Epiphone Special Ii Plus Top Limited Edition Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

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

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

Totally stunned at how beautiful this guitar is. After looking at the advertising picture, the Desert Burst colors looked "flat", and I had feared that the "flame maple top" on this would look like imitation wood stickum' vinyl flat color type looking stuff or something for some reason,…BUT NO…it is the REAL THING!, genuine FLAME MAPLE, and you can look down into it's wood finish "a mile deep", and as you move the guitar around, the natural flame maple stripes dance and change shape like a "iridescent 3D hologram type effect", it is absolutely AWESOME! The mahogany body back and neck is glossy, deep, and beautiful. It feels good to hold, has a nice weight. Epiphone has upgraded the humbuckers on this, the switches give so many choices, and I will definitely NOT be changing them in any way, they are perfect, and sound AWESOME! And I am impressed with the Epiphone's upgraded Grover tuners it has. Mine did have a bit of fret buzz, but my technician fixed it in less than 15 minutes. One thing that bothers me, is that this guitar needs better strap buttons, they are beveled inefficiently, and mounted at a outboard angle (as opposed to a Stratocaster's inboard angle). An outboard angle lets the strap slip off easily while playing, so use strap locks, or a slightly bigger outer washer "retainer" on the button. Some straps have excessively long attachment slots for some reason, and it might help to stitch up this slot a bit shorter too. I LOVE THIS GUITAR!Sir Ripstring

I'm amazed by the quality of this guitar at this price point. It sounds simply amazing. Rich, beautiful tone, with sustain that lasts for days. It is an extremely resonant guitar, quite loud even unplugged. I was very excited that it was not too heavy, as I was afraid it would be. While I haven't weighed it, it is clearly lighter than my 8 pound Strat, so guessing it is maybe 7.5-7.7 pounds or so. The neck is not too thin, which I like, and I love the radius. It is quite flat, and bends are a breeze.The craftsmanship on mine was fabulous. Not sharp frets, no issues with the finish, or the electronics, or anything I could see. The only disappointment I had was that the color was not as vibrant as the stock photos. I got the 'Translucent Blue' and it is darker and you cannot see quite as much of the wood grain. It is an attractive guitar, but that could be a bit better. The setup out of the box was atrocious, but that was a very easy fix. I only had to lower the bridge (like 1/2 an inch…it was ridiculously high…surprised the strings didn't break) and once I did that all was good. I've only had it now for three days, but this is very likely going to become my go-to guitar. In humbucker mode, with distortion, it is simply the best sounding guitar I've ever owned. Period. And the single-coil mode (which I haven't played with too much yet, but have tried it out to see how it works) makes this guitar much more well-rounded to different styles. I always wanted a Les Paul, but didn't want to spend thousands to get one. I still can't believe how reasonable the price was. My only regret is not buying this model sooner!!!William

I had a hard time choosing between the antique finish or the desert burst, they both look awesome. The guitar was set up pretty well right out of the box. Tuned and played right away. No buzzing, intonation was spot on and no tuning issues. The grovers are smooth and hold the tune well. A few things I noticed that I did not like were the tone and volume control knobs were set at all different heights and one was actually rubbing the top of the body. It was with some difficulty, that I managed to get that particular one up and in a good position without marring the finish. The others I adjusted to a matched height about 3/32 off the body. Looks fine now. Now I know while I didn't purchase a US made Les Paul and shouldn't expect perfection, I was disappointed that the guitar body is made of several pieces of wood glued together. But the real issue is they show what appears to be a one piece solid mahogany in the rear view picture but in fact it's just a thin mahogany laminate covering three glued together pieces underneath. I suppose on the desert burst model you'd hardly notice any difference in the color of the finish but on the antique finish it clearly doesn't match. Is this enough for me to send it back? Well no, I can live with it as it has no effect on the guitars sound and I don't regularly stare at the backside anyway. Just thought I was getting a one piece mahogany body. I did point this out to the customer service rep and told them they should clearly point this out so others aren't surprised like I was. For the price I paid, I'm satisfied. The fit and finish is every bit as good as my US made Les Paul Classic. Other than those little issues, it's a solid well built awesome sounding guitar and I really enjoy the coil splitting feature as well. At less than one third of the cost of the real one, this is a real deal. I'd give it five stars if it wasn't for the laminated back, but it's still a great deal on a great playing/ sounding guitar.JimmyD

