Epiphone Les Paul Standard

2008 China, 57clasic alnico 5 epi neck humbucker ohmed to 8.9. Hotch alnico 5 epi bridge humbucker ohmed to 13.5. Alpha pots, cheap caps. Fat neck profile. Black paint, beige trim. Laminate Mahogany body with maple top.Laminate Mahogany set neck, Ebony fretboard. Grover tuners. ABR-1 style epi tune-o-matic with stud bushings(big stud holes)

I play mostly rock and blues. I use only tube amps. This guitar is very quiet no buzzes, scratches, pops, or hums. Almost a Gibson LP, its pickups are moderately hot, with a well rounded warm but somewhat bright sound(I role back the tone knobs a bit). I can get most the sounds out of it I want. Great Sustain! I think the bridge pickup can get a little to crunchy sounding, still not bad.

Not the worst setup ever, but only o.k.. The action, string spacing, and fret work was very good. The pickups needed adjusting right out the box, the bridge pickup was so close to the strings it shrilled out of phase, lowered both pickups, no problems now. The ABR 1 style bridge has very little intonation range, so the G string stayed slightly flat on intonation until a bought a Gotoh model#1511 replacement bridge, perfect intonation now! The nut slots were a bit tight, a touch with a file and some "Graphit All" white graphite, no strings binding now! The nut was also a bit high so I sanded it down a bit and rubbed out some rough egdes. The finish is good, the only flaws were where the pick guard was mounted left some indentions in the uncured paint, and the binding paint is a little uneven in places, and sharp on a couple edges.

Think this is the best Les Paul for the buck! Period. Rock solid! Dependable!

Never used it.

I'm a fourteen year guitar player. I have lots of gear. If this guitar was stolen I would freak out, and buy the same one again. I actualy had a Gibson LP stolen from me, it hurt me bad. I could of have four of these great Epi Pauls for the same price as that Giby. I recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a Les Paul but dose not want to spend a lot of jack. Also, I highly recommend the Gotoh bridge upgrade($20-$30). As far as things I don't like, the bridge is the biggest issue, come on Epiphone and get it done right!

09 model, i think it's made in China. I've had it for 5 or 6 months. Got mine in black. It's a Les Paul, so you should know most of the features. This guitar has Grover tuners, and is solid mahogany (neck too). The neck is painted, which i would rather not have because it isn't as fast as say, an unpainted satin finish neck. It is pretty thick, and rounded, which makes it comfortable, although not extremely well suited for metal soloing.

I use this guitar through a Morley Bad Horsie Contour Wah to a Peavy Vypyr 75, which is great. I mostly use the Mesa/Boggie Dual Rectifier model, which is great for what i like to play (METAAL!). The stock pups are very good when played at low volume, and get an extreme sound if raised a little bit, although there is some hum if that is done. The only problem is when this guitar is played at gigging volumes, and i have gigged with it before. There is a lot of feedback, although i use do a ton of gain. If you put in some decent high output pickups, this baby would scream. With the stock pickups, you can get literally any sound, from metal in the bridge with everything at full blast to jazz in the neck with the tone turned down some. Would've given a 10 if the pickups would've been better for metal, but that's really just personal preference.

The factory setup was PERFECT. The pickups were in the sweet spot for just about anything, although they sound better for metal if raaised just a touch. Everything was dead on, the fretwork rivals any guitar i have every played. The only issue is that the pickup switch is very noisy, but if you change the switch lightly (don't bang the crap out of it) this isn't really an issue. Also, i really don't change pickups very much, so this doesn't really matter to me.

Like i said earlier, it's solid mahogany. It seems indestructible. The finish is great, and not the fake flamed maple like on the other finishes available. This guitar is extremely heavy. I have heard of people messing up their backs because they play Les Pauls a lot. The strap buttons aren't great, and my strap kept coming off until i got a locking strap (it wouldn't fit in the case with straplocks). Definetely couldv'e been a problem, but it's an easy $20 fix.

The warranty is a limited lifetime, which is great. Nothing has gone wrong on it, and probably never will. I've never had to deal with the company, and i doubt i will have to.

I've been playing for a year and a half, and am starting to get into soloing. For this reason, i would've wanted a guitar with jumbo frets, but i really didn't know better. If this guitar was stolen, i would buy an ESP or a Jackson with a Floyd Rose, and then go track the guy down and beat him with this guitar. It would take it, and there probably wouldn't be much of a scratch. Still, i wish it wasn't so heavy.

Dunno when it was made but it's a Chinese one. Tobacco burst with what appears to be a decal showing the grain of the maple top, not actual wood. The back and sides are painted black and don't allow you to see the wood either, so even though it's supposed to be mahogany I tend to wonder.

The tuners although Grover were installed unevenly and the d-string tuner has way more play than normal so it was probably damaged from the factory.

The bridge piece is too slim and forced me to flip around a couple of the saddles in order for it to intonate, frustrating. The bridge screws into the body also are a little outside, look like they could come off.

The sound is the best part, although not a Gibson, it sounds similar. Still as close as you can get without buying the real deal, better in sound than the offbrand copies. Great sustain as expected, classic rock in all its glory. But, I attribute most of this to the design that Mr Paul came up with, not Epiphone.

The pickups are noisy yet not that hot though. But I imagine with burstbuckers in it, you could make it so nobody knows the difference. Why anybody would want to invest in one of these is beyond me though. Not worth upgrading.

The setup was terrible from the store. I intonated it and set the neck and action and got it so it sounded good with no buzzes through the amp, but was never able to lower the action as much as I wanted without it buzzing out massively unplugged. Although this doesn't affect the amp sound, it still reminded me everytime I picked it up of what a cheap, sloppy instrument it was.

The finish was the sloppiest part. The bindings not straight, crooked trapezoid inlays. The dovetail piece of the neck that is rounded at the back and meets the body was notoriously uneven.

From a far it looks just like a Gibson, but for anybody who's owned one, they know instantly it's a cheap copy.

This is the category that finally motivated me to sell it. Sure, you can get by with it for that LP sound, but if you are serious enough you will spend enough time with this thing to notice exactly how inexact it is.

A quick mention of its case: since the Les Paul has an angled neck, it's very hard to find a good case for it that fits if you don't want to buy the brandname version, which is always more expensive. I bought a hardshell case from Epiphone since I never ended up finding an offbrand and was also disappointed with its build quality.

Despite being more expensive than any other comparable case on the market, the thing started falling apart on its own without even subjecting it to hardly any travel.

It was a "hardshell" case but was pretty flexible anyway and the cheap vinal on the outside started coming unglued. Pathetic.

The input jack always kept unscrewing itself, which although seems like something totally minor and fixable, is frustrating and is a possible shortout on stage. Plus, the tuner had a problem and the bridge gives me the impression it could actually come off cause the bolts like I said before were halfway out from the factory. So no, it isn't very reliable for continued stage use.

Don't know.

I bought this because I was so obsessed about replacing a Gibson Les Paul back in the day I had to sell. I was blinded by the glory of the concept that is the Les Paul in the store and I did a very immature thing and bought it despite the fact that I knew all along it really wasn't the same thing.

Don't do the same as I did. Be honest with yourself, this is no Les Paul, no matter what you do to it later. And upgrading it is like putting a turbo into a Yugo, you can always improve on it but why on earth would you want to waste your time and money.

I finally sold it on ebay cheap and with the money bought a brand new Ibanez AG75 hollowbody for less than what I sold the paul for used.

Amazing since the Ibanez has perfect finish, decent hardware and is an all-around better instrument. It's a guitar that is actually useable and likeable by a pro, not just a toy for bedroom playing like the paul.

But in retrospect, I am still a little annoyed with myself for having bought it in the first place. I'm also seriously disappointed in Epiphone.

I know there are exceptions and every once in a while one came come across a charmed Epi that was made well, but the great majority I've tried are like mine was, poor on most levels.

