All user reviews for the Epiphone Les Paul Special II

First, I'm sorry if my english isn't pretty good, 'cause I'm from Chile...
I always wanted a Les Paul guitar, but I don't have the money. So, one day, I saw this guitar on a store here in Chile (named "Ripley") and it was at $125.000 in chilean pesos, something like $180 US dollars... So, I saw it on other store, called "Falabella" and it was on $140 US dollars, so, I bought it...

I like its body, it's beautiful. Something like Les Paul, but cheaper
It has a great sound, and if some effects are used, uff...
It has a very good sustain.
It's from Epiphone.

It's a little heavy, more than a typical Stratocaster.

It's a good guitar, if you know how to care a guitar.
It's a firm guitar, but take care of the paint, 'cause it scratches so fast.

I think that it's a great guitar for people that has not too much money, but that wants a heavy and clear sound. I recommend it, of course!

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

I got this Epiphone online from WWBW.com (woodwind and brasswind), the delivery was on time. I paid 200$, got a brand new Epiphone Special II, with a vintage sunburst finish, a good quality, versatile amplifier, 3 hard picks, a cable, an instructional video tape and an accurate quartz tuner.

I'm close to a professional guitar player, even though I have been playing for about a year, I mainly play Blues rock and metal influenced stuff, I play similar to Zakk Wylde of Black Label society and I love to play fast solos. I have to say I read some reviews on this guitar saying that it was bad, but I think its amazing. They did tell me that when you first buy the guitar, theres a buzz sounds and that the neck has some dead spots. This is entirely true. But once you do some adjustments using the truss bar to the tension bar at the head of the guitar (under the Gibson word). I actually made these adjustments on my own since the nearest guitar shop is miles away. It took me 2 hours to completely fixup the guitar. The pickup and sound quality is truly amazing and the tone is thick and fat almost as good as the Gibson Les Pauls. The playability is really good as well. The pickup switch works perfectly well. I actually replaced the strings with Zakk Wylde Boomers, because I like to play heavy stuff. The sound quality is perfect. I suggest you get a decent distortion pedal to get a good distorted tone (one you can actually hear the cords through). I use an Ibanez Smashbox and its amazing. A boss MT2 works fine as well, but I prefer the smashbox. The body of the guitar is considerably light and the finish looks beautiful but that depends on your personal taste. This Guitar is an excellent buy and very worth every single dollar you pay for it. It just needs to be optimized and adjusted, especially the neck to remove the buzz sounds. I suggest you take it to a guitar technician at a guitar shop to get the neck fixed up and neck tension adjusted.

It takes a while to adjust the neck as I said. But once thats done you're going to be fine. Also, at the beginning, it untunes very quickly, but after a couple of tunings, the strings should stretch out a bit and you should be fine.

Neck adjustment should have been done at the factory, other than that, well done Epiphone!

Many people dislike this guitar because they think its just a cheaper and crappier version of a Gibson. The guitar is perfectly fine, but you need to have some patience to adjust the neck thats all!

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

Recently purchased off eBay at £91 as a starter guitar for my son.Normally retails at £128 - £180 depending on the finish.

It is a good looking guitar and apart from the bangs the original high gloss sunburst finish looks at first glance to be agreeable to the eye. Bostered up by that gibson badge on the headstock. After that, the pleasure stops.

This is truely the worst guitar I have picked up. True it looks at a cursory glance to be a nice peice of eye candy.But handle that baby and your in for a disappointment its construction leaves a lot to be desired and the tuning mechanism is truely abhorant.

This model features cheap tacky tuners that do not hold their tuning very well varying from hard to turn to exceedingly sloppy. the guitar features a bridge that is impossible to get both the bottom and top scales simultaniously in tune so, useless if you want to play tunes by the darkness or any good lead riffs. The bolt on neck and its flimsy construction make it difficult to tune as any pressure on the neck in any direction alters the tuning. To add insult to injury when you have got it plugged in watch that plastic plate that the jack plug is attatched to split down the middle its the biggest wow you will get from this sucker.

Give this baby a miss, spend a few more of those hard earned dollars and pounds on a guitar not built like a present from a lucky dip bag. If you are thinking of a beginners guitar or any other guitar for that matter give this a miss.

