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MGR/Anonymous « Epiphone Les Paul Special »
Published on 06/25/01 at 15:00I 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
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