All user reviews of 2/5 for the Epiphone Les Paul Special II

Purchased 5 years ago at Music Junction in Camberwell, Victoria for about AU$450 (for the guitar alone, hard case was extra). I needed a guitar to learn on (as my Dad did not trust me with his guitars) and could not start out on acoustic because of small hands and fingers (although from practice on this one I can now play acoustic).

It has an awesome tonal quality to it, and it is possible to really rock out with, both in rythm and lead positions. It is really comfortable and light to wear, but takes a lot of getting used to playing it on your lap. This guitar can take a serious lot of knocking about - I have dropped and knocked this guitar on numerous occasions, and only have two very small dints in it. I wouldn't be surprised if you purposely smashed it on the ground and it didn't fall apart. I found this guitar was great for my small hands and fingers, and the fretboard is fantastic, doesn't take much to play, though the neck is fat and quite slow.

Although I really love this guitar, there are a lot of down sides to it. The pickups seemed to sink back into the guitar body and after that the sound wasn't ever the same, and it was somewhat dampened. The Jack socket was incredibly loose about a week after I got it home, so I tighten that by hand every once in a while (because there is no other way). The tuning is not the greatest out, although mine seems to be a lot better than other Specials out there. I can really thrash the guitar for a good 30 minutes before it needs any form of tuning (and no, I am not tone-deaf). But it can get rather annoying when I have experienced guitars out there that do not need tuning for at least half a week. The strap is set in an awkward position and you really need either quick locks or a screw-in strap to not have your guitar crashing to the ground every five minutes. Originally my strap knobs just kept falling out (hint: stick a matchstick in the hole and then screw it back up - you're just filling up a hole). The plastic on the pickup switch broke almost immediately and when switching between pickups, there is this large echoey sound, which can be heard over an amplification system at times it is so loud. And I have a 60W practice amp! The thing that really made me want to buy a new guitar was because the neck was so slow. No lightning quick solos on this guitar.



As I said earlier, you could bash this guitar to Mars and it'll come back sparkling. Little bits have fallen to pieces or have stopped working over the years, but it's expected from such a cheap guitar. I would recommend changing the tuners and the pickups for an almost awesome guitar if your an intermediate player.

Overall, this guitar is probably the best you can get for a beginner who does not know if they will continue with the instrument. It is cheap, and actually quite durable (despite what was previously said), and is good for what it is. But if you are up to the stage where you are looking for your second guitar, I would not suggest the Epiphone Special II, unless you were buying it for it's open coil humbuckers, because they can sound pretty sweet, even though they are cheap.

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

This was my first electric guitar i got it from musiciansfriend for 180 bucks after having played guitar for about a year.

The black finish is very nice. its pretty good and doesnt chip except for on the headstock. The guitar sounds good both clean and dirty and in all three pickup combinations. its simple, 2 humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 tone and a 3 way switch. nothing scary. the neck is fairly nice, the action is good, strings are bendable and the guitar is overall decent. in my opinion, it isnt as good looking as higher end les pauls, it is still kind of cool looking in its own way.

the tone knob, when turned all the way up makes a HORRIBLE crackling sound and then the guitar goes silent. there is also crackling when switching pickups. ive had this guitar for about a year, and the tone that it is giving it is still pretty good, but i have had to turn up my marshall slowly but surely over time. guess the humbuckers are losing their edge. the tuning gears! ugh. they were once alright but now only 1 or to still work well. most of them are not holding a tune great. the guitar will last a couple of songs before needing complete retuning, not just a touch up. another thing, gibson replacement parts DONT FIT THIS GUITAR! i found this out when i tried to put the modern nickel machine heads on it. very stupid of me eh?

made in china. good? uh not really. its not horrible. its not good. its in that beautiful place inbetween. ive taken it apart and tried to make any improvments on it that i could. looooots of saw dust was found in...pretty much everything. the input jack comes loose all the time. and one time the wires that connect the pickups to the input jack broke and i had to melt them back together. the pickup switch is sort of loose and wobbly. i actually found all of these to just be minor things except the wires breaking. its not that bad. pretty okay.

well, the thing is pretty dang cheap, and sounds pretty good. over all its decent. you dont got that much dough to blow, or you need a backup guitar or wahtever you real musicians do, then go for it. its obviously meant to start out on and i will probably be stepping up soon as soon as i get....money.

