All user reviews for the Epiphone Les Paul Custom [1989-2012]

My wife gave me money, so I bought this guitar on my birthday at Guitar Center on December 21st, 2007.
She jokingly said, just as long as you get a guitar without a Floyd Rose... LOL !!!!
I tried out 8 different Epiphone Les Paul Custom guitars, until I got one that felt comfortable and had great tone. I chose the Alpine LPC.
This GC employee was quitting and decided to give me a great deal, $ 510.00 with the then top of the line SKB case and told me to leave immediately...LOL !!!!

The pickups sounded great, but I wanted something more aggressive, so I dropped in a Dragonfire Screamer Alnico 5 pickup (16.94k ohms), mounted a Wilkinson Roller bridge and a Schaller tailpiece with fine tuners. The original wax potted bridge and neck pickups were rated at 14.20k ohms and the neck pickup was 8.43k ohms.
The guitar totally out classed my 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom, in terms of tone, sustain and playability.
The Epiphone LPC action was lowered low and doesn't fret out at all, even when I do two and a half step bends and the Grover tuners still kept things in perfect tune.
The fret work was very good and needed minimal work, a tiny bit of file work on the 9th fret.
I own many of the top brand guitars ; Gibson, Fender, Jackson, Kramer and Ovation. This Epiphone can stand tall like a Gibson or any of the big brands.
Today, Epiphone has added better pickups, better internal wiring and is much closer to Gibson specs, but pre 2019 Epiphone guitars were great modification platforms and are a great value for your hard earned money.

Features — 8
2007 model, made in China. Bought used from a musician. Body is Mahogany with 5-way binding. Neck is Mahogany too with an Ebony fretboard, SlimTaper profile so thinner than a Gibson. There are pearl block fretboard inlays which look very nice. Standard scale length of 22 Frets with two ProBucker pickups. In terms of controls, you get 2 x Volume and 2 x tone with a 3-way switch. The machine heads on mine weren't Grovers but more recent models have them. Overall fantastic features and build quality. Again this is an older model so no coil-tapping.

Sound — 7
Suited my blues and classic rock style fine, the sound was fat and full, but could be played clean too. Played it through a Marshall combo. I didn't use any effects with it and just cranked up the gain a little when playing AC/DC, Hendrix, etc. It's not a noisy guitar. You can get a wide variety of sounds, although I wouldn't play Metal or anything too heavy, go for a Jackson or ESP in that case. The pickups sounded good but on this older model I found them to be a little muddy. I recently purchased the newer Probucker pickups and found them to be much better, so it could just be an age issue here.

Action, Fit & Finish — 8
The guitar was well set up by the previous owner. I did need to adjust the truss rod several times over the years, but nothing dramatic. Wiring and finish were all fine, good quality there and no complaints. Same with the frets, nothing to flag. All in all a solid instrument that looks and feels more expensive that it is. There were no flaws upon purchase. The tuners are the main issue, on this older model they didn't hold tune very well so I changed them for Grovers. I was impressed by the finish of the instrument, it feels very expensive.

Reliability & Durability — 7
I would use this as a second live guitar, or rehearsals and home practice. Reason being the tuners could be better but overall the reliability is pretty good at this price point. Durability is fine. It's dependable and looks quite cool. I had fun using it. The electronics did fail eventually and I had to get them replaced, but this was due to the previous owner's wiring and not the instrument itself. It's a great feeling and sounding guitar, I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative to Gibson.

Overall Impression — 7
More expensive, the Epiphone Les Paul Custom is a definite step up from the Epiphone Les Paul Standard. The pickups (Epiphone Probuckers) are cleaner and of course it’s a gorgeous instrument. This is where Epiphones start to rival Gibsons in terms of quality and finish. As with the Standard, it’s versatile and can handle most types of music. If you manage to find one used for a good price, it’s a keeper. For gigging purposes, the only major change you could make is replacing the strap buttons with locking versions such as those made by Schaller.

Everything will say, and I confirm this problem jumpers: the metal is not a super quality and rglage not prcis nor easy to do (I have make sacred hacks to finally rgler correctly the instrument)

mcaniques the Grovers are not too bad.

mahogany neck / rosewood pleasant.

Body: l is the question: prtendent certain that it is not the massive maple, else if, that is the aglomr. One thing is sre, it's heavy.