I don't consider it a good value, because to make it as good as my Ibanez I would have had to spend at least another US$200 to fix the tuners, have the frets dressed and leveled, get a new bridge and possibly even swap out the pickups. And even then the craftmanship would still be poor.

People, if you absolutely must have one, get a Gibson and buy it used or a Studio model, even an SG as a substitute, but don't buy this lemon.

Furthermore, shame on you Epiphone for trying to card this piece of junk off as an LP. If he were younger, I imagine Mr Paul might have done the same as he did in the 60s and told the company he didn't want to have it put his name on the SG.

Even the case started falling apart. To me Epiphone=junk.

Same as the Gibson Les Paul. A special mention for the Grover tuners that came with it. They are excellent tuners but my particular set came with the D string tuner messed up with way too much play. Poor quality control on the part of Epiphone. Also, the jack input kept unscrewing itself, a very frustrating issue.

Finally, the tune-o-matic bridge piece was too slim and in order to get the right intonation I had to flip around the saddles because I maxed out their range. This was with 11 gauge strings, so I suspect if I put any higher gauge on it the bridge would not be able to intonate correctly. Cheap and amateur.

Considering the price, the sound was really good, very similar to a Gibson but not as hot because the pickups aren't Gibson. It did sound a little colder and emptier than a Gibson but again, considering the price, one shouldn't complain. All in all, very respectable sound, thanks to the Les Paul design, which to me is the best solid body guitar design in the world. You can make this baby scream because although it is a copy, it is still a Les Paul.

If you close your eyes and forget all the guitar's other problems, for a few minutes the sound actually makes the guitar redeem itself.

The factory setup was horrendous and like I said before, is very close to not able to intonate correctly with heavy strings because of the thin bridge piece. The action is not bad because the angled Les Paul neck allows for great action just because of the genius design Mr. Paul came up with decades ago. But the frets were very uneven, forcing me to raise the action higher than a well-made Les Paul in order to avoid massive fret buzz. In the end I made a trade off and just set up the action to buzz like mad as long as it didn't come through the amp. Still, kinda a downer if you pick it up without an amp. Reminds you instantly of what a cheap guitar it is.

As for the finish, it just plain sucked. Poor paint finishing, uneven bindings, the fretboard had glue and carelessly selected wood. Looks great from a far but if you're holding it, you know immediately it's a cheapo copy.

My particular one I think was worse than most though, I've seen some Epi Les Pauls much better crafted, leading me to believe one can actually get a good one if they absolutely have to own a Les Paul and can't compromise and buy a better-made copy from another brand.

Considering the loose input jack and the crappy D-string tuner, I think this thing probably is not reliable for stage work. I didn't have any problems with the electronics, but I got the feeling they would likely arise later on, if I hadn't sold it first.

Don't know.

I wouldn't buy this guitar if I were serious about playing. I ended up selling it cheap shortly after I got it and bought a brand new Ibanez AG75 hollowbody for less than what I got from selling this used. Amazing considering the Ibanez is a far superior instrument in craftsmanship and sound. Embarrassing for Epiphone if you ask me. I was just so obsessed about getting another Les Paul after I had to sell an excellent Gibson Les Paul Studio a few years back, that I got this, because I'm not about to spend more than two grand for a real Gibby standard. Too much if you're not a pro. But this is not a good compromise. If you can't afford at least a Gibson Studio model just be honest with yourself and don't get a les paul. It's like buying a Ferrari kit car. Looks great from far away but pop the hood and you're in for a good laugh, or a belly ache thinking about how you were duped into buying this lemon.

2000 model made in Korea. Has the basic features you'd expect on a Les Paul. This is my second Epi Les Paul. The first one was a '97 model with a neck that twisted beyond hope of repair. Gibson replaced the guitar and trasferred my pickups and tuners from the old one to the new one.

I've never heard the stock pickups for this guitar. Gibson transferred the 498T (bridge) and the 490R (neck) from my old LP. After 9 years she still sings like a lady and just gets better with age. The bridge pup has the nice fat Gibson crunch and the neck pup has this warm tone that's great for blues and jazz. Never played it along side a Gibson LB but to my ear (since it's got Gibson pickups) it sounds like a Les Paul.

No complaints at all here. When Gibson replaced my old LP they most have chosen the cream of the crop. This old girl has a luscious ebony finish that's flawless. The binding and inlays are perfect. The stock tune-a-matic bridge is rock solid. I had replace the stock Epi tuners on my old LP with actual Gibson Classic Tuners so the guys at Gibson transferred those to this guitar and did a GREAT job. Tuning is not a problem. The controls and electronics are stock and have never given me any trouble. Gibson even transferred my Schaller strap lock buttons to the new guitar.

Can you say, "Built like a tank"? this Les Paul is made on mohagony all the way. No alder here. I tend to treat both my guitars with the respect a fine instrument deserves. I'd have no worries about gigging live with it.

As I mentioned above, the support I got from Gibson when the neck on my '97 Les Paul warped was outstanding. They transferred ALL the custom hardware from the old guitar to the new one and did an excellent set up job on it. When it arrived back at Boykin's Music in Richmond, Va the guy I was dealing with asked if he could check it out. So he plugged it into a Marshall head with a 4X12 cab and he was blown away.

I've always loved the look and sound of a Les Paul Standard, but just couldn't justify the cost of a Gibson. The Epiphone Les Paul Standard with a couple upgrades fills the roll perfectly for a fraction of the price. I play though a second generation Peavey Bandit 112S with a 112S external cab. My other guitar is a heavily customized Ibanez Blazer BL1025. I call that one my "Stunt Guitar" because of the mods it's had done to it to turn it into a do everything axe.

If someone stole my Les Paul, let's just say they had better book passage off the planet and leave it at that. I'd defenetly get another one, but would probably have a hard time finding one as good as the one I have.

Righto! Epiphone les paul standard, made in China 2003. Good solid run of the mill Les paul replica. Mahogany body with a maple cap on it, not 100% sure of the neck, probably maple. Heaps of sustain so maybe mahogany?

Neck is ... Not as chunky as I'd thought, my hands aren't huge nor are they small but it feels great. Gloss finish and rounded in an odd but comfortable way. Headstock is the... Actually, not so appealing Epiphone shape. Adorned with grover tuners.

Has the Gibson style fat and chunky bridge and tailpiece. They come to bits easy with loosening of the screws, but they're rock solid when you're playing and strung up.
The pickups are raw and raunchy; the middle position gives one a nice growl on clean. The bridge has the usual humbucker grunt (don't get too happy, it lacks a little low end power.) The neck ... Gawd. Don't replace it. It's fine. Gets an 8 for being second hand. Harhar.

The pickups are stock standard, and do what they should. I am a poor student so what I have at the moment is a blessing! After playing a telecaster for a year, moving to a les paul for... Hell, less than 1/3 the price the tele. was, it has blown me away. You have the power of a cool jazz sound, something you'd expect from BB King, something else that delves into european metal, and a rock and roll flamethrower strapped over your shoulder. This mother f... This guitar does... More than what I'd expected it to do [being a chinese made replica]. I play through a zoom 505ii pedal to a behringer bx600 bass box [that gives me a gruntier sound than anyone else!] and Phwoar, this is... This thing blows you away. It does all sorts of stuff from the clean, smooth as a baby's bum jazz tones, great for picking and blipping around with, right the way through to really hard stuff, getting to the point of death and black metal, which is pushing it a bit [perhaps take the covers off the pickups?]

The sustain is very Gibson. It does not die. [If you know what you're doing.] The low end blows your head off. Good for mimicking the p.a.f sound like on Brothers in arms [Dire straits].

There's one thing I don't like [that doesn't really get to me that much], and that's there the cutaway sits on my leg. Not something I won't get used to.

Gets a 10 for value of second hand goods and being the man.

