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New(er) Epi LP...anyone else impressed lately?

Tygr1

New member
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
18
Ok, I'm old and haven't played guitar in quite some time now. Decided in my retirement I'd start again. Wanted to assemble myself a nice Strat to get going with. Picked up a real nice JCM600 12" combo, finished the Strat and off I went.

All this in the past 2 weeks, lol.

Knew I needed a Lester. Couldn't justify OR afford a Gibson. Cripes! NO patience...what to do? Contacted an old guitar trading buddy. "I have this near new 2020 Epiphone Standard 50s that's really nice." AArgh, I thought. I told him I'd look at it.

Cherry burst with a really nicely subtle flamed top. Nice fit and finish everywhere...weighed a tad over 9 pounds...had these new "Probucker" pickups...new headstock design from what I'd seen before. Ahem, nice looking guitar. Picked it up and damned if it didn't play JUST like my 8 or 10 last Gibby Pauls!

I gave the kid 500 for the guitar and a fantastic SKB hardcase, told him I wanted a return if I plugged it in and it sounded bad. No problems.

This thing rocks! I don't even have to close my eyes and I'm playing a 'G' brand, expensive Les Paul with some bad ass pickups!

Definitely a better guitar than I remember from the past. Anyone else?

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zacknorton

Active member
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
731
the 2020's are definitely better quality guitars than their price tags would lead you to believe.

at least the handful I've been able to handle and play on.
 

CaseyG

New member
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
2
The lower end guitars used to be very hit and miss. My buddy of mine used to work in a 2nd hand guitar store, while I work in another guitar store that sells brand new guitars, and they were close to each other. I would setup the guitars and test them all out, and pick out the piece that sounded the best while once in a while, someone would come in to the store my buddy works at and sell their Aria for a couple of hundreds, but sounded like a $4000 guitar. If I had money then(I was a broke student then), I would buy them all up. Nowadays though, I'd say the quality of these guitar are much more consistent.
 

MattStaggs1101

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2020
Messages
7
I just purchased an Epi LP Custom 2020. It's got a solid mahogany body ( no maple cap unfortunately ) and an ebony fretboard. The ProBuckers 2 and 3 remind me of a PAF tone. The new/old Kalamazoo headstock is stunning. This thing is a beast ! No weight relief and plenty of sustain. All I had to do it was adjust the string height and intonation and for a 600 dollar guitar it plays and sounds awesome. Not quite as good as my Gibson LP Studio but damn near close. I did some mods. I added black screws to the four corners of the humbucker mounting rings and changed the tuning machine buttons to Keytstone shape instead of the kidney beans. Kept the Rotomatics because the Grovers are 18:1 ratio. Easy tuning. I actually play this guitar quite often instead of my Gibson, which I play once in a blue moon. For the price and little effort of adjustments you can't go wrong with this axe. Definetely something to consider.
 

Brian Krashpad

Active member
Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
211
Congrats! Looks great.

A buddy of mine up in Canadia bought one of the 2020 TV Yellow Specials and was very impressed. His main guitar is a Suhr Strat, so he knows high quality guitars (he's also a way better guitarist than I-- though that's not saying much; he's a former bandmate of the late Jeff Healy). He had a youtube review viddy up of the Special, but I'm not finding it.

Due to the pandemic, I haven't had a chance to play the new Kalamazoo dovewing headstock models, but the reports all seem good. Prior to that new range, however, over the past previous almost-20 years, I think the Epi quality has been improving. I had a '90s MIK G400 SG that was very "meh." But I currently have a couple slightly newer (at least post-90s) Epi LPs (admittedly, both "Epiphone Custom Shop" models, not that an actual Epiphone "Custom Shop" exists), one a 2000 MIK (Unsung) and one a 2009 MIC (Qingdao), and both are quite nice. So the 2020 models might be a somewhat slighter or incremental improvement than those who haven't been playing Epiphones may know.

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GotTheSilver

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,433
I haven't played any of the new Epi's yet, but I gotta say the new headstock design is a huge improvement! I never liked the old headstock.
 

au_rick

Active member
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
871
I think Epiphone have been putting out some grest guitars for years now.
I have a 2003 Gold Top and it is fantastic after changing out the pickups.
 

timsmcm

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Messages
750
I just purchased a epi joe Banamassa black beauty. It is a beast. I have 5 historic ri pauls. The fundamental tone unpluged from the bb custom is the sweetest and best that I have. The pickups even sound good. The finish is good but the setup was horrible. But the core of the guitar is amazing and it feels as good in the hand and on the strap as any of my historics. I watched Greg Koch at wildwood play one and loved the tones he was getting, so I said might as well try one. So glad I did.
 

Bwayno

New member
Joined
Nov 26, 2020
Messages
11
I bought a 2017 Epiphone Limited Edition Les Paul Custom 100th Anniversary in Antique Natural. It is the prettiest guitar I have ever owned with its gold plated hardware and fancy inlays. But the best part about this instrument is how great it sounds with its pro-bucker pickups. It is made in China but with great attention to detail. It is a dream to play and I have no complaints with it at all.
 

thunderbyrd

New member
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Messages
5
i've got an epiphone DC PRO. it's my 70's hard rock/pat travers guitar. the only problem with it is that i want to put gibson 57 classic p-ups on it, at some time. it is an excellent guitar for 6 bills. plays really good and has great upper neck access. another thing i like is that it's not (i think) a direct copy of any particular gibson. gibson once made a gutar called a del-ray which is a lot like this one, but not exactly. why that makes any difference to me, i ain't got a clue.

but a warning: most of these are a bit neck-heavy. mine isn't or i wouldn't have bought it, i hate neck heavy. but i recommend not buying one online. unless you are someone who doesn't care about that.

epiphone did themselves a huge favor in changing that headstock, IMHO.
 
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