All user reviews for the Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop

I bought the guitar from Long and Mcquade. At the time I loved Jimmy Page (and still do) so I had to have a Les Paul.I walked into the store thinking I'd be putting a 3000 dollar guitar on layaway for like a year but then I saw it floating like an angel(well actually it was hanging from a rusty guitar rack).I thought "wow, just like Page's".Unfortunately when I took it home and got it into better light I realized that it's alot darker than his.I ended up paying $685.00 Canadian altogether.

The best thing about this guitar is the sound.Because the instrument is so heavy it has a full, crunchy sound to it. It also has great sustain and in my opinion sounds just as good as the Gibson model(not the vintage models though).also the appearance.The finish is extremely shiny and the wood provides an interesting pattern under it.


When I bought the guitar there was some white paint where the neck bolts onbut Igot most of it off. Also the neck volume swith sticks. It's very heavy to but I guess that's why it sounds so great.

The guitar is constructed almost flawlessly. The bolt on neck is great and all the frets are straight. I would say the quality of this guitar is comparable to the Gibsons.

I would reccomend this guitar to anyone looking for a high quality guitar. Even if you have the money to spend on a $3000+ Gibson why bother, spenrd the rest of the money on a strat or a better amp.

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

i bought this beauty from guitarampkeyboard.com in brighton for £309 plus the usual £10 p+p. this is rather good seein as its retail is like £500! i wanted a guitar with the sustain of an lp,the looks of an lp, and the tone of p90's. only a couple of models spring to mind and this is the only one that i wanted and could afford.

i love the pickups.gibson designed, wit all the good parts of a strat single coil but wit more power. i love the weight. it seems heavy at first but ur rewarded wit more sustain than ud ever need! if u turn one of the volumes down it kills all the volume so in the middle switchin position u just have to turn one knob down and thats it.the looks of this guitar are timeless. a sparkly gold finish wit lots of cream binding. and it just seems so easy to play.the neck seems so short, sfter playin an sg copy for sooooooo long. and its perfectly weighted. not neck heavy like an sg. its earned the les paul title, unlike others *coughs* voodoo!

k, gettin used to the weight was weird but actually quite quick. sometimes i think cos of a loose connection if u switch to the other oickup it doesnt switch and u get no sound from ur pickup.this rarely happens.not alot else.

it is very well made. pickups well positioned, chrome hardware well placed etc. but the scratchplate seems very poorly carved. like they were rushed for time. if u looked closely u could relegate the scratchplate to the quality of a squier, and thats low!

this guitar is excellent. this pickups can handle distortion,jazzy tones (what it was invented for),blues,everything. it is a thing of beauty, and id rather have it anyday rather than a mexican strat.if u were hardcore giggin then i would suggest to get another workhorse guitar to accompany this.as it can do alot but for hubucker sounds u need a paul or an sg. and for rubbishy tones u need some form of strat. if u wanted to copy hendrix tones u could never do it on this, it would sound too good! this should be used to play blues or jazz but if u love p90's then i would invest in one of these bad boys. seeya

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

I went guitar shopping around christmas and my parents bought this at a local shop for about 500 canadian plus tax.

I like how the guitar is made of solid mahogony wood and it has a great tone because of this.

There are a few things I dislike such as plastic tuning knobs and the pickups. The pickups sound alright when you're not cranked but they'll squeel pretty bad on you when they are. The weight can be a bit heavy at times if you're not used to a heavy guitar but I don't mind too much. It is heavier then many les pauls. For some people the neck may be too thick also.

It is built pretty sturdy but I found it can chip easily. I have a chip already in the side from who knows what.

I'd pick a Jay Turser Les Paul over an Epiphone les paul simply because of pure Mahagony wood. It makes a beautiful tone and saves you a few hundred bucks over an epiphone. Good guitar for an intermediate player.

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

Bought it for 559.00 canadian at Jimi's Guitar in Montreal, Québec, Canada. Had the choice between this guitar or a Gibson 56 Gold Top reissue at 5000.00+. The choice was easy with my budget...

If you don't look at the very top of the headstock, you would think you are holdind a genuine Gibson. The gold finish is incredible on this guitar, the mahogany back and neck are flawless. I was lucky in a sense that the fingerboard is vintage looking with aeras that seems playworn, guess its just shades of the wood, but it adds a very nice touch to a guitar that is supposed to be a 1956. The 2 Alnico-V P-90s sound fantastic thruw my Marshall MG100HDFX, no noise at all when 2 pick-ups play together, and nothing anoying when 1 alone.

Nothing so far.
I had the tuners changed with Grover tuners before I took possession of the guitar. Did the same for my Epiphone SG-400. And it was worth every penny.
The tuners are not a problem only on Epiphone, I once had a genuine Gibson Les Paul Studio and it could not stay in tune...It breaks your heart when you pay 1200 for a guitar and the repairman suggest to change the tuners for Grover...

Top quality! Great finish...at least 1/8 of an inch of clear coat! Great Gibson Alnico-V P-90s designed pick-ups. Beautyfull pearl inlays. No flaws. Could not find a single problem with the construction and quality of this guitar.

I presently own a 1966 Goya 101R, a 1988 Usa Fender Strat HM , an Epiphone SG-400 (Cherry), I once owned a Standard Usa Strat, a Les paul Studio...etc... I have been playing guitar for over 36 years, and I am very pleased with my 2 Epiphones, this Les Paul Goldtop gives me with its P-90 pick-ups the sounds I was missing with my other guitars. And if one day I have to upgrade it with new switches etc...no problem! at the price I paid I will be able to afford it.
Thanks Gibson/Epiphone for a great product!

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

Paid £250 for brand new guitar via Ebay. This is the only place you can get them, directly from the guy who imports them on the Humberside. They are hand made in Italy, set neck solid mahogany, rosewood fingerboard, quality parts, with Kent Armstrong pickups. The fingerboard inlays and Logo are in New Zealand (I think) Abalone green/blue and are exquisite. It has 5 ply binding and sounds fantastic. Believe me this is no cheap guitar. It sings without being plugged in, an amp only amplifies this sound. The pickup are good anyway but it has a lovely low action and just feels right, whilst being beautiful to look at. I have an Ibanez Artist 100, and Westbury Standard, both good guitars, this is a beautiful Les Paul, its idividulistic, and exotic, whilst having a quality feel. No I don't work for them and would buy another tommorow if I lost this. This is a keeper and I thank Jim Reed and the importer very much.

As above, but it is just nice to pick up and play. What more can you ask in a guitar. This guitar feels and plays well above its price.

If their is anything, I would have liked an ebony fingerboard rather than rosewood, which is a little light, but this is being picky. Also would have liked a abolone trus rod cover to match the inlays, but I've subsequently purchased one to fit.

Top notch, well above its price range.

This is easy, just buy one and this price they are a bargain. Do not buy anything else at this price as they will not be the same quality.

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

i bought it at guitar center for 2500 dollars...i love gibson and ive been looking for months to find the gibson bunny head guitar

it is my favorite brand of guitar....i saw it and i fell in love with it at first sight...i love gibson...and i really want the bunny guitar

i don't dislike anything about the unit!!!....its a sin to dislike any gibson!

its constructed very well.....it is made to not fall apart like most peavys...in my opinion the best quality guitars are gibsons

i feel gibson is the #1 company for guitars....i love gibsons so much...i would risk my life for one...im begging you..please help me get that guitar...i'll pay you any amount....i've been wanting it since i saw it in yahoo magazine....im 14 yrs old and i've been playing guitar for 3 years...i worship guitar...especially gibson...i hope u understand how much that guitar means to me!!

Thank you for your time,

andrew barton

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

I bought it (les paul standard honey burst) in March 02 from www.worldmusicsupply.com for about $500.00

The guitar rivals a Gibson USA at a fraction of the cost. Ok the USA has things like a nitrocelulos finish, and the binding on the fretboard is hand filed to match up to the edge of the frets... also the USA version has the USA pickups that scream. But here's the deal, I went back to world music supply and ordered some USA pickups for a little under a couple hundred bucks. Now I have a guitar that rivals a USA for about $700.00. The usa's are like $1500.00 more, but there is no way there are $1500.00 worth of increased benefits.

The pickups are good, but not great. After I got the USA Gibsons A friend of mine was jealous, so I showed him where I got my pickups and he ended up ordering some from world music supply as well. Only he did not get the Gibsons... He got the EMG Zack Wylde set for 199.00 and I hate to admit it, but I like the sound of his a little better. But either way, the epiphone does rock, especially for the price

The guitar is very well built. There are no flaws anywhere that I can find and the action stays consistent!

I am satisfied with both the guitar and world music supply. The service was good and the guitar is more than I expected from an import version of the USA! Dont be surprised some day if the guitars made overseas equal what we make here but at a more affordable price!

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

Bought the guitar at Guitar Shop for $290 canadian for a brand new...