Seeing as I bought it used, the thing was sorted right out of the case. The bloke I bought it off reckoned the strings needed a change, but, they didn't. They'll be good for a while yet.

The pickups were a bit... Odd. I dealt to them [not alot to do] and put the action down slightly... After I'd figured out how the bridge worked. [Haven't had a proper look at a Paul before!] Tuned it up, and away I went.

The finish is very thick; it has binding [single ply] on the body and neck. Very smart looking guitar. Being the second hand guitar it is, it had the few imperfections and a hardly noticeable belt rash on the back you'd expect. I think I can see the lines in the maple top through the finish, but, oh well. It's excellent. I think one or two frets might need being stuck in, but, who uses 21 anyway? That's c#. Yuck.

The neck pickup's tone pot [dedicated!] was scratchy, but a bit of twisting it round fast fixed it in 30 seconds. This section gets an 8 also for being second hand.

I reckon I could play at the vector arena [local huge stadium], in a few bars etc, this thing would hack it no trouble. The catch being I'm not in a band.

The hardware is solid as... Something really solid. This is not a flimsy $300 guitar.

The finish on it is lovely and thick; very pretty looking guitar in gloss black and cream adornments with all the other **** being chrome.

The strap buttons are bigger than on my tele and don't look like my strap will fall off anytime soon. If it does, it will be picked up and played as is.

This dept. gets a 9, because I've heard of Epiphone [moreso Gibson, actually] headstock joints being quite weak, and easy to snap.

Who knows. Changing bits of guitar can't be that hard. I know a few people that will do it for me and not f... Bugger it up.

Since I've been playing [started 2004. it's now Sept. 2008] I've owned absolutely bugger all guitars; a cheap ashton acoustic [ooh, ouch.], a squier bullet strat, a Fender '60s classic tele [first decent guitar!]. Then there's this thing, the Epiphone les paul. Playing through a behringer bx600 bass amp with a zoom 505ii pedal. It's neat if you know how to use it.

If this bugger of a thing was nicked, I'd definitely not be happy, Jan. This is not a guitar to be taken lightly. Though, a DEFINITE WORD TO POTENTIAL BUYERS : Epiphone les pauls etc. these days [chinese made] are strictly hit or miss guitars. You're either going to get a Ferarri or a Lada; find a dollar on the pavement or get kicked in the shins. Play around on a few les pauls before you settle on buying one. The build quality varies astonishingly.

I compared this with an Epi. flying v which I think has the same specs as a Lp. studio model [yuck]. the V was brand new for about $750 nzd no case; The paul was $550 used with a case. They retail for $1099 without a case. I wish it had previously had the bridge pickup cover removed. Just for a meaner look and more high end in it, and coil taps on both pickups.

Gets a 9 all round cuz I decided to be a bit picky. If you see one for sale, don't hesitate to give it a shot, especially older korean models.

2006 Korean Guitar. You know the specs by now. Mine came with HSC.

I would like to give 2 different reviews for the sound of this guitar. I have owned it for over a year, so I have had time to weather the storms of ownership, and believe to have found the highs and lows of the instrument.

The pickups on the stock Epi are just too muddy for my style of music. They seem best suited for players who are mainly playing power chords, or possibly for players who are linked to a digital modeling amp like a Line 6. They are ok when distorted heavily, but not great for sounds on the verge of breakup.

The tone of the guitar on the other hand is a completely different story. With a mahogany body, maple top, and rosewood fretboard this guitar sings when not plugged in. That made me decide to install better pickups (Anderson pickups specifically) into the guitar. Once this was done, the guitar had clear voicing, creamy distorted tones, and is a real pleasure to listen to.

So with the stock pickups, for the style of music I play I will give the guitar a 6.5. With the andersons, I will give the guitar a 9, so overall I would give it a 7.5

I can't speak for the factory, as I purchased the guitar used, and I always take my guitars to a luthier for the initial setup. I will say this, there is a fret buzz on the open "g" string that drives me up a wall. Also, the pickup selector broke off, so I had to have a new one put on.

Reliability wise, I have no fear to use this guitar live. It is made of solid wood with hard binding and chrome hardware. There is nothing to be afraid of there. Unless you like to throw your guitars in the middle of shows, but then again I guess if you break this guitar at a gig, you could probably break any guitar at a gig.

Why deal with the company when you can work with a quality luthier you can go see.

I have been playing for the better part of a decade, and have owned a lot of gear during that time. If it were stolen or lost and $600 was my limit I would probably buy this guitar again, but I would rather save money for an anderson.

Epi LP standard, plain top, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, vintage sunburst, chrome hardware, grovers, alnico v humbuckers, rosewood fretboard, maple neck, dedicated tone and volume controls, toggle switch.

I play hair and glam metal with my band, and death metal for myself, this guitar fares well but not amazingly. The pickups have a very dull sound and the palm mutes just don't produce the grinding tones my EMG jackson does. I wish the sound was brighter on both clean and distorted settings. But don't get me wrong I only get these problems on my practice amp. On my Fender Deluxe Reverb I get a great grinding distortion with a digitech death metal pedal.

The action is low which is fine, however there is a horrible amount of fret buzz and I dont think the fretboard was sanded properly. The strings were very rusty and scraped the wood, I immediately changed the strings to Ernie Ball Customs and the playability soared. I also had to re-adjust the frets.

This guitar is not a good live guitar for me anyways, because I dont like the weight. The strap buttons are nice and solid though and if necessary I would use it live but not unless it is the only guitar i had available.

Bought from Guitar Center, extremely helpful and caring I recommend to everyone to go there.

I've been playing for about 3 years. I own a ****** LP special from epiphone, a gibson invader, fender deluxe players strat, and a gibson es-335 (from a garage sale 200$ yeah!) I made the mistake of buying a guitar solely on looks. I saw the LP and I thought holy crap! a REAL LP but i didnt consider my playing style and sound. Yet again dont get me wrong, I love it just dont LOVE it. I compared it to the fender deluxe and the deluxe played better and felt better but the LP had that powerful humbucker sound which i needed for metal. I recently traded the LP in for the fender i mentioned earlier, love it alot! If it was stolen I would probably buy an sg or another strat.

We all know the classic Paul setup- 2 alnico classic hummers, 2 tone 2 volume controls, 3 way selector. mine is a mahognany bck and maple top. Replaced tuners with Grovers, mulling a pup change.

Good Paul sound from nice and chunky to a ringingly sweet treble. Running thru a Crate VTX65b with a Ts 9 overdrive. Able to get that J Page tone with no problem. Also grest on jazzier stuff. With the amp pedal combo really able to get almost any sound I choose to emulate.

Setup great out of the box from MF. Had it for almost three years now looks as good as the day i got it. Nice ebony gloss finish. Have been over the axe forwards, backwards and sideways and so has my local tech shop, no complaints or problems. Grovers made a big difference but the stock tuners were just fine.

AS i stated earlier almost three years in and the Paul is better now than when I got it, finish is great, tone is awesome. I know that a ploy finish isn't suppose to enhance the sound with age like Nitro does, but it sounds better, can't wait for it to reach ten. Have a Carlos acoustic(don't laugh) that is 29 yrs old and it sounds(no ****) as good as the Low end Martin I tryed out two months ago, so some inexpensive guitars do get better with age too. I gig without a backup with no worries.

Life time warranty, but i haven't needed it.

Been playing 41 years. Dad and granddad had pauls..one a '58 standard and the other a '66. I have them both now..too afraid to take them out of the house and won't pay two plus Gs for a new one. the epi gets the job done. Also have a Tele and an Es 335 custom copy, the Epi holds its' own in fast company. Use the VTX65B, a rewired Fender "franenstein" tube with two 12's and 100 watts all tube and the tube screamer, in combo with the Epi I get all the tones I ever wished for and then some. Buying an Epi Goldtop and a Prophecy LP one for my B'day later this year and the other for Christmas. I would burn any ***** that lays a hand my Epi.

