The Many Epiphone Les Paul Models

Want to know all the models available right now in the Epiphone Les Paul line of guitars? Get ready because there are quite a few of them. I'll give you a bit of the low down on the specs, price and review. Let's dive right in, shall we?

Les Paul 100

This is one excellent affordable guitar featuring a bolt-on mahogany neck, and the body is a bit slimmer carved top than usual for more comfort while playing. It also features Alnico V humbucker pickups, chrome hardware, maple top, stopbar tailpiece, available left handed and dot inlays. It comes in ebony, heritage cherry sunburst, and vintage sunburst finishes. These guitars will run you at around $250 to $300 online.

Les Paul 1956 Goldtop

Unfortunately, this one has been discontinued but they surely can still be found either at your local shop (left over stock), or online at places like eBay. These come equipped with the classic p90 soapbar pickups and the gold top finish. You are looking at around $400 to $500 for one of these fine electric guitars.

Les Paul Black Beauty 3

They say, once you go black, you'll never go back. I'm sure they were talking about the Black Beauty 3 by Epiphone. This thing has 3 Alnico Classic humbuckers! 3! Gold hardware too. Just a really classy looking workhorse of a guitar built especially for rock. These sell anywhere from $500 to $700 online.

Les Paul Custom and Custom Plus

Some people have been known to call these the tuxedo LP. You can either choose from an alpine white finish or ebony. it features everything that most other Epiphone Les Pauls are known for - mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard and more. It's also got some excellent styling with the gold hardware and bindings on the body. $500 or so should get you rigged up with one of these.

There's also the discontinued custom plus that gives you everything that the Custom has and adds some sweet finish options like heritage cherry or vintage sunburst.

Les Paul Special II

At around $200, this has to be one of the most affordable Epiphone Les Paul options. These guitars feature an open coil pickup design from Alnico V and a tune-o-matic bridge. There is quite a large number of finish options as well including ebony, white, heritage cherry sunburst, wine red, vintage sunburst. It also comes in left handed models and there is a player pack and performance pack as well giving beginners everything they need.

Les Paul Standard, Standard Plain Top, Standard Plus Top

The Standard line of guitars has three different options for the top. The standard solid body, plain top and plus top. These all have roughly the same features with differences in the finishes available. The plain top features a maple top and the plus top has a flamed maple top. $300 - $400 should bring one of these babies home to you.

Les Paul Studio

Just like a regular Gibson Studio, you've got a solid mahogany body and open coil humbuckers. They are available in alpine white, arctic blue, worn brown or cherry. There are also limited edition Chameleon versions (which are now discontinued) that feature color shifting finishes that actually almost change color depending on the light you are looking at them in. Find them online for around $300.

Les Paul Ultra and Ultra II

The first thing you will notice about the Ultra and Ultra II is the difference in weight from other models of Les Paul. The mahogany body is actually chambered to allow for a bit more of an acoustic vibe with the instrument. They have a sweet quilted maple top as well. The Ultra II combines all of this with the NanoMag low impedance pickup that is actually installed right in the fingerboard for great electric acoustic tones. You'll probably be looking at around $800 for one of these.

If you want to find more great information about the Epiphone line of guitars, click here and everything about Epiphone guitars you need to know is there.

Epiphone Guitars - A Good Alternative to Gibson? Read the Top 4 Differences and Decide For Yourself

Epiphone Guitars or Gibson Guitars? Musicians will argue this until the end of time, so let's just focus on a few facts so you can decide for yourself.

First, a bit of background:

Epiphone and Gibson are very popular guitar makers. Epiphone was Gibson's biggest competitor until 1957, when Gibson purchased the faltering Epiphone. At that point, Gibson licensed many of its most popular models to be made by Epiphone, and by doing so was able to penetrate a whole new tier in the guitar marketplace.

So, what's all the fuss about? Why is a Gibson Les Paul $2,000 and an Epiphone Les Paul $500?

Let's take a look at the differences:

1. Where They're Made. Epiphone guitars are primarily manufactured in China. This of course makes huge cost cuts possible, but also makes quality control a bit more difficult. Gibson guitars are always made in the USA, and Gibson strives to have actual musicians making these guitars whenever possible. To some this may make no difference, but if you have an eye for workmanship you will notice a difference in craftsmanship.

2. Quality of Components. Epiphones are going to have lesser quality pickups and tuning keys. While the tuners don't have much of an effect on tone, it can be annoying to have to tune often because of inferior tuning keys. The higher quality pickups on Gibson guitars may be a nuance missed by non-musicians or beginners, but you can bet that not too many Platinum records were recorded using an Epiphone. Countless classic records have been recorded using Gibsons.