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

I bought it at from a friend for £25 and a Skate Board

Everything. The guitar sounds fantastic. I now am the proud owner of a Les Paul Custom and there is only a slight difference in the guitars playing although the pick ups have a little more gain being open coil. The guitar is also very light for a Les Paul.

Look after it and it'll definately look after you. Take it to a good shop though.

The construction and quality is immaculate. I read a review on the same site which slated the guitars construction which I feel was unjustified. Maybe in America the demand for good quality examples is lower I don't know. All the example I've played here in sunny britain have been superb.

Find a good one look after it and you'll keep it forever. Great for punk or rock with it's nice gain. If you can set up an amp it'll do you well. I use it as a back up for recording and on stage and it never let me down.

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

170 on samdaymusic.com ... came the day after i ordered it...same day music is awesome...and thats the only good part about this purchase.

hmmmmm. nope.

where do i begin...this is my 3rd guitar...Dont ask me what posessed me to buy this. The sound is completely awful and disgusting. The front of the guitar is flat, not contoured like true les pauls (which i own now) When i got it, without and amp, it had this weird metal/tin sound. I thought it was the strings and put on my personal favorites: fender originals...it still did it. i would recommend this to soemone who is JUST begginning, or a person who feels like blowing 170 for no reason. otherwise buy something better...DONT LISTEN TO WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS ABOUT THIS GUITAR!!! ITS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

held up for a little i guess. i never played it too much...it made me shiver...(the bad kind of shiver)

buy this if youre poor or you jus tlike poor guitars... i dont know why epiphone did this!!! all their other guitars are great (except sg special..same as this different body and input jack placement)

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

I bought it at Sam Ash right off the rack. It was the last one they had.Very very tiny unnocitible scratches.Almost like new.Pickups still covered.It was selling for 209.99.But since it was out they took 5 dollars off.

It's in vintage sunburst so it looks great. pickups sound good. the overall body of the guitar.looks kinda like a gibson 'cept for the headstock. 22 frets. humbucking pickups.

nothing exept that you get finger marks on it.

it is made by gibson so it's good. it has a limited lifetime warranty.it has chrome hardware and a bolt-on neck.

good for beginners who would want a gibson later on or just for someone who likes epiphone more than squier ibanez or other guitars for the price range

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

Got it from Musicians Friend for $240. the package came woth the guitar (duh) gig bag, studio 10 amp, strap and picks. overall a good buy. my first electric.

great action. no adjustments needed. good sound. it has that classic paul sound to it, which i like. very versatile. good clean sound, great for some classic stuff. it also gets great distortion. i can play everything from zepplin to metallica, and it sounds pretty good. i like the looks, too. great vintage sunburst finish. no scratches as yet, except for a few buckle marks on the back. overall a very good guitar.

when i got it, the first thing that happened is the input jack nut got stripped. but this is no problem.easy enough to replace. i had some problems with the treble humbucker for a while. it just didnt make any sound. that stopped after not too long. gets out of tune frequently, but i use a gig bag, so what can you expect. ill have to buy a hard case soon.

very sound. ive knocked it around quite a bit and you cant even tell where it got hit. finish is nice. like i said, a few probs with the treble pu, input jack, etc., but nothing major. its quite heavy, but i like that. makes me feel like i cant hurt it. and you really cant without trying. overall very well made.

great sound. great price. great guitar. im still using the studio 10, but as soon as i get another amp, itll probably sound even better. if you are just starting out, and have a tight budget, and dont want a crappy squire, go get this guitar. hats off to epiphone!

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

I got this guitar at a local music store for $179.99.

I like everything about this guitar. The fat sound the les paul gives is a great addition to any band. i dont understand y people say this guitar suck. i have not had ANY problems with it for the 6 months that i have had it.

actually....the one dislike i had was the weak pickups. i got those replaced within a week of my purchase.

This les paul has great construction for the price that i bought it at. this guitar does not suck what so ever. thoes guys just got a mis treated used guitar...thats all.

this is an overall good guitar. I would also like to recomend a almost any Peavy guitar and amp!!!