No idea when this was made, probably in 2007. Seeing as how its an Epiphone, it was likely made in Japan or Korea. Has 22 frets with pearl-block style inlays, very classy! I'd say its a solid top but then again I don't know the difference. This model has a tone and volume knobs and what I'm GUESSING to be pickup knobs (I can't tell what they do). The guitar has two humbuckers, whatever comes on an Epiphone Les Paul standard. Has a beautiful sunburst finish, I wouldn't ask for anything different.

Now this guitar sounds WONDERFUL, for just about anything except metal (with the exception of hard rock). If you couldn't see the headstock you wouldn't know the difference between this guitar and a genuine Gibson Les Paul. This guitar hardly buzzes at all. Like a Gibson, this has that beautiful warm, rich sound.

Well I'm guessin' that this guitar was set up at the store I bought it from. But when they set it up they knew what they were doing! Although the action, when set low or at medium, the frets buzz on the low E and A, especially when power chords are utilized. But hooked up to an amp, you can't tell that the frets buzz at all so its nothing to rant about really. I wouldn't replace the pickups in fear of losing that warm Gibson tone, after all, it'd be more than a shame to lose that! As far as that goes though, the guitar contained NO flaws whatsoever.

This thing is tough. Quite. Although I wouldn't suggest taking a hammer to it! I've had this guitar since December '07 and the finish hasn't even begun to phase, still looks brand new. If the hardware doesn't last, then I'm a monkeys uncle, because like every Gibson-made product, its built to LAST. The strap buttons aren't coming off any time soon, even if you wanted to rip them off (not that I've tried). Without a doubt though, this thing is 100% reliable! If I gigged or went some where with it (and not a backup guitar), I would be confident that this guitar could stand up to about any challenge.

I bought this from the Dexter Music Center, the employees there gladly demonstrated how well the guitar played and were very friendly and helpful. The thing came with a warranty, but I don't remember how long it was, but it was long enough that if anything happened to it now, I'd still be under warranty.

Its a Gibson Les Paul standard without the trademark Gibson headstock practically. Just think of what a Gibson Les Paul standard is like and visualize it with an Epiphone headstock. I would reccomend this guitar to just about anybody for the tone and price. I have a 1961 Melody Maker, and really, they're quite equal in tone, but that also depends on what tone you want.

Just as a warning, this thing is made for hard-rock and lower. Not quite metal friendly.

You all know the features. My lady was build in China and I think they have used an unusual amount of varnish for the finish. Nevertheless the Honey-burst finish looks pretty nice and is giving this lady a very expensive look - as my daughter says.

I??ve prefered to play acustic guitars (Ovation, H??fer) years before. Got some experience with a Fender Strat - stopped for 10 years and entered jazz and blues guitar 2 years ago. I use a Roland cube 30 for this lady and a Beringer sound modulator for the note book when playing just with head phones.
I??ve tested some of the LP-standards build by Epiphone and I??ve to say that the sound varies very much. My lady sounds very rich with a rich sound especially from the neck HB. I use D??Addario EXL110W strings and they give a much more intense sound than many other strings I??ve tried (from .009 up to .013) The neck HB is perfect for Jazz and Blues and I??ve to admit that I rarely use another configuration.
But as I??ve said: sound characteristics seem to vary comparing different "individuals" of this modell. Test your lady before buying!

Baught this guitar from a Music Store where they adjust all Guitars perfectly. Can??t judge the quality of the factory.

I just play this guitar at home and on very small sets. It works without any problems since 2 years (and I play it every day, travelling a lot as well). The toggle switch is a little wobbly and the buttoms have been placed sloppy.

Did not need this so far.

This is a guitar which enables you to play a great variety of sounds. The price is reasonable. You should play with the guitar before you buy it, because the individual sound might differ.

If my lady will be stolen, I shurely will replace it.

This Epiphone Plaintop Honeyburst was made in China in 2008.It has 23 frets.The pickups are Gibson design Alnico V's.2 volume,2 tone controls in the old style Gibson top-hats.Passive Electronics.Finish is Gloss Plaintop Honeyburst.When I say plain,I don't mean it's ulgly,in fact it's quite striking.Les Paul body style.Frets seem jumbo and neck is right in the middle between thin and fat..nice feel.No case or bag but there was a cheap cord that I probably will never use.Tunamatic bridge with stopbar tailpiece.I was looking for a great guitar for under $500...I found it!!

I have been using it with a small Peavy tube amp and also a Marshal DSL 401.THIS GUITAR ROCKS!Pickups are very very good...Alnico V's..no need to change em in my opionion.Nice AC/DC crunch on the bridge pickup and on the neck nice Funky...Doobie brothers "Long Train Comin"Plenty of Sustain.This guitar Sounds great.A+

This is the Second guitar I received.The first had buzzing and cosmetic problems..like..a knot in the neck by the first fret..also the first finish bled into binding.AMS was very good at taking it back and immedialtly replacing it....

The second Guitar was absolutly PERFECT!!I believe there has been a significant improvement in Epiphone Quality in recent months...BRAVO Gibson.Nut beautifullt cut...Action perfect...Everything....ROCKS..And I'm a finicky guy...

Yes,it can withstand constant use.Very Solid looking guitar.I have ordered the Epiphone LP case..hoping it's good.I would use it without a backup,it's that good

I didn't need customer support,But,I'm not trustful of the Warranty.The only real help from Gibson is there 1-800 number.If you get to the point of needing to go for repair...GOOD LUCK

I had a couple of Rock bands in the 60's.Now I'm just livin the dream.I have done an open Mike...that was fun.I have a Tele.Strat,SG 61 reissue,SG Classic,Epiphone Casino Elitist...very nice...Fender Blues Junior Amp...Epiphone Valve Junior..and lots of Boss pedals and Many Acoustics...just got the Taylor Baby...Very nice.

If this Epiphone were stolen,I would get another.I Love the sound,feel.I hate that I had to eturn the first guitar to finally get perfect one.It has everything a Rocker needs :)

2007 Chinese Les Paul Standard that was a factory 2nd. 22 frets
This one is light more like a Studio than any of the other 4 Epiphone Les Pauls I had. The finish isn't transparent but I'd be inclined to say this guitar either is hollowed out in certain areas or is alder wood. I changed the nut to a Tusq nut right away and put String-Saver saddles on it. I took it into a luthier as I bought it off eBay and he found the frets were very uneven. I guess that is what made it a factory 2nd because everything else is fine on the guitar. Anyways he set in and glued the frets and dressed them and now it plays very well. I got a hardshell case with it even though I only play at home. I figure every guitar of mine should have a nice place to rest. The Grover tuners perform wonderfully. I give it an 8 because it was a 2nd and because the factory nut and saddles are pretty cheap. But for $379.00 it is a good value for those looking for a Les Paul styled guitar.

I run it through a Digitech RP50 effects unit into a Peavey Studio Pro amplifier. It has a 12" speaker so it provides good sound from a relatively cheap amp. The pickups are okay. They sound pretty much like my other Epiphone pickups with the exception of two of my previously owned Epiphones which both had 57 Classic/57 Classic Plus
pickups in them and they were pretty fine. I may at some point change to a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and a JB at the bridge, but I'm in no rush. The sounds I can get with the stock setup are pretty good. The neck pickup is not muddy and the bridge is bright and can get raunchy with some distortion, which I like when I'm in the mood. It is good for jazz, blues and rock. Not country though. But I have a Telecaster for that kind of twangy sound. I give it an 8 because the sound is good but if Epiphone spent another $50.00 bucks on this guitar they could install much better pickups in it and I would gladly pay the extra $50.00

The guitar was not set up well from the factory and required work at my local luthiers shop to get it into Grade A playing condition. As I mentioned before the frets had to be re-set and dressed. The paint job was fine and the gold hardware looks fine. It gets an 8 because my Fender came with a decent factory setup, and the quality control sticker(which has been removed) should not have been put on this guitar that had terrible fretwork. Note also that it has a logo on the back saying this is a limited edition custom shop model. It should have been fixed before they rushed it out of the factory.

