Epiphone Special Ii Gt Electric Guitar Worn Black For Sale (2024 Update)

What a brilliant guitar and superb value package! I have owned ‘real’ Gibsons over the years and bought this outfit as a birthday gift for my granddaughter who is learning to play. She has had a fender acoustic for a couple of years and now wants her own electric guitar. I chose this outfit as having previously owned one in the past I like Epiphone guitars. Before giving it to her I thought it best to check it over and set it up but there was nothing to do really, after tuning this guitar was perfectly playable right out the box! The feel, balance and weight is very like my Gibson and the sound is superb. The amp is excellent and packs enough punch to put a smile on your face too. She’s delighted with the built in tuner as well as the other essentials included in the outfit. What’s not to like? I can’t find a better value package!W O.

My original review still stands, but I made cosmetic-only upgrades for less than an average couple's meal at a casual restaurant that makes this look much, much more expensive. No tuner, pickup or pot swaps. Replaced black plastic parts with cream, added cream pickguard, replaced chrome tuner knobs with Klausen-style ivory-look knobs. Installed chrome pickup covers. Replaced speed knobs with gold top-hats.Easily done to make this look like a proper Les Paul. I'm happy with the looks for the little extra money spent.Steve

As the song says: "I'm a Sucker for a Cheap Guitar". I own over 30 – some cheap, some not so cheap. This one arrived perfectly set up: low action, no buzzing, no sharp fret edges, easy to play – amazing for a guitar in this price range. Although not great, the pickups even sounded acceptable. It's heavy, which to me means good, though not as heavy as my Gibson. It's OK-looking, but needed something to enhance it – a pickguard. I added one and it looks much better – more expensive. Instead of cutting off part of the guard to accommodate the knob as I've seen some others do, I drilled a hole big enough for the nut on the body underneath the knob to fit through the guard (see photos). Since the guard isn't much thicker than the nut, it allowed the guard to fit flush with the body and the knob to turn without any restriction of motion, and the pickguard is not butchered. It's a very clean look – like it came that way – not modified. So, I am pleased with this instrument, and would recommend it to anyone for any purpose: especially beginners to play or someone like me who just collects cheap guitars to hang on the wall of their studiio.Steve

The setup out of the box was actually pretty good,no sharp frets, action was pretty good, I changed out the strings and tuned it, and the string height was still perfect so that was awesome. I actually had really low expectations given the price point, and I had previously loved my old Ibanez so I figured this wouldn't compare, but it was close enough to the model that I had my eye on, that I would go for this one since it was available and the other one was back ordered. Honestly, I got lucky that I went for this one instead. I almost didn't. This guitar is so comfortable to play, it's LP style, but super light. I love the maple finish, and the satin finish on the neck makes it super comfortable moving around on the neck. The guitar sounds great, it requires tuning pretty often but thats great for learning, and someday I'll get locking tuners. I had low expectations but I couldn't be happier with this purchase.Shibbylbby

A while ago, I started coming across videos and posts about this guitar and the finish of the guitar really caught my eye. I have a couple of Les Paul guitars already, but none of them have a flat finish where you can see the wood grain like this. And for the price, I didn't think it sounded bad either. So I decided to get one and I am SO happy that I did! The only changes I've made are a change of strings (which I do on every guitar anyway) and tuners. The tuners it came with were fine, they didn't HAVE to be changed, it's just a personal preference thing. I have played guitar for nearly 25 years and have guitars much more expensive than this, but this really has become one of my favorites to play. There's just something about it that I love and, in most cases, is the one I pick up when I want to play. I've been very, very happy with it and I would highly recommend it to anyone. If you're a beginner, it's a great, lightweight, easy guitar to play. And if you're experienced, it's still fun to piddle around on. I don't know if they're all like this or I just got lucky, but I am very pleased and even considering buying a second one in another color. Five stars!Luke

First off I want to get the fact out of the way that AMS is the only place I buy musical instruments anymore. There are many reasons but best of all they are good people who put the customer at the front of what they do. So if I was asked I will tell you to buy from AMS. Now to the guitar. This Epiphone Les Paul I purchased for my 11 year old grandson and he loves it. He is a beginner just took his 4th lesson this week and he can already chord it to play a song he likes. It is built solid and the humbuckers are ceramic 8 magnets so they have that heavy feel for great chorus and can also put out the bite for clean leads. He told me the neck feels good and his small hands can manage the instrument pretty well. I took a good look at the guitar when he got it and the only thing I did was tune it for him and as I played it I felt comfortable with the feel and the sound and knew I made a good buy. The only thing I am going to do is put a set of nickel plated Super Slinkys on for him 9-42. I think it will even make the feel better for him as well. Overall I am happy with this purchase because this guitar will serve my grandson well over his guitar journey. Just as a caveat to this review. I am an Epiphone loyalist. I have been buying Epiphone products for over 50 years and nothing against other makers of who I have purchased a few, I keep going back to Epiphone for the quality and price you can't beat the deal. So when I found myself looking to buy a guitar for my grandson, the manufacturer choice was already made. I just had to find a model that would suit his purpose.Laurence W.

