Learn To Play Guitar Course

Click For More On Learn To Play Guitar Course!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top Review - Better than a Gibson Les Paul?

By R. S. Rasnick

Anyone who's ever played "Guitar Hero" or observed MTV knows that the Gibson Les Paul is one of the most favorite electric guitars in the world, favored by a mixture of guitarists in numerous styles, from rock and blues to jazz and country.

For us plain mortals, there's commonly only one downside to owning a Gibson Les Paul. They don't come cheap!

A new Les Paul will cost well over $2,000, which is pretty darn pricey. So what are our choices if we don't want to drop that kind of change?

Look At the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus!

Don't let the "Made in Korea" sticker fool you. This Epiphone-branded Les Paul Standard Plus sounds, plays, and looks like its American-made brethren. But how does it compare in every detail?

The guitar we critiqued had an utterly lovely Transparent Blue top, which is laminate but still quite pretty. The top was complimented by captivating creme-colored binding and classy chrome hardware.

Aesthetically, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top is just a stunning guitar.

Having owned a Gibson Les Paul Standard for a few years, I was interested to see how the Epiphone Les Paul would stack up, and I have to say that I was really impressed. The slim-tapered neck reminds me of the 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard neck and in many ways was much quicker than my Gibson Les Paul Standard with a 50's style neck.

The rosewood fretboard felt great and the frets were well-polished and smooth on the whole, but not quite as faultless as my Gibson Les Paul. Still, the fretwork is very well done, especially given the instrument's price.

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top boasts alnico classic pickups, which definitely capture the classic Les Paul Sound. Nonetheless, I prefer switching pickups in most of my stock guitars, and the Epiphone is really no exception.

I'm personally partial to Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz Pickups, so I would likely add those to the Epiphone, but this isn't actually a necessity.

The stock Epiphone pickups sound very nice as they are, and they just might suit your needs as is. I did observe some "squealing" at high volumes, but it wasn't that much of an irritation.

The compromises in a model such as this guitar aren't easily obvious. Epiphone saves cash by having a veneer flame top glued to non-flamed maple. Likewise, where Gibson Les Paul Standard bodies are made from a single mahogany slab, the Epiphone mahogany body is laminated, as is the neck.

Surprisingly, these cost-cutting measures allow the instrument to weigh even less than its Gibson counterparts. For the price, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus is a good sounding and easily playable Les Paul for a slim fraction of the cost of the Gibson equivalent. - 18418

About the Author:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home