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

i got this guitar in a players pack from world music supply for about $240. it is my first guitar.

there are very few things that i dont like about it. the sound is sweet. the humbuckers on this thing can manage any sound you can think of. its heavy, which makes me feel better about knocking against the wall every now and then. the finish--vintage sunburst--lokks awesome, and so far has no nicks in it.

as i said, there are not many, and mostly they are just annoyances. first, the tuners are not the greatest, but they're not the worst either. i will probably replace them, eventually. second, and probably most annoying, the input jack tends to come loose a lot. but you can just tighten it again, so it's not a big deal. that is pretty much all.

like a rock. as i said, its really heavy.

a great guitar. i will own it for many years to come. the sound is great, and overall i think it rivals some more expesive guitars i have seen. if you are a beginner, or just have a tight budjet, you should get this guitar. it rocks!

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

I bought it s my first electric guitar. I purchased it at MusicArte in Las Palmas (Spain) for a bit less than 300 euros (300 US bucks, if you don't believe me check in the stock exchange for the conversion.)

It is my first, and at present only, guitar. It is of good quality, and the sunburst colur is fabulous. I can get any sound out of it's two pickups, provided I have the talent to play it. Produces a very sweet sound.

The output jack was a bit loose when I bought it, but nothing that couldn't be tightened.

Astonishing price/quality. Magnificent sound. Very good pickups indeed. I think it was made in Indonesia but the indonesians did a hell of a good job.

Ideal starters guitar. An excellent instrument to build up your guitar skills if you are a novice or simply poor. You won't regret it.

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

I bought this guitar at Sam Ash Music in FL. I paid 549.99 for it. Wasn't a bad price for a broke musician looking for a killer axe. I love it to death. This is as good as a gibson the only difference is the head stock and the pickups, but the rest rules.

I love everything about this guitar. The neck is awesome. I've played Gibson Explorers and V's and they hade the suckiest necks possible. The neck on these LP's are tight. They play like a dream. Perfect for busting out some old EVH stuff or some old Angus Young and Tallica riffs. Second is the looks. One word KILLER I got the honeyburst and the pix on the net do no justice. It's better lookin then cherry sunburst. I love it, it's totally classic rock. Which I play!! I recomend it for boston, AC/DC, BTO, or any other classic rock fans!

I dislike litte bout this guitar. One thing tho is the pickups are a litte weak and not the best in the world, but they work. I'd change um though. Also on all epiphones I think there is a porblem w/ the switch. It sometimes dosen't switch correctly but a couple flicks will fix it. still it's a lil annoying. Unless ur a bridge man like me!


The quality of this is great. construcked well Nice solid peice of wood. No problem w/ it at all in this area. You will be pleased w/ it.

If u r considering this guitar u got ur head on stright. it's an awesome instrument and I would gig w/ it forever. I'd trust in this baby. Go try one out.

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

I paid 205 Euro for it at www.thomann.de

Its really a great deal for a price that is that cheap! I wanted this guitar because I admire Les Paul guitars and because I'm just beginning to learn playing.

With its vintage sunburst it looks really great and the two pickups (2 open coil humbuckers) can provide every kind of sound you can imagine. The neck feels very good and the sound is very warm. Although it hasn't the typical Les Paul sound because it isn't made from the same material it sounds great!

I don't like that it has only 1 volume and 1 tone knob. And the pickup switch is placed between them, what is a bit uncomortable. But thats all I don't like.

It's very well build! It's compact and much lighter than normal Les Pauls. Ideal for a beginner. You have 2 years of warranty for this guitar. So you don't have to worry about in your beginner years )

All in all a great guitar for beginners and also for better players. But real masters should take a real Les Paul! ^^

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 actually bought it off of e-bay, but the guy I bought it from got it at Musicians friend for $179.99. I bought it off of e-bay for $111.00 including the case.