USE

The handle is very playable, slightly thick for smaller hands, but it does not handicap the games as ca. And we made it.
Access to acute: hum hum ... The Paul forces: it is a nightmare to play in the 17th.
You have to have long fingers otherwise.
Weight: heavy enough naughty! (But probably not as much as his big sister Gibson)
The sound we get after a lot of small and rglages work because the factory is disgusting!

For rsumer here: if you have large paws and a good back, it'll be better!

SONORITS

Sonorits quite varied (rock, punk, blues) ... But, frankly, the original Epiphone pickups are flat, inexpressive. And if unfortunately you have an amp that also is not super typ soft, and draft, you ca out a nice porridge.
So I quickly suggre of change and spend sres values. I put the same microphones quipent the Gibson 490R / 498T (even if it is not the panacea for the equivalent) ca change ... and 80% of the problem sound.

Tip: try to find OCCAZ, these pickups are found everywhere!

I played with old Fender amp transistor, a Behringer 60W ... and I've never been convinced.

Now with Gibson pickups and my Vox AD60VT, I'm satisfied (not 100% either, but what guitarist is?).

Voil even when it is necessary to pay the price, it's still the same problem.

Basic so I put a sour note, but it's ratrapable.

NOTICE GLOBAL

I have this guitar for 3 years. I craqu on his appearance, which will have to say is when even great. It's a beautiful guitar, it looks great, and is not funny guitar. I have already seen the Gibson in store, the Epiphone has nothing to envy him look level, on the contrary.

After when you look prs ... well there is the bridge to be changed (it is not of good quality. And the microphones, must (if you are sensitive to sonority.
Spend time well rgler the instrument quite go see a luthier ... what I should have done ds the beginning, as it would advisable for me later.

I command in a store, so I never have to try it.
Qualitprix the report is honest.

But let's be honest, for that price there surely has much better guitars (Ibanez example).
At first I thought this guitar was given for the price (around 650euros), but it really does not rely just finishing, exterior appearance. L is freelancing.
Looking back, I wonder why Epiphone has not even made some small effort and little supplmentaires coteux which would greatly amlior everything. Probably because there is a commercial logic behind. It is noy between Epiphone Elitist, Gibson Faded Faded ... no one buys a guitar, then is not entirely satisfied, and covets the model above.

Good nevertheless, there is enough to make a good guitar, but we must lengthen the sauce.
And we obtain a good instrument for around 850 euros.

With the experience I will not be the same choice. But it's so easy to say. Dj I do not have the same critical thinking that are 3 years old. Departure and I did not want to 1200 euros in one guitar.

It's not a guitar that keeps life (besides she viellit good? Must see), and it is normal when the budget is l. Y is nothing too regret his purchase either. I relativiserai even my criticism for those who wish possde or the acqurir: I play group, and AC drives very well ... and finally it is important ca: to play!

Brief concluding ironically, I think she finally aptly named "custom" ... like "customize"

MADE IN KOREA WITH CERTAIN FORMER ENGINEERS AT THE PERFECT GIBSON .REPLIQUE
.2 CUSTOM TONE VOLUME 2 .Selector 3 POSITIONS.
HANDLE END AND VERY NICE

USE

THE HANDLE IS PERFECT NO ARETTE. FINISH VERY ADOUSSIE
ACUTE EASY ACCESS TO FINALLY BE A LESPAUL THIS IS NOT THE SG
VERY GOOD WELL BALANCED WEIGHT ERGONOMIC REASONABLE.
THE SOUND IS THE RIGHT NOW. CA SONNE LESPAUL .but CAN MAXIMIZE WITH THE BEST
MICROS.

SONORITS

YES C IS QUITE THE GUITAR FOR JAZZ BLUES AND ROCK.
1 AMP WITH MARSHALL IS C GEANT .PLUTOT SOUND AND BOLD VELOUTE BUT WHO CAN BECOME VERY AGGRESSIVE MICRO ACUTE.

NOTICE GLOBAL

I HAVE SINCE THE 3 MONTHS AND FRANKLY I HAVE NOTHING TO CRITICIZE N ON THIS GUITAR. J HAD SEVERAL MODELS IN OTHER TRADEMARKS AND THAT BUT NOT LEAST FOR ME TO WONDER IF. I repeat that choice.

- Made in Korea, 1995 (Samick Factory)
- Tune-o-matic
- Mahogany neck, Ebony fingerboard
- 22 frets
- 2 humbuckers (probably Epiphone)
- 2 tone, 2 volumes
- Pickup selector 3 positions

UTILIZATION

The neck is rather thin, it really surprised me for a Les Paul. It is really nice to play, I would say (and this is hard for me to say this) more comfortable than my telecaster highway one!

