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Hatsubai « Custom but without the ebony »
Published on 06/22/11 at 23:27The Gibson Les Paul Custom is probably one of the most coveted guitars out there, so it was only natural that Epiphone would make their own version of it. This guitar features a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck, a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets, block inlays, a tune-o-matic bridge for tuning stability and maximum sustain, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
I'm a bit on the fence with this. While Epiphone calls it a Custom, it's really not. For one, it doesn't have an ebony fretboard. That's a big killer, in my opinion. The ebony fretboard is one of the number one reasons to buy a Les Paul Custom in the first place. That said, it still sounds nice. This actually sounds pretty close to a Gibson Studio, and considering the price, it's pretty much on par with the Gibson equivalent. Access to the upper frets is still very iffy considering the neck joint, and the guitars still tend to be body heavy, so sitting with them can be a pain.
SOUNDS
I'm not a fan of the stock pickups in this. To me, they sound weak and muddy. The bridge pickup in this can do some hard rock and whatnot, but I'm a metal guitarist. I like higher output pickups that can really drive the amp hard. This pickup wasn't able to give the amp the punch I like. The neck pickup was also muddy and undefined. On top of that, it had some annoying treble that I couldn't seem to dial out no matter how hard I tried, and I contribute that solely to the pickup as it didn't have that sound unplugged.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Gibson Les Paul Custom rival, look into either getting an Edwards, a Burny or something else like that. You'll get a guitar that's a lot closer to the Custom than this one. That said, this is a pretty solid guitar, and I bet it would be totally killer if you replaced the pickups in this thing.
UTILIZATION
I'm a bit on the fence with this. While Epiphone calls it a Custom, it's really not. For one, it doesn't have an ebony fretboard. That's a big killer, in my opinion. The ebony fretboard is one of the number one reasons to buy a Les Paul Custom in the first place. That said, it still sounds nice. This actually sounds pretty close to a Gibson Studio, and considering the price, it's pretty much on par with the Gibson equivalent. Access to the upper frets is still very iffy considering the neck joint, and the guitars still tend to be body heavy, so sitting with them can be a pain.
SOUNDS
I'm not a fan of the stock pickups in this. To me, they sound weak and muddy. The bridge pickup in this can do some hard rock and whatnot, but I'm a metal guitarist. I like higher output pickups that can really drive the amp hard. This pickup wasn't able to give the amp the punch I like. The neck pickup was also muddy and undefined. On top of that, it had some annoying treble that I couldn't seem to dial out no matter how hard I tried, and I contribute that solely to the pickup as it didn't have that sound unplugged.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Gibson Les Paul Custom rival, look into either getting an Edwards, a Burny or something else like that. You'll get a guitar that's a lot closer to the Custom than this one. That said, this is a pretty solid guitar, and I bet it would be totally killer if you replaced the pickups in this thing.