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Epiphone Les Paul Standard - Ebony

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LP-Shaped Guitars from the [Les Paul Series] Les Paul Standard model by Epiphone

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Epiphone Les Paul Standard - Ebony user reviews ( 7/10) - 56 user reviews

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08/01/11

Steve_Boudreaux's review "Replace The Pickups, And This Guitar Is As Good As A Les Paul Gets- Bar NONE"

Characteristics
Don't believe those who say the Epiphone Les Paul is not top-notch, or nearly so- the only thing that disappoints are the pickups, and even they are decent. I upgraded the pups to Gibson Burstbucker Pro's- nothing else was needed. I upgraded the tuners, but only because I had a set of Gibson bell-knob tuners that looked cooler- the original Grover tuners (branded, not copies) were as good as the ones I put on. I decided to wait to see how the pots, switch, caps and wiring, and the nut, performed, and now, three years later, with considerable play, they are all working just fine.

Don't let anyone tell you Agile, SX, or anybody else's LP is better- it just is not so. If these were not made in Indonesia, they would be perfect.
Utilization
Exact copy of the Gibson Les Paul in body and neck shape- easy to play, if a bit heavy.
Sounds
Works fine with any amp I have played it with.
Overall Opinion
Black, ivory and chrome color scheme avoids glitch and flash. This is what a Les Paul should look like.

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06/07/11

tjon901's review "Official Les Paul copy"

Characteristics
Epiphone is Gibsons lower price line of guitar. They have pretty much the same specs as the Gibson models. The electronics are not as good but they are made from the species of wood but the wood may not be the best quality. The Les Paul standard guitar was introduced in 1958. They came with the first PAF pickups and when people talk about the Gibson tone they are talking about these. They have the standard Les Paul setup with mahogany body with a maple top and a mahogany neck with a 22 fret rosewood fretboard. Two humbucking Alnico Classic pickups with dual volume and tone controls with a 3 way toggle switch pickup selector. The up position on the switch selects the neck pickup. The middle position on the pickup selector selects both pickups. And the down position on the pickup selector selects the bridge pickup. It has a tune-o-matic bridge and stop tail piece.
Utilization
The Epiphone Les Paul standard has all of the same advantages and disadvantages in playability that every Les Paul has. If you are use to modern guitars with thin necks the Les Paul neck will be very big for you. Because of the set neck design there is a large neck tenon and joint. This can make the upper frets hard for some people to reach because the body essentially joins the neck at the 17th fret. After the 17th fret you are reaching around the body to get to the frets. The tuning stability is good because there is no tremolo. The quality of hardware Epiphone uses is not that great. I have had problems with the input jack unscrewing itself and things like that.
Sounds
The pickups Epiphone uses are not that great. They are pretty muddy and dead. You do not get much attack with these pickups. Since these pickups do not have much definition the neck position can get really muddy. These guitars are chambered like the Gibson Les Paul standard guitars. This takes away some of the thickness from the tone. With a high gain amp the sound might get muddy due to the lack of definition. With some types of music these pickups are great. If you want a bluesy sound these pickups will do really good and you will be able to get a smooth tone out of them. With a pickup swap this guitar can sound great so I would recommend to anyone who has one of these Epiphones to try it out with some after market pickups.
Overall Opinion
If you are looking for a cheap Gibson Les Paul alternative there are better guitars out there. Epiphone makes the only official Les Paul copies but there are some other copies that are of a lot better quality. I would recommend looking at an Agile Les Paul copy. You can get a guitar half the price of the Epiphone but with better quality, and for the price you pay for this Epiphone you can get an Agile with an ebony fretboard and Gibson quality hardware.

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05/06/11

King Loudness's review "A reasonable LP facsimile "

Characteristics
The Epiphone Les Paul Standard was made to act as a lower budget version of the classic Gibson Les Paul Standard. It features all of the classic appointments of the LP, such as a mahogany body and neck, flamed maple top, dual humbuckers, and a tuneomatic bridge and stop tailpiece. The full list of specs is as follows:

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plain Top Electric Guitar Features:

Mahogany body

Maple veneer over carved top

Alnico Classic humbuckers

Chrome hardware

Grover tuners

24-3/4" scale

1-11/16" nut width

Set mahogany neck

Slim-tapered neck profile

Rosewood fretboard with trapezoid inlays

Body/neck binding

LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge/stopbar tailpiece

Basically, it's designed to be a classic Les Paul, but at about 1/4 the price... does it live up to the hype? We'll see...
Utilization
Design wise, the Les Paul was never the most ergonomic guitar on the planet, and this Epiphone model is no exception. The Epiphone model, like the 2008 model Gibson LP Standard, features chambered construction so it's lighter than your average LP, but as I stated in my LP Standard review, the cost of a lighter wait is a thinner/un LP like tone in my opinion. The upper fret access on Les Pauls is decent enough, though the neck heel can get in the way on occasion.

