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The finish options are excellent, though if pushed we’d opt for the Metallic Gold.įurthermore, this sounds like a Les Paul.
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Sure, there’s Indian laurel on the 12”/30.5cm fingerboard, but it’s a decent rosewood substitute and the trapezoid inlays are tastefully applied. It feels like a Les Paul – a heavy one at that – and it looks the part, too. Well, there’s no shortage of sustain here, and in a blind test the Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’50s more than held its own. Described by Epiphone as a “rounded medium C-profile”, the neck is glued to the body via a long neck tenon – a deeper-set neck joint that adds mass and can enhance sustain if all other things are equal. Built for traditionalists, it features a big ol’ neck that fills the palm, making it extremely comfortable to wield.
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The Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’50s is a home run for Epiphone. Meanwhile, the dual-humbucker format and solid poplar body offer a convincing taste of that thick and warm LP tone that you’d expect from a guitar bearing Les Paul’s name. But how refreshing it is to witness Epiphone applying a worn finish to a beginner electric in the shape of the Epiphone Les Paul Special Vintage Edition, giving it some of the kudos and magic of a 1950s guitar. With vintage models held up as the acme of guitar design, it’s no surprise to see so many aged and relic’d finishes on the market. The neck profile is reassuringly meaty and supremely comfortable and should you feel like bending a note and holding it, you’ll be knocked out by the sustain. With its ProBucker pickups (which replicate the vintage Alnico II magic of the original PAF humbuckers), classic finish and tonewood cocktail of solid mahogany and maple up top, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard ’50s in Metallic Gold is a real chip off the old-school block.
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Some of these are perfect for beginner electrics, priced to be someone’s first guitar. Secondly, you might notice that it offers a cornucopia of Epiphone Les Pauls. Firstly, that the manufacturer has an abundance of its own designs – right now, there are few more exciting brands on the market. One look at the latest Epiphone catalog will tell you a few things. That’s where Epiphone – a Gibson brand since 1957 – comes in.
EPIPHONE LES PAUL KOA SERIES
The thing is, even with Gibson’s Tribute Series offering a stripped-down Les Paul that costs around a grand, not all of us can afford a US-built model. Gibson’s peerless single-cut was the original aspirational guitar. For many guitarists, the Gibson Les Paul is the alpha and omega of electric guitar design.