It is a solidly built guitar and I believe that it would stand up to live playing quite well. The gold hardware finish will likely wear off pretty quickly, but it it would be dependable as long as it wasn't abused.

No warranty since it's a 2nd. I would never take it to the local Epiphone dealer. I take it to the local Ibanez shop where they do good work at a fair price. I think if you take care of something from the start it will last and you'll never have to deal with a warranty issue. I think the Chinese factory still has a ways to go before it matches the quality of the South Korean models of 2003 and before.

I have been playing off and on since I was a teenager in the 70's. I just play for fun. I won't buy another Epiphone guitar on eBay without playing it first. I think that I'll buy my next guitar (an acoustic)locally and try it first. I compared it with an Agile Les Paul copy. I had two Agiles before and I had to return one of them with a crack in the neck. I chose the Epiphone this time over the Agile because it's expensive to ship it back if there is a problem even though the Agile dealer is great. My other guitar is a Fender Standard Telecaster which I will review next.

2 passive stock humbuckers,rosewood fretboard. black/white,grovers, les paul style single cutaway guitar, jumbo frets.

I like this guitar for the money. It has the weight which contributes to the sustain. I knew I was most likely going to have to change the electronics/pickups but the guitar provides a great base product to upgrade. The finish work is very respectable relative to its Gibson peer.

Classic Rock run thru a Vox 30 watt Valvetronix. The stock pickups are decent but nothing special. Good harmonics, feel and playability. I will upgrade with some hotter pickups. Rhythm pickup is a bit muddy. Middle and Treble position are OK.

Many of these companies cut corners on the finish work but, again, I like the base product features and finish. The strings buzz a little but I will have that worked out with a set up and some heavier strings. The frets, usually the area suffering on these copy guitars, are very well done on mine. Smooth jumbo frets with no overhang thanks in part to the bound fretboard. A very nice looking guitar.

Feels like a heavy duty and durable guitar - weighty. Parts are solid with no loose connections. Well built. Neck is solid and joins the body well. I would play live with it.

Not a lot of experience with Gibson but they do offer 24 hour customer support.

This is a very good guitar. I don't understand the folks that expect a $3,000 Gibson Les Paul for $400 bucks. Just make the upgrades and setup and you will have a very nice guitar. Good looking, solid build, smooth playing - what more can you ask?

This Epiphone Les Paul was made in China and i have no idea what year. It has 22 frets The controls are 2 volume controls (for each humbucker and two tone control likewise. The pickups are passive being Epiphones own and they perform well. The body is a solid chunk of mahogany, enough said. The neck is glued on and has a rosewood fretboard. It has a flamed top. It has Gibson/Epiphones stop tailpiece. The tuners are top quality grovers and have satisfied me from the onset. It also has a fat wide neck, that is very fast and comfortable for a les paul. not tons of features so it won't give it 10, but it does heaps of tones

It is perfect for my rock/blues music style. I run it through a Behringer GMX212 (sadly) so the tone of it dosen't quite show. It is hum free and completely silent due to the humbuckers, which are medium output. The sound isn't particulary bright, but is very, very rich. it dosen't do shimmering cleans all that well, but your eyes will light up when you run it through a Plexi or something like that, it is made for this kind of amp.

The action is not to low, not too high, perfect for playing and sounding good. Th guitar only had minor flaws like the neck-strap button coming loose every time you use the strap, and the pickup toggle coming loose, but these are minor cosmetic flaws and are easily fixed, other than that, the guitar is absolutly perfect.

I have used it on a gig and it is very solid, the hardware will last if you look after it. I don't think the finish will wear off, and so what if it does, it will only look like a well aged les paul. I would trust this guitar with my life, very solid and unsmashable, it just wouldn't break like a flimsy bolt on neck type (you all know the model im talking about)

Never dealt with them

I have benn playing for 4 years now. I fit was lost or stolen i would be seriously pissed off, because it the most expensive thing i own, and I treat it like a baby (wiping down after gigs etc.). The only thig i don't like about it is where the intonation screws are, but i don't care, I get music headquarters in newcastle to do it for me for reduced price because i buy everything there. If you want a serious Les Paul, at a reduced price, run and get one of these axes, you will not regret it

Nothing I can add here that hasn't been described in full better than I could. Semi-hollow body certainly helps make it lighter!

With a good amp it seems to produce a good tone and the humbuckers can certainly be adjusted enough to mimic almost any type of music as long as you have the right amp (I'm a beginner with a nice Vox Ad30VT which sounds great to me). The pickups aren't as loud as real Gibson or others but they do the job. The neck pickup is very quite and doens't offer much. It acutally sounds kind of nice unplugged.

This is the area that I have the most gripe about this guitar. It buzzes a lot. When I mentioned it to the sales person they said it wasn't that bad but after only a month is certainly gets on my nerves. It's adjusted as well as it can be so must be caused by crappy frets. When bending the strings it ofter causes my finger to go under another string causing a possible twang. Also, bending the A string a bit may make the top E string slide off the end because the neck is very narrow. The action just doesn't feel very good to me. The finish on the neck causes my hand to sweat and get sticky so I have to use talc or baby powder to keep from sticking. Because of all of these issues I wish I could get different guitar that I like more.

This guitar seems very sturdy, I haven't had any issues and it seems to hold its tune. I am a beginner so don't know how it would hold up at gigs.

Unfortunely it lookes good but just doesn't feel very good or play easily. You have to be very skilled to keep from doing something wrong (keep frets from buzzing, sliding hand without sticking on neck, bending strings without causing problems). I would love to buy something else and probably will sell on craigslist for cheap.

Typical made in China Les Paul features: 24.75" scale, 3 mahogany body with laminated flame maple top and laminated back, body and neck binding, 2 piece Mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, plastic nut, 2 Epiphone humbuckers, 2 tone, 2 volume knobs, 3 position switch, THICK polyurethane finish, grover tuners, abr-1 bridge, tailpiece. Mine is a Translucent Red Wine.
The pickups are sort of cheap. I played the stock pickups for about 7 months but recently replaced them with Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and a JB in the bridge and replaced all the electronics and wired it to the specs of Jimmy Pages Les Paul. I will elaborate more on them on the sound. Everything else is acceptable

I play basically for pleasure by myself and with friends. I typically play classic rock, The Who and Led Zepplin etc. and my own version of James Brown funk using a Fender Blues Jr., the one with the Jensen speaker. This little 15 Watt amp is fine for me and waht I do. Like I said above I played with the stock pickups for about 7 months or so. The bridge pickup was okay but the neck pickup was pretty quiet and muffled in my opinion. I recently changed out all the electronics on it and replaced them with a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck position and a JB in the bridge position. I had it wired to the specs of Jimmy Page's Les Paul. I strung it with Gibson Vintage strings. This greatly improved the sound and tone variation of the guitar. I got much much more output with the Seymour Duncan pickups. The Jimmy Page wiring specs gave me increadible tone variation (coil tap on poth pickups using a push/pull pots on the volume knobs. Using push/pulls on the tone knobs - the neck tone knob puts the pickups in a seiries -the bridge tone knob puts the pickups out of phase.) I am still playing with all the tone variations but even my wife said "it vhanges the sound of the guitar entirely." With these changes I would probably rate this and 8 or 9. I plan to get a Duncan Twin Tube stomp box to get three channels out of my songle channel Fender Blues Jr. Overall a good guitar for the price under $400 not including the upgrades I made.

Set up was okay out of the box to get going but was much improved with a professional set up. Frets were a little uneven. I bought mind as a blemish off ebay. It took me a long time to find any blemish at all. After a couple days looking it over I found a small buff marks where the neck meets the body but that is it.