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

I won this guitar from a local radio station. It's black with the "3 Doors Down" band members' signatures in silver. So, for me, the price was right. I've seen them selling for $150 to $200.

There are only two things I like about this guitar. The dual humbuckers have a terrific deep sound, and it is weighted and balanced nicely. Oh, and it does look nice hanging against my red wall.

The first thing I did when I took it out of the box was run my hand up the neck. I thought that the edges of the fret wires had actually cut my hand. I won't say the "craftsmanship" was bad, because I don't wont to use that word when talking about this guitar. When I got it home and plugged it up, there was no sound at all. I took it apart, did some diagnostics and found that the volume knob was not functioning. After a quick trip to the music store, about $9 and some soldering, that was fixed. I probably spent another hour filing the sloppy fret wire edges and faces; then another hour trying to adjust the neck and bridge enough to get the string buzz out (which I never did). Like I said, the sound is really good, if you can get over a little string buzz. I just don't think anyone should have to go through what I did on a brand new guitar.

Poor. I couldn't believe it. When I first picked it up from the radio station and plugged it up, I thought it was a "just for show" model.

I've seen some great reviews on these things, but my B.C. Rich Bronze series is 5 times the guitar this is for equal or fewer dollars. I cannot in good conscience recommend this guitar to anyone.

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

Bought used (barely played) for about 300$.

I like the pickups, they i give off a nice sound and i like the look.

Awful craftsmanship, especially in the neck. When played, the necks rattles. Also there is glue on the fret board that is used to put in the inlays and the glue around every damn inlay. The knob on the pickup switch broke as well.

If I took the mexicans who cut my lawn, and gave them wood, metal and tools, they could make a better guitar than this factory built guitar.

It will probably fall apart on you. Buy a Telecaster, its cheaper and better made. Don't think that I dont like Epiphone, becuase I have an Epiphone acoustic that i love. Epiphone can do better than this.

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

The Epiphone Les Paul Special II is the lowest level LP copy made by Epiphone and is a decent ax for anyone looking to get into the Gibson feel but not pay for the higher level Epiphone or Gibson versions. It features a mahogany body, a bolt on mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard with 22 frets, a tune-o-matic/stopbar setup bridge wise, standard tuners, and a pair of OEM Epiphone humbuckers wired to a volume, a tone and a toggle switch. Pretty much a standard Les Paul as far as features go, but with the slimmed down electronics compliment and of course the cheaper bolt on construction. It also has a flat top as opposed to the carved one on the higher end models.

UTILIZATION

The ergonomics of this guitar really are nothing special to me. It's of a medium weight and seems to feel pretty LP esque when you strap it on your shoulders. That being said the bolt on construction doesn't feel right to me, and I'm not a fan of that style of construction on a Gibson type guitar. The upper fret access isn't bad but I can't really comment on it too much because it really isn't really all that remarkable or unremarkable. Getting a good tone out of this guitar isn't really a priority... the pickups are not great and honestly it's the type of guitar someone would get who doesn't focus on the sound, but rather just wants a basic set of clean and maybe distorted tones.

SOUNDS

The tones out of this guitar aren't particularly great to me. The bolt on construction combined with the cheaper pickups/electronics really makes for a fairly unremarkable sounding guitar to my ears. The clean sounds are pretty flat and not dynamic enough, and the drive sounds are pretty muddy and lacking in clarity. It's not really worth upgrading the electronics in this one either, so it's really the type of guitar you'd just use to learn on or if you want to play really loud, aggressive punk rock and don't care about the tones.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think this guitar is not really all that special. It offers a way to get into the Les Paul shape and feel for not a lot of money, but the quality isn't great, and the tones really don't represent the great tones of the real Gibson models. For about $200 new it's not a great deal, but you can get them for less used. It's in the same class as the Squier Affinities and such as far as quality... they have the shape and name but may not live up to them...