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I was quite lucky to get the last Worn Yellow in stock online (for now). It arrived the next day. After some easy setting and adjusting it started to play very nicely. The sounding is quite pleasant and the playability is great. I'm an acoustic player who is very picky on the sounding of a guitar, now owning an all-solid Yamaha which sounds great. And I'm happy to have this Epiphone to try some new types of sounding. Overall, a great buy at this price! Highly recommended!David

Went in-store and purchased this blue beauty, got it home tuned her up plugged her in and on my VOX VT20X this Les Paul sounds amazing!! I also own a D'Angelico SS and a Squire fat Strat and obviously none of them will sound exactly the same however the LP for the price sounds far better than I expected. This is my practice guitar and who knows maybe even a couple of upgrades and it will be my travelling guitar. Well balanced lightweight even the factory strings worth keeping for a while. Definitely a good buy.jason

I love this Casino. I knew I wanted a P-90, and I really wanted a fully hollow body. I wanted to see if I could replicate a I've been agonizing over the purchase for months, looking for every possible solution, and was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Epi USA version, and after MUCH research, finally decided to go with the regular Epiphone. The construction, from everything I read, is excellent, and I knew that if necessary, I could always switch out the pups. Well, I can't say enough about how good this guitar is! I am extremely fussy on setups (I do setups on my own guitars and for other people) and this thing was ready to play right out of the box! I literally didn't touch a thing except to tune it up. I won't even have to dress the frets. I may touch them up just a bit (again, I'm really fussy) but they feel better than most guitars that cost three times as much. It is really beautiful. I love the vintage sunburst. The finish is flawless. Now for the important part – it plays like a dream. The neck profile is extremely comfortable. I can move up and down the neck as fluidly as on any guitar I own. And the sound! I was amazed at how present it is, even before plugging it in. I see this little sweetheart spending a lot of evenings on the couch with me. Soft enough not to overly bother my wife, but again – very present. Plugged in – well lets just say I won't be replacing these pups. It is exactly the sound I was hoping for. I'm no Grant Green, but I can certainly understand why he loved this guitar. Would I recommend it? Heck yeah! Country? Check. Classic rock? Check. Rockabilly, surf, blues and even jazz? Check, check, check, and check.Jess

Had the money to buy any guitar in the shop. Liked the looks of the SG, worn ebony with rosewood fingerboard and the Gibson speed knobs. Having only played guitars with 9.5 radius, I found the 14 radius was better for bar chords. The craftsmanship is excellent, can find no flaws the body or neck. The truss rod was out of adjustment, considerable back-bow. I fixed that, and set the action low. The intonation was spot on. Frets were polished with no sharp edges. I plan to upgrade the cheap electronics with new pots. As for the pickups, they sound ok. Since I use a modeling amp, not a big issue for me. The nut is a GraphTech synthetic bone. Nice touch for an inexpensive guitar, since i do not like changing them out…too much risk of damage. I have fender Strat and Tele, but have not put this down since purchasing it. Once I upgrade the electronics, this will be a very solid guitar.Jeff

Overall: This is my umpteenth Epiphone custom sg guitar ive bought since the last guitar i had which was the more lower end 61 standard i bought here used last year. The caps pots and Gibson USA burstbuckers are definitely a step up in the right direction and are true to the original reissue Sg standards back in the beginning of the Gibson sg. It sounds like a 2000 dollar Gibson reissue sg but at Epiphone import prices. I intend on keeping this guitar for a lifetime and is a good backup guitar to my similarly pricef esp ltd viper 1000 deluxe i bought a year ago from a competitor in the now disconnected tiger eye finish from zZounds. Lastly i also intend on getting a real Gibson sg custom 63 version used for a discounted price. One more thing i might buy a backup les Paul sg standard by Epiphone just in case this one gets stolen or lost. Thank you Epiphone custom for stepping up your game and making better sg custom shop guitars than in the past. The black Epiphone sg custom with gold hardware is no joke either and i might another one when i get done paying for this Les Paul sg standard first fron here.Isaac

I got this guitar in sparkling burgundy and the finish is beautiful. The workmanship on this guitar is great; it feels very high quality. The fretwork is also really good, with no fret ends sticking out to cut my hands. That being said, the pickups are not very good. I initially debated purchasing the guitar since it sounded very ice-picky and thin when I played it in the store. But I decided to take a chance, knowing the return policy that GC has. I brought it home and the first thing I did was go over it completely. The fretboard was very dry. Even my wife, who doesn't play guitar, looked at it and commented on that. So removed the strings and polished the frets and cleaned/conditioned the fretboard. Then I swapped out the Alnico Classic Pro pickups, which are rather bad, and put in a set of Probucker 2/3 pickups that I had sitting around. Better strings, polished frets, and some nicer alnico 2 pickups made a huge difference. It sounds full and thick and warm, and it plays like an angel. I highly recommend it, as long as you can swap out the pickups.Robert

What a brilliant guitar and superb value package! I have owned ‘real’ Gibsons over the years and bought this outfit as a birthday gift for my granddaughter who is learning to play. She has had a fender acoustic for a couple of years and now wants her own electric guitar. I chose this outfit as having previously owned one in the past I like Epiphone guitars. Before giving it to her I thought it best to check it over and set it up but there was nothing to do really, after tuning this guitar was perfectly playable right out the box! The feel, balance and weight is very like my Gibson and the sound is superb. The amp is excellent and packs enough punch to put a smile on your face too. She’s delighted with the built in tuner as well as the other essentials included in the outfit. What’s not to like? I can’t find a better value package!W O.

