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For years I've been wanting a Gibson Les Paul. I've been a big fan of Gibson guitars but never had a Les Paul. My last Gibson was a 1986 black Flying V, but like an idiot, I sold it in the early 90's so I can get the money to by my Charvel 650 Custom. Not that I don't like my Charvel, I love it. It's just that I wish I would have kept my V. Oh well, that's in the past cant do anything about it now, let's move on. Fast forward to January 2008 and my itch for a Les Paul acts up again. I do the usual, look on ebay, visit music stores, go to musiciansfriend.com etc... After pricing them out, I realize that there is no way I can justify spending $2000 on a Gibson Les Paul at this time in my life unless my wife and son don't mind eating Cup'O Noodles for the next couple of weeks. So the quest for Gibson's less expensive sibling the Epiphone begins!

First step was to check eBay and see what they were selling for. You can see them going from $200.00 up to around $900 for the signature series like the Zakk Wylde and Ace Frehley models. I wanted to spend around 400-500 tops. Going online is a great way to spec out what you're looking for and for getting an idea on price, but I still recommend going to an actual music store and playing the guitar for yourself. I found that Musiciansfriend.com had a nice Les Paul Classic Quilt Top for $449 plus free shipping and no tax. But before buying it, I went to a local Guitar Center to check one out in person. They sold them for the same price as MF, but then I would have to pay tax, and they didn't have the color I wanted, they would have to order it. I'm an instant gratification type of guy and I wanted to walk out that day with one. But since they had to order it anyway, I may as well buy it online and order it myself and not have to pay any sales tax. So that's what I did.

I ordered the guitar on Monday and it was at my door that Friday (and on my birthday too!) At first inspection I checked for Grover tuners. This was a concern of mine because on the MF website, they show a couple of different pictures for the same guitar from different angles, but some of the pictures are of a different models. I noticed the tuners were Grovers in some pictures, and a different kind for others. This was the same thing on Epiphones own website. I guess they all use the same pics. Thankfully the model I received had Grover tuners. You may want to double check when you order yours. Why Grover tuners you ask? Because they are very good. I used to have them on my Gibson V and they always stayed in tune. Some of the less expensive Epiphones don't user Grovers and they can't stay in tune for very long. These are some of the concerns you don't have to deal with when you are at a store physically playing the guitar. Also you don't have to worry about the action or setup of a guitar. Most guitar stores will adjust the action for you free of charge when you buy the guitar. When you order by mail, you have to hope the action is set to your liking or adjust it yourself if you know how, or of course bring it to a shop and pay to have it done.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received this guitar that the action was set to my liking. Even more surprising was the fact that the guitar was pretty much in tune! Even after being shipped cross country in the middle of winter and sitting outside on my front porch in 20 degree weather. Of course it still needed to be tuned a bit, and since it had new strings on it, there would be some stretching and re-tuning required over the next couple of days. So I was very happy and relieved with that my guitar purchased on line was all I hoped it would be....Except for 2 problems.

Problem #1: When plugged into an amp and strumming a full cord, the amp would clip as if the volume coming into it was too high. This was an easy fix, the bridge pickup was set a little too high and was too close to the strings. Just a couple of turns of the screws and I was able to lower the pickups until they didn't clip the amp anymore. Whew, I was nervous for a second thinking there was a problem with the pickups.

Problem #2: When trying to do a solo I realized the 19th and 20th fret on the high E string were the same note! What the,,,,? After closer inspection, I realized that the 20th fret was not filed down correctly and was higher than all other frets. This was a problem because the 19th fret would actually fret out at the 20th, hence them both being the same note. It's relatively an easy fix but I don't have to tools to fix it, nor should I be responsible for fixing it. So I called up Musicians Friend and they were very eager to help. They said it was not a problem and I could ship the Guitar back to them (at their cost) and they would send me another. However, I really didn't want to wait another week and was happy with every other aspect of this guitar, I didn't want to give it up. So I asked if I can bring it somewhere locally to get fixed and they credit me the cost of the repair. Without hesitation the girl on the phone offered to refund me $50.00 which should cover the repair. I brought the guitar in for repair and it cost $35.00 to fix it.

All seemed well once I got the guitar back. It wasn't until I got it home and played it more thoroughly that I realized the fret problem wasn't completely fixed. Although the 19th and 20th fret were now different notes, if I did any kind of vibrato on the 19th fret and bent it a little too much, it would fret out at the 20th fret again. Basically the 20th fret was still just a little too high on the very edge of the fret. I just busted out a metal file from my tool box and gave the very edge of the fret a couple of passes and all was right with the world!

Ok, so by now you can see the perils of ordering a guitar online instead of actually going to a store to get one. Of course the advantages of buying at a store are that any of these problems I had would have been fixed for free just by bringing the guitar in, rather than dealing with shipping the guitar back. However MF does give you 45 days to test the guitar and gives you a full refund if you are not 100% satisfied. This is one of the reasons that I purchased from them, knowing that I had that little safety net that had me covered.

As for the rest of the guitar, the finish is absolutely beautiful. Better than any guitar I have seen in that price range. The craftsmanship is excellent. All the bindings, trim and frets are very well constructed and tight. The stock pickups sound very good. This also depends on the amp you are playing through, but I am happy with the rich tone and heavy sound they have. Not to mention the endless sustain this guitar has. I haven't had any problems with the electronics (yet). The pickup switch feels sturdy and I've already done the Ace Frehley toggle trick numerous times and haven't worn out the switch yet.

The guitar has a nice feel to it. Definitely feels like a Gibson Les Paul which is good if that's what you are looking for. I was used to playing my Charvel for so long which has a slimmer and faster neck, so it took me a while to get used to that Les Paul feel, but I love it! So is this comparable to an actual Les Paul? Yes and No. With a Gibson, you are getting a guitar made out of better wood, better electronics and of course better quality control. Gibson would never let a guitar out of their factory with the problems my Epiphone had. But then again, look at the price difference. A good Epiphone is about 1/4 the price of a comparable Gibson. If you play on stage you may find yourself paying the money for a Gibson just so you don't get looked down upon by the Gibson fanboys out in the crowd. I that people who own Epiphone Les Pauls will shy away from saying they own an Epiphone and just say "I have a Les Paul". Then when asked "Gibson or Epiphone?" They kind of bow their head in shame and say "It's an Epi." Don't be ashamed, it's a great guitar! In fact you should be happy that you can buy a high quality Les Paul and still have money for a great amp and still have payed less than half of what a Gibson would have cost you.

But that's just me. If I was younger and not married and didn't have a house and kids, then sure, you bet I would have bought a Gibson. But at this point in my life an Epiphone is a perfect substitute.

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