Guitar-Asian (PC?)
-22 Boxes, two pickups epiphone unknown
-Tune-o-matic
-2 Potentiometers (volume and tone) and 3-position selector (all very weak ... as in many models epiphone!)
Bolt-very poor mechanical

UTILIZATION

-Handle relatively pleasant, I must say that is! probably better than the sleeves gibson! it seems that for this model of end epiphone wanted to avoid the stick "tree trunk"
-Access to disastrous highs ... worse than a "real" les paul!
Ergonomics: there's no mystery, despite the low price level weight is a real les paul is heavy as a dead donkey (lighter than a real say this!), Not two as ergonomic , has hurt ratings and breaks his face when playing seated, has hurt his back when playing standing up ...
-The settings are simple and classic, two potentiometers, a selector ...

SOUNDS

-I had when I was playing on a park 10W, and my faith, for beginners it's pretty decent, but nothing more ... one can find much better for the price (Yamaha, Cort, or the epiphone a little more expensive ...)
Disto-in, with its hideous micro serious, its very acute way with the microphone. its clear, the opposite

OVERALL OPINION

I've used has just one year ... Now it into individual parts, I customization to pass the time
-The price is good for this guitar: hard to find a lowest price! the consideration being, one might expect, it's a guitar (very) very average, even for the range of between ...
-With experience, I would do not have that choice, and I would probably choose one or more certainly a squier yamaha

Guitar made in Korea
two humbuckers
a knob for tone and volume
a toggle switch 3 positions
handle varnished, screwed rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets back in points
Tune-o-matic
apartheid the body is mahogany, I will discuss later ...
the quality of wood does not look even when terrible, especially the one of the key that is frankly bof, the mics are the most low-end epiphone ...
mcaniques are not the oil bath, we spend our time to connect, that ds attack the strings a bit much.

UTILIZATION

The guitar is heavy trs! I have borrowed twice a girlfriend for RPTES, I regretted the borrower.
So, the guitar is heavy trs, no concept of ergonomics (no dcoupe the back of the guitar) no bevel, but hey, did when ^ MITHE same part of the les paul.
trs guitar badly RULES (action too high, pickups too, so that the del 17me of the box, the strings touch the pads of the mics)
the handle is not dsagrable, but it lacks dsrieu in its finish, not too big, it is not too tired playing it.
varnish (varnish peiture + black) on the back of the handle does not impede too much for the solos, and Access in acute easier than a les paul standard grace the box under grazing, we get relatively easily dernires boxes of the handle. Of course it's not an Ibanez RG, but still playable.
knobs and switches rather cheap, the knobs are too progressive, particularly the tone knob which cuts only the treble!
if not, I note that on which I had jou must have three years, but the frets taient comic pa oxidation, the bridge and the pickups too, all the screws of the same ...

SOUNDS

I used a metal band, a group of grunge, and I had the opportunity to play the AC / DC as above.
the microphones are dcevants has drool all over, the distortion is Afreux, the sound has no depth, it's just a shapeless pulp in distortion, while the mics saturate themselves in the clear ...
the palm mutes are woefully flat, gives a small crrrr crrrr ridiculous, in a riff mlodique rajoutent noise no more.
the nuances of the game are not well transcribed, and the mics are screaming that ds is in the treble.
try on a Marshall Valvestate 50w, a randall lampes100w, and a Fender Frontman 212R, with boss ds1, ds2, mt2, and a digitech death metal (trying in vain to find the right sound with) nothing.

OVERALL OPINION

Used for two RPTES, and a night he is only the look of this guitar that would make me buy it, to the limit of COD by MODELS equivalents cort report (SERIES zn) at the price, it does not make the weight, I have a hard couraging this kind of guitars are ... even an ibanez exr170 sopnne better when she is agathis!
good, the report qualitprix, I would say we are not even for money, the low-end Japanese brands is much better.
I believe that no guitarist who has tried other guitars can not make a choice like that, but can be for the look, but even the quality of the wood would not make an upgrade of mics or daccastillage profitable.