My original review still stands, but I made cosmetic-only upgrades for less than an average couple's meal at a casual restaurant that makes this look much, much more expensive. No tuner, pickup or pot swaps. Replaced black plastic parts with cream, added cream pickguard, replaced chrome tuner knobs with Klausen-style ivory-look knobs. Installed chrome pickup covers. Replaced speed knobs with gold top-hats.Easily done to make this look like a proper Les Paul. I'm happy with the looks for the little extra money spent.Steve

As the song says: "I'm a Sucker for a Cheap Guitar". I own over 30 – some cheap, some not so cheap. This one arrived perfectly set up: low action, no buzzing, no sharp fret edges, easy to play – amazing for a guitar in this price range. Although not great, the pickups even sounded acceptable. It's heavy, which to me means good, though not as heavy as my Gibson. It's OK-looking, but needed something to enhance it – a pickguard. I added one and it looks much better – more expensive. Instead of cutting off part of the guard to accommodate the knob as I've seen some others do, I drilled a hole big enough for the nut on the body underneath the knob to fit through the guard (see photos). Since the guard isn't much thicker than the nut, it allowed the guard to fit flush with the body and the knob to turn without any restriction of motion, and the pickguard is not butchered. It's a very clean look – like it came that way – not modified. So, I am pleased with this instrument, and would recommend it to anyone for any purpose: especially beginners to play or someone like me who just collects cheap guitars to hang on the wall of their studiio.Steve

Overall: I've been a guitarist since the late 80's, but I no longer play professionally, but I do play at home a lot. I've sold off most of my Gibsons (I held on to my '19 Les Paul Traditional) and I'm having a blast with these new Epi models. Everyone is raving about the Standard and the '59 models, and rightfully so. I own both, as well as a new Custom Silverburst and they're all great. This Classic is no exception. It actually arrived needing the least amount of setup work of all the others. The Alnico Classic Pros are brighter and a bit hotter than the Probuckers, but they're not at all harsh. The electronics work as expected, the neck pickup sounds sweet when split and the Phase feature sounds good with some moderate gain. The nut was cut extremely well and the frets don't need really much dressing. The neck is a little slimmer than what I'm used to, but it's easy adapting. The fretboard is a bit dry, but that's normal. Actually, these new Epiphone models all arrived in better condition than most of my Gibsons did in the past. The new Epiphone models are players guitars. Not wall art or collector's (cork sniffers) guitars, I wouldn't hesitate to take any of them to a gig and have fun with them. That's the whole point, right? I just wish they had made import guitars of this quality when I first started playing.Uriah

Out of the box and tuned, this guitar was completely unplayable with the neck so bent that pressing the strings at anywhere beyond the 8th fret fouled the frets higher up the neck, this also meant the action (measured at the 12th fret) was over 6mm. Fortunately I’ve a good understanding of how to set-up a guitar so adjusted the neck to have minimal relief with the truss rod – as a point of interest there was no truss rod allen key in the box, so just as well that I have my own tools. Once the action was set to my preferred settings (and by no means not as low as many like it) I had loads of fret buzz all over the place. So resetting the neck flat and using a ‘fret rocker’ I found 17 of the 22 frets (at various points across the neck) in need of remedial work to get them level. However as the guitar was new I decided initially to just add a bit more neck relief & set the action a shade higher, while I decided if I should just send it back or spending some hours sorting the frets in the near future? There are some positive points! I really liked the ‘worn’ (satin) finish although I feel there should have been a higher discount over the gloss finished versions as this must have saved loads of time during the finishing process. The Alnico Classic PRO pickups sound powerful with loads of variation between the neck and bridge and support coil-splitting. With the coils split option, with push/pull volume pots, there is (as expected) a significant drop in output but they do sound good, verging on P90 territory, rather than Strat/Tele sound ‘alikes’. One of the areas that lower cost guitars usually fail on is the quality of the tuners, here they have fitted Grover Rotomatics with an 18:1 ratio. They are smooth and easy to operate with the large kidney button heads, holding tune very well. The nut, a Graph Tech, was superbly cut, but unfortunately this was completely wasted with the poor quality of fret levelling from the factory as several of the strings would buzz when played open when set at a reasonably low action! The trapezoid neck inlays are very well fitted and although acrylic, do a very good impersonation of mother of pearl. Visually the guitar look stunning with its unusual colour and matt (worn) finish, but I do find the inclusion of gold knobs a bit of a clash with the all Nickel hardware and at the back cream control plate covers just don’t look right and should have been black. But both of these last two issues are a really cheap to resolve at about £12 for both black cover plates and 4 clear knobs. Overall both positives & negatives to consider and if I’d been unable to adjust the guitar myself, there would have been no option but to just send it back for a refund/replacement (hence 3 stars which I think is quite generous) as it is I’ll be keeping this. If I could have bought this locally it would have been great to try before I bought, but my local Epiphone dealer (90 mile round trip) didn’t have any in stock and was unlikely to get one, so I went the mail order route. The guitar is now playing well and will be even better when I get the time to sort out the frets and put a set of 9-42 gauge strings on.Paul

