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tjon901 « Epiphone Les Paul Custom with a 70s Finish »
Published on 08/10/11 at 06:57This 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.
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.