player opinions
Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Name: Jake H
Band: The Knights Revenge
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Model Year: 2005
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Price Paid: $599
Performance
Sick guitar. It sounds just like my Gibson. The humbuckers were a little weak, so I dropped an EMG 81 in the neck and an EMG 82 in the bridge. It is a great deal for the money. I would buy this over a Gibson any day. The only difference is Gibson uses rarer Mahogany and they’re built in the USA. Epi’s are built overseas. It says it right on the Gibson website.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
Sounds great.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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It’s a solid guitar. That whole “Epiphone is crap” thing is a not true.
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Construction Rating: 10
Name: Dan Rice
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Band: -----
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Model Year: 2004
Price Paid: $299 (purchased in Korea)
Performance
Sounds and feels exactly the same as my Gibson. Smooth action, and you can’t beat the price.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
Nice and warm, and has smooth sound with distortion. Makes you never want to touch another Strat style guitar again.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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Everything is top notch except for the paint, which is oversprayed in a few little spots, and shouldn’t matter unless you’re prissy. I’d still say that it is worth 10 times what I paid for it.
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Construction Rating: 9
Name: Rhello Yorobe
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Band: -----
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Model Year: -----
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Price Paid: $690 Canadian
Performance
This “log” of a guitar takes a little while to get used to. It’s heavy, so if you are used to playing relative lightweights like a Strat, get ready to build some real muscle. You also need pretty long fingers to be able to reach the highest frets because the neck begins to taper out quickly after the 15th fret. If you are an adaptive player then you just might overcome this obstacle. The neck is a bit thicker than others as well, but I’m willing to look this over because the sound wouldn’t be the same without it. The only REAL performance problem I’ve had with this guitar is that the pick-up selector fails at times during aggressive pick-up changes. I’d recommend replacing the pick-up selector with the more heavy-duty Gibson selector. Though this guitar works you out and you may sweat and ache after playing this monster, this is a guitar that makes a better player out of you. Once you begin to really understand why they made it the way they did the guitar practically teaches you how to play it.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
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The factory pickups produce great sound. The warmth of the neck, the bite of the bridge and everything in between are all there. With a pick-up upgrade you can be that much closer to God. Two Volume and Tone knobs are what you need to dial in some pretty amazing tones. LES PAUL-FATHER OF THE HUMBUCKERS. From a different angle, one could say, in all fairness, that the “Les Pauls” are not capable of producing the same tones as the FATHER OF THE SINGLE COILS — we all know who that is, don’t we? So what I have to say about that, is this: If you’d rather get STRAT tones, get a STRAT! The choices are obvious. One is handsomely elegant, and the other one is one mean nasty mother.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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This guitar is solid as a rock and pretty as a peacock. Pearl block inlays in a rosewood fingerboard over a mahogany neck. Mahogany body and a flame maple top, with Cream binding forging around the body, neck and headstock. A heritage cherry sunburst finish topped off with gold hardware. Every aspect of the guitars construct is well done especially when you consider the price. Oh, the case is a beauty as well. It’s enough to make you want to kiss your mother.
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Construction Rating: 10
Name: D. Smith
Band: Country Spirit
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Model Year: 2000
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Price Paid: -----
Performance
This guitar is the Epiphone version of the Gibson classic. It is made overseas and uses less expensive parts, and so costs only about a fourth as much. However, there is no way it only has a fourth the sound! It has the standard Les Paul controls: two volume knobs, two tone knobs and a three-way switch. Being a custom, it has gold hardware. Very beautiful guitar that does all it is supposed to do and then some.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
I fell in love with this guitar when I played it the first time in the store. It is the best sounding, best playing guitar I have ever picked up. I have played Gibsons, and I still like mine better (maybe that’s just me, or maybe I just happened to get one that was a cherry, but I do!). Overdrive or clean, it’s hard to beat.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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This guitar is beautiful. Either black or white (mine is black) with gold hardware. Block inlays in the neck and head, and binding give it an elegant, polished look. No wonder it was one of the two original colors Les Paul demanded (the other was gold). Overall, this is a sold, well-made guitar, but is does have a couple superficial weaknesses. First, mine was not set up well from the factory, and the low strings rattled. However, that was easily taken care of by a guitar tech (unfortunately, my dealer was too incompetent to set it up, as well, and so prolonged by problem). The other weakness is that the gold does wear off the hardware. My stop bar is already well worn, and I’ve had the guitar less than a year and a half (though I do play it five or six hours a week). Still, it’s worth replacing the stop bar. In fact, I hope I never have to choose between this guitar and my children. :) Really, though, I like it better than anything I have ever played.
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Construction Rating: 8
Name: Nash Stanton
Band: Nine Yards
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Model Year: -----
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Price Paid: $700
Performance
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First thing, this is the coolest Epiphone Les Paul you can buy. This guitar is the ultimate. I’m never getting rid of this guitar. This guitar has the phattest sustain, it’s easy to play. This guitar does more than it promises.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
Like I said, this guitar is the guitar that would be in your dreams. It plays the smoothest sounds to a nice mean mid distortion. I have a Peavey bandit, it is killer!
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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This is a solid very reliable product. The color I bought it in is Antique white, which is a kickin’ color. Smooth frets, perfect finish. Don’t take my word for it, get your butt out to a shop and try one of these beauties out. It won’t disappoint you!
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Construction Rating: 10
links
Average Ratings
- Performance: 10
- Sound Quality: 10
- Construction: 9.4
Ratings Key
- 10: Excellent
- 0: Useless
Available At Guitar Center
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Epiphone Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar Ebony
Company
- Epiphone