Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

[some_dude]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

My Epi Les Paul sounds and plays just as good as my Gibson Les Paul.

I'd be careful with the newer Chinese ones though.... I don't know if they've improved their quality control, but the first Chinese Epi's were real dogs.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

boy has this topic been hammered on more than a few times in this forum.....but it's all good....

that's weird how the description of Epi LP Standards at the Epiphone website ( http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=44&CollectionID=6 ) state that the necks and bodies are mahogany

I know for a fact that the body of my Epi LP is mahogany 'cause I did some cosmetic work to it when I bought it and saw the grain myself. Epiphone might use alder and maple for their cheapest models, but not on Standards and Customs, etc.

It is weird that they claim the guitars are mahogany, when I had an Epi Les Paul that was maple from top to bottom.... neck, cap, body, the whole shebang. The body *might* have been an extremely maple-looking alder, but regardless, there wasn't an ounce of mahogany on the whole thing.

Odie was pretty sure that the V I bought from him wasn't mahogany (which they claimed), either.

 

[millsart]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

Yeah, they say that.


That's nice. All three of my epiphones have had maple necks, and only one of them could be considered a cheap model. The mahogany they're made out of wouldn't be called mahogany by a lot of people, and I haven't refinished the body of the special so I don't know what the wood is.

How old are these epiphones you've had ? I'm not saying I doubt you but I've owned a good number of Epi's as well as working at a music store that stocked a ton of Epi stuff (probably our biggest seller in fact) and I've never seen all these maple necks your speaking of.

The Epi LP standard is a mahogany neck

As is the LP Custom, as is teh Standard Plus, as is the 59 Goldtop, as is the Studio and pretty much every other variation I can think of.

As I've said before, only ones I've seen that are maple are the Zakk Wylde (just like his Gibson) and I think they had one called the Ultra that was as well.... not sure on that.

I didn't spend much time with the really low end stuff like the II's but I'm pretty sure those were mahogany as well. When the standards are $400 I always suggest those to people over the real budget stuff.


Maybe a long while back they used maple on a lot of them but a maple neck on a LP is generally pretty rare. I'm not saying they use the best woods, and its true they often don't have a maple cap (or its a thin veneer) but maple necks just don't make sense.

Might as well make it bolt on LOL

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

"The Epiphone Les Paul Standard with plus top may well be the best electric guitar in its price range. Two Alnico Classic humbucking pickups deliver big slabs of the fat warm tones; transcontinental sustain; and deep, soulful distortion that made this guitar famous. Crafted with a solid mahogany body and flamed maple veneer over carved top, set mahogany neck with a slim-taper neck profile, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, cream body and fingerboard binding, and chrome hardware. Limited lifetime warranty."

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

^ Mine looked mahogany until I sanded it down. The color of the finish looked just like any Les Paul Standard or SG that wasn't black.

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

How old are these epiphones you've had ? I'm not saying I doubt you but I've owned a good number of Epi's as well as working at a music store that stocked a ton of Epi stuff (probably our biggest seller in fact) and I've never seen all these maple necks your speaking of.

Like I said in my other post, two of them are Korean and the cheap one is Chinese.

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

The P90 Goldtop Les Paul is better than every Gibson Les Paul that I've played under 2,500

For some reason, those Goldtops ooze mojo, even with stock Epi pickups! I think the reason is that the stock P90's are expressive, even at low volumes. They have a lively sizzle to them, that you can surf with your finger tips/palms/strums. Regular Epi humbuckers sound like they have a pillow over them, suffocating the tone.

The Les Paul Standard Plain Top is supposed to be a thin-ish solid maple top cap...rather than a regular flame top on typical EPI LP Standard (with a thin/fancy maple veneer over an alder cap).

Epi can be sneaky as far as wood goes. They may/might put a Plain Top style veneer over a maple or cap on a whim, for any reason, at any time! I have not come across maple necked Epi's in the set neck variety...but Epi mahogany IS NOT real mahogany in the first place! It appears to be Luan (Phillipine mahogany).

My Luan/Alder/Maple veneer Epi LP Std. (with pickup change), and Luan Epi Iommi G-400 sound good to me regardless of the pedigree. Both are Korean/Samick builds.

I don't think maple necks are a guaranteed "death rattle" on an LP body. Gibson has used them in the past, and the likes are a fave of Zakk Wylde. I borrowed/played an old Epi LP from the 1980's, and think the faster "attack" of the maple neck is something that could actually be desired.

Play each guitar, as an individual. Make up your mind. Each guitar is an individual.

 

[millsart]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

^ Mine looked mahogany until I sanded it down. The color of the finish looked just like any Les Paul Standard or SG that wasn't black.

So you think that once you sanded the finish down instead of finding mahagony as they claim you found what type of wood exactly ?

Maple ?

That would actually be sort of cool as many people are building guitars out of maple these days.

I'd like one though, I always wanted one of the The Prinz maple bodied tele's that "the artist" or "Prince" as he's using again I think, has.

Supposed to be about the brightest tele tone ever LOL

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

There are some real gems out there, but you will have to dig more to find them. I ran across an Epi LP Custom that was out of this world last year, wish that I had picked it up at the time.