This guitar is absolutely stunning. At about $450 the Epiphone Les Paul Special certainly hits its price point without question. This is the 2nd time I bought this guitar, but I couldn't resist buying this again. I'll start with the cons first, that I noticed applied to both Special's I've owned.. The poly finish is thick. The combination of the "tv yellow" color and the thick polyurethane sort of gives a toy like feeling, or a bit of a cheapness to it.. Speaking of "tv yellow," it's really more of a Dijon mustard/ Carmel color. I don't think that's a bad thing or ugly by any means, but as other reviewers may have stated, the Epiphone isn't quite as accurate to its high end counterpart. The pickup routes and control cavity were also a little bit choppy, but that's just nit picking. If you buy this guitar, you will most likely need a setup. 2nd time around, I knew that going in but both guitars I bought needed set ups. That being said, this guitar is awesome. Surprisingly the laurel fingerboard was really smooth and moist. I do not sense bad or tall frets, but are scratchy at first. The P90 pros are so good. The CTS pots are so dynamic. The volume and tone sweeps combined with these P90 pros are so dynamic and touch sensitive, that they can hang with the best of em. The guitar resonates so well and plays both clean and crunchy top notch. Punchy and warm…Absolute quality electronics. I haven't found a bad tone in any position. If your used to playing your guitars with everything at 10, this guitar with inspire you to play around with all the tonal possibilities by simply rolling in & out your pots. The neck on this is fat, and so nice but not absurd. I highly recommend it. For the price, you can't go wrong and will love the tones, just plan on getting a setup and you will absolutely love this guitar.Zac F

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I'm reviewing the gold top model. I own a lot of guitars but I didn't have a gold top Les Paul and always wanted one. This is an amazing guitar for the price! Fit and finish are perfect. It sounds and plays great. I love it. Note, always put a new set of strings on a guitar that comes with strings on it. It's a simple fix for a lot of problems you thought you had, but don't. Who knows how long they've been on or what brand they are. Now, the details. Frets were perfectly level, no sharp ends. Slight amount of oxidization. I polished the crowns and ends with Micro-Mesh pads. I used 6000>8000>12,000 grit pads. I wasn't taking metal off, just polishing them to a jewelery finish. Really makes bends and vibrato silky and smooth. I do that to all my guitars. I like the Indian laurel fingerboard. It's a good alternative to rosewood. I cleaned it with alcohol, then applied a very light amount of fingerboard oil/conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes then wiped it dry. It has a beautiful look and feel now. As for setup, the only thing that was set correctly was the intonation. So I lowered the bridge to the (low) action I like, and it was pretty clean, a little buzz on the upper frets. The neck was trussed completely flat, so I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and that gave it the right amount of relief. No more buzz. Next, I filed the nut slots slightly wider and deeper. Action was too high off the nut. I use XL strings (9-42) and the slots were even too tight for them! That was the only real glaring problem on this guitar. Tight nut slots cause tuning issues and your average customer isn't going to have the tools or skills to fix that. I have a set of precision nut slotting files and feeler gauges to cut them to the proper depth. Man, that was the magic touch. The action is amazing now, all the way up the neck. No problems with tuning stability. And that's all I needed to do. It plays like a dream. I thought I would need to swap out the pickups but I like these. I'm old and play mostly classic rock, and these sound just right for the Les Pauls of that era. I get that sound that Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), early Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts, Joe Perry, Page, Billy G, had in the late 60's – 70's. I ran it through a Goat distortion simulator and got Tom Scholtz Boston sound perfectly. It was actually better than another LP I have with DiMarzio super distortion pups. Easier to control the overdrive. All in all, Epiphone has really raised their bar. If you have typical electric guitar setup skills, you'll make this a sweet playing guitar. If you don't, it's worth it to find someone who does. Just a few minor adjustments and you'll have a fine axe to play.Rich

