MGR/A. Quentin Ziel « Epiphone Les Paul Special II »
Published on 03/20/03 at 15:00I 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
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