Epiphone Les Paul Standard Review

The Les Paul is more than a guitar. It's a legend and an archetype. When an electric guitarist seeks a sonic identity, one of the questions he or she asks is, "Do I want a Les Paul sound or a Strat sound?"

Unfortunately, new Gibson Les Pauls have become pricier every year-way out of reach for many players. Enter Epiphone. Gibson's sister division has become a pipeline of affordable yet highly playable guitars, many based on classic Gibson instruments. The imported Epiphone Les Paul Standard is a prime example: With its mahogany and alder body, maple top, and 24 ¾"-scale rosewood fingerboard over mahogany neck, it and an American-built Les Paul Standard are made of very similar materials. Hardware-two humbuckers with chrome cover, individual volume and tone knobs for each pickup, stop tailpiece, tune-o-matic bridge, and vintage-style tuning keys-all recall the classic design. The biggest difference is price: The Epiphone version in black lists for just $799, one-third the price of the least-expensive version of the Standard ($2,399).

So much of the Les Paul's mystique is wrapped up in its distinct styling. From a distance, the Epiphone version looks just like the original. Them main cosmetic difference is the headstock. A closer look, however, reveals more distinctions. Unlike the Gibson version, the Epiphone has a three-piece neck and a two-piece body. Some of the finishing details, such as the plastic binding on the neck and body, look a little rough on close inspection-not that the guitar is poorly made or sloppy. In fact, from a practical standpoint, workmanship is excellent. The neck is sleek and speedy; the frets are smooth and well laid; tuning is sure and stable. The Epiphone is also the lightest Les Paul I've ever held in my life-which may or may not be a bad thing.

One area where the Epiphone Les Paul rivals its more expensive counterpart is playability. The neck is sleek, smoothly finished, and nicely shaped. With a 12" radius and low action, the Paul was extremely versatile right out of the box-I was able to tackle everything from jazz chords to blues to Zeppelin-esque riffing with equal ease. Note bending was also easy for a guitar with such low action.

My experience with imports over the years has been that while many of them play well, few offer the tone to match that playability. The Epiphone Les Paul was an exception. Slightly brighter acoustically than many Gibsons I've played, the Epiphone nonetheless covered a wide sonic range, from very mellow jazz tones to a nice, sweet overdrive. The pickups have a moderate output well suited for vintage tones but can also handle high gain tube drive very nicely. Sustain is impressive, and depending on how hard you drive your amp, almost endless. The most impressive thing about the Epiphone's tone was the combination of fatness and bite that is such an important part of classic rock sounds from Clapton to Page to Billy Gibbons to Slash. At high volume and maximum overdrive, the pickups did become somewhat prone to feedback from body resonance, even with the strings muted, but other than that, the guitar's tone was flawless.

Overall, the Epiphone offers an excellent balance between looks, tone, playing comfort, and price. If you're in the market for a les Paul and don't have the funds for a Gibson, the Epiphone is a worthy and worthwhile alternative.

--Emile Menasche
GuitarOne Magazine
October 1999