Epiphone Les Paul

[beaubrummels]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

So, you can't just buy a new guitar and expect to play it until you pay to have it set up?

You can’t just buy a guitar and expect it to be set up for 007s for sure. And you can’t expect all guitars to be set up for you and how you play, though it is possible to get lucky. But getting lucky requires going to a lot of shops and playing many guitars until you find the one.

For a while I had a policy that I would never buy a guitar unless it was set up and played. My reasoning was that if it’s not set up, i have no guarantee that it could be setup (affordably, reasonably), but if it’s setup and plays already at the shop, I know it plays and I’m good to go. With internet purchases, you’re back to hoping for good luck.

[weepingminotaur]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

If you buy online, you can't expect good or even adequate setup out of the box. The Epi LP I purchased from amazon a couple of years ago was terribly set up out of the box. Had to get it done by a luthier. Same with the Schecter I bought online. It's not really a big deal IMO. Any decent luthier will be able to set it up properly for you (if you're like me, a total klutz with no technical skill to do anything with his guitar but change strings and adjust pickup height). The advantage of a personal setup is that you can adjust to your playing style (low or high action).

[Mincer]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

Actually, I've had pretty good luck ordering online. None of the guitars I got were unplayable out of the box, they just needed some personal adjustments...about 15 min worth of work. I've never bought a guitar through a non-music specific retailer like Amazon or Walmart, though, so that might be the difference.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

I agree with Mincer. I'm surprised about the comment about Schecter. Out of over 30 guitars that I have purchased online, I think my Schecter C1 is the only one that DIDN'T need any fretwork done...and I'm very, very picky about my necks. As I said, I've had to do some fret work on every guitar I've bought (except my Schecter), not because they were so bad, but because I am really OCD about the playability of my guitars.

[Securb]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

My new Gibson Goldtop came out of the box ready for action. The thing plays like a dream and sounds like a beast.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

I've never had a guitar that didn't benefit from a professional fret level. Not even Ibanez Prestige. That's the deal with guitars these days.

[ehdwuld]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

my Gibson
came with burrs on the fret ends
the Dealer said " yeah they are like that" and did nothing

had to take it to another shop
who wasnt happy I had bought the instrument down the road

[weepingminotaur]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

I agree with Mincer. I'm surprised about the comment about Schecter. Out of over 30 guitars that I have purchased online, I think my Schecter C1 is the only one that DIDN'T need any fretwork done...and I'm very, very picky about my necks. As I said, I've had to do some fret work on every guitar I've bought (except my Schecter), not because they were so bad, but because I am really OCD about the playability of my guitars.

Well, again, I bought it from Amazon, so it's no surprising that it needed a setup. Not a huge deal. The guitar has been quality in every way. Plays really well, holds tune well, good neck, and it's a budget guitar to boot. You just don't know how long a guitar has been sitting in some warehouse before it ships to you.

[Diego]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

I've had two Epi LPs, one had terrible fret job from factory, sold it because I never really liked it,
and the one I currently own was quite decent overall from factory and it's a much better guitar too, but I still had to:

Level the frets a bit,
Cut the nut slots properly, way too high and tight from factory,
Replace the pickup switch which crapped out very quickly for some reason,
Adjust the truss rod since the neck had a bit too much relief,
And adjust the pickup height and balance, which took me a few days since that's something that grows on you a bit.

But it's oh so worth it now. Mine's a Pro series and it sounds and plays incredible.
It's just the way it is with guitars. Nothing ever comes 100% from factory.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Epiphone Les Paul

My new Gibson Goldtop came out of the box ready for action. The thing plays like a dream and sounds like a beast.

But you're not as picky as I am.