Guitars

Ok, so I just got the bug/g.a.s. etc and I am looking at some Les Paul shape guitars.

Anyone have experience with off brand LP's?

I hear there are some great ones out there but which brands/models?

There's everything from oddly setup Godin's to your standard Epiphones to MIJ brands I never even heard of before.

I figure whatever one I get will need a pickup replacement/tuner replacement. (f those plastic tuners, grovers or better or nvm)

Tell me what you know..

(I'd love to have a LP with a bigbsby)

I'been playing a low dollar model Gibson Les Paul Studio
(got it new at GC for around $700), with the nitrose celu
something finish. I think the neck is faster and slicker
then the Gibson LP Standards, for a 1/3 of the money.

I've got to have that arch top, on the Strats my pick keeps
hitting the pickups, can't control pick direction on the Strats,
because of this.

I have a "Black Back" copy by EPIPHONE. It looks great plays well but is a little thin of tone in comparison to my Gibson guitars.

Then I play straight into an amp with no preamp / pedals ETC.
Pick-ups can be changed too of course.

[img][img]http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm74/sanshouheil/ELP001.jpg[/img][/img]

I have played most of those copy Pauls ,,, I just bought a Les paul DC Standard,, Will never get another strat not worth bothering with,, I played strats for years ,,, would not buy a Les paul; Mostly cause I could not afford it
The Les Paul Is actually Easier to play Literally,, If I had started playing it 25 or more years ago I would have been 3 times faster then ,, I am now,, as far as Tone,, You can put any pickup in any guitar ,, But it will still be that guitar,, It will never sound like another exactly,,, I just bought another DC I have a PRS as well and a Schecter,, I sold My anniversary PRS to get the second DC ,, I will keep the PRS that has the neck I like to play,, The schecter's neck is a Little too thick but tolerable all My guitars are neck thru ,and 24 Frets I will not play anything else,., The sound is not acceptable tome

I just played a LES PAUL CLASSIC and I was very impressed with the instrument, but not the price..

(hide your wallet or you won't have one, it's THAT bad.)

Antoria Custom lawsuit model for me

A cheap Les Paul Studio sounds better than any "look alines". Get the Gibson.

The neck is what I object to on a gibson LP>.

The LP classic for a mere few grand is tolerable, but not really my speed either. The tone is not hard to get, the playability factor of the neck is the real issue...that and those green plastic tuners are too cheap to be useful/functional.

I have a 2009 LP Studio Sunburst. Nice guitar and I just never play it. I always take the Tele and the Strat. I bought it as sort of a tribute to Les when he passed away and I thought I really needed to own one. Well it turns out I don't so I should probably find a new home for it. I spent 30 years playing Gibsons and now I have gone over to the dark side completely.

If you are looking for a really high quality knockoff, look at Memphis guitars. They were one of the lawsuit brands built in Japan that were such excellent copies of the original instruments they were sued by Gibson and forced out of the market. Memphis had a "student" model with bolt-on neck that was pretty terrible and a high-end set neck guitar that rivaled Gibson quality at the time. They played sweet and sounded great but guitar collectors are hip to these and they generally don't sell for bottom dollar.

Here is one... nice axe:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Memphis-Les-Pau ... 2c69e89815

Another quality knockoff LP is an older Ibanez from the same era. Possibly Ibanez and Memphis were made in the same factory as they were nearly identical.

A cheap Les Paul Studio sounds better than any "look alines". Get the Gibson.

Amen, brutha! Good advice.



I got one of the tweed "TV model" Gibson Les Pauls. Rarely get to play it. It's a really cheap model but plays like any Les Paul for about the same price as an Epiphone copy.

Weird isn't it?

Take the cheap Gibson, dump the pickups, possibly change the tuners if you didn't get the metal grovers to begin with and voila you have something reasonable.

Actually someone just mssg'd me about their Epiphone Limited Edition Silver Sparkle. I like the look of it but didn't like the neck.

This is why I love 50's strat slim v necks, they just seem to agree with me like Modelo in the can and a t-bone steak.

http://www.crownimportsllc.com/ourbrands/modelo.htm

Never found a can beer I could stand until this one.
What you have other beer in a can? Pass, my head hurts just thinking about it. lol

Actually you probably don't have to change any hardware on a Les Paul Studio. The pickups are the same as a Les Paul Std. and sound great, bridge is a tunamatic, and the tuners are very good quality with a vintage feel. They are not Grovers but they work well and stay in tune. I don't really fear the replica plastic tuning heads much. My vintage 55 Les Paul Jr has the plastic button tuning heads which finally crumbled a few years ago and a new set was around $20. 50 years of use was a pretty good run so it's a non-issue IMO.

If you like the guitar, buy it and spend a few bucks having the frets dressed and smoothed to remove any rough edges not done during manufacturing and get it set up to your taste. Done!

You know I would agree with you, but I played a JS-100 some months ago and the tone was so good, I was shocked to the core.

And I don't even really like Mr. Satriani that much, but his guitar was something else.

The guy I know who owned it didn't think much of it and he was amused (as were others) that I appreciated it as much as I did but I was honest about it.

(Never depend on people to realize what is good and what is bad, it's simply too subjective to rely on any one opinion.)

That guitar had custom pickups in it as well. I gues what I am trying to say is a great guitar is great but if you get a great pickup in it as well, it can make a noticeable difference regardless. (imo)

Setups around central NJ are a joke. I can think of maybe 2 entities I would trust with my main guitar and only 1 of them is a "shop".

If you want quality work done here, it's trial and error and once you find someone you like, you better keep him or her in business or you'll be looking for another.

Otherwise you need to go into the city. It's pretty much a fact at this time.

Local music stores deal garbage guitars, do lousy work and rent trumpets and clarinets to middle school kids. Real quality setups are done by people who don't work in the industry unless you know someone and know their work. Otherwise you may as well flip a coin and it will cost you a good coin as well.