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I'm reviewing the gold top model. I own a lot of guitars but I didn't have a gold top Les Paul and always wanted one. This is an amazing guitar for the price! Fit and finish are perfect. It sounds and plays great. I love it. Note, always put a new set of strings on a guitar that comes with strings on it. It's a simple fix for a lot of problems you thought you had, but don't. Who knows how long they've been on or what brand they are. Now, the details. Frets were perfectly level, no sharp ends. Slight amount of oxidization. I polished the crowns and ends with Micro-Mesh pads. I used 6000>8000>12,000 grit pads. I wasn't taking metal off, just polishing them to a jewelery finish. Really makes bends and vibrato silky and smooth. I do that to all my guitars. I like the Indian laurel fingerboard. It's a good alternative to rosewood. I cleaned it with alcohol, then applied a very light amount of fingerboard oil/conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes then wiped it dry. It has a beautiful look and feel now. As for setup, the only thing that was set correctly was the intonation. So I lowered the bridge to the (low) action I like, and it was pretty clean, a little buzz on the upper frets. The neck was trussed completely flat, so I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and that gave it the right amount of relief. No more buzz. Next, I filed the nut slots slightly wider and deeper. Action was too high off the nut. I use XL strings (9-42) and the slots were even too tight for them! That was the only real glaring problem on this guitar. Tight nut slots cause tuning issues and your average customer isn't going to have the tools or skills to fix that. I have a set of precision nut slotting files and feeler gauges to cut them to the proper depth. Man, that was the magic touch. The action is amazing now, all the way up the neck. No problems with tuning stability. And that's all I needed to do. It plays like a dream. I thought I would need to swap out the pickups but I like these. I'm old and play mostly classic rock, and these sound just right for the Les Pauls of that era. I get that sound that Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), early Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts, Joe Perry, Page, Billy G, had in the late 60's – 70's. I ran it through a Goat distortion simulator and got Tom Scholtz Boston sound perfectly. It was actually better than another LP I have with DiMarzio super distortion pups. Easier to control the overdrive. All in all, Epiphone has really raised their bar. If you have typical electric guitar setup skills, you'll make this a sweet playing guitar. If you don't, it's worth it to find someone who does. Just a few minor adjustments and you'll have a fine axe to play.Rich

I've been dabbling with learning how to play the guitar for several years, I've even took a guitar class at the local community college but have gotten frustrated easily to where I quit. I'll say that I have had a "on again, off again" relationship with guitars for the last 15 years. I am not an expert in guitars and am steadily learning the process – how they are built, the electronic parts, etc. I decided to give it a go again with this inexpensive guitar that is a great little learning tool for the novice player like myself. One thing I did do when I got this is change the strings. I watched several review videos on this model and one the the first things people recommended was to change the strings. So I bought a box of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky's (10-46) and re-strung the guitar immediately after I got it out of the box. I am pleased with my progress so far. Could be the fact that I found a great website that gives excellent beginner lessons and helps me to understand the fundamentals of guitar playing. Things that the college instructor didn't teach very well. Of course, it helps that I can play the videos over and over! I'm upgrading to a Fender Mustang LT 25 amp, which will give me a huge range of different tones that I can get out of this guitar. As my skills develop and I get better (hopefully), I will look at upgrading to a higher price point guitar. I would love to get an SG! If you are looking to get started in the guitar community, I would recommend this model to get started. I've watched many videos of experienced guitar players jam some pretty cool riff's with this thing!Jason

This is an incredible guitar for the money. Only thing that needed serious help was the action at the nut. Using the stock nut and a set of nut files, I set it up to my preferred specs of 1/64th of an inch a two the first fret. This ensured comfortable playing as well as tuning stability. After cutting the nut slots to the right height, looks like the file made sure the strings wouldn't catch and now the guitar stays in tune much much better. I would replace the pickups with p90s if I could. Some modification to the pickguard might make this a possibility. Sometimes, I forget I'm playing an Epiphone. With the nut corrected it really is possible to get it feeling pretty good. Here are my personal specs: .005" neck relief measured at the 8th fret. 1/64ths action at the first fret across all strings. 1/16ths of an inch action at the 15th fret. It does not play as well as my Gibsons do: the explorer feels much lower and faster with the same specs and my les Paul traditional does reel in some "big time" tone. In spite of this, the Epiphone SL really does hit the mark. It's capable of all the same specs after adjusting the nut, making for a very playable guitar. I also don't believe the tuning issues are due to the economy tuners since after I adjusted the nut the guitar stays in tune much better. I bought a replacement black tusq nut but have not installed it. I wonder if there's even really a need to do so. This action at the nut is very low but the guitar pulls it off very well. I'm sure that with better pots (remember this is an economy guitar) andLeón

What can you say? Epiphone has always made a good guitar, even before they became part of the Gibson family. The Epiphone SG and Les Paul models are top notch guitars, and are a great value for the price. So if you're looking for a good starter electric guitar, I recommend Epiphone all the way.krimzo_96

Great guitar, looks good, plays quite easily. Barely had to tweak it at all. A lot more economical than a Gibson(most don't realize it isn't.) I am very happy with this guitar and would recommend it to anyone who wants quality on a budget.richa.schau

I am a professional musician and play 5 days a week — I play my Epiphone SG full time. I don't have to take my Gibson 335, Les Paul, SG or Tele. This guitar holds it's own with any of them. I've been a player for 50 years. Highly recommend…musiclane301

