Epiphone Les Paul Special II, Vintage Sunburst

The Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar is a GREAT GUITAR for $169.00 (The average selling price at the time of this review). The pickups, tune-o-matic bridge and stop piece are the same ones used in Epiphone's more expensive guitars, and are similar to what's used in much more expensive Gibsons. Although the tone adjustments have been simplified to a toggle between the three pickup combinations and an overall tone control for both pickups, this is not as big a deal as many might make of it. Given the vast array of other things that influence electric guitar sound -- strings, amp choice and settings, effects pedals and so forth -- the guitar sounds great as is. The finish and general fit and balance of the guitar are great. There was a time when budget guitars screamed cheap and were quite obviously low class in a lot of areas. Those days are past with the Epiphone LP Special II. All that said, there a few things to remember. * The guitar comes with very light bendy strings. This is probably due to market data that tells Epiphone that the bulk of buyers for this guitar are teen Guitar Heros who think that string bending every note is an essential aspect of shredding and wailing. If you plan to put heavier strings on the guitar (like 12-51s for example) for jazz or other styles of music then you will probably need a truss rod adjustment to compensate for the added tension. If you don't know how to do this, ask someone who does. You can ruin a guitar, permanently, by being too aggressive with a truss rod adjustment. * The guitar has a mahogany neck, but a basswood body. Do not let anyone tell you this is a bad thing. Basswood is a completely acceptable wood for musical instruments. It is not worse or better than mahogany or maple. It is just different. Once again, the differences involved will probably be irrelevant when added into all the other things that players do with amps, strings and pedals to create tone and sound from an electric guitar. * Epiphone has more than one factory making these guitars. One is in China, the other in is Indonesia. The guitars made by each are very close in every detail, but not exactly, perfectly the same. * The Chinese examples of the sunburst model that I have seen have a slightly golden-orange tone to the sunburst pattern, more like the traditional sunburst color in American guitars. The Indonesian examples I have seen have a much more over all orange look. Basswood does not have a lot of visible grain. The example guitar shown in the official Epiphone product photos, the photos you see on most web sites like Amazon and Musician's Friend and so forth, are probably a little optimistic when it comes to visible grain and the golden hued quality of the sunburst finish. * The Chinese examples I have seen tend to weigh more. One Indonesian model I saw weighed a full pound and half less than the Chinese model right next to it. There is not, unfortunately, any way to tell from the box or from the barcode or SKU number on the box what factory a given example inisde the box came from. The system will deal out whatever is in stock at the moment. The world is full of guys who will zero in on all the details they find inferior about this guitar by noting the rather obvious fact that this is not a Gibson Les Paul Standard costing $3,000.00. There are some people who will complain that this guitar has a bolt on neck. True, the set necks of the more expensive Epiphones and Gibsons are nicer. But, considering the fact that every Fender Stratocaster ever made had a bolt on neck, is this really a big deal? Would Jimi Hendrix have played "Purple Haze" better if his Strat had a set in neck? Probably not. The guitar this model is probably closest to, in spirit and purpose, is not the Gibson Les Pauls but, rather, to the old Gibson Melody Maker guitars from the 60s. That said, this is a hell of lot more guitar for the money than any Melody Maker ever was, and adjusted for inflation, relative to what a Melody Maker would have cost you in 1968, for example, it is almost like Epiphone paying you to play it. People listen to music, not guitars. Music is made by players, not by pickups and electronics. If you're on a budget, this is an outstanding choice. If you're not on a budget, it's still a very good basic instrument. RECOMMENDED.

I am editing my previous review on this little guitar after taking the time to properly set it up, dial it in and play it for a while. I edited yet again as someone didn't appreciate my "gloating" over other guitars I own. Sorry to offend YOU. I made a knee jerk review (again) right after I got this. But in all fairness I received my Gibson Les Paul on the same day, buying IT from my local music store and professionally set up, ready to go. I was comparing apples and oranges, so to speak. But now, even after comparing them to each other, they really aren't that far apart. The Gibson is the best guitar I've ever owned and made my previous comparison based on it. But this little baby is now my second favorite. My other review was NOT FAIR!!!!!! I paid a lot more for the Gibson and 149 bucks for this Epiphone. Dollar for dollar this little Ephiphone is a steal!!!! WOW!!! I must honestly admit, the edge goes to my Gibson, but not by as much as you'd think. This little Epiphone is an outstanding guitar, regardless of price. If I were to play them each blindfolded I would never guess one was $149 guitar, ever! The tone of the Epiphone is much like the Gibson Les Paul. It's easy to play, comfortable and has a sweet sound. I can either rock out with it or mellow out and play the blues or classic rock. To be honest, I will probably play this Epiphone a LOT more than the Gibson. After all, if I ding this one up I haven't broke the bank. I think I'll tend to use this one a lot more than the other. I am very happy with this Epiphone Les Paul and will proudly play and OWN it. I am amazed they can make this thing for the money they charge. I may purchase another one and put it away as I'm sure the price won't stay this low. PLUS, I'll get another one in a different color!! You can never have too many guitars.. I am going to an a pickguard to this one. The finish on it is outstanding and I'd like to keep it that way. If I were thinking of learning to play the guitar, this one is a no-brainer....BUY IT!!! If you're an established player looking for a really nice practice guitar, I'd buy this one is a heartbeat. I was shocked at how sweet it sounds, how good it looks, how comfortable and light it is and how well it plays. Sure it was way out of tune and required a few height adjustments but now it is FANTASTIC. New rule for me, no writing reviews until I own the product for at least one week!!!!!