First off, I love this guitar. I've been playing for a while, and I've played almost all that there is. Gibson, Fender, PRS, ESP, you name it. The open-coil pickups scream! They are perfect for the heavy rocker, yet they can do anything that you want it to do. For example, jazz, blues, clean, etc. It was very well put together; I've been jumping around my room and on stage and the only scratches/dents are a few belt buckle scratches on the back and a few chips in the headstock from a few chance incounters with the ceiling fan and my desk. I love the way it feels when you play it. The neck has a super-fast finish and your had will meet no resistance when it slides up the neck for a few leads. This guitar is the best i've ever played, save a Les Paul Classic.

First of all, they are very minor. Because of the Les Paul body, the strap nut is angled up a little, so with the strap as long as it will go, like the way I wear it, it will tend to slip off when you jump around if you don't have a strap lock. The tuning keys are very bad. If you get this guitar the first thing you want to do is get a set of Grovers. The pickup selector switch is not the greatest, but it will work fine most of the time. If you are switching between treble and rythem alot, you might want to get a new one. The strap bolt also gets a little loose after two years of hard playing 24/7, so I just popped a little super-glue in the hole and that was that. Never had a problem again. Aside from these minor things, this guitar is great.

The construction is perfect. It was made in Korea, but I've found more flaws in A Gibson Les Paul (made in the USA) than this one. I can find nothing wrong with it, and trust me, I've looked.

If you are a begginer, I cannot stress this to you more than the fact that you should get this guitar. It blows the competition away. Much better than any Squier or Fender (Man, I hate those pathetic excuses for guitars). It plays just like a real Les Paul yet costs much less. If you are a pro looking for a great guitar for the heavier music, look no more. The Les PAul Special is for you.

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

This was my first electric guitar, i got it about 2 years ago. I paid £130 (UK) which i reckon was a steal

This is a cool guitar. I got the cherry sunburst model and it looks dead cool. It sounds great too through my marshall amp. I reckon they must leave the open coil pickups on the winder overnight or something coz mine are sooo powerful, my friend has seymour duncans on his guitar and we both reckon mine are better than his, they are certainly louder. I like the way they distort the clean sound at loud volumes, it sounds really cool.

A few cut corners, but thats to be expected to get a guitar less than £150. eg, the strap buttons work themselves loose. They way to fix that though is to unscrew them, pour superglue down the hole and screm em back up again. I did that and they havent come loose since. Also the input jack comes loose from time to time, just the nut that keeps it in, but you can just tighten that its no big deal.
The main thing i dont like (this probably happens with all les pauls) is that the neck strap button is positioned in such a way that when you have the strap at its longest, it just wants to pop out all the time, you need a strap lock or whatever.

The construction aint great, but it aint awful. The screws come loose and stuff but you can just glue them in like i said up there. I have dropped it once or twice by mistake but this caused no problems so its quite sturdy. Its made in korea so... but what do you expect for £130?

Id recommend this guitar over any guitar in the price range to any beginner. The opposition is awfull for this prive of electric guitar.Its tonnes better than any of those crappy squires - damn i hate those things. And i have heard bad things about the yamaha 112's. Definitely, if thats all you have to spend, get this guitar, they rock!

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

well.. i got this guitar about 6 months ago, bought it at "music city" ny for $200 new came with a 15 watt marshall amp (i was a beginner at this stage). This was one of the cheapest LP's i could get my hands on (the other LP's were way too expensive the special editions were the cheapest LP's) but i have allways wanted to get a LP so i went for this one.

Nothing

This guitar is awfull! Firstly the volume and tone controls and the tone switcher are cheaply put on as mine have allready been replaced.... The sound is horrible and does not really give the true LP effect! The fretboard has been poorly made. The guitar is very heavey. The guitar breaks easily (i have allready broke the neck). The shape of the guitar is nothing like the proper LP's.

I have allready explained this in the other box.

If your going to buy a cheap LP do not buy the Special 1! my friend owns a Special II and i find that much better than this guitar so if you are going to purchase a cheap LP buy the Special II. If you can afford to buy a much more expensive LP i would go for the classics e.g. LP Standard that actually look and sound like LP's!

Overall i find this guitar absolutely awfull epiphone should not even have made this guitar! and i will soon be replacing it.. well it was my fault for purchasing a cheap LP i should of saved up for a more expensive one. The special Edition 1 is a disgrace to the LP's

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