain. An excellent model for a student or as a second guitar.

It does not stand up to an American-made Peavey or Gibson SG, which it resembles. But because of the very low cost, I am giving it a few extra points.

One thing to point out -- if you are considering getting one and you are a beginner with no experience setting up guitars, I _strongly_ recommend that you enlist an experienced player who is comfortable doing setup to help you. Otherwise you are likely to become frustrated with the factory setup. I would also suggest that since this guitar sounds and sets up better with heavier strings, it may not be appropriate for absolute beginners whose hands are not very strong. It is probably also not the best guitar for very young players.

Finish : Black Laminated top with Mr. Skull Graphics
Body style : Les Paul
Bridge style : Stop Tailpiece
Tuners : Non-Locking
Neck/Scale : mahogany, 22 frets / scale is 24.75
Fingerboard : rosewood
Included accessories : cable, tools and picks
Made in China in 2007
1 Volume, 1 tone and a 3-way switch
Pickups are 2 Alnico V humbuckers (H/H) Don't know which brand.
Passive electronic
Body : Laminated alder/maple

Improvements : The tuners could have been better and they could have put two more knobs (1 vol. and 1 tone) to use a killswitch option.

I like alternative, rock but I mostly play metal music and this guitar is doing pretty good for my personnal needs considering the price (225$Can)...it won't break my budget. The neck is not as fast as a jackson or an ibanez, but that's mostly how the Les Paul's neck are made. By the way, I was surprised by the neck quality for this price! The feel is comfortable and fast enough for my music style and you can setup the action fairly low without frets buzzing considering it's a bolt neck.

I'm using it with the Behringer V-AMP 2 (Virtual Guitar Amplifier with Tube Simulation and 24-Bit Effects) and it's sounds amazing! The pickups are already distorted so you don't need to put a lot of gain from the amp to get a good mix.

With the 2 Alnico V pickups, this guitar was clearly born to play metal and rock music. They are no seymour duncan JB or Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups but thoses pickups are unique anyway. With the right guitar setup (as any other guitar), you can make this guitar sounds like a 1000$ guitar.

I like the sound out of it. You can always set the bass, treble, middle and presence options with a good Tube amp if you find that the pickups are giving to much High.

I bought it from Steve Music Store in Ottawa, Canada and when I tried this guitar, it wasn't setup at all like any other guitars in that store. I already bought a Gibson Les Paul Custom 2 years ago from them and it was the same story. It doesn't bother me because I like to setup the guitar myself and every guitar players have different hand size and music style. Only the truss rod was right on the spot.

Except for the guitar setup (which is personal), everything else was perfect.

I didn't try this guitar live but I don't see why it would'nt do the job. I live in a region where the humidex is really high so the guitar parts gets rusty after a while and that's for all the guitars, even for my Gibson Les Paul Custom.

The only thing I don't like are the tuners...they look cheap but they are ok to begin with. I will change them for black tuners later on. You can depend on this guitar but get a good tuning machine.

1 year Warranty.

Never dealt with Epiphone.

I've been playing for 15 years now. This guitar totally fits my budget and my personal needs. With a correct guitar setup, you can make it sounds pretty good. I love the playability which is rare but that's all personal. I compared it to a Fender Squire, and from my opinion, the Epiphone Les Paul Special 2 is far way better.

If you're on a budget and you want the best guitar for the money, buy this model, get a good guitar setup, new strings and a tube amp and you won't regret it. You can always replace the pickups for a seymour duncan or a dimarzio to get better harmonics.

I got a heritage cherry fnish, maple neck (looks great) 22 frets and made in Japan. Got 2 volumes and a pickup selector.

Suits my style perfect!! (Indie/Rock and a bit of metal) I use an orange crush 10 amp which is great makes it really rich with distortion the 2 seem made for each other! Can be a fuzzz though that maybe from lead. To gest best effect get this:
* Buy New Lead
* Change Strings ( Ernie Ball Regular slinkyy seem best)
It only came in at around ??12 for me

Everything on mine was perfect no problems

I never played live but from the ones I have seen that have they've been great strap buttons are very very tight I depend on it 98% of the time

I have been playing about 2 yrs and of the 2 guitars I've owned this has been great

I am an experienced guitar player, I got one of these Les Paul Special guitars and I can tell you people it rules, of course if you use it with a good equipment. (I use a Peavy amp 50w and a zoom 606 guitar pedal). I can get ANY sound I want from it.

Many people say it's a crap because of the sound.. that's because they are newbies to this and they don't even know how to plug a guitar into an amp. To get a good sound, you need a good amp. too... and a good multi-effects console! (Or single pedals if you prefer them).

I have an Ibanez too (a good one) and the only advantage I find on it is the floyd rose bridge. The nech is thinner, yes, but EVERY les paul on the world has a bigger neck than an ibanez (slightly bigger, sometimes I don't even notice the difference).

