Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar Translucent Blue

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

I won't bother repeating too much what others have said about the excellent quality of this guitar, both in terms of tone and in terms of craftsmanship. For the price, it can't be beaten and will not disappoint. However, it is still no Gibson. Tonally I'm sure it will compete well with a true Les Paul when plugged into a good amp, however the purist will be disappointed to find that the back of the body is a thin mahogany veneer. This cleverly conceals the fact that the body and neck are made of multiple random off-cuts of mahogany which would never find their way into a Gibson. My particular guitar (body and neck) is made of at least 6 off-cuts of mahogany, not including the split veneer on the back, the split maple cover, and the fretboard. This comes to at least 11 pieces of wood going into my guitar. With that many bits of wood, that much glue, and that many seams, you do want to be sure you're not leaving this out in the sun too long, or leaving it in a really cold garage for long periods of time. It may not stand up to the test of time like a more expensive guitar. So you're not exactly getting a bargain - you're getting exactly what you pay for. This detail seems to have evaded detection in other reviews and may prompt some to pay the full price for a Gibson which is almost guaranteed to be made of top-quality wood.

That being said, a discerning guitarist ought to test a few of these guitars before making a purchase, thereby avoiding bodies with unintended 'dead-spots'. If you're not really sure if you'd be able to spot a dud, then to be brutally honest this particular issue won't be bothering you that much anyway. Not to sound too patronizing, but you could save yourself some trouble (and money) and just get an even cheaper guitar. It is a sad fact of life that many guitarists spend ungodly amounts of money for instruments and equipment that they can never actually appreciate.

I am a lefty and unfortunately had no real choice per avoiding 'duds' - I was forced to buy the only one in the shop, but fortunately it plays brilliantly. I have always been searching for the Paul Kossoff tone and after playing the solo to 'All Right Now' (which really brings out the best in a good guitar/amp combination as it occupies a lot of space along the fretboard and requires a lot of sustain from the body) found the guitar to respond perfectly. I am no virtuoso but it adequately reflects my command of the guitar.

Other lefties beware - as with most left-handed guitars, the volume and tone nobs have been wired backwards by idiots and '0' is in fact full volume/tone, while '10' is the opposite. I've rewired all my previous guitars to get around this, but owing to the fact that the push/pull pots have small circuit boards attached, and the entire guitar actually has a small and quite intricate wiring harness, fixing this problem is not going to be easy for an amateur electrician (such as myself). I've wired my own push-pull pots with coil-splitting humbuckers but none quite as advanced as this.

I am surprised to see reviewers noting poor build quality. This is a rather poorly educated comment and should be ignored, in my opinion. Remember that you are not buying a Gibson - you are going for the budget brand and you get what you pay for. It needs to be said that Epiphone's build quality has improved markedly over the years. I have an old SG G-400 I bought years ago and every single component of the Les Paul Standard is superior - from the tuners on the neck and the tuners on the bridge, to the frets, to the pick-ups, etc. Again, as I said, this guitar is worth every penny. You cannot find a guitar (new) for this money, of this quality and with this many good features. Just be weary of 'duds' and if you're a lefty, expect mild but bearable buggeration. I hope this helps people make a more informed decision.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

This is great guitar! Insanely beautiful AAA Flame Top (Honeyburst Here.) If your looking for a Gibson for this price point, then this is it! It def has that Gibson Les Paul growl and overdrive when rocking out to your favorite rock song. It's amazing overall from the soft coil tapped melodies all the way to the humbucking overdriven rhythm tones and screaming leads.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

I bought this guitar a couple of months ago for myself, to complement a Schecter Omen 6 I had gotten for my kids to learn on. I wanted a guitar that was different from the Omen 6, which has a Strat type body and humbucker pickups. The main thing that attracted me to this guitar, other than the classic LP body, was the split coil pickups, which is a great feature, giving the option of getting either a single coil or humbucker sound. The fret spacing on this guitar also seems to be a bit more compressed than the Omen 6, since I could reach fingerings on this guitar that were too far apart for me on the Omen.

The only problem was that the first Epiphone that was sent to me had atrocious intonation that couldn't be fixed by fine tuning the bridge saddles. Musician's Friend was very helpful and shipped out a replacement at no cost. The second one had better intonation overall, but the properly tuned open G-string was too sharp when I fretted any notes on that string, meaning your could either have a perfect open D chord or open C chord, but not both. The saddle on the bridge which is used to adjust intonation was maxed out and couldn't be moved far enough toward the tailpiece to fix it.

I browsed some LP web forums and this seems to be a common problem with Gibsons/Epiphones. Some people recommended changing the nut, the bridge, or reversing the saddle to allow you to lengthen the string at the bridge to make it less sharp. I tried the saddle reversal since it was the least hassle of those options. I found some websites that described how you can flip the saddle on a tune-o-matic bridge like this one to give it more travel space for intonation adjustments. This worked and the intonation is now perfect. I didn't even have to remove the strings to make this fix.

Overall now, this is a great guitar. I only took off a star because I think the factory can do a better job of truly adjusting the intonation before shipping them out. The Omen 6 I had gotten was perfect in that regard right out of the box.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

As I commented before on another MF review I am a
beginner and my experience may not help some one
purchasing this guitar.
So far the Epiphone Les Paul is exactly what I
expected and is on par with a Gibson Studio Deluxe I tried in a store for a lot less money.
I haven't set it up yet but the finish and playability are fantastic for the price and of
course Musicians Friend were great for helping me make the choice.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

I was excited, but then disappointed by the guitar. Excited as the Honey Burst maple top is beautiful. Not so excited as the 'solid' parts, back and head stock had a shop class look to it. It appeared pieces seemingly glued in (didn't match wood)to make up the area. Fret work overall was terrible, string felt like bending on sand paper, very rough, poor quality frets. Tone, sound very good, new style pickups were good. Sent mine back for a Gretsch Pro Jet where I know quality will be up to what it should be.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

This guitar has it all, fat gibson tone when you want it. with thesplit coil you can get it to really squak. good set up out of the box.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

For the price i think they should not be any flaws on a guitar,was diapointed for that price. I ve seen guitars for half that price and could not find any flaws.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

This guitar plays smoothly and sounds like a classic les paul. I'd recommend it to anyone that enjoys music and playing. The only thing I don't really like is the weight. This is an amazing guitar but a heavy one compared to most guitars, I'd say probably nine to ten pounds.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

Bought this for my son for X-mas and I have to say I am as pleased with it as he is. It is a beautiful sounding and looking guitar for way less then a real Les Paul. My son is self taught and the sound from his old Ibanez GIO compared to this, well there is no comparison. Quality item for a great price, and M.F. gave me a great discount. Thanks, would definately recommend this Guitar and Musicians friend in the future.

Comments about Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar:

After nearly 40 years, I decided to switch from bass to guitar. I already had a Squier Tele but I was looking for a guitar that had a sound all its own...so I chose a Les Paul. A friend of mine who's a long time guitar player helped me in choosing. When we came upon the Plus Top Pro, I checked it out. This one had the sound, quality, and it doesn't hurt to have the Les Paul name behind you.