Epiphone LPs

[Zoso Jade]

Sorry if this is a stupid question.

We all know the Epi's aren't as good as Gibsons but I was wondering some of you more experienced guitarists could tell me what you feel about the Epiphone Les Paul range (it's all I can afford).  I'm about to buy one and I want to find out all the information I can before I do.  I'm especially interested in the things that make them inferior to Gibsons (sound wise).

Thanks.

[Zoso Jade]

THanks a lot for the advice.  I was actually thinking about the custom or the black beauty!!

[Captain P?l]

THanks a lot for the advice.  I was actually thinking about the custom or the black beauty!!

the black beauty rocks! i own one myself... (only with 3 pickups though)  

[AdZ]

Stickying this, we have loads of topics about Epiphone Les Pauls, too many.

[BP]

my theory on a crappy guitar:

For the price you pay on new Epi-  why not find a nice used Gibson?  works for me. My used 1986 LP Junior that I bought for $300 with hardshell case even puts alot of the new Gibsons to shame.

I even kept that $300 Gibson & sold a Brand new Fender Strat Delux because I favored the Junior.
My 77 Custom Gibby puts to shame alot of brand new models.

I've been playing a lot of Gibsons of the last year looking for a special new friend. A lot of the new Gibbys' suck ass & is why you really need to play em' so you don't get stuck with a dead sounding guitar.
That being said, I picked up a Epi in the store a month ago for the hell of it. I was testing out about 8 guitars & the Epi was really bad. I guess it was printed up to look like a standard.

anyway, use your ears, pick up a bunch, feel around that thang. Plus I will never buy a guitar online again.. EVER. Musicians Friend sent me 3 fucking Classics the last year & only 1 was ok but sent it back due to some damage. I ended up with none from them. Plus I'm no millionare.

peace out
-BP

[Aero]

I consider that epiphones SUCKS.

For the same money, you can buy an Ibanez guitar, or a BC Rich guitar, wich I consider better than epiphone... the new epiphone series are all made in korea and it sucks. I find epiphone necks very unconfortable...

when you buy an epiphone you're paying licenses for mic designs, guitar design, the name in the headstock... in a B.C Rich for example, all the money you spend is in woods, mics, floyd rose... I dunno if you know what I try to say.

[Zoso Jade]

Stickying this, we have loads of topics about Epiphone Les Pauls, too many.

Well I did look first.  Plus the search function on this site doesn't work.  Didn't have much of a choice.

Aero, I was under the impression BC Rich and Ibanez were for heavier material than I am used to playing.  I'm much more into blues-rock guitaring.

[Aero]

slash did start with a bc rich warlok... he also used a mockingbird (famous for YCBM) and he uses the bitch model for some VR shows...

tracii guns also uses BC Rich...

Ibanez guitars are REALLY versatile guitars, I own one and I can play gnr perfectly. just plug it into a marshall amp and that's all... you can also consider that you can put any pickup you want when you want in the future...

[AdZ]

Well I did look first.  Plus the search function on this site doesn't work.  Didn't have much of a choice.

Oh that's cool, I just thought it would be a good idea to have a source of this info at the top of the forum.

[Aero]

I could help a little tomorrow in making a sticky thread with some gear reviews and prices...

for example, guitars and effects who can fit for guns n roses sound, sorted by price ranges

[electricmage]

I actually had a Translucent Amber Epi LP that was made in 2000. Was very impressed. Felt and sang just like my Gibson Classic. Was a standard Epi LP. The quality beat anything fender could prduce and was 500.00.

[Oddy]

my epiphone les paul classic plus plays so poorly that i use it to practice on.

when i switch to my main les paul i play like crazy cuz its so much easier.

thats about all the epiphone is good for.

impossible to set up........its being set up at the store and they dont know what to do with it.........still buzzes at certain frets even with some fret dressing.

ah well i'll be like malmsteen now with the action so high. i may aswell scallop the frets too

[jrs2001_99]

I have an Epiphone LP Studio; it's a decent enough guitar, the stock pickups are Gibson manufactured and have Alnico magnets, so with a half decent amp you can get a mean sound out of it. The neck is smooth and fast and sounds great.