The sound rules, Les Paul guitars have that unique sound that can't be simulated by any other guitar. Instead, you can simulate other guitars with your les paul by just equalizing it and changing the dist. type on your pedal, for example.

I give it a 10, it's really good for its price. I recommend it, really.

Nice finish, Great neck.

Its sound variety is great anything from Rush to Metallica!

Set up very good, No problems

Very durable. Someone through a penny really hard at it. There is no dent or anything

I would recommend this guitar considering how cheap it is.

Not many features, but for it destroys other guitars in it's price range. Ignoring price, this guitar has got a decent bridge, fairly smooth neck and an excellent sound.

It's no Jackson or ESP, but this guitar still does metal with decent strings and the right amp settings. I hate to say it, but after a few years of experience, it's easy to tell that there are a lot of guitarists out there who don't know how to use their gear. They get killer record deals by playing three chords on the most expensive guitars that are made. It gives me a headache to hear a gibson or fender or any other masterpiece, a guitar with personality damn it, being used improperly. Look, my point is that even the best rock machines in the world can sound like a cat skidding down a blackboard if used incorrectly. Even if your personal guitar idol is the best sound in the world to your ears, try LISTENING to your own sound. That is the only way to refine and develope your sound. This is a rock guitar. It might be as cheap as some hard cases, but it hides some real tone, IF YOU MODIFY/ALTER/FIDDLE WITH IT.
Some people are snobs, and think that the only way to get a good guitar is to spend $$$ on something that a really famous artist has used. Working musicians take sponserships from guitar companies because they're paid to. Anyone who listens to neoclassical or melodic death metal, proggressive metel/rock, jazz, blues knows that the worlds music industry is now led by idiots who don't understand what music is and are only playing guitar because it gets them money and pussy. This guitar is good. It has good tone, sustain and charecter. Pick up this guitar, or any other guitar, with total disregard for what you've been told about it. A 17 year old got a better tone out of his LP Speacial. The sound of the guitar depends a lot on who is playing it. I would mostly recommend this guitars to begginners because it's unbelivably value. Starting out guitarist are usually torn between the LP special and the Squire Strat. Ive tried both guitars, and I think that their both great value, but for slightly heavier styles of music the LP is better. The pickups are pretty weak, but you can still get a decent hard rock sound. The strat pickups have good clarity and treble response, making it more of a softer, more laid back kind of guitar. If your into soft rock or blues, consider both guitars, but for heavier music go the LP. You'll thank me later. Get a decent Amp before you upgrade your guitar to. As soon as I tried this guitar with a more powerfull, higher gain amp, it shocked me with how good it is for lead playing. It's also got awesome crunch.

The only fault on this guitar was the neck. The fret glue is still visible, and that is pretty unappealing to look at. At my gigs you can't see it though. It has and alright neck if you have the right string tension for your hands. It's a bit thick, and not nearly as fast as a super strat neck (Jackson or Ibenez) but when your a begginner you can't play fast anyway. I have played way faster necks but again, it still puts a Squire to shame. The tuning pegs work, but I have better ones on a better guitar. When I started using higher tension strings they behaved a lot better.

Ive owned this guitar for slightly more then a year now and it's never let me down. Look after your gear. Ive gigged with it and it was great. I sounded better on it then the second guitarist did with his 3-times-the-price Ibenez. It's a great guitar, that Ibenez, but he dosen't use my strings, have my experience and did not BOTHER TO TWEAK HIS GUITAR EQ.

Never used C.S. bu Epiphone are pretty professional.

Look, if you know a good guitar tone when you hear it, and you are dedicated to your playing, pickup and try this guitar. If you buy it, and you play rock, metal, blues or jazz you will still be playing this guiat for years to come. I love it.

It has all you need

its really good guitar for kurt cobain and guns n roses music

it looks like a les paul

mine hasnt broke yet

it works

Finish is Wine Red with Black hardware. (would have prefered Chrome like the other models.
Single cut Les Paul body shape just not as thick.
Pretty generic hardware.
Neck is nice shape and a good size.
2006 made in korea
Volume Tone and 3 way
H/H but not sure what brands (generic)

I bought this guitar for punk/rock not clean sounds. I really only play it with distortion. Humbuckers are clean and no buzz they are not bad for how cheap they are. The neck is fine for chunky rhythm sounds and the bridge cuts thru well on solo's. There is no way anyone should complain about the sound of this guitar for the price you pay.

From the factory it was set up surprisingly well. Action fairly low with no fret buzz. I was surprised that the stock strings are 10's. Alot of reviewers have bagged on the strings. I would say they are not bad but not great either. Stays in tune ok but I will probably get better tuner pegs later. Pickups adjusted well no issue. The finish on mine is the wine red and it looks good. Everything looks great

You could gig this guitar it shouldnt have a problem. Hardware seems good but not sure on the tuner pegs. Finish seems fine I am sure that it will wear over time. I will upgrade to strap locks to make sure I dont have a problem but the stock ones seem solid. I feel you could depend on it, especially if you made a few simple upgrades.