 

[millsart]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

Makes you wonder what makes some of those Epi's shine and others stink, while most are simply average doesnt it ?

I can only guess that they just get bulk shipments of wood and its not closely graded. As such sometimes a really nice peice of tonewood gets through and since they just crank out guitars with little attention to detail, cnc cutting etc I bet, it becomes a guitar like any other epi.

I've actually seen a some solid colors have just beautiful grain under the paint and poly.

Grain that would be on a $2k PRS or similar had someone been paying attention painted black, real shame honestly


But whats nice is sometimes you can pick up a $400 Epi and pluck a few notes and HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY wait......a.......minute. This thing really sings.



I've played some that are dead as a doornail and some that just have this amazing full rich resounant sustain unplugged that got even better plugged in.

Crazy part is they cost exactly the same too

 

[theodie]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

The Epi Les Pauls I've worked on, especially the Epi Les Paul Custom, were both excellant sounding and playing guitars after giving them a proper set up and installing Duncan pickups. Lew

+1. After that and replacing the factory electronics for CTS pots and a switchcraft switch, it is a professional axe. Better pots and a better switch is a must IMO.

 

[theodie]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

Jerry, you need to pull the trigger on this sweet looking axe! WOW!

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=125045

 

[kjrocks]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

I've had 2 and thet were both great players and I wish I still had at least one of them

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

So you think that once you sanded the finish down instead of finding mahagony as they claim you found what type of wood exactly ? Maple ?

Yes. The neck was maple for certain, and the body looked an awful lot like it. However, I've seen some alder and maple look similar, and knowing now that they use alder for the bodies quite often, alder would make more sense.

However, FWIW, it was a fantastic sounding guitar. Nothing bad about it, except for Epiphone's misleading allegations that they use mahogany for the necks, when they often do not.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

I have an older classic. It has a PG/CC combo in it and for a number of years it was the best sounding les paul I had period. It still sounds pretty darn fantastic! It plays great - not super-amazing-fantastic-made-by-the-gods, like my top two...

I'm pretty sure the body is mahogany, the top is I beleive alder with maple veneer on top. As I've always said - at the epi factory they will rip the top off of a table in the employee lounge to finish off a production run. If a big Estes model rocket crashed in the parking lot, they would pull the balsa wood fins off and make a cap out of them!

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS play the epi unless you just don't care! But I'm gonna say 6 out of 10 are decent and 1 or two are really good. GC is full of them - take an afternoon, no problem finding a decent one.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

quite simply, epi uses whatever the most wood they have laying around is.

Now..since the Chinese factor opened there has been some more consistency. I have not seen a maple neck in a long time on a Standard/Classic/Plus. They have been African mahogany. Bodies however have been mystery mahogany and alder.

Current Explorers are supposed to be mahogany necks and I have yet to see a mahogany neck explorer. They are always maple. Same with V's. and of course the "korina" finish is justa thin veneer over mystery mahogany/alder.

My last epi (a quilt classic) was a mystery mahogany and alder mix for the body (3 pieces) with a African Mahoagny neck, and a african mahogany back venner (as is standard these days).

As for the quality: I have yet to seen Epi that would touch a *good* Gibson for playability (they are all stiff, yet "bouncy" feeling...most likely due to cheap bridges and the inherent qualities of said mysery mahogany), but there are plenty of epis that are built and play better than your *average* Gibson.
And on occasion you find some with some great sustain and tone. I've had two *really* nice ones like that. Ultimately couldn't deal with the tiny frets and the stiff/bouncy nature. Of course by the time you upgrade bridge, stop TP, pickups, electronics you are approaching the cost of a Les Paul studio or one of those Special SLs. And you still have those teeny frets on the Epiphone.

IME, people are better off buying a MIJ clone that will have great frets and fretwork, better quality woods (on average), and better quality hardware/pickups. They also will keep some re-sale value, and generally are just stellar values/instruments.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

If Epiphone was not going to be honest about the type of woods they were using, why would they spend all those years advertising their bodies as being mahogany/alder. They had to know that the "alder" word made their guitars less attractive to Les Paul fanatics. I would like to see pictures of these "Solid Maple" guitars. What do these guitars weigh? 57 pounds??

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

IME, people are better off buying a MIJ clone that will have great frets and fretwork, better quality woods (on average), and better quality hardware/pickups. They also will keep some re-sale value, and generally are just stellar values/instruments.

True, but they are getting really expensive too - while I've owned two Epi LPs I really liked, neither were as good as an Orville by Gibson Custom I picked up, but good OBGs are now rapidly aproaching Gibson prices.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

I've got a 97 Classic plus with a birds eye top on it. It is definitely a mahogny neck and body, and it sounds really great witt the A2P/CC combo in.

 

[theodie]

Re: Just how bad do Epiphone Les pauls suck?

I've got a 97 Classic plus with a birds eye top on it. It is definitely a mahogny neck and body, and it sounds really great witt the A2P/CC combo in.

Hey, I had one of those actually. Mine had an alder back but, who gives a rats ass, it sounded really good. A tad brighter than usual becasue of the wood but, still a great axe.

I wish I still had it. :smack: