All user reviews of 4/5 for the 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.

Mahogany body

Bolt mahogany

Rosewood

Marks "points"

2 open coil humbuckers

22 frets

Black

Three-position selector

Two knobs: Volume / Tone

UTILIZATION

It was my 1st "real" electric guitar, the neck is decent although a little thick, not fat weight level imbalance, guitar relatively rare these days, I bought lai knowing she was "limited edition" . As the first she played her role well: D

SOUNDS

I liked the bridge pickup, it sounded good, but not really guitar oriented metal, I had the opportunity to show him two pickups Gibson (see photo) for very little so I did not hesitate. Original microphone in the neck position quite cold, but I think it would appeal to some.

OVERALL OPINION

Level value, this Epiphone stands far compared to other branded products that would offer the same price see more. Good quality / price ratio, the flaw resides in the fact that the bridge is made of one piece, normal except that there is no second metal part between the bridge and the microphone.

Although today it is very personal, I always regret not having bought

Composition close enough, gibson "mahogany", two humbuckers, two potentiometer which I find does not bring much, the strings are the weaknesses, I changed to the elixir and it goes out of tune as fast.

UTILIZATION

The handle is a great, relatively easy access to acute.

The weight is important, more than 6 kg, so must be endured.

I use it on a line, and it gives a good sound clean, crunch, metal and hard rock, difficle still at a solo in overdrive, it saturates a bit.

She has a very good sustain, which can be a drawback.

SOUNDS

Playing hard rock and it suits me, but for the heavy "solo" I have doubts, well set the amps and a look that suits her.

OVERALL OPINION

I start the electric guitar, and I think this has lespauls meileurs reports of a quality price, we will say what is worth its price.

Mahogany body
Bolt-on mahogany
Rosewood
Dot markers
2 open coil humbuckers
Chrome hardware
Color: Black
22 boxes
A tone knob
A volume knob
A 3-position selector

UTILIZATION

At the handle, it's a fine enough to handle a Les Paul, 22 frets and nice, the frets are not razor blades as some guitar in this price range, only flat, a little varnish gene for slide along the handle, but it hangs it's a detail, we made it fast!
Les paul shape, we like it or not, this is a guitar that is light enough for this type of scraper, about 3 or 4 kg no more, it is well balanced, I play with my feet and it does not dismantle shoulder after several hours of games, sitting on the other hand, I find it tends to drag because of its thinness, it is not great and probably the absence of a table. Access to the top is not acute (the form requires paul) it has the galley 19th frets but I rarely play near the body.

SOUNDS

I play a lot of punk rock, some blues, rock and roll years 70/80 and she is doing well overall. In clean it passes, it's still correct, we get a rather soft which tends cruncher when we go a little more in the acute setting but with a good bit this pass in crunch nothing to say, it is very good and will very well on an old "telephone", in saturated I find the pickups a little rough, it does not sound very les paul to my taste, the hambucker are a bit aggressive, but we manage to get something and not drinking too loud a little by fiddling the tone and the amp. This guitar has a tendency to curl when we reach the 12th fret which can be quite disagreeable, especially on a solo.
The pickups are correct, they are a little fatty, and I think a lot of metal (personal opinion), they are rather aggressive. I regret a little bolt-on neck that causes a real lack of sustain!

OVERALL OPINION

I have this guitar for a little over a year, and I must admit I'm quite happy, the finishes are very correct, nail maintenance, it is shiny black, very beautiful, by the mechanical cons are rotten , it is not the agreement simply ask the head or clean it out of tune, the strings of origins are very average, a bit too soft in my opinion, I do not know what it is pulling but we must not keep them.
What I love about this guitar is its look, I regret that the marks on the handle is not trapezoidal, it loses the charm les paul but it feels a bit like the junior was also that I love, I am a little disappointed that there was no bulge above table, it is a true bread board has, fortunately, the varnish is there to give him a little mouth.
The value for money is very good for a little over € 100 was an Epiphone Les Paul and with good finishes and look great, guitar relatively easy to use, you plug it plays. With the experience I would do certainly this choice, this guitar allowed me to make me hand over power, I took a lot of fun playing it.

Mahogany body
Bolt-on mahogany
Rosewood
Dot markers
2 open coil humbuckers
Chrome hardware
3-position selector
a knob for the tone
a knob for volume

UTILIZATION

the neck is quite thin and very nice, the frets are not as sharp as one might find on other brands of the same rate, it has a good balance because not very heavy.
The sound is quite versatile and good quality given the price, there are ways to have fun.
a small flat on the mechanical, a bit hard anyway, but the settings take.