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I'm reviewing the gold top model. I own a lot of guitars but I didn't have a gold top Les Paul and always wanted one. This is an amazing guitar for the price! Fit and finish are perfect. It sounds and plays great. I love it. Note, always put a new set of strings on a guitar that comes with strings on it. It's a simple fix for a lot of problems you thought you had, but don't. Who knows how long they've been on or what brand they are. Now, the details. Frets were perfectly level, no sharp ends. Slight amount of oxidization. I polished the crowns and ends with Micro-Mesh pads. I used 6000>8000>12,000 grit pads. I wasn't taking metal off, just polishing them to a jewelery finish. Really makes bends and vibrato silky and smooth. I do that to all my guitars. I like the Indian laurel fingerboard. It's a good alternative to rosewood. I cleaned it with alcohol, then applied a very light amount of fingerboard oil/conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes then wiped it dry. It has a beautiful look and feel now. As for setup, the only thing that was set correctly was the intonation. So I lowered the bridge to the (low) action I like, and it was pretty clean, a little buzz on the upper frets. The neck was trussed completely flat, so I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and that gave it the right amount of relief. No more buzz. Next, I filed the nut slots slightly wider and deeper. Action was too high off the nut. I use XL strings (9-42) and the slots were even too tight for them! That was the only real glaring problem on this guitar. Tight nut slots cause tuning issues and your average customer isn't going to have the tools or skills to fix that. I have a set of precision nut slotting files and feeler gauges to cut them to the proper depth. Man, that was the magic touch. The action is amazing now, all the way up the neck. No problems with tuning stability. And that's all I needed to do. It plays like a dream. I thought I would need to swap out the pickups but I like these. I'm old and play mostly classic rock, and these sound just right for the Les Pauls of that era. I get that sound that Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), early Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts, Joe Perry, Page, Billy G, had in the late 60's – 70's. I ran it through a Goat distortion simulator and got Tom Scholtz Boston sound perfectly. It was actually better than another LP I have with DiMarzio super distortion pups. Easier to control the overdrive. All in all, Epiphone has really raised their bar. If you have typical electric guitar setup skills, you'll make this a sweet playing guitar. If you don't, it's worth it to find someone who does. Just a few minor adjustments and you'll have a fine axe to play.Rich

What a brilliant guitar and superb value package! I have owned ‘real’ Gibsons over the years and bought this outfit as a birthday gift for my granddaughter who is learning to play. She has had a fender acoustic for a couple of years and now wants her own electric guitar. I chose this outfit as having previously owned one in the past I like Epiphone guitars. Before giving it to her I thought it best to check it over and set it up but there was nothing to do really, after tuning this guitar was perfectly playable right out the box! The feel, balance and weight is very like my Gibson and the sound is superb. The amp is excellent and packs enough punch to put a smile on your face too. She’s delighted with the built in tuner as well as the other essentials included in the outfit. What’s not to like? I can’t find a better value package!W O.

My original review still stands, but I made cosmetic-only upgrades for less than an average couple's meal at a casual restaurant that makes this look much, much more expensive. No tuner, pickup or pot swaps. Replaced black plastic parts with cream, added cream pickguard, replaced chrome tuner knobs with Klausen-style ivory-look knobs. Installed chrome pickup covers. Replaced speed knobs with gold top-hats.Easily done to make this look like a proper Les Paul. I'm happy with the looks for the little extra money spent.Steve

As the song says: "I'm a Sucker for a Cheap Guitar". I own over 30 – some cheap, some not so cheap. This one arrived perfectly set up: low action, no buzzing, no sharp fret edges, easy to play – amazing for a guitar in this price range. Although not great, the pickups even sounded acceptable. It's heavy, which to me means good, though not as heavy as my Gibson. It's OK-looking, but needed something to enhance it – a pickguard. I added one and it looks much better – more expensive. Instead of cutting off part of the guard to accommodate the knob as I've seen some others do, I drilled a hole big enough for the nut on the body underneath the knob to fit through the guard (see photos). Since the guard isn't much thicker than the nut, it allowed the guard to fit flush with the body and the knob to turn without any restriction of motion, and the pickguard is not butchered. It's a very clean look – like it came that way – not modified. So, I am pleased with this instrument, and would recommend it to anyone for any purpose: especially beginners to play or someone like me who just collects cheap guitars to hang on the wall of their studiio.Steve