It was my first guitar that i was going to get, so i thought that anything will do just untill i got better at playing. I was always into the Les Paul's so i bought the Baracuda Les Paul, since the looks of the guitar was pretty good.

I still didn't have an amp at that moment so after saving up a little more, bought myself a Marshall a MG30RCD. Hooked up my guitar, but did not get the sound i was looking for. Compared to the sounds getting from a Epiphone, it was much a cheaper sound.

Body it's self is pretty good looking, except for the sound that it gives out.

It is a pretty decent guitar for a beginner, but once you start to get to know the difference from a good guitar from a bad guitar, it is a big gap. Trust me on this, i made this mistake. Take my advice, if you're planning on buying a guitar for a cheap price that's pretty decent in the looks, dish out another hundred bucks or so and get at least a Epiphone. You will not regret it later.

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

This guitar is a very cheap guitar. I bought it in Bath, UK, for £189 (i don't know that in dollars...)

I bought the guitar because it looked perfect and in the shop played brilliantly. It looks exactly the same as the Epiphone equivilent. It has a deep, bassy sound. It was a nice price and plays well for a cheap guitar.

I wouldn't recommend this guitar for beginners, it seems to have an inability to stay in tune for more than an hour. Also it does rattle quite a bit when played but this is not picked up through an amplifier.

It looks nice at first glance but on closer inspection you seem that the parts aren't very well made. The machine heads are too lose which i think adds to the tuning problems and the output jack unscrews itself faster than on any other guitar i've played.

To be honest i only play this guitar when i have to, i prefer to practise on my Brunswick Electro-Acoustic or my brother's Squier Strat.

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

Purchased in Canada for ~C$600. Bought it in order to learn to play

This guitar has a great feel and look. The dual humbuckers give for a nice sound. I like that the output jack is not on the face of the guitar, but rather on the bottom edge. I also like that you can see the grain of the wood through the finish. From what I have read, and what I have been told, the guitar is made to Gibsons's specs, although some concessions are made from the actual Gibson, but the few concessions are easily outweighed by the difference in price. Trapezoid inlays look great.

Action seems high. Adjusted it many times, but fret buzz developed. One tuner seems to detune relatively easy. Are all electrics this heavy? When removing the stickers off the pickups they left this nasty guck on there, it took forever to get it off.

Overall very good, only complaint is the one tuner.

Good guitar for the dollar, but if you are a frail person, you may want to invest in a strap with a large helium balloon attached.

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

Recently bought from a music shop in my local town, was casa amarilla ,I got it for a pack at £650 with a gig bag and 1 pack of strings, amplifier, cable, 3 . The guitar was manufactured in Nov 2001 so is pretty new.


This guitar makes some wonderful rich tones when played. It sounds great in either clean or overdrive. When you really rock it it sounds like a well tuned ferrari!. It is so easy to hold, being lighter than the standard Les Pauls and is a real dream to play.The fingerboard action and bridge set up make this guitar effortless to play, even for long rehearsals.

I love it.........

The construction is exelent all of this guitar is exelent and the quality is (a dream) hyper exelent its sound beautiful...

I've always wanted to own a Samick Les Paul and now I do. I'd recommend this guitar to anyone. I'm keeping mine forever!

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

Purchased at "Music Shoppe" in Harrison, oh.
Paid between $500.00 - $600.00.

I absolutely love the feel of the guitar, it
just "fits" you dig. Just the right amount
of heft, not too heavy. The body and the neck feel just right to me, the guitar begs to be played. I`ve really fallen in love with the epi-les paul.
The finish is, well, absolutely gorgous!!!
There are no flaws I can detect, smooth and
clean as a whistle. The semi-sparkle, gold
finish is a thing of beauty, vintage all
the way and then some!!! Make no mistake
the people who built this guitar were under
orders to do it right.
The neck-body joint is tight and clean,
no shortcuts here either. Actually this
special edition from Epiphone looks better
than many Gibsons I`ve seen and plays like
a dream.
Oh yes, it plays wonderfully, action is
great and the included P-100 pickups give
the player a great deal of range. You can
sing sweetly with the neck pickup with your
amp set clean, throw out the blues grind
by upping the gain and with my Marshall 50
watt amp set on overdrive I get all the
singing lead and roar most players could
ask for.
Of course that is only my opinion and real
high gain power cats might feel less than
fully armed. I just know this, with a good
amp this guitar sounds a lot like the best
of the guitar work from the "Allman Bros"
albums i grew up with and love, that is the
best complement I could give really.
Would i rather have the new "Gibson 56
Gold Top" reissue, Well of course, I mean
you`re talking on of the best guitars ever
built, but for $2,500.00 less you can`t go
wrong with the Epiphone.