Beautiful instrument . Delivered in great out of the box working plug and play condition. Looks and sounds quite like my Gibson Les Paul . Perfect for my 16 yr old who has taken up guitar playing

Before I bought this guitar I read allot of reviews, some good some bad. Some people said it's not great wood and save your money for a better guitar. I am stationed at a FOB in Afghanistan and did not want to spend allot of money on a guitar that will not live in the best of conditions but still be professional enough to keep my interest in practicing while I was away. I thought well for $149 I could afford to do some upgrades later if I liked the guitar or sell it when it is time to leave. When the box came I pulled it out and gave it a quick look see and was pleasantly surprised. It really is a pretty guitar in Vintage Sunburst. It is thinner and much lighter than a standard Les Paul more along the lines of a Les Paul Junior with two knobs, a selector switch, but with two pickups. The neck was straight and very comfortable, the frets can be smoothed out more but are really fine the way they are and although slightly neck heavy feels great while playing. When I plugged it into a Vox headphone amp (Twin)and some high grade headphones and started adjusting the knobs a huge smile came across my face. This thing growled and spit, or can sound very clean and jazzy. I did do some adjustment for intonation, lowering the strings a bit which made it more responsive to the pickups. I will keep this guitar and play it on stage. Just change the strings immediately to a higher quality set, adjust or have a guitar shop adjust the intonation if you do not know how. The tuners have to go they have slop in them, which are 9mm not 10mm tuner holes so you will need to ream the back of the tuner holes some and put a better set of tuners on the guitar. While you are at it exchange the plastic nut for a graphite nut. You will see a noticeable difference in sustain and staying in tune. However it is a player straight out of the box. For a beginner it can't be beat, for an intermediate or professional that likes funky guitars, this is a great platform to experiment with or upgrade. It doesn't sound exactly like a Les Paul but has allot of characteristic's of one. It has it's own cool sound. I love this guitar.

Fine choice for this newbie. I bought this guitar for use with Rocksmith 2014. It has been a month and I have not had any issues with the guitar. One of the strings will lose some of its tension and will need to be adjusted fairly frequently. However, it is a minor adjustment to make. Rocksmith 2014 will work with other electric guitars. This one simply came with the bundle. I am sure that you can get higher quality, higher-performing units to use with the game. However, at this point, you may not be sure whether you will actually like playing the guitar. So, it may not make sense to spend more money for a better guitar at this point. I have known a lot of people who took up the guitar with a great deal of enthusiasm, only to lose interest after finding out just how hard it actually is to learn. It all depends on your budget, naturally. This is a fully-functioning guitar and not a game controller. Rocksmith 2014 is not at all like Guitar Hero, wherein the latter uses a special guitar-shaped game controller. The beauty of Rocksmith 2014 is that the game is actually made to work with an actual electric guitar. The secret is the cable. The cable plugs into where you would normally insert an amp cable. The other end of the cable is a usb that plugs into the front ports of your Playstation 4. The build quality of this guitar is more than good enough for you to learn on. If you are thinking of playing Rocksmith 2014 and you do not already own an electric guitar, then this one is worthy of your consideration. Buy a strap and the appropriate size guitar case and you are good to go. It should also be good enough if after you finish the game and you decide that you want to continue your learning, you will not need to immediately buy another guitar. In other words, this is a practical guitar choice for someone to learn on. You can buy cheaper models and you can also definitely buy more expensive models. But for this game and for a new learner, this one is a good choice. I do not foresee a situation in the game where you will find yourself under-equipped with this unit. This model was chosen by Ubisoft as one that would work well with their game, given the price of entry as well as the level of quality needed to play Rocksmith as well as interface with the different game console models. As I said, there are plenty of cheaper choices out there. But, I would not recommend a cheaper model for a new learner. Someone new to guitars will naturally make mistakes in the handling of the instruments, string tension, and adjustments. For someone just learning, they need a sturdy guitar that can tolerate a little bit of less-than delicate handling. Especially if the learner is a less-than careful youngster. In my opinion, this Les Paul is a sturdy unit.