Getting a decent tone out of this guitar is not difficult. Like nearly every Epiphone guitar I've tried, it's plagued with muddy, cheap sounding pickups that lack note definition, so the tones as stock are not even close to my Gibson LP that is loaded with '57 Classics. However, I have tried models that have had replaced pickups, and it does greatly improve the tone of the guitar plugged in.
Sounds
I've tried these guitars through various Marshall and Mesa Boogie amplifiers, both in stock and modified form. I would say the tones are reasonable enough when you consider the price they sell for new. O

The clean tones are fair enough when set up correctly. The pickups lack a lot of the punch of some higher quality models from Gibson, DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan, but even considering that, the cleans have a decent low end and midrange tone that's excellent for jazzy and bluesy tones.

The overdrive tones are nice for the guitar for sure. It seems to excel at seventies/eighties arena type hard rock. The guitar isn't quite as dynamic as my Gibson LP, so using the volume and tone controls really don't do quite as much as I might like.

All in all, the stock tones really are average at best. It improves greatly if you upgrade the pickups, but that's an additional expense to consider when buying...
Overall Opinion
All in all I figure the Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a decent lower budget guitar for someone who really wants to be the next Jimmy Page or Slash, but is on a budget. The construction of the guitar is fine and it plays fairly well... but the electronics are simply just not up to par. Personally, if I was spending $600 on a flamed top Epiphone LP Standard and then an additional $150 or $200 on pickups/electronics... I would simply put my money into a second hand Gibson Les Paul Studio or Studio Faded, which to me is a far superior instrument and will hold its value far better than an Epiphone.

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05/06/11

killerkgprime's review

Characteristics
The Epi standard is made in Korea. The 2 vol and 2 tone controls allow for easy tone variation at your fingertips.

Mahogany body with a thick maple cap

thick mahogany neck

rosewood board with 22 meduim jumbo frets

stoptail/tune-o-matic bridge
Utilization
I'm more of a strat guy, so LP's have never had the best upper fret acess for me. The coupling of a beefy neck defineily hinders speed on an LP neck, but that doesn't mean it can't be done, just look at John Sykes!

The lack of comfort cuts might bother players more comfortable with strats, but that's also part of an LP's charm, that large mass of wood.

Although I've played many LP's that didn't sound or play that great, one thing that you can be sure of is that an LP will sound big, and have a low mid emphasis, just because of the wood mass and body/neck construction.

My Epi is about 9 lbs. Pretty hefty!
Sounds
I go for a Marshally, Modded Plexi type tone with most of my guitars, but I find that my Epi performs better under lower gain settings, where the fat LP tone can take over.

The pickups are OK. Nothing spectacular about them, but at the same time, they aren't horrible. The bridge delivers on 70s hard rock ala Thin lizzy, but it get's muddy under high gain applications. The neck is a bit better for that, but it still tends to have too much lows. Cleans are quite warm, if a bit characterless, and safe.
Overall Opinion
An Epi LP is a good introduction to Les Pauls, if you're on a budget. With a good setup, and new pickups, you can definetly find keepers, unfortuantely mine was not one of them. One of the best LP's I've ever played was a Zakk Wyled sig, though, so it can be done at a lower price point.

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11/03/10

moosers's review

Characteristics
The Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a nice take on the classic LP guitar, under the Epiphone name and aimed at those who might not be able to afford a Gibson Les Paul. It’s got all of the same features and make up that you’ll find on a Gibson Les Paul Standard, but it’s made of lesser parts and I don’t believe it’s made in America. The guitar has dual humbucker pick ups, each with their own independent volume and tone controls and a three way selector switch for choosing between the pick ups or blending the two of them together. This is a pretty standard electric guitar configuration, which the Les Paul has impacted no doubt. I don’t really know what kinds of woods this guitar is made out of, but it doesn’t feel incredibly cheap unless you compare it directly to a Gibson LP.
Utilization
Playing the Epiphone Les Paul Standard is no trouble at all. The neck is pretty round as you’ll find with most Les Pauls, although I can’t say that this one feels as fluid as a Gibson Les Paul in my opinion. Controlling your sound with the pick ups is really easy, as anyone who has ever had an electric guitar should be able to use this no problem. I don’t think that a manual is necessary for this guitar, although I haven’t seen one myself.
Sounds
The Epiphone Les Paul Standard absolutely has the sound of a true Les Paul. I haven’t had a chance to shoot out this guitar and a Gibson Les Paul, as it’s been a while since I’ve played this guitar. A friend of mine that I grew up playing up with has this guitar, so it was always around and I was always playing it, but never really did any recording with it. It’s certainly going to give you that creamy Les Paul sound, which anyone who has ever used one before will tell you works incredibly well for both rhythm and lead parts. I’d be curious to see how the sound of this stacked up against a Gibson Les Paul Standard, but from what I can tell it’s going to be closer than you think.
Overall Opinion
The Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a great way for beginning and intermediate guitar players to get a great axe at a great price. If you’ve only been playing a short while and are looking for a guitar to bring you up a notch without having to spend the money it would take to get a full on Gibson, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard is the perfect guitar. While some will say that this is cheaply made and all that, which I guess it is compared to the Gibson version, this is no doubt a bona fide electric guitar.

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