The finish on this is pretty thick so I think it will take a beating. I keep mine in an ABS case when not playing it so I think it will last a long time. Since I do not gig professionally I do not need a backup. It is all for self pleasure.

Since it is a factory blemish I will not get any support. The company I bought it from was a perfect trasaction.

I've played off and on for about 15 years with long gaps between. I am totally slef taught with a few periods with lessons here and there. Putting all the time together probably about 2 to 3 years. Looking back, I might have held out for a good shape used Gibson Les Paul studio since after upgrading I would have probably found one in the price I spent on the Epiphone and upgrading it. I like the guitar because it is a good starter and would recomend it for anyone learning. Shop around and you'll find one for the price I paid stock used with probably all the upgrade you need on it for the price you'd pay for it stock. But hey you live and learn.

all the standard les paul features...2 humbuckers, tune-o-matric bridge, 22 frets two volume two tone controls with a 3 way toggle switch, groover tuners etc...mine has a nice cherry burst finish on it...and above all it is made up of mahogany (not the ply-wood used in lower end models)..i only rate it 7 coz the features r pretty standard and i like to have a whammy bar on it

i play nearly every thing from thrash metal to traditional folk songs..the pups r just ok and they dont sound even close to the burstbuckers on the gibson...this thing sounds great acoustically which suggest that by a change of pups it can actually sound very well..but with stock setup its just ok...i gave 8 bcoz it can play nearly every style of music.

gr8 action just about what i like not very low and not very high finish is flawless and above all it has one thing which i love most the guitar's neck make u fell actually when u r playing it

very durable and reliable if used with care (it is not meant to be thrown and can't bear u jumping on it) polish is good

haven't dealt with them

i'm very happy with this guitar and its wise 2 buy these and later change pups then buying a 2.5k gibosn...just by spending a couple of hundred dollars u can have a guitar that sounds like a gibson..again i say acoustically it is gr8

Usual Les Paul features: 24.75" scale, 3 mahogany body with laminated flame maple top and laminated back, body and neck binding, 2 piece Mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, plastic nut, 2 Epiphone '57 passive humbuckers, 2 tone, 2 volume knobs, 3 position switch, thick polyurethane finish, grover tuners, abr-1 bridge, tailpiece, made in China...
Mine is colored in Translucent Amber.
All is pretty much well except finish which i don't like as it is too thick, though the guitar looks awesome! Pickups are cheap - the same with the nut, everything else is actually good...

I play classic rock, blues and hard rock, using a Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 amp and DigiTech Bad Monkey overdrive and Marshall Guv'vor2 overdrive pedals. With stock pickups it is very quiet, but the pickups are sterile as expected, i recommend to change them when available. Get a real deal if you want to improve the guitar. I went with SD Antiquity and straight away it sounded MUCH MUCH better. Nut was also replaced with a Tusq nut from Graphtech in order to get a better sustain as well as the tailpiece which is now aluminium Gotoh - though i do not think that it made a big difference. I've also changed the pots with quality CTS audio taper 500k log. Next is to change the switch with a proper Switchcraft as the stock can be noisy...

So my advice is to get a proper set of humbuckers, pots and a switch, and get a new bone, Tusq or some other quality nut.

Or even better...

Get yourself an Edwards Les Paul from Ebay for the same amount of money you have spent on buying and upgrading this guitar - it is MUCH better guitar, you get nice Nitrocellulose finish, SD Jeff Beck pickup in the bridge position and the SD '59 pickup in the neck position, also you get the deep neck joint, one piece neck, solid maple body top, 2 piece body back and better hardware. A friend of mine who makes pickups said after he tried the Edwards that with new handwound pickups it is capable of killing almost every Gibson Les Paul Standard - believe me he knows what he is talking about as he is one of the best luthiers i've seen!

For ??300 it is a good sounding thing, not spectacular but ok, a lot better with upgrades...

Factory setup was sort of ok, but i prefer to set it up myself the way it suits me. Intonation was very bad, so it had to be done, other than that action was ok. I needed to tighten the tuners, and the bridge and tailpiece studs could have been much better drilled in so they wouldn't stick out as much, but it is not that bad.

It is capable of live playing, it seems reliable and hardware will last for sure. Finish can be checked only if you drop it or drop something on it, so for those who like their guitars without a scratch it will be easy to keep it that way as the finish is very thick. I can definitely depend on it as with the improvements i've done it sounds really well, and yes i would use it without a backup, but i have a strat as well which i would use on the same gig so it would have a sort of backup. And yes, if you like to move a lot during playing, get straplocks to avoid swearing which will be inevitable if you drop it as it is heavy.

never got to speak to them, but judging by their website the customer support must be horrible. Still... contact your luthier instead :)

I've been playing for over a year and own a USA Fender Strat Standard and Marshall DSL 100 with a couple of pedals. I sometimes regret that i've bought this guitar as for the money spent on it plus the improvements i've made i could have bought a better guitar, but after all it is not that bad, and as the matter of fact i would recommend it to the beginners or anyone who doesn't have the funds to buy something better, but do yourself a favor; if you want to buy one, buy a good used one, as there will be a lot of guys like me who will not like the guitar as much and will sell it after a short time period, that is a good opportunity to got it for ??200 or maybe even less as the new ones cost about ??270

Is it worth the money? Well depends... I do like it, but again, if you can save about ??100 or ??150 more, get yourself a much better deal with Edwards or maybe Tokai which is much pricier than edwards, but also very good japanese guitar - if you don't believe me check the reviews here.

Gorgeous honeyburst unlike any other Epi's LP Plaintops I've seen in stores. Much darker and redder. Standard Lp Style. Cream Binding that doesn't look awful and pinkish like on Gibsons. Tune-o-matic import bridge. You know the deal. 2006 model with plain top and god knows what for wood. I'd say a 7 overall since I need to upgrade the bridge and I already installed locking tuners.

Sounds like butt when plugged in. Dull. Sounds great acoustically, it really does. Definitely requires new pickups. I'm surprised it hums as much as it does. At least it has good harmonics.

Ok, here are the issues and things I should have noticed before I considered buying the guitar (I never remember to really check things out, my own fault, I need to make a list and bring it next time...). Whoever drilled the peghead holes did a godawful job because they are uneven and asymmetrical. The G string is too close to the middle of the peghead and makes the whole arrangement look lopsided. The G string tuner was slanted when installed. I did a better job with my Sperzels and it was my first try, but of course the G string peghead is still

LIke I said, who knows what wood was used. I tried putting in a Graphtech nut, which by the way folks, are never the right size. This one wasn't high enough and I couldn't even raise my bridge enough to get rid of 1st fret buzz. Fret work is fine though. No problems whatsoever. Intonates damn near perfectly.

If Warmoth had this Honeyburst color(not that Amber malarkey they try to pass of as a Honeyburst due to a lack of consesus on the general color) and painted their LP's like Gibson with no burst over the pickup selector, I totally would have ordered one with white binding on the neck and body, with pearl block inlays on an ebony neck, tummy cats and a nice shaped heel. Although, the whole bolt on thing seems weird...

It will last if I don't smash it for being upset with myself. The amount of money you have to spend these days for a well built Les Paul...

No idea

Been playing 10 YEARS. Own two new 4003's. USA Strat. Marshall 1987x reissue, and tons of pedals. Lovetone Doppelganger. MXR Blue Box and Phase 45. Captain Coconut II. BYOC Slow Gear. EH 16 DD, EH Del. Elec. Mistress, EH POG, VS h2o, EH Little BM, Boss OD-3, AnalogMan Blue Driver and TS-808 mods.

I can't put a Graphtech nut in it because even though they offer Epiphone nuts, they aren't high enough and cause awful buzz on the 1st fret. The pegheads are misaligned, the stock pickups sound like butt through my rig compared to my Strat, and the only thing going for it right now are the looks. I bought this in hopes of upgrading it with SD Peter Green pickups and upgraded wiring, but I'm so frustrated with the flaws I never noticed off the bat and the fact that I can't put a Graphtech nut in that I'd rather smash it or pawn it off on Guitar Center.

