Name: Les Paul Standard
Brand: Epiphone
SKU: 132795
Rating: 4.3 (68 reviews)

Sidney Berthier

Solid all-rounder guitar

Published on 02/23/21 at 09:08

Features — 8
Bought in 2012 from a shop, brand new. The pickups are supposedly Gibson designed humbuckers but they sound pretty much like stock Epiphone pickups to me. The body and neck are Mahogany, with the neck set into the body. The fretboard is Rosewood with trapezoid inlays. There is some nice binding on the body and neck. My model had a Pelham Blue finish which looked really nice. Grover tuners came as stock on this model too. No coil-tapping, but it can't be expected at this price point. Overall some standard features.

Sound — 7
Suited my blues and classic rock style well, the sound could go from fat and full, to clean and smooth. Although the pickups did not handle crisp tones...…

Features — 8
Bought in 2012 from a shop, brand new. The pickups are supposedly Gibson designed humbuckers but they sound pretty much like stock Epiphone pickups to me. The body and neck are Mahogany, with the neck set into the body. The fretboard is Rosewood with trapezoid inlays. There is some nice binding on the body and neck. My model had a Pelham Blue finish which looked really nice. Grover tuners came as stock on this model too. No coil-tapping, but it can't be expected at this price point. Overall some standard features.

Sound — 7
Suited my blues and classic rock style well, the sound could go from fat and full, to clean and smooth. Although the pickups did not handle crisp tones well, and sounded muddy at times. This is a standard plight with cheaper Epiphone humbuckers. Played it through a Marshall combo. I didn't use any effects with it and just cranked up the gain a little when playing AC/DC, Hendrix, etc. It's not a noisy guitar. You can get a wide variety of sounds, although I wouldn't play Metal or anything too heavy, go for a Jackson or ESP in that case. It's perfect for that classic rock or blues sound.

Action, Fit & Finish — 8
The guitar was well set up by the shop. I did need to adjust the truss rod several times over the years, but nothing dramatic. Wiring and finish were all fine, good quality there and no complaints. Same with the frets, nothing to flag. All in all a solid instrument that looks and feels more expensive that it is. There were no flaws upon purchase. The pickups needed a little raising that's all. I was very impressed by the out of the box nature of its playability. Well done Epiphone! This is how it should be.

Reliability & Durability — 8
I would use this as a main live guitar, or rehearsals and home practice. Although there are major differences with Gibson pickups, so you might want to upgrade those. Durability is fine. It's dependable and looks quite cool. I had fun using it and it never let me down. It lasted me around 3-4 years before I eventually sold it for an SG which suited my playing style better. It's a great feeling and sounding guitar, I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative to Gibson or Fender.

Overall Impression — 8
The Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a solid all-rounder guitar, versatile enough to tackle pretty much any style of music. The neck is slimmer than a Gibson Les Paul and the body is lighter too. It is giggable, although the pickups (Alnico Classic Pro) can be quite muddy when trying to achieve a clean tone. For most rock or blues styles, though, this is fine. The finish is great for this price point and you could recommend the instrument for gigging, recording and home practice. Some versions have Grover tuners which is a great plus. Noel Gallagher famously used the 90s model of this guitar at early gigs and demos.

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MGR/Voxguitarist30

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Quilted Top

Published on 12/14/01 at 15:00

I love my Epiphone Les Paul Standard Quilted Top, its looks will shred you before the sound will!I got the Epi because it would fit in my small budget and still give me that phat, deep sound i wanted. Bought it at Mars Music for $400.

I absolutely love my epi. No guitar is perfect, but this one isn't that far behind. The finish I chose was a dark red quilt, almost blood red in colour. The body is solidas a brick (a good 10+pounder) and the sound is very good for "Gibson-Designed" humbuckers. The fact that it is a Limited Edition also urged me to get this guitar.

Above I did mention the pickups were good, but i think that i can do better with some custom pickups I'll get in the near...…

I love my Epiphone Les Paul Standard Quilted Top, its looks will shred you before the sound will!I got the Epi because it would fit in my small budget and still give me that phat, deep sound i wanted. Bought it at Mars Music for $400.

I absolutely love my epi. No guitar is perfect, but this one isn't that far behind. The finish I chose was a dark red quilt, almost blood red in colour. The body is solidas a brick (a good 10+pounder) and the sound is very good for "Gibson-Designed" humbuckers. The fact that it is a Limited Edition also urged me to get this guitar.

Above I did mention the pickups were good, but i think that i can do better with some custom pickups I'll get in the near future. Im considering a set of open coil PRS specials or maybe some Emg's. Aside from tune ups, every small probelm I have had has been under warrantee. When I first purchase the guitar I had a bad pot for the 3 way switch, so i had it replaced with a Gibson one from Mars; no charge. Along with the new pot the guy at Mars also fixed the setup, lowered the action by a hair, and waxed the guitar. More recently, (i have had it for about 6 months) I had a spur on the bridge fixed; it was also free at Mars. From my experience there, I'd recommend Mars to any musician for their excellent service and quality.