(Preamble: I've played guitar, bass, piano, and trumpet for 30 years) I want to focus on the looks. The pictures here don't do justice; it's a really pretty instrument. The sunburst is really decent. The red is a lovely maraschino cherry color, almost candy-like, blending smoothly into a warm golden amber. The wood is clearly visible beneath the finish, giving a nice overall effect of depth. This isn't the multi-coat nitro-cellulose finish in the more expensive models, but honestly for the price, you will be pleasantly surprised at the result. It's just a lovely instrument. All I can say is I'm so glad I got the Heritage Cherryburst model and not the black. The hardware is much better than I expected. I've heard complaints about the tuners, but I had no trouble getting this into tune. Understand that all guitar strings stretch when new, and that tuning takes a certain touch on all guitars. New players tends to exert either too much or too little pressure on the strings, and have a hard time with intonation in general. Take anything you hear about intonation with a grain of salt; it's probably more about the player than the guitar. The tail piece and bridge are also much sturdier than I expected; nice and solid. The tone and volume knobs are clear acrylic. The pickup toggle is as solid as you could hope for, with a nice mechanical bounce between positions. The frets are fine; no sharp edges. I guess I expected some corners to be cut on the hardware, but honestly, everything seems overbuilt if anything. I don't expect any of the parts to break for a long time. The sound is raw and powerful. Tons of gain and crunch; great for blues and rock. You have to tame it a bit to get a sweeter, mellow jazz sound out of it, but if that's your thing, you're probably better off with something like a Strat. This guitar takes a certain amount of muscle. You don't have to bully it around, but if you are a beginner or looking for a first guitar for someone under say, 13, this probably isn't the best bet. Take a look at some of the Squier models in the same price range. There is an honesty to this guitar that you have to admire. Epiphone isn't trying to put one over on you with a cheap knock-off of a Les Paul. The Special II has it's own identity: a clean, simple design with a great sound. (As for people who deride the craftsmanship of this instrument just because it comes from China or Indonesia, remember that all your smartphones comes from the same place. You can bet that they can handle a little wood and steel.)

Guitar is amazing!

I've been a lazy person in terms of writing product reviews, but had to chime in on the Epiphone LP purchase. First of all, I did research on new guitar options at the local Guitar Center website and settled on this instrument. They had it for $199, so for kicks I looked on Amazon two nights before I had planned to test and buy at our GC on a Sat. Amazon had it for $159 and $199 for lots of extras. I already had a case and nice Marshall Amp, so only needed the guitar. The best part, it arrived on Sat about the same time I would have purchased locally. The reviews were so good, I was not worried about testing live before purchase and it was a great choice. I'm only 3 months into this journey to become a musician, so a beginner, but absolutely love everything about this guitar. I messed around in the early 90's on old electric while in college, but never learned chords or any songs. When my wife acquired her old Sears-quality kids guitar from her Mom, I put new strings for something to mess around with on the weekends. Several weeks later, I got a cheap First Act electric for $25. Several weeks later a nice Takamine acoustic as the ears "learned" the notes and chords better. While switching from this quality acoustic guitar to the First Act, it was clearly apparent the First Act was a piece of junk. Notes and chords were just not clear and just not enjoyable to play. Well, this Epiphone is an awesome step forward combined with the Marshall amp. While I want to progress to blues scales in time, I've purposely focused on the major and minor chords and seamless transition between them. This guitar expresses the notes of chords so clearly. What I love most is the ability to slightly modify major chords like from Dmaj to Dsus4 and have it translate so clear as an example. Prior I never used the effects on my Marshall because it just sounded like a mess, but this guitar solves that issue. After a whole weekend of use, it felt like a big leap forward just because of quality. The fretboard layout helped refine the chords I've learned so far, so all strings were clear. Really helped practicing bending, hammer-ons and pull offs too. At any rate, for the money, it's hard to beat. I suspect that if this journey continues a more expensive guitar may be warranted in a few years, but as others have said, this will always be a quality practice instrument. Especially considering we spend every other weekend at our beach bungalow and it is nice not having to transport every time. Oh, it was good to go right out of the box except a slight tightening of the strings to get in tune. No dings... in perfect condition.