SOUNDS

It is quite versatile, I play rock, hard rock, 70s, 80s, 90s, and metal
this is a guitar that plugs go ahead and ^ ^ guitar, it sounds and it is the main, especially for beginners. with some effects pedals, there is also necessarily means to have fun.
I find the neck pickup very nice, not too fat, fairly accurate, a lot of heat .... on the bridge pickup, it struck a lot of its saturated, accurate too, but for a good quality sound, a good string sets is a must!

OVERALL OPINION

it's been about 14 years I own this guitar and I still play with (this is my second guitar now because it is not granted in the same way) and I still enjoy playing with.
this is for me one of the best quality / price, especially since it is also diponible with a table in curly maple I think, so much nicer than my plain black.

Made in Indonesia

UTILIZATION

Super nice and super light ...

SOUNDS

Very versatile, I think ... Clearly it sounds not as metal as my Jackson but it sounds great in clean on a Hughes Kettner Edition Blue 30R

OVERALL OPINION

After some time I have, we can say that it holds well even if the shots, personal, I bought it for a les paul style guitar that I find terrible ... In sound, we should not expect a war machine but it sounds good I'd sell for anything in the world ... A remake, I rachèterais but keep in mind that this is an entry level model and therefore cheap "real" guitarists (I'm bassist) probably will tire quickly ...

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

Christmas was coming around and my good friend(almost like a big brother) had gotten me interested in guitars by letting me borrow one of his and learning on that. the main thing i learned was that i had to have one of my own. it was a custom ibanez rg w/ tremelo, sd pickups, etc. it was good to learn on and taught me what i liked in guitars, i learned to love the humbucker(an invader) in the bridge position, and at the time and musical taste, hate the tremelo. it just got in the way and i didn't need it. so i went looking around at entry level guitars in packages. after countless hours online the Special II had came across my eyes and seemed to fit the bill. i went down to the local Guitar Center and had a look at everything with my dad, and ended up with the Special II package(amp, strap, cord, etc.) and a guitar stand for $220 out the door.

The Special II has some pretty awesome pickups for being stock on a lower end guitar. the pickups look almost identical of a SD Jazz(neck) and a JB(bridge) minus the Seymour Duncan text and probably sound very similar. the tune-o-matic bridge makes tuning very stable and offers a lot of sustain. it sounds very good for punk, rock, jazz/blues, etc. i can get some really clean tones out of it in the 2nd and 3rd positions and a lot of different distortion tones in the bridge, bright or dark(but not exactly muddy). action is good, and the cosmetics are also very appealing w/ chrome hardware on a black guitar(and from what my friends have said, it looks very good on me). its a nice basic guitar that can still impress the ladies.

the les paul shape is not as comfortable as the strat shape when sitting and you need to be careful when standing up as the strap tends to want to slip off near the neck(strap locks can fix this). theres some buzzing every once in a while and the tuners aren't great(but what do you expect from such a cheap guitar). the neck is not thin, which makes it somewhat difficult to play faster stuff if you have smaller hands. its a bit heavy for a beginner and my shoulder tends to hurt when standing with it for more than 20 minutes(maybe if my strap just had more padding). the gold text on the head stock and on the 3 way switch doesn't look good on a guitar with a black and chrome scheme, kinda tacky.

seems to have lasted pretty good, no problems so far in the 10 months i've had it.

its a great beginner guitar and if you wanted to truly make it your own by adding pickups, tuners, etc. it could be even better and a lot of fun. now that i've played more(and more guitars) i realize that i want a strat shape more right now with a trem setter(to help with stability, or a stringthru like a schecter) and will probably sell the Special II. its a great guitar and i really want to keep it but i'll always remember it and would definitely advise any player to add a les paul style guitar(even this inexpensive one) to their arsenal. i know i will definitely want another les paul and will get one when i can.

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

I got this guitar used (i think) at Long and McQuade in Regina, Saskatchewan for about $160.00. I got this guitar because my 2nd cousin works there and he recommended this guitar to me.

This guitar kicks some ass! It has dual humbuckers that really scream at higher volumes and at lower volumes can give you that really nice warm tingly feeling. With the Marshall MG10CD amp this guitar can get you a multitude of different sounds with very few settings.

The strings dont stay in tune very long but that could partly be because they are older strings.

Great overall construction. Solid body, middle weight and a mid size neck that all works together seamlessly to give a pretty good sounding guitar.

Overall this is a great beginner guitar. If you need something better go spend more money but if you are just staring this is the guitar you want.

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

I bought this guitar from giggear in hertford but they do have a rely good website.It cost me £160.

I like the action its rely easy to play . The tone is amazing. All my friends have squier strats and they cant believe the tone i get.

the tuning heads kinda suck and the input came loose but its ok now.