The guitar is quite heavy (les paul requires) but it's not catastrophic, I have a custom telecaster (classic model 72), however, is really lourde..J'ai so used!

The grip is immediate in any case, I felt immediately at ease as sitting and standing.

Access to acute is relatively simple, a matter of adaptation as most guitars!

It quickly gets a sense, this guitar is outstanding!

SOUNDS

The sound is perfect for me, no matter what style I want to play (rock, harder rock, blues, etc. ..).

It is a sound typically paulien I do not know how to explain it autrement..Du its very clean round that crunch to wish a very warm neck pickup. Distortion, ca sending the block, a big big sound! I tested it on stage the day after my purchase, it was a wall of sound! Although the sound is fat, it remains well defined! Honestly the model I sounds as good, if not better, than some gibson that I recently tried.

I play on the Blackstar, I tried it on my head HT-50 and HT-5R and two cab mounted a Blackstar Celestion seventy 80 and a bugera (low cost) and it sounded in all configs! (By changing the EQ a bit obviously)

I love the bridge pickup that sends wickedly distortion! Otherwise, the clean is very very pleasant to hear too!

OVERALL OPINION

I bought recently.

I have tried tons of guitars and without exaggeration, it sounds like a gibson. It really has nothing to envy in terms of both violin and in terms of sound.

I still says it's a guitar that I bought used (for 199 €, the chance of my life I think) and it is a 1995 model made in Korea at the Samick factory. Apparently models this year are 5 notches above those for now because it is largely similar to a gibson (current) in terms of quality.

What I like the most? It is a les paul so his look, his sound. This is a real gem.

I came across a golden opportunity, I do not know why the seller is separated from his guitar, maybe a need for money, maybe he was not particularly knowledgeable, but this guitar is gold and sounds great!

From UK, In my Early 20's, played guitar for 3 years, beginner - intermediate level. Listen to Hard Rock/Metal so that's what I tend to play.

I needed a good guitar to step up from my beginner Ibanez GSA60 which was starting to feel quite cheap. I Wanted a Les Paul for both looks and sound, but couldn't afford a Gibson.

I discoveed many pro's use Epiphones so I looked up the Epiphone Les Paul custom (Ebony). It looked as good as a Gibson, so I decided to get one.

I purchased this guitar from gak.co.uk for £347, delivery took 3 days.

Firstly it Looks awesome, i wasn't sure after seeing pics, but in real life it looks great its shiny ebony surface and gold hardware give it a classic look but it still looks modern and kick ass at the same time.

The sound was the next and probably most important thing. It sounds much better than my Ibanez, it has a much richer warmer tone and the strings sustain much longer. Chords sound very close to an acoustic which is a real plus and theres no fret buzz!

The feel of the guitar is great, it really feels professional compared to some guitars i've used.

Some people complain about the weight of Les Pauls but this only feels slightly heavier than your average strat and that serves to give it a more good feel and better sound. If you're a fully grown adult or in your late teens the weight shouldn't be an issue.

There's nothing i don't like about this guitar.

Superb, arrived with no flaws. Nothing about the guitar looks or feels cheap, the ebony finish and gold hardware look really smart. The Guitar seems very solidly built, that said i'm in no hurry to bash or drop it There's no creeks or loose joints as with other guitars i've played.

Best thing i've spent this much money on in years, proud to own one and would definitely recommend it to anybody.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I've been playing guitar for about three years, and been in a a couple of small, local bands. I like to litsen to alot of oldies rock and I'm getting into jazz, blues and country a little bit.

I bought this at the local music store, which my friends parents own. I bought it, because my friend kept telling me how nice Les Pauls were, and I went down and played a couple different Les Paul's, loving all of them. I picked out my black Les Paul Custom, because it just felt natural in my hands. I payed $699.99 for it.

What I like about the Les Paul. Everything. It's got a beautiful sound to it, the pickups are amazing. The treble has a true ring to it, and the rhythm has a deep quality to it, that makes it distinct. The fretboard is amazing, my fingers feel comfortable playing on it.

The only thing I don't like about it, is that my leg is too fat, and with the solid body, it likes to try and lift up while I'm playing it sitting down. Nothing really big, I just find it a little annoying, wanting to sit down and learn a song, and it wants to lift up on me.