The only thing I don't like are the cheap black volume/tone knobs, and it takes ages to break a new set of strings into it (in terms of keeping them in tune all the time, particularly the G-string).

I've had this guitar for nearly 4 years now, and have played it to death, it's taken it's share of abuse, but it still looks and sounds great. The only serious thing that is wrong with it at the minute is fret wear, but that comes with the territory in any guitar.

For the most part, I find there is very little wrong with Epiphones. My mate has an Epi SG which plays like a dream...

It's easy to get bogged down in technicalities trying to achieve the "perfect" guitar, and you can end up spending a fortune and just making such a chore out of something that shuold be nothing but fun.

My advice is to go to the guitar shop, try out as many guitars that you like the look of as you can, and try and get a feel for them. If it feels comfortable and easy for you to play, and has no obvious technical problems then go for it. The guitar is for you at the end of the day, not anyone else.

[Zoso Jade]

Thanks for all the replies.  I played the Black Beauty and loved it personally though I am not an expert as it is my first guitar.  I read loads of reviews online and pretty much everything I read was a great review; the lowest average rating I saw was 8/10, most were above 9 so I bought it.  It should be coming in today so I'lll let people know then how it is.

[Zoso Jade]

Well I've had the guitar for a couple of days now and I am very, very impressed.  I really don't see how anyone could say anything bad about this piece of work.  Anyway, I'd really like to learn a lot more about electric guitars and the way they work/ the things you can do with them/ effects pedals... does anyone know where I can find out this kind of info?

[GunsnRoses0522]

Hey I got one and it's great. My band covers sweet child o' mine, intro sounds just like it. Reason being that song was written on a les paul. Go for it man. Great guitar!

[darkmonth]

The price I paid for my used Gibson Les Paul Standard with replacement seymour duncan pickups and new tuners, was LESS than the price of an Epiphone Les Paul Zakk Wylde model...

Awesome deal.

[pewing33ny]

www.rondomusic.net

order an agile...i live very close to this store and the  $300 guitars are better then $600 epiphones.  hell for $200 you can get an agile 2500.

personally i just bought a ESP Edwards MIJ LP. It's fantastic, most resonant piece of wood i've played, better then gibson standards, at the level of "lower-end" custom shop models (the cheapest model is $2500)
the Edwards cost me $450+$120 shipping from japan and plays very well now but once i throw in some new pickups, higher-end hardware and replace the electronics it will be at the level of a r8 or r9 (they go for about $4k-$5k new).

i work at samash and even though we stopped carrying gibson we still have a few and the agiles are as good as the LP studios.  We had a sweet gibson R7 used but i actually like my Edwards better.  also don't get epiphones, there are alot of Quality Control issues and there have been cases of epiphones using plywood with veneers to hide low-quality supplies


but in conclusion DON'T BUY THE EPIPHONE, YOU CAN GET A MUCH BETTER GUITAR FOR 1/3 OF THE COST.  check out the agiles from rondomusic.net if you live in teh USA, trust me i deal with 100's of guitars a day and you will be much happier. 

[pewing33ny]

Thanks for all the replies.  I played the Black Beauty and loved it personally though I am not an expert as it is my first guitar.  I read loads of reviews online and pretty much everything I read was a great review; the lowest average rating I saw was 8/10, most were above 9 so I bought it.  It should be coming in today so I'lll let people know then how it is.

ahhhhh just saw you bought it, i'm going to make a guide for buying les pauls and a slash gear guide for this site in the next few days.

anyway enjoy the guitar,  even though i may have come off very anti-epiphone they're very usable although overpriced. plus all guitars that aren't handmade are going to vary in quality so i hope you get a good one.

[Zoso Jade]

Don't live in the US either unfortunately...

But I like my guitar, it plays well and looks lovely.