I got the yellow one for about $50 less than the red and black ones. I am assuming it is because the color is not popular, but I love it. It is a satin, very similar to my Gibson Melody Maker. As a matter if fact, the guitar itself is a lot like my MM. The size, weight and feel of it and it was a lot less $$. Sure this is a bolt on neck, but I have found that doesn't really make that much of a difference. To ME…. Even though I have been playing guitar for about 40 years, I have never played a P-90 guitar. That is why I picked this up. I like the tone. I am playing around with it quite a bit. It won't replace any of my other guitars, but it is a nice addition.Gene S

After reading the reviews, I went ahead and popped for one of these. Mine needed some setup work. They were 2 high frets that needed to be tapped into place and a neck adjustment. Pretty typical for a brand new guitar. Now for the guitar itself … WOW! This thing sings. NECK: very fast action neck with real Les Paul Deluxe (circa 1970's) style frets make it easy to bend strings. I'll be putting my personal string configuration on it, but the OOTB strings are just fine. SOUND: The combination of the two P90 pickups PLUS the flexibility of the tone control let you get a wide range of sound. I'm playing through a 1973 era MusicMan 112RD 100 and this guitar makes it sound like a Marchall 50. SUSTAIN: I guess this proves that you don't need a 50LB piece of lumber and $1000 to get awesome sustain. Whatever tonewood they are using on these, coupled with the electronics, man this baby sings. TUNERS: Not bad, not great. You need to stretch the strings out, like any new setup. The stock strings did stretch quite a bit and after stretching it stayed in tune nicely, prior to that they went out of tune about every 5 seconds. NUT AND BRIDGE: Nut was properly set and at the right height. It "could come down a smidgen on the 6th and 5th strings, but the adjustment would be so slight as to not be noticeable in real world playing. The bridge also needed to be lowered a bit. That is easily done. Intonation was perfect all the way up and down the neck. As this is critical it's especially important to note that the bridge is a non-adjustable compensating saddle arrangement that has been around since the "time before time" (Planet of the Apes) FINAL COMMENTS: After playing this for about an hour, I realized that these guitar may be discontinued models. I tried to find it on the Epiphone website, no luck. Then I got to thinking that GC could either sell out or the price could go up, so I rushed over to GC and ordered a second one. They are THAT good! I am curious as to what the warranty is, I haven't checked the paperwork that came with the guitar. I doubt I'll have any use for it.E

First of all, it's 2020. Epiphone appears to have improved quality control over previous GC reviews. Just got it out of the box. It needed tuning, but strings are purposely tuned low for shipping reasons. Tuners are perfectly fine. No particular fret buzz. Neck is straight and true. Nut is plastic, but appears fine. Volume and Tone controls & switch work fine. Strap bolts are sturdy. Installed strings are clean, but I'll put a fresh set on in the near future. Frets ends are sharp, and will need to be filed at some point. While the bridge works, it's an "all-or-nothing" bridge. No individual control string adjustment. Just two flat-head screwdriver knobs on the 1st and 6th string. The guitar is feather-weight; a major reason I got it. And the cheap price, as I want something I can carry in public without worrying about getting busted or stolen. No hum or noise when plugged in. I play straight-ahead jazz, so I'm not the best critic on pickups. I actually want a boxy, dead sound. However, I get a good blues tone when I dial in a Blues effect on my stomp box. All by itself without any effects, it sounds great. Got TV yellow rather than red. I had to order yellow, although there were plenty of reds in the store. I suspect you'll prefer red. Yellow shouts at you, but I wanted the "vintage" color. Two mods in the future — a new bridge and filing fret ends. However, the bridge works fine as-is. But you can't control individual string height at the bridge. Bottom line — considering the price, it's a steal !! I've been playing for decades. It does an excellent job as an affordable jazz-box I can carry without worries.Jazzy

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

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

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.

Totally stunned at how beautiful this guitar is. After looking at the advertising picture, the Desert Burst colors looked "flat", and I had feared that the "flame maple top" on this would look like imitation wood stickum' vinyl flat color type looking stuff or something for some reason,…BUT NO…it is the REAL THING!, genuine FLAME MAPLE, and you can look down into it's wood finish "a mile deep", and as you move the guitar around, the natural flame maple stripes dance and change shape like a "iridescent 3D hologram type effect", it is absolutely AWESOME! The mahogany body back and neck is glossy, deep, and beautiful. It feels good to hold, has a nice weight. Epiphone has upgraded the humbuckers on this, the switches give so many choices, and I will definitely NOT be changing them in any way, they are perfect, and sound AWESOME! And I am impressed with the Epiphone's upgraded Grover tuners it has. Mine did have a bit of fret buzz, but my technician fixed it in less than 15 minutes. One thing that bothers me, is that this guitar needs better strap buttons, they are beveled inefficiently, and mounted at a outboard angle (as opposed to a Stratocaster's inboard angle). An outboard angle lets the strap slip off easily while playing, so use strap locks, or a slightly bigger outer washer "retainer" on the button. Some straps have excessively long attachment slots for some reason, and it might help to stitch up this slot a bit shorter too. I LOVE THIS GUITAR!Sir Ripstring