I find it criminal how much Gibson charges for their guitars, especially since they closed down the Custom Shop to personal orders so you can get what you ACTUALLY WANT, and nothing less than $2,500 is even worth purchasing from them. Their Classics look and sound terrible, and their Studios feel and look worse than Mexican Strats ( which quite honestly, have btichin' harmonics.) If only I had ordered my custom Gibson when I had the chance... Oh poverty...

SO PLEASE, PLEASE, before you buy one, especially if you are considering upgrading one, make sure there are no design flaws. Really, save your pennies and get a Warmoth a Gibson. Bite that miserable bullet. Hopefully one has the looks and sound you NEED.

Mine is a 2004 Epi standard, all stock. You all know the features but noone seems to be very critical of them, so i'll just go ahead and do that.
-Flamed top. Very very thick finish, kills dynamics and along with bad pickups ruins any hope of high end sparkle.
-The tuners are grover, and they suck the guitar has never been able to take bends.
-The frets where reasonable for an aisan, mass produced guitar. Had them redone by a *skilled* luthier.
-The controls are great, they do exactly what theyre supposed to.
-The strap buttons where utter shite i've had them repaired 5 times each to date but now the finally seem to hold.

Jimmy Page, Slash, Clapton, Moore and so on and so forth. Those are the names and tones most people think of when seing a Les Paul. Let's just say this guitar doesn't seem to cut that sound. Im using this *thing* with fender tube amps.
The shiny moments with this guitar is def. with the gain half way up. It does seem to need an excesive amount of treble from the amp though. Clean tones forget it useless!
It doesn't seem to take pedals very well. But then again few humbucker guitars do.
An average guitar nothing more.

Cant remember except for the poor frets. I've had this thing for four years.

I'll outlast this thing by decades! I'm not afraid its gonna fall apart. It has on many occasions already!

Never dealt with 'em.

Average guitar, not poor, not great. I comparison to my AM fender tele this thing completely humiliates itself. The pickups are bad beyon belief, the only reason i havent changed them is that I wouldn't be able to justify pouring anymore money into this thing.
To expensive for a starters guitar, buy a squire or something cheaper from Epi. For intermediate players I would recomend saving for a schetcher or a gibson or something like it.
To expensive, to poor and far to dead! This is not just a nightmare story it's the truth.

It's a '99 Standard, bought (gently) used in 2003. Typical thin, fast Epi neck, woods appear to be the correct mahogany/maple combo rather than the alder you sometimes see listed in descriptions for Epi Lesters, although it's a thin maple veneer rather than the two slabs that cap the Gibson models. You know the rest.

Mine is pretty heavily customized, but I HATE when I read a review of a guitar that I'm considering buying stock and all I hear is how the instrument performs with all these aftermarket alterations, so for now I'll stick to how it came.

I run this mostly through a PODxt hooked up to a decent sized power amp and studio monitors. I occasionally use an Ampeg Jet with various pedals, but I'm almost exclusively a hobbyist at this point, so that's rare. I use it for the kinds of things you'd use a Les Paul for, classic rock (Zep, Allmans, Ronson, early Clapton, 60's era Stones), heavier British flavored (flavoured?) blues, and anything that calls for a thick, distorted tone, from your Steve Jones-style power riffing to Joey Santiago-influenced craziness.

It sounded pretty good right from the get-go. Epi pups are not nearly as bad as their reputation; in fact, if you dig a more vintage, alnico type of tone, I think they do that better than those awful ceramic things that come standard on a lot of Gibbys. They'll get you in the ballpark, anyway.

This guitar does, and will always, lack some of the sonic complexity of a full fledged Gibson Lester. The wood makes a big difference. That said, I think it's mostly a difference that the player will notice rather than a listener. The resonance and vibe of high-quality mahogany and a decent maple slab is something you can feel more than hear. But if what you want is Les Paul tone this will get you there at a price you really can't argue with.

Can't speak to factory set up. Action can be set very low and fast, like any decent Gibson derived solid body. Seems well made for a guitar in this price range. It's solid mahogany, you can tell from the rear routing when you pop the cover, and the neck join is sturdy, good sustain. Finish is bulletproof, which would bother me on a Historic Reissue, but is fine here. For those who complain about the tuners: the vintage style tuners are like that on Gibsons too. They actually work well enough, but they feel flimsy. If you can't stand it get Grovers, everybody back in the day did.

A couple of serious flaws: The bridge was cheap and didn't feel very solid; installing a Tonepros was an easy fix and made a noticeable difference in resonance, sustain and intonation. Of greater concern was the fretwork. If you've played more high end guitars you've probably noticed the fretboard is almost always much improved in feel over less expensive guitars, and this Epi LP is no exception. Definitely something to consider. Aside from feel, my major quibble is this one dead spot on the high E string at the 10th fret that kind of drives me insane.

It's solid enough for a Gibson-style guitar. Drop it and that angled headstock will snap. Trust me, I know. See above re finish and hardware. My pup switch went out after about a year. I wound up gutting all the electronics and replacing them so no telling if something else might have gone wrong. The wiring looked kind of chintzy. The rear strap button is very loose and won't tighten, but as I said I'm a home player these days, so I don't really care.

Never been one to bother.

I've been playing about 15 years, and I've bought and sold a shameful amount of gear in that time. At this point I have a career and reponsibilities, but I make it a point to plug in and wail several times a week, just to take my mind off how old and boring I'm becoming.

What you need to know is that for a quarter of the price of an LP Classic, this will get you the LP sound, both live and on tape (er, hard drive). Switch out that crappy bridge and install a set of 57 Classics and no one YOU will ever meet is going to be able to hear the difference. Will you derive the same visceral satisfaction you would peeling off Beano licks on an R9 Historic? Hell no. But if you're on a budget (isn't everybody?) and you need an LP in your arsenal, this will get you the sound you're looking for.

This guitar looks great in it's Blue Burst finish, and I've removed the scratchplate to show it off.
It has an ALDER body with a mahaogany venner on the back and a maple veneer on the front, a mahogany neck and a rosewood fingerboard.
Hardware and scale length is typical Gibson, as is the neck, being similar to the Gibson Les Paul Standards 50's shape.
It didn't come with a gig bag which is a shame for a ??300+ guitar.
I have swapped the pickups for some Seymour Duncan's, but I do this to all my guitars.

The guitar doesn't sound like a pukker Gibson. It is close however. It has a throaty mid range roar that is the result of the construction. Play loud through a Marshall in a band and it really is hard to hear the difference between this and a real Gibson.
It is very versatile, with nice clean sounds, amazing crunch tones and, with the Seymour Duncans, great through a high gain amp.
The stock pickups couldn't take too much gain before becoming muddy and indistinct, so I swapped them for a JB/Jazz set and now the guitar sounds awesome.
I think Gibsons decision to use an Alder body is because they want people to buy a Gibson to get he Gibson sound. They don't want people buying a ??300 Epiphone to get the Gibson sound. This guitar does have a great sound in it's own right though, and should be judged on its own merits.
You wouldn't catch John Frusciante or Andy Summers using one, but it's great for everthing else!

The frets could do with being a bit bigger for me, but that is my taste. It plays slick and smooth and I am very happy with it. The flat fingerboard is great for bends.
Build quality is very good.

Built like a brick sh*thouse. I've added Grolsch bottle 'strap-locks' but I do this to all my guitars. It stays in tune, the finish is very thick so is very hard to damage.
No complaints here, except that the finish is slightly sticky and drags under the hand compared to a USA Gibson or PRS.

Never needed it for this particular guitar, but information is really easy to find and Rossetti are very good to deal with.

It's not the same as a Gibson Les Paul but is a very good guitar in it's own right. If you have to have a proper Les Paul save up a little bit more and buy a secondhand Studio, but for everyone else, this is fine!