There isn`t much I don`t like about this
guitar. I might put on a pair of the new
Seymour Duncan "virtual vintage" P-90`s
in favor of the stock pickups, but for the
price i have no complaints.

Like I said, this guitar is beautifuly built
. It is obvious the manufacturer went into
the thing intending to craft a quality
instrument.


All I can say is I`m as happy with this
purchase as any I have ever made, I`ve owned
several guitars, electric and acoustic,
Gibsons, Martins, Yamahas and fenders and
this little Epiphone goldtop is as much fun
to play as any of them.

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

22 frets
2 Gibson P90 pickups trs trs that work well and offer extras sound really.
Bridge licensed Gibson
Adjustments classic Les Paul tone 2 volume 2 (the settings are not super effective)
Channel collbr /> The finish is good enough for a guitar of this price

UTILIZATION

In Manir gnrale this guitar meets all respects and has a big sister manufactured by Gibson.
It is heavy with the CASC not acute gnial gnial trs but it sounds good.

SOUNDS

One can obtain a variety of sounds ranging from a good clear sound warm sound well suited to cutting large saturation and distortion.
The guitar is quite versatile.

OVERALL OPINION

I use this guitar for 4 years and I am glad trs. Having tried several of pulling strings, got it with my 11-52 it works best.

22 frets
2 Seymour Duncan P90 pickups instead of the original Epiphone pickups (more than potato).
ABR-1 bridge type
Adjustments classic Les Paul tones 2 volumes 2 and 3 switch positions
Set neck profile thin enough for a les paul 56
Beautiful golden finish

UTILIZATION

Very nice rosewood handle.
Access to treble is a bit limited (LP format requires).
At weight I can not find it heavy tes, I want a trouble-free repeats of 2 hours without harm.
I prefer the Les Paul that forms strato and TV, so my opinion is somewhat biased.
It is very versatile and if we take care to properly adjust it just to have a very good sound

SOUNDS

I mainly play blues and old rock, but I try to touch a little different styles.
I play on the marshall Souvant live or through a crybaby.
The sound is quite versatile. P90 mics sounds clear that both saturated. Its clear they permetent sonoritées of jazz and blues very pleasant. Saturation they spot the big rock.
The sonoritées of origin were not evil but the chorus rithmique, the microphone did not sound great acute, not to mention the background noise in saturation. I replaced the original pickups by Duncan P90 with more potato and less noise.

OVERALL OPINION

It was my first electric scraper, and I am very happy with my purchase. It's been a year and a half that I played with and it always made me happy. I think this is the best model of Epiphone Les Paul. I comparéavec other models and there is no comparison. Even with the lack of potato micro home, it sounds much better than a conventional or standard.
Meanwhile I was offered a Gibson, but my 56GT is listed. If it again, I repeat no doubt

22 frets
P90 Gibson pickups (not too many potatoes especially for micro severe)
ABR-1 bridge type
Adjustments classic Les Paul tone and 2 volume 2 slecteur a 3-position (the knobs are not effective trs)
Al Channel profile enough late
Dor beautiful finish and varnished dark red to the rear and underside of the handle ('56 Goldtop Limited Edition!)

UTILIZATION

Very enjoyable round
Access in a sharp limit some but not superhuman (like any Les paul just!)
personally trains paul is by far my prfr (mostly standing), if not in weight it is lighter than its big sister in Gibson so you can easily take 2 hours in good rept.
the rglages are not easy to find but with a little practice we quickly reach its pretty decent

SOUNDS

It is perfect for my style of music (pop-rock, hardrock ..) and I have friends who play blues and old rock, which take a lot of fun to play with.
I played with a Marshall Valvestate VS 100R j'obtient good and sounds, the original p90 are not exclent but are still good microphones, the better and change for an epiphone that sounds almost as well as a gibson
if home is very versatile you get to the clear sounds pretty hot and heavy sounds "fat" however, it dominates the rock genre of AC / DC Led Zep .. and deprouille nonplus not too bad in the punk rock or new age.
it should be noted however, that the original pickups produce a little noise when the selector is set to treble.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 6 months, this is my second electric scratch and I think it's by far my home prfre epiphone les paul shape both in terms of his style and his sound e versatile (I try the custom I think better but the original pickups are really not exceptional)
I paid 480 euros and the price I have really good stuff if I repeat a c'tait n'siterais not the slightest second.