I'm amazed by the quality of this guitar at this price point. It sounds simply amazing. Rich, beautiful tone, with sustain that lasts for days. It is an extremely resonant guitar, quite loud even unplugged. I was very excited that it was not too heavy, as I was afraid it would be. While I haven't weighed it, it is clearly lighter than my 8 pound Strat, so guessing it is maybe 7.5-7.7 pounds or so. The neck is not too thin, which I like, and I love the radius. It is quite flat, and bends are a breeze.The craftsmanship on mine was fabulous. Not sharp frets, no issues with the finish, or the electronics, or anything I could see. The only disappointment I had was that the color was not as vibrant as the stock photos. I got the 'Translucent Blue' and it is darker and you cannot see quite as much of the wood grain. It is an attractive guitar, but that could be a bit better. The setup out of the box was atrocious, but that was a very easy fix. I only had to lower the bridge (like 1/2 an inch…it was ridiculously high…surprised the strings didn't break) and once I did that all was good. I've only had it now for three days, but this is very likely going to become my go-to guitar. In humbucker mode, with distortion, it is simply the best sounding guitar I've ever owned. Period. And the single-coil mode (which I haven't played with too much yet, but have tried it out to see how it works) makes this guitar much more well-rounded to different styles. I always wanted a Les Paul, but didn't want to spend thousands to get one. I still can't believe how reasonable the price was. My only regret is not buying this model sooner!!!William

I had a hard time choosing between the antique finish or the desert burst, they both look awesome. The guitar was set up pretty well right out of the box. Tuned and played right away. No buzzing, intonation was spot on and no tuning issues. The grovers are smooth and hold the tune well. A few things I noticed that I did not like were the tone and volume control knobs were set at all different heights and one was actually rubbing the top of the body. It was with some difficulty, that I managed to get that particular one up and in a good position without marring the finish. The others I adjusted to a matched height about 3/32 off the body. Looks fine now. Now I know while I didn't purchase a US made Les Paul and shouldn't expect perfection, I was disappointed that the guitar body is made of several pieces of wood glued together. But the real issue is they show what appears to be a one piece solid mahogany in the rear view picture but in fact it's just a thin mahogany laminate covering three glued together pieces underneath. I suppose on the desert burst model you'd hardly notice any difference in the color of the finish but on the antique finish it clearly doesn't match. Is this enough for me to send it back? Well no, I can live with it as it has no effect on the guitars sound and I don't regularly stare at the backside anyway. Just thought I was getting a one piece mahogany body. I did point this out to the customer service rep and told them they should clearly point this out so others aren't surprised like I was. For the price I paid, I'm satisfied. The fit and finish is every bit as good as my US made Les Paul Classic. Other than those little issues, it's a solid well built awesome sounding guitar and I really enjoy the coil splitting feature as well. At less than one third of the cost of the real one, this is a real deal. I'd give it five stars if it wasn't for the laminated back, but it's still a great deal on a great playing/ sounding guitar.JimmyD

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

Totally stunned at how beautiful this guitar is. After looking at the advertising picture, the Desert Burst colors looked "flat", and I had feared that the "flame maple top" on this would look like imitation wood stickum' vinyl flat color type looking stuff or something for some reason,…BUT NO…it is the REAL THING!, genuine FLAME MAPLE, and you can look down into it's wood finish "a mile deep", and as you move the guitar around, the natural flame maple stripes dance and change shape like a "iridescent 3D hologram type effect", it is absolutely AWESOME! The mahogany body back and neck is glossy, deep, and beautiful. It feels good to hold, has a nice weight. Epiphone has upgraded the humbuckers on this, the switches give so many choices, and I will definitely NOT be changing them in any way, they are perfect, and sound AWESOME! And I am impressed with the Epiphone's upgraded Grover tuners it has. Mine did have a bit of fret buzz, but my technician fixed it in less than 15 minutes. One thing that bothers me, is that this guitar needs better strap buttons, they are beveled inefficiently, and mounted at a outboard angle (as opposed to a Stratocaster's inboard angle). An outboard angle lets the strap slip off easily while playing, so use strap locks, or a slightly bigger outer washer "retainer" on the button. Some straps have excessively long attachment slots for some reason, and it might help to stitch up this slot a bit shorter too. I LOVE THIS GUITAR!Sir Ripstring

