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Hatsubai « Rivals a real Custom »
Published on 07/07/11 at 16:10The Epiphone Les Paul Custom is, without a doubt, the most popular guitars that Epiphone has in their lineup. The guitar features a mahogany body with a mahogany neck, gold hardware, 24.75'' scale length, carved maple top, optional pickguard, ebony fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, tune-o-matic bridge, binding, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
This is one of the very few Epiphones out there that is a true Custom copy. This one actually has an ebony fretboard, and that really does change the sound and feel of this instrument for the better. The nut wasn't too bad on this, thankfully. However, the frets were a bit iffy. They weren't perfectly level, and you could tell that once you start lowering the action. They could have been crowned a bit better. Upper fret access sucks, just like every other Les Paul out there, but you learn to deal with it.
SOUNDS
This one had some EMGs swapped in it, so I'll be going by those in this review. The guitar had an EMG 81 in the bridge, and it ripped. However, the guitar itself was fairly bright, and I think the 81 wasn't a great match in the bridge. Considering that it's an all mahogany body, that's a bit surprising, but it happens sometimes. There are just certain woods that sound brighter than others, and this was one of them. The EMG 85 in the neck was just about perfect, however. It was warm and fat, but it also had some slight cut going on thanks to the naturally bright sounding mahogany going on.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Custom but don't want to pay the price, check out these. They can be somewhat hard to find, but they sound pretty good, have some decent QC going on and are actually true Custom clones. In fact, these things can actually rival other copies such as Edwards and the such.
UTILIZATION
This is one of the very few Epiphones out there that is a true Custom copy. This one actually has an ebony fretboard, and that really does change the sound and feel of this instrument for the better. The nut wasn't too bad on this, thankfully. However, the frets were a bit iffy. They weren't perfectly level, and you could tell that once you start lowering the action. They could have been crowned a bit better. Upper fret access sucks, just like every other Les Paul out there, but you learn to deal with it.
SOUNDS
This one had some EMGs swapped in it, so I'll be going by those in this review. The guitar had an EMG 81 in the bridge, and it ripped. However, the guitar itself was fairly bright, and I think the 81 wasn't a great match in the bridge. Considering that it's an all mahogany body, that's a bit surprising, but it happens sometimes. There are just certain woods that sound brighter than others, and this was one of them. The EMG 85 in the neck was just about perfect, however. It was warm and fat, but it also had some slight cut going on thanks to the naturally bright sounding mahogany going on.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Custom but don't want to pay the price, check out these. They can be somewhat hard to find, but they sound pretty good, have some decent QC going on and are actually true Custom clones. In fact, these things can actually rival other copies such as Edwards and the such.