Hatsubai « Very nice top but rosewood board »
Published on 07/01/11 at 20:09This 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.
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.