I emailed them to find out what gauge of strings and model and they emailed me back in less that a day.

I play guitar almost everyday. I own a couple fenders that are my main guitars and have owned all kinds of different guitars over the past few years. I really am surprised and impressed at the value of this guitar for the money! What a great way to get a cost effective Les Paul in your hands. I dont know about it being that great for clean sounds but thats what my fenders are for.

Even more amazing than this axe's sound, quality, and value is how they're achieved. We all know that "real" Les Pauls get their fat tone and sustain from a set neck, right? And from a body made of solid, matched mahogany and maple planks, yielding an 11- to 15-pound guitar? Well, this little fella has a bolt-on neck, and a downsized, medium-weight body made of maple/alder plywood. (And give Epiphone credit for being entirely honest about this construction.) Yet it still sounds great, like a Les Paul.

Another nice surprise is that identically-priced copies, of comparable quality and finish, will indicate either Indonesian or Chinese manufacture on the back. So buy an Indonesian one, and you're at least subsidizing an emerging democracy that's developing basic labor rights. (Although who knows what conditions are like at the factory level.)

One minor compromise for the price is the simplified control layout: one volume and one tone knob. It works fine, but if you want dual volume and tone controls, you can always wire in stacked/concentric pots later. That won't require any drilling, and you'll still have an outrageously affordable guitar.

Sounds better than anything else I've heard up to at least $200 -- or in some cases much more. Doesn't sound quite as clean or sweet as a real Les Paul, of course. But it captures an amazing degree of the fatness and sustain you'd expect from the real thing.

As set up by Epiphone, the action on these guitars tends to be very playable. It's not as silky low as you'd initially find on a Gibson, a higher-priced Epiphone, or even a ~$150 Squier. But it's more reliably buzz-free than you'd find on a Squier. So Epiphone is erring on the side of higher action and fewer glitches. The "Set up in USA" sticker on the back of the headstock is reassuring, but you'll still want to have the setup and action tweaked at some point.

The satin finishes are generally very attractive, and the workmanship and switching feels very solid.

Feels quite solidly built -- but read comments from owners who've had theirs for a while.

Read others'comments about this.

This guitar offers simply amazing value. Its price, $150, is what you'd pay just in sales tax on a premium-brand guitar. It's a perfect starter, backup, or alternate guitar -- and an entirely viable primary axe. (This is all assuming that you want a solid-body, twin-humbucker, hardtail guitar.)

This is a 2001 Epiphone Les Paul Special II, made in Japan. It has 22 Medium frets, 1 volume and 1 tone control (Speed knobs, very nice) and a 3 way toggle switch. Has two basic Epiphone Humbuckers. The guitar is Alder an Mahogany and is Black with a matching neck finish. Has a Tune-O-Matic bridge. 24.75" scale.

This guitar is good. Just good. but is EXTREMELY good considering it was only $150. Epiphone has impressed me. The pickups were also good....but after a few months i replaced them with an EMG 85 in the bridge and an EMG 81 in the neck (yes i know that seems backwards but its an awesome setup) With a decent set of pickups in it this guitar screams. When I got this guitar a few years ago I was playing through a 1978 Peavey VT 2X12 (50 watt Hybrid) but now I play through a Peavey 5150 II with a Marshall 1960B 4X12. The old combo made it sound mediocre, because well, the combo was mediocre, but with the 5150 it bleeds tone. Epiphone really has outdone themselves with this guitar, I am confident enough to say this guitar, with pickup modifications, can blow away most Gibsons. no joke. This entry level Epi is better than pretty much all other epiphones. Funny how that works out. But I Digress, Im not saying this guitar is the BEST THING EVER but it is very good for the price. EAR BLEEDING TONE, and in a good way.

When i got the guitar i had to tune it and change the action, neither one was setup. The pickups also needed adjusting. Personally i think the guitar should come standard with EMG's just like the new Raw Les Paul (EMG 81/85. Other than adjustable things the guitar was in tip top shape

The guitar is built very solid. ITS HEAVY. you could probably kill someone with it and only have blood stains on it, this thing is strong. The strap button by the neck keeps coming loose, but still wont come out completely.

Never dealt with them....yet

I have been playing for about 6 years or so. i got this guitar in 2001 and its still a strong backup in my setup. If guitars were priced on quality alone i would put it up somewhere near $1,000. Very dependable, not the best guitar out there but will blow any other beginners guitar out of the water. Im giving it a 10 on the factor of value alone.

I paid $120.00/used on e-bay in 2003