I think the above statement said alot about this, but anyway the overall quality was good. You get what you pay for, so I am not surprised by a few glitches. As far as construction goes, the quilted top looks very deep and not at all like a spary on paint. The body and neck have a cream binding that looks great againt the dark red finish. All the hardware is black from tuners to stopbar and the pickups are open coiled. The neck it strait as you could ask for and the trapezoid inlays are perfect. A True Rock Guitar!!!

The rating for this quitar is not really fair the way i see it. For what you pay, you get the an extreme quality axe. But when problems come, don't be surprised. I know if i didn't have a place like Mars to get it fixed, the review would not be as good. All in all, if i had the money, i would be reviewing a Gibson right now, but Epiphone is far from sub standard. If this guitar is in you're price range check it out!

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

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Steve_Boudreaux

Replace The Pickups, And This Guitar Is As Good As A Les Paul Gets- Bar NONE

Published on 08/01/11 at 15:56

Don't believe those who say the Epiphone Les Paul is not top-notch, or nearly so- the only thing that disappoints are the pickups, and even they are decent. I upgraded the pups to Gibson Burstbucker Pro's- nothing else was needed. I upgraded the tuners, but only because I had a set of Gibson bell-knob tuners that looked cooler- the original Grover tuners (branded, not copies) were as good as the ones I put on. I decided to wait to see how the pots, switch, caps and wiring, and the nut, performed, and now, three years later, with considerable play, they are all working just fine.

Don't let anyone tell you Agile, SX, or anybody else's LP is better- it just is not so. If these were...…

Don't believe those who say the Epiphone Les Paul is not top-notch, or nearly so- the only thing that disappoints are the pickups, and even they are decent. I upgraded the pups to Gibson Burstbucker Pro's- nothing else was needed. I upgraded the tuners, but only because I had a set of Gibson bell-knob tuners that looked cooler- the original Grover tuners (branded, not copies) were as good as the ones I put on. I decided to wait to see how the pots, switch, caps and wiring, and the nut, performed, and now, three years later, with considerable play, they are all working just fine.

Don't let anyone tell you Agile, SX, or anybody else's LP is better- it just is not so. If these were not made in Indonesia, they would be perfect.

UTILIZATION

Exact copy of the Gibson Les Paul in body and neck shape- easy to play, if a bit heavy.

SOUNDS

Works fine with any amp I have played it with.

OVERALL OPINION

Black, ivory and chrome color scheme avoids glitch and flash. This is what a Les Paul should look like.

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tjon901

Official Les Paul copy

Published on 06/07/11 at 14:40

Epiphone is Gibsons lower price line of guitar. They have pretty much the same specs as the Gibson models. The electronics are not as good but they are made from the species of wood but the wood may not be the best quality. The Les Paul standard guitar was introduced in 1958. They came with the first PAF pickups and when people talk about the Gibson tone they are talking about these. They have the standard Les Paul setup with mahogany body with a maple top and a mahogany neck with a 22 fret rosewood fretboard. Two humbucking Alnico Classic pickups with dual volume and tone controls with a 3 way toggle switch pickup selector. The up position on the switch selects the neck pickup. The...…

Epiphone is Gibsons lower price line of guitar. They have pretty much the same specs as the Gibson models. The electronics are not as good but they are made from the species of wood but the wood may not be the best quality. The Les Paul standard guitar was introduced in 1958. They came with the first PAF pickups and when people talk about the Gibson tone they are talking about these. They have the standard Les Paul setup with mahogany body with a maple top and a mahogany neck with a 22 fret rosewood fretboard. Two humbucking Alnico Classic pickups with dual volume and tone controls with a 3 way toggle switch pickup selector. The up position on the switch selects the neck pickup. The middle position on the pickup selector selects both pickups. And the down position on the pickup selector selects the bridge pickup. It has a tune-o-matic bridge and stop tail piece.

UTILIZATION

The Epiphone Les Paul standard has all of the same advantages and disadvantages in playability that every Les Paul has. If you are use to modern guitars with thin necks the Les Paul neck will be very big for you. Because of the set neck design there is a large neck tenon and joint. This can make the upper frets hard for some people to reach because the body essentially joins the neck at the 17th fret. After the 17th fret you are reaching around the body to get to the frets. The tuning stability is good because there is no tremolo. The quality of hardware Epiphone uses is not that great. I have had problems with the input jack unscrewing itself and things like that.

SOUNDS

The pickups Epiphone uses are not that great. They are pretty muddy and dead. You do not get much attack with these pickups. Since these pickups do not have much definition the neck position can get really muddy. These guitars are chambered like the Gibson Les Paul standard guitars. This takes away some of the thickness from the tone. With a high gain amp the sound might get muddy due to the lack of definition. With some types of music these pickups are great. If you want a bluesy sound these pickups will do really good and you will be able to get a smooth tone out of them. With a pickup swap this guitar can sound great so I would recommend to anyone who has one of these Epiphones to try it out with some after market pickups.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are looking for a cheap Gibson Les Paul alternative there are better guitars out there. Epiphone makes the only official Les Paul copies but there are some other copies that are of a lot better quality. I would recommend looking at an Agile Les Paul copy. You can get a guitar half the price of the Epiphone but with better quality, and for the price you pay for this Epiphone you can get an Agile with an ebony fretboard and Gibson quality hardware.

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