The finish looks nice. Honeyburst finish w/plain top with double humbuckers and a thin 60's style neck. It's funny because I compared it to another Honeyburst Epiphone Les Paul Standard plain top and the color was way different(in the same Guitar Center). One was a sand color with little to no burst and mine is almost a burgundy/cinnamon color with a nice amber in the middle. MADE IN CHINA. Yeah. 3-way pickup switch, 4 knobs, 22 frets. All the usual stuff.

Intonates damn near perfectly with stock bridge. Of course, they will be replaced with Tone Pros bridge & saddle kit. Also, the tuners definitely need to be switched out for locking ones, but it's nothing I wouldn't do on a Gibson or my USA Fender.

The binding on Epiphones I have find have a much better color to them, not the pinkish hue that plagues the Gibsons which looks awfu;.

Quite honestly it looks better than most of the Gibson I'ved seen except for the Midnight Manhattan LP (which was incredibly stunning and I should have bought) they released in a few years ago for a limited time.

Sounds great acoustically. I was impressed. I'm not sure my USA Fender sounds as nice.

Using this with: Marshall 1987x reissue (bought new '05), Analog Man TS808, Analog Man BD-2, EH Little Big Muff (another great pedal), Fox Fox Captain Coconut II with Univibe after the delay pedal, Visual Sound h20 pedal (chorus & delay), Lovetone Doppelganger, MXR Phase 45, and finally an EH 16 digi-delay. I have an armful more, but not enough room until I get a nice pedalboard.

Basically, it sounds pretty good with stock pickups clean, but sounds delicious with my setup, didn't notice any hum other than that caused by my chorus pedal. Of course, the 1987x reissue is too bright on the High Treble channel as everyone knows, so that has to be modded, since it doesn get in the way of finding good sound sometimes. I'd recommend switching these pickups for Seymour Duncan Phat Cats or Seymour Duncan Custom Shop "Greenie" humbuckers, which are Peter Green pickups, complete with out-of-phase tone when the switch is in the middle position.

Suits my style because I love the look of the LP and it's great for that spacey classic rock with slide work.

Overall: OK sound when plugged in, great when unplugged. Upgrade to noiseless SD pickups!

Action was great, but I prefer it much higher and even for good slide work. Pickups seemed fine and the plain top is gorgeous. Not really any noticeable flaws I'd care about except for a tiny bit of brown (half a mm wide, inch long on the neck binding). Must be from the wood.

Everything looks great, and honestly for this amount a money, you gotta wonder why someone would drop over a $1000 on a Les Paul Studio, which plays, feels, and looks like muddy butthole on a rainy day in Scotland. I was in the market for a Gibson Les Paul Classic, until I played one and it was ok, but looked terrible.

Hardware should last but I upgrade my guitars anyway except for my Rickenbacker basses.

Strap buttons seem solid, I have no worries about durability. Should probably still get strap locks though. My Fender's strap buttons get loose a lot.

N/A

Been playing 10 years. 10 for bass, 5 for guitar.

I own two Rickenbacker 4003's, one black, one "Montezuma Brown". Awesome color and sound. A Japanese Fender Marcus Miller, a USA Strat, a Mexican Strat (great harmonics), and this bad larry.

I don't know if I'd buy this again, unless I saw it in a slighty deeper brown color which is now impossible since Gibson closed their custom shop to orders from the public.

I compared this to a 60's reissue Gibson LP, which runs for $3,000. It sounded great and played well, but wasn't a fan of the look, and quite frankly, cost too much, as almost all Gibsons do.

We all know the stats by know, but for the sake of conformity, my Epi has the cherry sunburst finish, set mahogany neck into a mahogany/maple body, two passive humbuckers and what appears to be plastic binding. I've heard that the flamed maple tops on these are actually just veneers (ultra-thin piece of wood), and that there is alder between the mahogany and maple. I still have the stock humbuckers in mine, and though I usually run the guitar's controls fully open, they seem to function perfectly well for fine adjustment.
The guitar is a little heavy, but not nearly as much as a Gibson.
I will say that the particular guitar I bought has a neck comparable to a Gibson 1960's neck, meaning that it is a little thinner that a Gibson 1950's neck.
I'm giving the guitar a 9 simply because I would really have liked to have the binding go all the way around the headstock as well as the neck and body, but I'll admit that it is a somewhat superficial complaint. If I could, I'd give it a 9.5.

I'm running this guitar into a Boss Tuner, BBE Boosta Grande, Dunlop Crybaby 535Q Wah, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus, Boss Noise Suppressor, Line 6 DL4, and Ernie Ball passive volume pedal. All pedals are powered and sit on a SKB PS-45 pedalboard, and then go to my Mesa/Boogie Nomad 100 head (with Groove Tube 12AX7's and EL34's) and Mesa/Boogie Traditional Rectifier 4x12 cabinet.

I use this guitar for blues, reggae, hard rock, and gospel. The sound is not quite as warm and strong as a Gibson, but well worth the cash spent on it. I've debating dropping Seymour Duncans into it, but that will have to wait a bit. As it is, I enjoy the sound of this guitar with my wah into my crunch and high gain channels. The guitar does have a strong, throaty bite all across the fretboard. It sounds very balanced through my clean channel, but seems a little too heavy to play funk or reggae.

I'll give a 9 overall in this category because to me it sounds pretty warm in the low and mids, and still maintains a strong high end that isn't shrill. However, I think that it could have stronger output. Compared to other guitars in this price range, I give it a 10.

I can't commend on the setup from the factory, as I got this guitar used. The pickups have always sounded decent to me, though as I mentioned before, I will probably switch them out at some point. The flamed top wasn't perfectly bookmatched, but still looks pretty good to me, so much that I just took off the pickguard and mounting hardwear to show off more wood. I get lots of favorable comments on the finish, colors and wood grain combination. There is a tiny bit of paint overlapping the bracing, but it's only visible to me when I'm playing and never to anyone else.

I've had this for six months, and it's held up very well for playing 1-4 times a week. I think the hardware will last a while, but everything does wear out eventually. This finish is strong, but one nice thing about having a $500 Epiphone to a $2200 Gibson is that if by some accident you would scratch, chip or dent the finish, it isn't as critical an accident. I did switch out the strap buttons for Straplocks because I tend to move around a lot on stage, and I would strongly recommend this to anyone that plays live.
The guitar does seem reliable enough to use without a backup, but I always take my Strat with me. You never know when a string will break between songs, and sometimes I'll have to change guitars during a set to get a different sound.
I'll give it a 9 for the lack of Straplocks, but otherwise it's a pretty stable instrument.

I bought it used, so I can't comment on the warranty.
So far, I've never had to take it into the shop, though if I do, I'll take it to Warner's Guitar Repair in Edmond, Oklahoma. He does wonderful repair work, and I'd highly recommend him to everyone in the area!

I've been playing electric guitar for four years. This was bought to be my primary guitar, as I started off and still use my Lotus Les Paul (with Seymour Duncans), as well as my Fender Deluxe Player's Stratocaster. I listed my rig above, and I'm very satisfied on the quality of this instrument. Eventually I'll trade up, but this guitar serves me very well for the present. I love the finish and paint on the guitar, as it looks gorgeous!
I do want to warn you, not all Epiphones are constructed or sound very good. I played five other Epiphone Les Paul Standards, and not one of them sounded exactly the same! I also tested this guitar against a Gibson Les Paul Standard and Custom Shop AAAA, and I think that the Epiphone sounded better than the Gibsons. In all fairness, tone is subjective, and Gibson's quality control has taken a dive in recent ears.
While it is certainly not my "last-you'll-ever-buy-or-want" guitar, I am pretty happy with this Epiphone. I would recommend anyone looking for a solid, reliable, rock 'n roll guitar to give one of these a try. Good luck!