Made quite badly as the input fell out but i have dropped it down the stairs sveral times but its ok.

An all round rely good guitar if you are just starting guitar dont buy a strart save up for another month and buy this!!!!

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

i bought this guitar through musiciansfreind.com. for 250$ (it came in a starter pack thingy)

This guitar is great and very reliable. The paint is beautiful i got the vintage sun burst. The neck (which is all black) is fairly thin so it's easy to play. Which is perfect because i learned how to play on this gutar.

The strings some times clang and well the nut around the cord jack or what ever you call it comes off way too much. the strap some times undone too.

Very tough and great looking but with some minor flaws.

all in all it's great for biggeners but some pro's may not like it and i can understand why.

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

Having previously bought a brilliant Squier Strat from a company called Express in Solihull, on my first payday I decided to get my brother into the guitar world. I found the guitar, paid full retail being £180. I know this can be bought for only £120 but when you take into account convienience, shipping and possibly repairs, it seemed sensible to buy local, and considering the staff there are very good.

Sound- this is a good Les Paul sounding instrument at just £180. The feel of this guitar is great with a thick finished neck in a 24.75" scale length. Despite being a slab body this guitar is fairly pleasent and lighter than any real Les Paul. This guitar at the end of the day still says GIBSON on the truss rod cover. The guitar is far easier than any Fender style guitar to maintain in terms of strings and bridges although not electronics.

This isnt as attractive as the les paul 100 also by epiphone or copies at the £180. It isnt a replica, it features no scratchplate and has all the controls as would and SG. Also there is only a single Volume and Tone. Despite these it still sounds and feels Les Paul and is far better than any equally priced copy. The pickups could be slightly better but are still very fair for its low price.

No quality issues. Solid and well built, has still got all its inspection adhesives. Nothing spectacular, the Squier Strats are more attractive but dont share this level of quality and 'chunkiness'. This is a solid and well constructed unit.

For the money you get total indviduality- its not a copy, its a gibson (in a way). Its even different to a Les Paul. Theres no frills. You dont need them. This is Solid, durable, enjoyable, playable and well concieved guitar. Hook this into a Fender frontman, flick overdrive on and enjoy Communication Breakdown. Enjoy being a learner.

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

This was my first electric guitar. I bought it in Korea, where I am stationed. I paid about 170.00 for this guitar. The main reason I bought this guitar was for the price.

What I like about this guitar is that it is affordable for those who don't have the money for a top knoch guitar.I like the pickups ok, and it plays great with distortion. It has that Les Paul sound, but it obviously won't sound a good as some of its big brothers.

It is kinda cheaply made, but what can you expect of under 200 bucks. Ive had no real problems with it yet.

Like I said, it is cheaply made. But for the price, its a damn good bargin.

Bottom line, this guitar is a good beginner guitar, and actually a decent all around guitar. It sounds good when I play metallica, and when I play CCR. It is cheaply made, but there are worse guitars out there. Besides, the sound is good.I am happy with it, and I have no real complaints. It is a decent guitar to own until you can afford something better.

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

I bought this guitar from the Hamilton Rockshop in New Zealand for NZ$400. In my a opinion, this is a damn bargain for a high quality guitar made (sort of) by Gibson.



The Special II has great pickups that are pretty powerful for a reasonably cheap guitar.The two humbuckers are like little bars of gold, and produce excellent tone and volume. The tone and volume controls are big, sturdy and idiot proof so even a blind one armed monkey could work them. While playing through a Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal I found that playing with the volume knob allows you to shape the distortion from sharp and cutting to a gentle fuzz. The body is well balanced and has plenty of sustain, along with a sturdy neck and rosewood fingerboard.



There are two main problems with this guitar. The first and formost, there is no whammy bar! Nooo! But Gibson/Epiphone aren't known for having many Solid Body Electrics with tremolo. The other problem is the placement of the selector switch. Right in between the volume and tone pots. If you do alot of pickup changing (Mr Gilmour, Mr Morello) then you are sure to hit the volume control whilst switching.



With a solid Maple/Alder body, this guitar rocks for sustain.The neck is solid Mahogony with a Rosewood Fingerboard that has standard dot inlays.There are two Open Coil Humbuckers and no binding.Basically an affordable Les Paul with only one volume, one tone and no pickguard.



This is a great guitar at a great price. There is no fiddly battery changing no retunig every five minutes and no gold hardware that will look like shunt in a few years time. All up a great guitar whether you are a beginner or expert, and will handle anything from Muddy Waters to Marilyn Manson to Pantera... The list could go on forever! If you want an awesome guitar for a few bucks, get this.



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