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I'm reviewing the gold top model. I own a lot of guitars but I didn't have a gold top Les Paul and always wanted one. This is an amazing guitar for the price! Fit and finish are perfect. It sounds and plays great. I love it. Note, always put a new set of strings on a guitar that comes with strings on it. It's a simple fix for a lot of problems you thought you had, but don't. Who knows how long they've been on or what brand they are. Now, the details. Frets were perfectly level, no sharp ends. Slight amount of oxidization. I polished the crowns and ends with Micro-Mesh pads. I used 6000>8000>12,000 grit pads. I wasn't taking metal off, just polishing them to a jewelery finish. Really makes bends and vibrato silky and smooth. I do that to all my guitars. I like the Indian laurel fingerboard. It's a good alternative to rosewood. I cleaned it with alcohol, then applied a very light amount of fingerboard oil/conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes then wiped it dry. It has a beautiful look and feel now. As for setup, the only thing that was set correctly was the intonation. So I lowered the bridge to the (low) action I like, and it was pretty clean, a little buzz on the upper frets. The neck was trussed completely flat, so I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and that gave it the right amount of relief. No more buzz. Next, I filed the nut slots slightly wider and deeper. Action was too high off the nut. I use XL strings (9-42) and the slots were even too tight for them! That was the only real glaring problem on this guitar. Tight nut slots cause tuning issues and your average customer isn't going to have the tools or skills to fix that. I have a set of precision nut slotting files and feeler gauges to cut them to the proper depth. Man, that was the magic touch. The action is amazing now, all the way up the neck. No problems with tuning stability. And that's all I needed to do. It plays like a dream. I thought I would need to swap out the pickups but I like these. I'm old and play mostly classic rock, and these sound just right for the Les Pauls of that era. I get that sound that Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), early Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts, Joe Perry, Page, Billy G, had in the late 60's – 70's. I ran it through a Goat distortion simulator and got Tom Scholtz Boston sound perfectly. It was actually better than another LP I have with DiMarzio super distortion pups. Easier to control the overdrive. All in all, Epiphone has really raised their bar. If you have typical electric guitar setup skills, you'll make this a sweet playing guitar. If you don't, it's worth it to find someone who does. Just a few minor adjustments and you'll have a fine axe to play.Rich

This is one incredibly good sounding, well built beautiful guitar. Besides sounding great and looking phenomenally good, it was seriously well put together. Not a single screw or bolt was loose, neck was straight and the binding is stunning. In short, this is one fantastic guitar and a insane value for the cost. A HUGE bang for the buck.Dean

Great guitar for the price and superb service. Arrived in perfet condition, with all necessary accessories, on my selected day for delivery. Great set up attention by the PMT team.Philip L.

Wanted a cheap project guitar so I gutted this Special II and put in completely new electronics. Brand new Bridge, Alnico wax sealed pups, brand new harness with larger pots, locking tuners, and a graphite nut. Guitar sounds better than most $200 guitars and more like a $300-$500 epiphone so Im happy with putting all that work in. This is a great guitar to start with and make small mods as you grow.joshtolens14

This solid-body electric guitar is a great value for beginners or experienced players alike. The quality that is built into the instrument is apparent right out of the box. The guitar features dual humbuckers, chrome hardware, a stop tailpiece with tune-o-matic bridge, a bolt-on 22 fret neck, one volume/one tone knob with a 3-way pickup selector switch (bridge pickup, neck pickup, or both), and a good selection of colors-ebony, white, wine red (with black hardware), vintage sunburst or cherry sunburst. The newer units have basswood bodies which are lighter, but the older ones (like mine) are solid mahogany, pretty heavy but with better tone and sustain in my opinion. The stock pickups have very good tone for such an inexpensive guitar. I upgraded mine with USA-made Carvin humbuckers (H22N neck & M22SD bridge) which do sound better, but the switch would not be necessary for most players-I'm just finicky. The biggest "downer" on this guitar has to be the tuners, they are of poor quality and do not hold tune well. A good set of sealed units aren't too expensive, however, and the swap isn't difficult. Once again, I purchased a fine set from Carvin Co. that work great. The Special II is easy to set up for your personal preference as far as string height/action. The tune-o-matic bridge is fully adjustable for string height as well as intonation, and the neck also has a truss rod which is adjustable. If you buy one that is difficult to play or doesn't sound right, any good music store should have someone who can dial it in for you (if you're not sure about doing it yourself). All in all, you can't go far wrong with this guitar if you're a beginner or just need a spare, or "beater" that you can take anywhere. I play mine regularly at home and in church, and at other functions, and get compliments on the great sound from my Epiphone Les Paul Special II. I highly recommend it for anyone on a budget.snickasnee83

This is now my favorite guitar . She is light with ought being flimsy and the action is terrific! A regular workhorse of a guitar while looking slick and polished. Great sound and all around awesome guitar! Can't beat the price for the quality! Excellent! I highly recommend this guitar…my playing ability is a different story all together…..suzanlowe9965

