Epiphone Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar > Reviews (11)

The Les Paul Model Studio Epiphone guitar is a sight to behold, bloody gorgeous. What's great about its appearance is that it suits various kinds of genres, like punk rock, heavy metal, alternative and even classical. Not only is the LP Epiphone one of the prettiest guitars, it is also one of the best sounding, especially in its budget like price between £200 - £300. Plugged or clean, it hits the spot with rich tones and incredible rhythmic sounds. Mine is the one you see in the photograph, black with a dark brown mahogany fretboard with 22 frets, 2 alnico classic humbucker pickups and a selector with the usual Rhythm-Both-Treble options. There are 4 dials unmarked apart from the range 0-10, bridge pick up volume, neck pick up volume & tone and bridge pick up volume & tone. I wears a handsome pick-guard that gives it that extra special something as it would look wrong without it. The fretboard's inlay has the standard white circles to mark specific frets and has smaller versions along the topside for additional ease. Personally I like using Regular Slinky Ernie Ball strings (10-46) or slightly heavier strings to get the best out of it as they feel snug and right at home. You can also fairly easily change the 'tune-o-matic' bridge to adjust the intonation of the strings, to lower or raise them for a personalised feel for your preference.

Stringing it feels more like a hobby instead of a chore - one that you'd take the utmost of care with it considering that not only can guitars be temperamental mistresses but also you don't wanna damage the easily scratched finish with the loose strings, better to take on in the eye that spoil its purity! A light but sharp hit can take off some of the finish so as you'd imagine with any guitar, you must be careful with it when its out and where its stored, luckily it doesn't make any more peel off or crack. That said it is very easy to string. One other minor annoyance is that the guitar lead jack is often loose and the nut needs to be tightened regularly. The sound can be fantastic, but you really need to fiddle around with your amp to find a good fit. I make use of the save function on my Line 6 Spider III amp and have 3 in particular that make this guitar sound holier than Creed. The guitar clean is marvelous plugged or otherwise, dropped to D or C tuning can see this beauty turn into a beast with some incredible gain and minimal feedback problems. Pinch harmonics squeal to the high heavens and the guitar keeps the strings in tune fairly well outside of use.

Never has such a low priced guitar looked and sounded so good. If you have any kind of budget when buying a guitar, this is definitely one to consider.