I'm amazed by the quality of this guitar at this price point. It sounds simply amazing. Rich, beautiful tone, with sustain that lasts for days. It is an extremely resonant guitar, quite loud even unplugged. I was very excited that it was not too heavy, as I was afraid it would be. While I haven't weighed it, it is clearly lighter than my 8 pound Strat, so guessing it is maybe 7.5-7.7 pounds or so. The neck is not too thin, which I like, and I love the radius. It is quite flat, and bends are a breeze.The craftsmanship on mine was fabulous. Not sharp frets, no issues with the finish, or the electronics, or anything I could see. The only disappointment I had was that the color was not as vibrant as the stock photos. I got the 'Translucent Blue' and it is darker and you cannot see quite as much of the wood grain. It is an attractive guitar, but that could be a bit better. The setup out of the box was atrocious, but that was a very easy fix. I only had to lower the bridge (like 1/2 an inch…it was ridiculously high…surprised the strings didn't break) and once I did that all was good. I've only had it now for three days, but this is very likely going to become my go-to guitar. In humbucker mode, with distortion, it is simply the best sounding guitar I've ever owned. Period. And the single-coil mode (which I haven't played with too much yet, but have tried it out to see how it works) makes this guitar much more well-rounded to different styles. I always wanted a Les Paul, but didn't want to spend thousands to get one. I still can't believe how reasonable the price was. My only regret is not buying this model sooner!!!William

I had a hard time choosing between the antique finish or the desert burst, they both look awesome. The guitar was set up pretty well right out of the box. Tuned and played right away. No buzzing, intonation was spot on and no tuning issues. The grovers are smooth and hold the tune well. A few things I noticed that I did not like were the tone and volume control knobs were set at all different heights and one was actually rubbing the top of the body. It was with some difficulty, that I managed to get that particular one up and in a good position without marring the finish. The others I adjusted to a matched height about 3/32 off the body. Looks fine now. Now I know while I didn't purchase a US made Les Paul and shouldn't expect perfection, I was disappointed that the guitar body is made of several pieces of wood glued together. But the real issue is they show what appears to be a one piece solid mahogany in the rear view picture but in fact it's just a thin mahogany laminate covering three glued together pieces underneath. I suppose on the desert burst model you'd hardly notice any difference in the color of the finish but on the antique finish it clearly doesn't match. Is this enough for me to send it back? Well no, I can live with it as it has no effect on the guitars sound and I don't regularly stare at the backside anyway. Just thought I was getting a one piece mahogany body. I did point this out to the customer service rep and told them they should clearly point this out so others aren't surprised like I was. For the price I paid, I'm satisfied. The fit and finish is every bit as good as my US made Les Paul Classic. Other than those little issues, it's a solid well built awesome sounding guitar and I really enjoy the coil splitting feature as well. At less than one third of the cost of the real one, this is a real deal. I'd give it five stars if it wasn't for the laminated back, but it's still a great deal on a great playing/ sounding guitar.JimmyD

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

The les paul gt is a solid player, it sounds good for the price. Also the acoustic sound it produces is quite good, however, my frets are kind of worn out now, so it doesn't sound too good anymore. (I am not going to talk about the pros anymore, because there are plenty of reviews that focus on those). Now for the bad. The body of the guitar is incredibly flat and blocky. There is no tapering, or smoothing around the edges of the guitar. Because of this, when you are playing, the edge of the guitar is constantly jabbing your rib with its sharp edge. It also shows how poor the craftsmanship is on the guitar. I'd say that 99% of the guitar was made and assembled by robots. the guitar is also quite heavy adding to the discomfort. If your going to buy this guitar just be aware that the body is completely 2 dimensional with no concave or anything, also know that the guitar is rather heavy.nickname

As a hobby guitar player for 30+ years I was looking for an inexpensive LP style guitar with a tremolo. Something I could have fun with, not a wall hanger. Epiphone had the answer with this well built guitar. It's got the LP look with a set of pretty hot pickups which provide lots of snarl on command. The kill switch built into the tone control is a great idea and can be useful and fun to play with. The tremolo is pretty good and generally stays in tune well. Historically guitars in this price range have a reputation as being unfinished with poor fret work, poor nut work, etc. overall these days that's not true anymore and this guitar is a pretty good example of that…BobS67

Nice guitar. Same size as a les Paul. Not too much sustain which I'm sure is due to its light weight body construction. The cut off knob is a nice feature when using heavy distortion. It'll eliminate the need to switch off your pedal when there are pauses to avoid annoying feedback. Nice looking guitar but the flat black matte finish would really pop with a few coats of lacquer but I guess that's one of the steps, or lack of, that keep the cost sooo low. I'm pretty sure a few pounds of lacquer would help with the sustain. Maybe if I get bored I'll give it a try and post a new review.Ronald

