Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus

These guitars are built for the person who is on a budget and wants to get that Gibson type sound. Epiphone is really geared towards a musician who would doesn't have a lot of money or is financially strapped but still wants a Gibson voiced guitar. Many of their guitars are built overseas and I think actually all of them at this point are built overseas. So what you do is you get a decent sounding guitar for a lot less money than you would a Gibson Les Paul or a Gibson SG guitar. These guitar sound pretty much exactly the same as any other Gibson but the feel of the instrument is quite different. When you pick up this guitar you will immediately notice that the weight and feel of the guitar is not quite as comfortable as a Gibson guitar. So if you never played a Gibson Les Paul guitar than you probably won't think of anything otherwise, but there is a distinct difference in the feel and the balance

UTILIZATION


Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus Features:
Color: Vintage Sunburst
Body Wood: Mahogany/Alder
Top Wood: Flamed maple
Neck Wood: Maple
Neck Profile: Set, 1-11/16" nut
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Position Markers: Pearloid block inlays
Scale length: 24 3/4"
Number of Frets: 22
Pickups: 2 humbuckers
Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone
Pickup Switching: 3-way selector
Hardware: Gold
Bridge/Tailpiece: Stopbar

SOUNDS


These guitars really excel in a high gain amplification setting. So for example if you're using this guitar with the Bogner or a Mesa boogie amplifier in your to get are really saturated sweet tone. This guitar is not a bad guitar for the money and they sound pretty much exactly the same as any other Gibson guitar. However when you're playing it you're definitely going to noticed the feel but the tone is all intact . Overall they're a great sounding instruments for the money and if you are on a tight budget and it's a great alternative to the Gibson guitar.

OVERALL OPINION


You can find these Epiphone guitars pretty easily and most guitar centers or any other music guitar retailer around the world. They're very common among many online retailers in the big house type guitar stores. Trying to find these guitars isn't that difficult but I suggest trying out a few to find that perfect feel and weight that is complementive to your style of playing. You really can't go wrong with the Epiphone guitars that are built in Korea because they have a better weight and feel in my opinion. Many of these guitars have pretty decent build standards but not quite as good as the Gibson guitars. Overall these are great budget and financially sound purchases if you're looking for that Gibson tone. Overall this is a great buy for someone who wants that tone but wants to get the best bang for their money.

This is the Epiphone Les Paul Custom in the old school Flametop finish. You saw more Les Paul Customs like this back in the 70s but I dont think they make many of them anymore. I remember Zappa playing one back in the day. With the flame maple top it is different than most Les Paul Customs which usually do not have a maple top and are all mahogany. The set neck is mahogany as well with a rosewood fretboard and 22 frets. The fretboard has large custom style block inlays that really look nice against the dark rosewood. The body and neck and headstock are fully bound for the custom look. It has Epiphone high ratio tuners up top with a standard tune-o-matic bridge and stoptail down at the bottom. The gold hardward with the black pickup rings and pickguard really standout on the Flamed top. It has two Epiphone pickups with gold covers and standard electronics. The electronics are a volume and tone for each pickup and a 3 way toggle on the upper horn.

UTILIZATION

These Epiphones are pretty decent guitars. The higher end Epiphones play better than the low end Gibsons I have discovered. Playability is it pretty on par with a standard Gibson. It has a nice thinner profile neck like most Epiphone players would want. The body and neck are fully bound so that gives a good feel. A guitar like this will need a setup when you get it since it is traveling from around the world to get to you. A good fret leveling will make this guitar play like a dream. I would be better if it came with locking tuners and a locking bridge but you cant have everything for this price, unless you get a good deal of course.

SOUNDS

The stock pickups in most Epiphones are a let down and this is no exception. Even being a high end Epiphone does not save it from having cheesy pickups. The bridge pickup is fizzy and has pretty much no tightness to it. The neck pickup is muddy in all but the brightest settings. If you are getting this guitar I recommend a pickup swap immediately. If you are looking for play everything from blues to classic rock a set of Seymour Duncans like the JB/59 set would work perfectly. If you are looking to play metal a set of EMG's is your best bet. An 81 in the bridge will give you added tightness and a 85 in the neck will be smooth but clear for your solos.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a decent mid level Epiphone guitar but it is hard to recommend nowadays because there are so many great alternatives now. You can get a nice used Gibson for the price of this guitar new and for the price of this guitar used you can get a new Agile Les Paul model and the Agile will have an ebony fretboard and possibly aftermarket pickups. I dont see these guitars selling well for much longer. Epiphone needs to start making more unique models like the 84 Explorer EX and the Prophecy line of guitars. Those guitars should sell well because there are not a ton of alternatives when you come to guitars like that. With Les Pauls you have tons of options and a lot of them are better than Epiphone.

This is the "pretty" version of the Les Paul Custom. The guitar features a mahogany body with a mahogany neck, gold hardware, 24.75'' scale length, carved maple top, optional pickguard, rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, tune-o-matic bridge, binding, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The Custom Plus' biggest selling point is the figured top, and I must say, they were pretty decent on these guitars, especially for the price. That said, there is no ebony on this. That's a huge disappointment in my eyes as this is a Custom. Customs should have ebony. The nut on this needed to be redone as the slots were cut too deep and would bind the strings. Some graphite fixed it, but it really should be reshaped a bit. The frets themselves were pretty good. I was able to achieve some nice, low action with this guitar without any problems. Upper fret access sucks, but what do you expect from a Les Paul?

SOUNDS

The pickups in this weren't something to really write home about. In my opinion, this is where Epiphone really drops the ball. The bridge pickup was fairly muddy and undefined overall. It lacked the clarity that I look for in a good bridge pickup. It didn't work that great for clean, nor distorted tones. The neck pickup in this was pretty dull sounding, too. It didn't have that super fat and warm tone that I look for. Instead, just just sounded flat and uninspiring to use. However, the guitar itself sounded pretty resonant overall, so it was more of a fault with the pickups than the actual guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

The top on this was very nice, and I applaud Epiphone for that. However, the guitar doesn't have an ebony fretboard, and that's the number one quality of a Custom. If you're going to get one, be sure to spend some extra cash and invest in some good pickups for it. That'll really help the guitar come alive.

Made in Korea
Mahogany body with maple table Singe
Colour Heritage Cherry Sunburst
22 frets
2 Humbucker Epiphone
Bridge as usual on Lespaul
2 volume knobs and 2 tone
Mahogany neck Rosewood glued and key
Acatillage golden and black pickguard with double binding all over.

UTILIZATION

Channel pleasant
access to acute as usual on Lespaul
good ergonomics and weight, well ... is of mahogany and it's heavy!
The sound is delicate with original pickups, but otherwise there is a very good sustain!

SOUNDS

It works well for what I do, however I'll probably put the microphones for my SD Alnico Pro2.
I utlise the head of a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2550 ebn is what is!

OVERALL OPINION

I've had 4 hours

ben have to buy the best model is finished in Epi Elitist before!