Price Paid for Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top:
£220 (used)Description of Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top:
Two humbuckers, usual Les Paul Chrome-plated hardware, Chrome Grover Machine heads (tuners)Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Tone Rating:
9/10Comments about Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Tone:
Incredible sustain from this heavy guitar. The pickups are clear and bright with plenty of punch. Beautiful smooth but punchy 'middle'combined tone. Very edgey treble bridge pickup and warm but a little glassy neck pickup. The standard pickups do squeal at high gain/volume settings. For the price new ( about 𧹺 here in the UK I bought mine second hand!) excellent tonality. Not as versatile as a Strat (which I was using before this purchase) but much better for punchy solos and lead playing when trying to cut through drums and base. I love this guitar! I play through a lovely old Simms Watts (1970 British) Valve PA and a two twelve cab. The head is cross patched to fatten the sound up. This is my gigging set up. I use a Zoom gfx3 multi-effects unit for drive etc. This set up works really well and is extremely versatile. I often play clean through the amp and the sounds are rich and varied. Actually better than my old Marshall/4x12 setup in most situations. Very impressed with this guitar. As are the people I play with and to. Not a Gibson but much more than 'half' a Gibson!Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Quality Rating:
9/10Comments about Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Quality:
Compared directly to my friend's Gibson Les Paul Standard the finnish overall is adequate. Taken on it's own merits without any comparisons with a guitar almost FOUR times the price over here the guitar is simply beautiful! The 'flame top' 'flame burst' finnish is gorgeous and although the guitar is second-hand it is pretty immaculate. Two of the bridge pickup mount screws are badly corroded however and will be replaced shortly (sweat probably!)should cost me 20-30p! A small weakness in an overall well-finished and highly playable guitar! The grover tuners fitted to some Epiphone guitars (should be fitted to all of them!)are actually much better than the green plastic ones fitted to the Gibson!!?Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Overall Rating:
8/10Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Pros:
Love it! Plays well. Change pickups to Gibson spec and perfect. For the money an absolute bargain. Much better 'rock' guitar than other copies and lovely looking to boot! Not a Gibson but then it's not ��+ either. Much better to gig with than equivalent stratocaster copies! High praise from a man who until he had played this guitar was a strict stratophile!Epiphone Les Paul Standard Flame Top Cons:
Squealing pickups at high volume. The name, although Epihone is a historic name in US guitar manufacture anyway! Nothing else except the fact that it is a little easier to reach the highest frets on a Strat!
Submitted by: Mark A Brown
Playing Experience: under one year
Musical Tastes: alternative, blues, classic rock