The gutiar is beautifuly made, Lester William [les Paul], himself, should be proud to have such an amazing guitar crafted with his name on it. And even though it's an Epiphone, it still has that feeling that comes from a Gibson.

All in all, this guitar is well worth any price, and I will never trade it for anything. I don't play to ever need, or want another guitar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Im 16 and play in a few school based bands also with my church. Ive been playing for about 3 years and i play rock and blues style guitar although ive been playing some metal lately. I like bands like dream theater, steve vai, CSNY, beatles etc

I got this axe in america ( i live in australia :P) and paid about 800 dollars for it... please keep in mind it was a brand new Les paul 50th anniversary custom les paul at the time and got it for a good price

The way it plays... very fast and low action.. the tone is superb and can play jazz rock and clean tones amazingly... very diverse. I love the look of my guitar its very beautiful. the ability to change bridge height

access to some of the higher frets is a bit restricted

great had no problems with it apart from a pick up switch snapping. it was easily fixed.

amazing guitar and in my opinion much better and versatile that a strat.. the way to go

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this guitar from www.gak.com for £350 (it was on sale at the time) - i recommend this place if your buying instruments or amps as they dont add tons of duty on top of the retail price, which is always good.

well i like everything. some people complain about the fact that the guitar has a fatter neck than a les paul standard but that adds to its heavyness and the general crunch you can get from it. the pickups do a good job (i play punk and rock mostly and it more than handles the job) and it doesnt drop out of tune whilst your playing it (handy for gigging) and the pickup selector is pretty solid (a common complaint about epiphones is the crappy pickup selectors - but not on this one) - should you put in some new pickups and possibly upgrade the hardware and electronics you have yourself a gibson quality instrument.

nothing. for under £400 i doubt you can get a better guitar.

solid. the bass player in my band dropped it once (for which i beat him good!) and it didnt even drop out of tune. dont get me wrong, i dont think it would stand up to a bench saw but in normal circumstances its built like a rock.

seriously, this guitar rocks. i have the alpine white but the ebony finish looks just as good. well worth the money - lead guitar players might want to check out the les paul standard as its more of a soloists guitar as the custom is born for rock chords. but dont let that hold you back. buy one, buy one now!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Ah, a boy's first electric guitar, lol. Yep, it wasn't an easy choice. I spent about a year salivating over various brands and types of guitars, during which I bought my first home, thus dreams of a £2K+ Gibson behemoth soon faded. However I soon found that I had enough money for a medium priced leccie, so there you go.... it's often just down to what you can afford. Basically for me it was down to either an Epiphone Les Paul or a Fender Standard Strat for heavy humbucking and versatile single-coil purposes respectively. The reason I went for the Les Paul was because I'd had a couple of pints and was watching Led Zeppelin on their live dvd and was simply enchanted watching Jimmy Page, erm, go nuts, lol. I ordered the Ebony Epi LP Custom online from Guitar, Amp and Keyboard (online store) in The Rather Twee Land Of English People TM for a modest £349 (I've seen it in high street shops for over £400, eek)

Well, as they say, if you're going to do something wrong, do it right :o) Thus if you're going to buy a Les Paul copy then go for Epiphone and buy their most expensive LP. My road tested guitarist aquantance who's been in bands tells me the difference between Epiphone and Gibson Les Pauls is negligable, and to be honest that's why I bought one. The rhythm pickup is good for lighter and more fluid musical moments, whilst the trebble is there for what you bought a Les Paul for.... down and dirty rock and roll. It's stylish and pristine and it's a guitar you can honestly look at with pride.

Having now given in and bought a single-coil Fender Strat to join the team I can honestly say that I prefer my Strat simply because a) it has more choice musically and b) it's lighter in weight and more appealing to pick up when practicing. Hoever don't be put off by that because as far as I'm concerned if ever I get good enough to be on stage I will always turn to my Les Paul for sturdy rock moments, as that's what they're built for. I'm also looking into buying a mixed-coil Telecaster for that balance between both sound textures, so my advice is explore as many guitars as you can afford.... it's just wrong to just have the one, lol

Well you certainly feel the money you pay for a Les Paul as mine's built like a brick sh*t house, so when I first picked it up out of it's box I simply felt it's power before I'd ever touched a string. Having researched endless guitars for a year as I've mentioned, I read a lot of reviews complaining about a loose this and a cheap looking that, but with my Epiphone Les Paul there is honestly nothing i can complain about.... it all works, end of story. If something looks cheap on it then, well, all I can say is that the electric guitar and rock & roll in general is an average man's vice and your everyman won't be forking about for the aforementioned Gibson £2K+ Godzilla, lol All you need is an Epiphone when it comes to your first Les Paul.... when you become Jimmy Page then cough up for something a little flashier by all means :o)

