Epiphone Les Paul Special II

This epiphone was the second guitar in my life. I’ve sold my first one to buy this LP from my cousin, mainly because I was 16 years old and wanted to be Jimmy Page. Had it for some good 3 years before moving on to something better and don’t regret it at all. That was quite some time ago, though, at around 2001 there were not as many options of instruments for starters as we have today.

It has the shape of a classic les paul, but the top is flat (unfortunately not the nicer looking arched top like the standard epiphones and gibsons), two humbucker pickups, tune-o-matic bridge, one volume and one tone knob that affects both pickups, one pickup selector with three positions, 22 frets, dot inlays and a pretty nice black finish.


UTILIZATION

Comparing to the other starter guitars (ibanez, jackson and squier), the neck of this epiphone is thicker. I like it, I think it's more ergonomic for my hand and I can play longer without getting tired.

One of the biggest problems with these budget guitars (at least here where I live) is that you always get them from the store with a ridiculously high string action (or from the person you've bought it from if he/she didn't know that it could be fixed). So if you're thinking about buying one of these (actually even one of the other brands) take it straight to a luthier and ask him to adjust the tensor and the bridge to bring the strings closer to the neck: this is going to make a HUGE diference in the guitar's playability and tone.

Other common issues are knobs a little hard to turn, noisy pickup selectors and the likes... dont't worry, all of this stuff can be fixed and for not much money.

Once the adjustments are made you will have a pretty honest axe to play your rock n' roll. The guitar is not heavy, it's weight is well balanced between body and neck and the controls are easy to reach.

SOUNDS

Back in the day I used to play it A LOT with my Zoom 505 II, plugged into any kind of cheap amp (which also were not as good as the cheap amps today). Maybe it wasn't only the guitars fault, but mine tone knob was pretty much useless, you'd either have to keep all open or the sound would be awful.

Anyways, tone all open and string action adjusted: it's a pretty honest guitar to play rock, if you want Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Guns n' Roses, Sabbath, AC/DC, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, even heavier stuff like Metallica or Megadeth can work. Use the bridge pickup for the heavy, sharp, bright tones (think Zeppelin's "Rock n' Roll", "Welcome To The Jungle", "Back In Black", "Master Of Puppets", "3's & 7's", etc.), and the neck for the more mellow stuff (the first two solos from "November Rain" come to mind), some clean tones, or even if you want to sound really dirty with a lot of distortion ("Seven Nation Army" or that great solo from The Black Crowes in "Thorn In My Pride"). With both pickups (tone selector in the middle position) you can get sounds for stuff like (the intro from) "Paradise City", "Mama Kin", "The Jack"... you see, the list goes on and on.

Of course, you can play other things with this guitar too, Hendrix, Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, it's gonna sound nice, but just not as close to the original tones that these guys had.

OVERALL OPINION

After all, what I really didn't like about this guitar was the tone knob, as I explained before. About all the rest, I can assure you that for this price this is a really good deal, but if you have some extra 100 bucks it's worth looking at the next series: SG G-400, Les Paul 100, maybe the Gretsch Jet Club.

I think that what you really have to keep in mind is: what is you favorite band? And the second? And the third? What kind of guitars do they use?
If they're all metal bands, maybe you'll like a jackson or a ibanez more than this epiphone. If they use more guitars with 'single coil' pickups, you might try a squier stratocaster or a tele. But if they're among these bands I've just talked about before, then this Les Paul is what you need.

Transparent Wine finish and black tint hardware with 2 humbuckers. Single volume and single tone control; 3 way switch.

Well made and the workmanship is surprisingly good. No finish drips, etc, neck pocket is very tight (it's a bolt on neck), frets are very nice and needed no attention. Setup was almost perfect, but took a small amount of nut slot deepining and lowering of the saddle wheels.

I recorded 1 record thus far and play regularly in my town. I am known as a good song writer and performer, but not professional caliber performer. I havew played since I was a kid (40 years). I studied classical guitar and play with nails mostly.

Big Box store for $170. I was thinking of a Squier Tele with 2 p90s, but this guitar was a better feel and sounds quite good.

Well made and set was very good from the factory. Indonesia made, and it's the equal of most Gibsons from the USA for build and finish. The cavity is neat and clean, fretboard is clean and fret endsw are smoothed.

Plays great right off the rack and sounds good enough to gig with. It's ratedthe #3 electric under $500 for a reason!

I would have liked separate controls and a coil tap. But this is a low priced basic guitar. You are not going to get special features for cheap. Tuners are adequate, but not in the Grover class.

This is surprisingly good. Not handsome woods, but well made and the neck angle is right. The over-all build and finish is quite good. I mean like as good as most any guitar short of a Tom Anderson or expensive Japan Epiphone.

A best value guitar suitable for anyone short of a polished pro! It's that good and I have top notch guitars. I have owned most of the real good stuff (Eric Johnson Strat, Tokai LP Reborn, a Bill Crook Tele, etc.).

The Epi Special II for $170 is a steal!

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

I bought this guitar at LA music for $200 in mississauga ontario. I mainly bought it for the paint job. Lol I was a begginer then.

It is nice and low play easy to play perfect for the begginer and it can also play almost anything out there.

Ummmm the 6th string sometimes hits against the third fret probably just my guitar tho.

Practically bullet proof and indestructible trust me ive tried.

Very good guitar BUY!!!

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

I bought this axe at Guitar Center. One hint, NEVER buy anything at guitar center without a price match. They will always over-charge you. I paid $250 for this guitar originally, but I came back a few days later and got the price lowered to $150. "LP" in this case didn't mean Les Paul, it meant "low price"!

Low price isn't always a bad thing. For the price my axe was very good. The tone is amazing it totally out-plays the squiers it's not even in the same ballpark. I love the placemant of the pickup selector. It's really easy to access while playing. I liked the feel of the neck as well. It's pretty thi, so it easy for beginners and the fretboart is nice and wide, but not too wide. Also, the finish and datailing is beyond perfect. It can take a good beating too.

A few things needed to be fixed on my axe within the first year. My input jack broke, my strap pegs fell off, and the standard tuners are junk. Overall, after those repairs (about $110) this axe is very good. I gig with it all the time.

Overall, the good things on this axe are the neck, the detailing, the body, the knobs and wiring, and the hardware. Everything else could use a little work.

I highly recommend this axe to any beginner or as a second guitar for an intermediate player. It'll last you well through the intermediate stage.

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