Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

[Diego]

Just tried a Epi Les Paul Standard in a store. Used, good price, tobacco burst with stock covered pickups and stock everything, really. Grover tuners. It has an amazingly tight and tidy flame pattern on top that really caught my eye. Had to try it.

Damn, man. Just damn. It felt so good! I played one chord and knew right away it's a good one. Clean sounds were deep and complex, unlike crappy guitars where all that it gives is just a ringing string. You could feel the guitar was adding an extra something to the sound and it makes me anxious to buy it just thinking about that feel again. The neck felt really good, it's a chunky profile but it fit my hands perfectly. Wasn't that easy to play all the way to the top but I can live with that as long as it sounds good. It does.

It rang real loud and clear. Medium weight, distorted was a bit muddy sounding (wow, surprise) but you could tell the guitar is good, it's the most sustainful guitar I've ever tried, and that was with old strings! Frets weren't bad, the nut was pretty bad but I'd slap a bone nut in there anyway.

Somebody stop me from blowing a part of my next paycheck on a Les Paul, please?

 

[blueman335]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Welcome to the Epi LP club, Diego. I've got a few myself, and love 'em. Something about an affordable LP Std (I ain't spending $3,000), with that fat body, flame top, and all that sustain & tone. Sorry, I can't talk you out of this. You need that guitar.

 

[Diego]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

I feel I kind of do.

I've always preferred Strats for playability but I've never aimed at that clanky, thin Strat tone that so many guys seem to get wrong. I like them fat and big. Blackmore got it right, sometimes. And I have to deal with overdrives, EQ pedals, big string gauges to get there. I've had single coils and humbuckers in my Strats, but they never get there. There's always a layer of chunk, push and meat missing. Something that my Strats are not giving.

I plugged this Epi today into a cheap Peavey practice amp, and pretty much all the sounds I look for were there, instantly. Yeah, I'd probably ditch those pickups for something better, and I'd definitely add push-pulls for splitting the pickups. But it felt like home within seconds. It inspired me to play, a lot. I had a hard time putting it down, actually.

I'm dying to get that Les Paul.
After that, my Strats will do the sounds they're supposed to do, instead of me trying to force them like a circle into a square.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Go for it... You try ESP LTD's they make some pretty good LPs. I would def recommend getting an axe upgrade

 

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

yeah go for it

 

[Kam]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

I plugged this Epi today into a cheap Peavey practice amp, and pretty much all the sounds I look for were there, instantly. Yeah, I'd probably ditch those pickups for something better, and I'd definitely add push-pulls for splitting the pickups. But it felt like home within seconds. It inspired me to play, a lot. I had a hard time putting it down, actually.

I think you need to do it, man. Simply because of this paragraph.

I love Strats as well but I don't think I could live with one as my only guitar. I just love the sound of a massive powerchord through a screaming Les Paul too much...

 

[blueman335]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

I love Strats as well but I don't think I could live with one as my only guitar. I just love the sound of a massive powerchord through a screaming Les Paul too much...

Ain't nothing like an LP. One of God's finest creations.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

yep, nothing compares to the growl of a good LP! Truth be told, I played my strats the other day and they hurt my fingers.. odd

 

[blueman335]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

I've always preferred Strats for playability but I've never aimed at that clanky, thin Strat tone that so many guys seem to get wrong. I like them fat and big. Blackmore got it right, sometimes. And I have to deal with overdrives, EQ pedals, big string gauges to get there. I've had single coils and humbuckers in my Strats, but they never get there. There's always a layer of chunk, push and meat missing. Something that my Strats are not giving.

I plugged this Epi today into a cheap Peavey practice amp, and pretty much all the sounds I look for were there, instantly... it felt like home within seconds. It inspired me to play, a lot. I had a hard time putting it down, actually.

After that, my Strats will do the sounds they're supposed to do, instead of me trying to force them like a circle into a square.

You summed it up perfectly. One guitar won't do everything, nor should we expect that. If you want that full, rich LP sound, with all that power and sustain, which can be addictive I must warn you, you know what you have to do.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Tell them you'll buy it if their tech dials in the nut to perfection, and sets it up perfectly. Then later, throw a Custom/Pearly Gates in it, and you'll see how much better it sounds.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

sustainful

sustainful - adj. - possessing pantloads of natural resonance, often fooling the user into thinking their cell phone is vibrating while they are playing. Found in guitars that were built on the seventh day after the new moon.

 

[Diego]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Hahaha nice one I6!

Some of the Korean Hamers go new for cheaper than the Epi I tried, and were pretty good.
I did try an Explorer a few months ago and it was awesome, and it came with Duncan Designed pups.
Plus they do a full setup since it's a very boutique-y store, I spotted the Epi in a pawn shop so no tech in the place.

So now that my brain is a bit colder, I think I'll have to A/B plenty of them.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

If the Epi's the one that spoke to you, go for the Epi.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Hahaha nice one I6!

Some of the Korean Hamers go new for cheaper than the Epi I tried, and were pretty good.
I did try an Explorer a few months ago and it was awesome, and it came with Duncan Designed pups.
Plus they do a full setup since it's a very boutique-y store, I spotted the Epi in a pawn shop so no tech in the place.

So now that my brain is a bit colder, I think I'll have to A/B plenty of them.

I've serviced several dozens EPI Lesters and a few Korean Hamers.

I preferred the Hamers, but after a bit of work, NOTHING can match a Lester...

Get the Epi in the pawn shop and PAY the guy at the *boo-tick* shop to have it serviced. Best of both worlds, and for the same money invested, you'll have more bang for the buck!

Go for it. You know you want to! :naughty:

 

[blueman335]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Get the Epi in the pawn shop...Go for it. You know you want to! :naughty:

I think this is the final word on the subject. Diego, report back to us after you buy it.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

If you're reading this, you should either be on the way to the shop to buy it or you're about to type a review and tell us how great it is and how happy you are.

There are NO other options. Seriously.

 

[Diego]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! You guys are killing me!

My paycheck arrives in June 8th.
I'd definitely sell my Squier, get some cash back, and set both my AllParts and the Epi up. New frets, nuts and everything.

There's something about that Lester that haunts me... I even get a funny feeling in my stomach when I remember playing some chords in the clean channel and feeling, and hearing, something deep, complex, 3D and awesome coming out of the tiny speaker of that crappy amp. It resonated like crazy, and played very nice. Never had that happen before...

Ouch!

 

[Stef]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

make sure it's a mahogany back- maple top, not an alder-mahogany back -maple top.
I've red something about alder in an epi LP (very strange, I know).... if it's mahogany I'd go for it!

 

[Diego]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

I'll remember that, I'll try removing the backplate and taking a look inside.
Though to be honest, I wouldn't care if it's made of ice cream as long as it sounds and feels good, and it does.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Hi GAS this is Diego, nice to meet you.

Who cares what wood it's made of? If you like it that much, it's a great guitar whether it's mahogany, alder, or laminated popsicle sticks.