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 am both surprised and please with this guitar I purchased this guitar at GC Nashville after returning a Gibson Les Paul Classic that I bought online. (lesson learned, don't buy from GC online.) The staff there were great and had no issues with me returning a $2200 guitar that I bought online. Even more supportive in helping me pick out a much less expensive guitar. Great people. This Epiphone is awesome. The fit and finish are great. The action is low and no buzz. The tone is great and It is lighter and easier to handle than the Gibson . The best part is it cost a third of the one I returned. I really wanted a Gibson but I am so glad I picked up this Epiphone. A word of caution. I looked at and played several guitars at GC before choosing this one. I even played a couple of other Epiphone Les Paul Customs. No two were the same. One had razors for frets, one had an action you could drive a truck under and this one was just right. Go in an play them before buying.Mike

This is my second 6 string electric, and I couldn't be HAPPIER with it! My first guitar is an entry level Epiphone SG Special that was a couple hundred bucks back in the day. It got the job done…good frets, good tune, good everything. I recently decided to step it up and get a "mid-range" guitar but still not break the bank with an Epiphone. And I'm not calling Epiphone cheap…they are just more in my price range when compared to Gibsons. Stepping it up is the right description for this guitar!! It is AMAZING! The feel, the tone, the look! It sounds great and feels good in the hands too. I especially love the Silverburst color!! The main reason I wanted this specific guitar. It's Adam Jones from TooL color scheme finish but on an epiphone! They are coming out with his own model of epiphone, but I'm impatient lol. Looks are important to picking out a guitar as much as sound! The inlays on the fretboard look beautiful. The pick guard and finish are beautiful, the trim/binding around the guitar… this guitar has reignited my passion for playing! As of this writing, I have no complaints! Excellent guitar!Matt

I purchased this guitar because a Les Paul was missing from my gear arsenal and I didn't want to drop three grand on a Gibson. I played a wall model at a local GC store and decided to buy, but requested a factory new model sent to me, because the wall model I played had some nicks in the fretboard, a sketchy 3 way switch and had worn strings and the intonation was way off above the 14th fret. I paid for next day air shipping to expedite the process because I tend to want the things I pay for fairly quickly. The shipping tag originated from the same city I live in, meaning they had a factory new either in the warehouse or at the neighboring store about 20 miles away. So I essentially paid 42$ for expedited shipping and could had likely gotten it same day if I asked the right questions I suppose. Shame on me. The next business day my guitar is delivered to my residence, I open it and immediately inspected it for possible shipping damage or factory flaws. It arrives with a broken 3 way switch, all strings tuned nearly 2 steps flat and also needed to make a truss rod adjustment to straighten the neck. Completely unacceptable that these issues left both the factory and GC's "quality control" in the condition it did. Luckily I work at a local small box music store and worked with our own luthier after hours to set it up and correct the problems. All that said, this guitar is absolutely fantastic. It plays and sounds very good and even though the stock pickups aren't top tier, they are excellent performers at a very reasonable price point. Monster value in this guitar. If you can acquire one some where other than Guitar Center, do it. If you do purchase from guitar center, make absolutely certain to have it looked at by a professional before accepting it. 5 stars for the guitar and it's value. 1 star for guitar centers lack of QC shipping items.Dan

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

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

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

I've been looking for the right Epiphone SG for years now, but it's been difficult to find one that I loved the feel of. I love this guitar. The neck feels fantastic. The fit and finish are very high quality. The pickups are great, if a little muddy at the neck, and they drive my Hot Rod DeVille just right. The split coils are decent and you really can get a workable single coil sound from it if you want. It sounds surprisingly close to my 40th Anniversary Stratocaster even though there is still a noticeable difference. The only real upgrade I'm thinking of is some locking Grovers in nickel, but the stock tuners are serviceable. I took a really close look at the Fender Classic Vibe Telecasters with humbuckers, but Epiphone is just crushing it with their Inspired By Gibson line. If you've always dreamed of owning a Solid Guitar, you owe it yourself to play one of these.Dustin

I saw the deal on the 4th of July at $399 but I wasn't sure if I should jump in it without testing one out. So I decided to take a ride to my local Guitar Center and check one out. Let me say the quality felt great and the tone sounded great and I was sold at the price. I own 2 Gibson SG Standards and this Epiphone hits all the marks. The tone sounds great clean or dirty and the setup was perfect out of the box. I did change the strings and tuned them to D standard. The guitar will last for years and I think it's a definite buy. Do not sleep on the new Epiphone guitars.Michael