3. Headstock. To the untrained eye, An Epiphone and a Gibson may look identical. The key aesthetic giveaway is that the "open book" styling of the top of the headstock is cut off on a Epiphone. Of course, it also says "Epiphone" on the headstock, but this subtle difference is enough to signal the difference between "pro" and "entry-level." Having a Gibson is a statement that you've spent a lot of money on a guitar, and in some cases is a musician's status symbol.

4. Finishing Touches. Gibson guitars sport a Nitrocellulose lacquer finish, while Epiphones have a Polyurethane finish. The Nitrocellulose finish allows the wood to age well and allow some air and moisture to pass through the finish. This brings out different sound characteristics as the instrument gets older. It also has to be applied in multiple layers with sanding in between, and is much more labor intensive.

An Epiphone's polyurethane finish needs only to be sprayed on in one or two coats, so it takes less work and time. This finish also restricts the air and moisture transfer to the wood that reduces the (often desireable) effects of aging.

The effect of each type of finish on tone is debatable, but an Epiphone's finish is obviously cheaper and faster to apply.

Is there a happy medium between an Epiphone and a Gibson?

Yes. Here are some suggestions if you can't decide which guitar to invest in:

*Many guitar players opt to buy a used Gibson to bring down the cost. A guitar that's a little beat up has some "soul," which isn't always a bad thing.

*Alternately, some online retailers offer to spread the cost equally over 5 months with no interest or credit card needed. You can buy a really nice, brand new $2,000 guitar for $400 per month without having to open a new line of credit.

*A final idea that works well is to buy an Epiphone and replace the pickups and tuning keys. This way you improve the two biggest shortcomings of the Epiphone while keeping costs down. If this is your first time attempting this, please hire a professional to do the job!

My Guitar Guide dives into all things Gibson, with a Special Section on Epiphone Guitars

Epiphone G-400 Review - A Worthy SG Replacement?

If you want an inexpensive instrument that can cover a lot of sonic ground, you can't go wrong with the G-400.

Although it may not have as much weight (figuratively speaking) as the iconic Fender Stratocaster or the Gibson Les Paul, the Gibson SG is still a noticeable part of rock and roll history, as Angus Young can attest.

Everyone from Eric Clapton to Tony Iommi has adopted the Gibson SG for its piercing sound. Since not everyone can afford the $1,200 street price for a Gibson, however, their sister company Epiphone makes an affordable SG model, the G-400.

Since the Epiphone G-400 is plainly more inexpensive, we have to discover how well it "stacks up" to its big brother, the Gibson SG.

Features

The Epiphone G-400 is built with a mahogany body and set mahogany neck. It features two Alnico V humbuckers, a rosewood fretboard with trapezoid inlays, chrome hardware, and a tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece.

Performance

We have zero niggles with respect to the cherry finish, which is just plain beautiful and looks fantastic on the instrument's mahogany body. The SG shape itself is perfect. If it weren't for the name on the headstock, the instrument would be a dead ringer for a Gibson SG.

The mother-of-pearl inlays are wonderfully done, though we did discover some small traces of glue residue near the edges. Similarly, we noticed some minute traces of glue holding the neck joint in place, but these squabbles aside, we determined the construction quality to be really well done.

The instrument's intonation was easy to set and was very good, though we wish the bridge saddles weren't as cutting as they are. The instrument held its tuning very well, even after some pretty radical bending.

The instrument plays well, suitable for pretty much any style of music. We did notice a a couple of buzzes and rattles here and there, but we did set the action fairly low, and we didn't observe any of these sounds through an amplifier.

I'm of the belief that a good electric guitar has to sound superb unplugged, and the G-400 doesn't let down in this domain either. It's vibrant, resonant, and offers substantial sustain, stunning given the guitar's low weight.

The guitar's acoustic tones were, pardon the pun, "amplified" when we plugged into our test amplifier, a Dr. Z MAZ-18 NR. The pickups of the G-400 offered very balanced tones, useful for numerous distinct styles.

We auditioned the pickups in all three toggle settings and found the tones useful in all settings using both clean and distorted amp/pedal sounds. When we really went for a metal sound (using a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde pedal), we thought the instrument was a bit muddy sounding, but's not really a criticism, considering how toppingly warm this guitar is overall.

So, if you wish to play this instrument in a Judas Priest tribute band, you'll probably want to put in some hotter pickups with a bit more treble bite.

The Bottom Line

There's not much more to say. The Epiphone G-400 is a splendid guitar at a superb price. If you want an inexpensive instrument that can cover a lot of sonic ground, you can't go wrong with the G-400.

Name of Gear: Epiphone G-400

List Price: $606.00

Manufacturer Info: The Epiphone Company; epiphone.com

Pros: Solid value; good playability; sweet rock and blues sounds

Cons: Bridge saddles need work; a little glue residue

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