Whats the deal with these Epiphone Les Pauls?

[fleaaaaaa]

The ones I am talking about are not the ones I know already but.....

Two of my students have turned up with this......
An epiphone Les paul Special Junior that cost about £130
An Ephiphone Les Paul Special II that also cost a similar price.....

At first I thought these kids had gone and bought £450 worth of guitar but I have never seen these super cheap epiphone Les Pauls before this! So does anyone know what the deal is? Have my students got good guitars? The price for what I see in the lessons seems magical!

[Nuno]

I have a Standard, I bought it in 2006. Three or four years later a friend and I were comparing the new models, the cheaper ones. They are different: different wood, different finishing, different electronics, etc. For example, we noted that they use much more opaque painting now, we guessed they are not using the best piece of wood.

And, are they good guitars? I think so. Certainly I get that you pay for but there are many guitars "made in China" in the similar price range. Some years ago I watched a video where Peter Green played a Epiphone and a Squier and he sounded as Peter Green.

[dogbite]

I have seen and owned the inexpensive LesPaul Special. nice looking guitar with decent fret work. the electronics are awful. pure mush. clean at low volumes this is an ok guitar. Korean made I understand. but could be wrong.

[tinsmith]

I have a LP Standard. Bought it about the same time as Nuno......The only complaint would have been, I needed some pencil graphite on the bottom 3 string nut......Doyle Dykes showed that lil trick during a Taylor seminar....great show BTW.
Although the pickup sound was pretty good.....I put 57 Gib Humbuckers on it...cause I could I suppose.....that's when I found the other PU's weren't so bad, although the Gibs are better, brighter, more punch.....Those Epi PU during that era weren't bad at all...worth the money....I hear they changed right after that & started making them, the guitar cheaper.

[s1120]

OK, the specials , and special II are realy not in the same leage as the standards. They are basic slab guitars, with bolt on necks, and cheap electronics, and hardwere. I have seen a few, and played a few. When I first started shopping for a guitar to learn on, I was looking at them, and eaven then I learned it was a pretty poor guitar. That being said, I have played one or two, that were not bad, and with a pickup swap did not sound half bad.. So I guess its like anything else... its all how its setup. If they got a good one.... they are fine, but some I played were REAL bad!!

BTW... that style is the guitar that came with the Rocksmith video game.. so thats where they might have come from.

[Davesdrums]

I got a les Paul special 11 last year for $115.00 USD. love it! only thing I had to do was get new tuning keys. originals weren't bad but you know! really a nice guitar, great tone although doesn't sound les Paul to me!

also just got they new ephiphone les paul SL.. Beautiful and light as a feather, yet still has good sustain. I like the neck pickup but bridge pup is a bit low on volume. changed out to a single coil size humbucker, problem solved! was going to get another bridge but after tuning c standard was amazed how good the intonation was... quite the surprise. IMO they do of course need new tuning keys but I can't put it down! and $99.00, crazy!
dave

[MartyW]

Great finds, Dave. I'm always surprised to find out how good some deals like can be. That's a bargain if you ask me. I hope you're still enjoying them.

[s1120]

I got a les Paul special 11 last year for $115.00 USD. love it! only thing I had to do was get new tuning keys. originals weren't bad but you know! really a nice guitar, great tone although doesn't sound les Paul to me!

also just got they new ephiphone les paul SL.. Beautiful and light as a feather, yet still has good sustain. I like the neck pickup but bridge pup is a bit low on volume. changed out to a single coil size humbucker, problem solved! was going to get another bridge but after tuning c standard was amazed how good the intonation was... quite the surprise. IMO they do of course need new tuning keys but I can't put it down! and $99.00, crazy!
dave

I'm digging one from the past, to update my post from years ago. I'm guessing Epi changed over the years quite a bit with their low cost stuff. I picked up a LP special I last year. TV yellow, with two P90 pickups.. It was on sale for 99 bucks and I wanted a P90 guitar, so I gave it a shot.. WOW this thing is really pretty amazing!! Really only thing it needed was a quick touch up at the nut, and one or two fret ends were a bit sharp... other then that it was spot on!!! Tuners are a little cheezy and one year I will update them, but the thing plays, and sounds amazing! I changed strings, and made a pickguard for it, and love it!! Unplugged it is nothing like my LP standard at all... But plugged in it screams! Hooked it to a little Kustom practice amp, hit some chords and I hear some screaming Neal Young Crazyhorse era tones coming out!!