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I'm reviewing the gold top model. I own a lot of guitars but I didn't have a gold top Les Paul and always wanted one. This is an amazing guitar for the price! Fit and finish are perfect. It sounds and plays great. I love it. Note, always put a new set of strings on a guitar that comes with strings on it. It's a simple fix for a lot of problems you thought you had, but don't. Who knows how long they've been on or what brand they are. Now, the details. Frets were perfectly level, no sharp ends. Slight amount of oxidization. I polished the crowns and ends with Micro-Mesh pads. I used 6000>8000>12,000 grit pads. I wasn't taking metal off, just polishing them to a jewelery finish. Really makes bends and vibrato silky and smooth. I do that to all my guitars. I like the Indian laurel fingerboard. It's a good alternative to rosewood. I cleaned it with alcohol, then applied a very light amount of fingerboard oil/conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes then wiped it dry. It has a beautiful look and feel now. As for setup, the only thing that was set correctly was the intonation. So I lowered the bridge to the (low) action I like, and it was pretty clean, a little buzz on the upper frets. The neck was trussed completely flat, so I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and that gave it the right amount of relief. No more buzz. Next, I filed the nut slots slightly wider and deeper. Action was too high off the nut. I use XL strings (9-42) and the slots were even too tight for them! That was the only real glaring problem on this guitar. Tight nut slots cause tuning issues and your average customer isn't going to have the tools or skills to fix that. I have a set of precision nut slotting files and feeler gauges to cut them to the proper depth. Man, that was the magic touch. The action is amazing now, all the way up the neck. No problems with tuning stability. And that's all I needed to do. It plays like a dream. I thought I would need to swap out the pickups but I like these. I'm old and play mostly classic rock, and these sound just right for the Les Pauls of that era. I get that sound that Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), early Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts, Joe Perry, Page, Billy G, had in the late 60's – 70's. I ran it through a Goat distortion simulator and got Tom Scholtz Boston sound perfectly. It was actually better than another LP I have with DiMarzio super distortion pups. Easier to control the overdrive. All in all, Epiphone has really raised their bar. If you have typical electric guitar setup skills, you'll make this a sweet playing guitar. If you don't, it's worth it to find someone who does. Just a few minor adjustments and you'll have a fine axe to play.Rich

My first electric. Got it in a combo kit with amp and bag. Hook it into my computer now and rarely use the amp for anything. That being said, as many people have mentioned the bridge. If this isn't your first guitar, or you are looking for a second guitar – don't get this one. I learned about intonation and action and all that while having this guitar. You can only set the intonation on the outside E's and everything else is just what you get. My the height of my bridge for medium action on the low E is maybe a 1/16 from bottoming out, any lower it will buzz more. To get the same range of action on my high E my bridge is almost a 1/4" in the air. I do not know enough to get into shimming the neck to get it leveled out more, I just know enough to assume a 1/4" rise over 3" space probably isn't a good thing. However! I've learned plenty on it over these last 6 months. I bought this guitar because I did not want to invest a lot of money into it if I wasn't going to stick with it. I bought this in February of 22. The first 5 months I probably played on it maybe 50-60 hours. These last 4 months I've probably played on it 1-3 hours a day. I started using apps to learn and being able to plug it directly into my computer has been amazing. It's served it's purpose, I'm now getting to the level of playing where I'd like a better quality instrument and am looking in the $400-$500 range. For a first guitar, and you're not sure if you're going to stay with it, this was great for me and I will pass it on to someone else to get started with. Other than the bridge intonation and probably not flat fret board, I have had 0 mechanical issues with it.Jay

I'm reviewing the gold top model. I own a lot of guitars but I didn't have a gold top Les Paul and always wanted one. This is an amazing guitar for the price! Fit and finish are perfect. It sounds and plays great. I love it. Note, always put a new set of strings on a guitar that comes with strings on it. It's a simple fix for a lot of problems you thought you had, but don't. Who knows how long they've been on or what brand they are. Now, the details. Frets were perfectly level, no sharp ends. Slight amount of oxidization. I polished the crowns and ends with Micro-Mesh pads. I used 6000>8000>12,000 grit pads. I wasn't taking metal off, just polishing them to a jewelery finish. Really makes bends and vibrato silky and smooth. I do that to all my guitars. I like the Indian laurel fingerboard. It's a good alternative to rosewood. I cleaned it with alcohol, then applied a very light amount of fingerboard oil/conditioner. Let it sit a few minutes then wiped it dry. It has a beautiful look and feel now. As for setup, the only thing that was set correctly was the intonation. So I lowered the bridge to the (low) action I like, and it was pretty clean, a little buzz on the upper frets. The neck was trussed completely flat, so I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and that gave it the right amount of relief. No more buzz. Next, I filed the nut slots slightly wider and deeper. Action was too high off the nut. I use XL strings (9-42) and the slots were even too tight for them! That was the only real glaring problem on this guitar. Tight nut slots cause tuning issues and your average customer isn't going to have the tools or skills to fix that. I have a set of precision nut slotting files and feeler gauges to cut them to the proper depth. Man, that was the magic touch. The action is amazing now, all the way up the neck. No problems with tuning stability. And that's all I needed to do. It plays like a dream. I thought I would need to swap out the pickups but I like these. I'm old and play mostly classic rock, and these sound just right for the Les Pauls of that era. I get that sound that Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), early Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts, Joe Perry, Page, Billy G, had in the late 60's – 70's. I ran it through a Goat distortion simulator and got Tom Scholtz Boston sound perfectly. It was actually better than another LP I have with DiMarzio super distortion pups. Easier to control the overdrive. All in all, Epiphone has really raised their bar. If you have typical electric guitar setup skills, you'll make this a sweet playing guitar. If you don't, it's worth it to find someone who does. Just a few minor adjustments and you'll have a fine axe to play.Rich