Trust in Epiphone... if you're gonna buy a Les Paul then buy the Epi LP Custom. It's the best you can get at a sensible price. But don't let my talk of budgets and economic guitars put you off, this guitar sounds and feels like it's worth £5,000.... I don't regret buying it in the slightest and will keep it in me collection until (fingers crossed) I burn out in a blaze of glory, hahaha, oh dear :oP

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I was going to buy this Gibson Les Paul Custom from a local guitar shop, and i was going to be paying about $3000 for it. Luckily, I recently found this guitar on eBay and took a chance on it for $515... and i am so glad that i did.

I was so surprised when i got this guitar. I was expecting something closer to the quality of an Epiphone, but the Orville ended up being every bit as good as the Gibson LP I was going to buy. In fact, this particular Orville i think even has more style than Gibson, because it has open-coil white pickups, which not only make it uniquely striking, but also they're also alot hotter and more expressive than the 490R/498T's that the Gibson features. I have to say, i'm used to playing Strats and Teles, so i thought that the transition between the two necks would be hard, but this neck plays so so smooth, and its every bit as fast as any Fender neck.

The only thing i don't like about my Orville oddly enough happens to be one of the things i really like about it, and thats how hot the pickups are. If you turn your amp up loud enough to be heard over a drum set, its got some pretty mean feedback when you're not playing.

The quality of this guitar is exquisite. As I sad earlier, its every bit as good as a Gibson. There was obviously amazing quality control at Orville while it was still in production. Everything on this guitar is just flat out beautiful.

What an amazing guitar this Orville ended up being. If you can find one on eBay, or anywhere else, BUY IT, or else someone else will end up with a beautiful piece of guitar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought my Epiphone from John Reynolds music, adelaide australia and I paid $1050 $AUS.

Everything, I can't say that I have every had a major problem with it. The guitar is made completly of mahogony, has a great feeling neck and gibson humbucker pick ups as standard.

Theres not muck I don't like about it except that the input gets loose and needs to be tightened about once every two weeks.

Great quality all except for the input.

this is the best guitar for its price range and it beats any strat. I will have this untill I can afford a Gibson

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I had been thinking about purchasing a new guitar for a while because my squire strat was getting to feel to much like a beginners guitar and though it was fun to play it didnt have any wow factor about it so i went down to my nearest town and went into about 50 shops and began to realise how nice the les paul was but it was £1000 and out of the question so i set my eyes on the epiphone version. (played it, loved it, bought it.) £450 (very cheap).

i loved the way it played the look of it and the shape, the gold hardware was the thing that made it stand out. and when i put it up againts a sg i decided that the les paul was better, its brill!!!

the only problem i can think of is the vibration on the E string which made an awful noise but i had the string lifted and now sounds alot better!

The whole guitar is beautifully crafted, there is not 1 thing that is dodgey in the way it is built although dont drop it, the neck is bet back far and its a heavy guitar so dont put any weight on the neck

simple, BUY IT!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

After searching for a new guitar for several months, I finally decided to go out to Guitar Center and pick up an Epiphone Les Paul Custom (mine is black with gold hardware). When in Guitar Center, I played many of the guitars there and this was without a doubt one of the best sounding and most playable guitar under the $1,000 mark. I payed $600 for mine new. I had previously been playing a slammer guitar (made by Hamer) that I had picked up with a small amp for $250. Basically, that guitar wasn't all too good.

This guitar is very playable and has a great sound. The sound is a warm, pleasing one. This guitar gives new life to my solos and improved the overall sound of my band as well (I play guitar for a rock n' roll band). Also, I have never had any problems with the guitar. No repairs or adjustments have been needed, and I play guitar a lot. Very dependable axe.

There is nothing that I don't like about this guitar. It satisfies my needs in every area.

Mahogany/alder body and top, set mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard with block inlays, bound body, neck, and headstock. Uses 2 humbuckers. Gold hardware, 2 volume and 2 tone controls, 3-way pickup switch.

Overall, this is a great guitar. It is versatile and can handle many different styles of music. Whatever style you're into, I would strongly recommend this guitar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com