Epiphone and Squier have been steadily kicking ass in the guitar market creating affordable gems! Sounds really great AND it's a sub - $500 guitar, amazing!!!
The trouble with your comment, while very true, is that Squirer is now very close in price with the Fender Players, and you will always get much more money if you have to sell. If you know what i mean
@@tallthinkev I would have to strongly disagree. Currently, Sweetwater's list price for a new Squier CV '60s Stratocaster is (rounding both prices up) $430. Meanwhile, the Fender Player Stratocaster is $850 at Sweetwater. That is an almost 100% increase in price, which I would argue is large enough to not qualify as very close.
@@FDLX I'm not, nor are 96% of the worlds population in the US, we don't have Sweetwater. Had a quick look at shops round my way, Squier top of the line Strarocaster £499, best deal for a Fender player Strat £619. It's lucky for me that large companies have not yet taken over the market in the UK and Europe. 'We' can still play shops off each other to get the best deal. Take care
@@tallthinkev I find myself very much corrected. Thank you for correcting my faulty worldview, I genuinely appreciate it. I do also completely agree with your point about the importance of more diverse options in regards to instrument purchases, as it is admittedly very frustrating how local shops in the U.S. are getting phased out.
@@FDLX It's not you're fault at all, I've been to the US a goodly number of times, I blame the media. Anyway, you only really have Sweetwater and Guitar Center now, I think. It's lucky I'm less than an hour away from London by train. (train ticket only $5 more than postage) A dozen shops within 30 mins walk, or $2 on the bus. Play one off against another, plus most of the smaller places don't have cocky kids tell you X,Y and Z about things they've been told to say. Then trying to sell you a 3 grand bass when you only want a nice back up for 400 quid. Always a good one, is they have a T shirt on of a band you saw back in 1993, 15 years before they were born!
I've had mine for a year and a half. Replaced the pickups with Alnico II Tonerider Vintage 90s and re-wired it to 50s style. I must say, i prefer the Epiphone P90 PROs. Nice review, as usual! That detachable nut, though 😆
I have to say I’m really impressed with the epiphone stuff these days. I got one of the sg specials. I have Gibson guitars and I find myself grabbing the epiphone more often. Thank you for the video!
I own a 2020 LP Special (without a busted nut...lol) and it's my favorite guitar, hands down! In its' factory state, it's pretty impressive for the price point, but the previous owner modded it to make it as close to original 1955-1957 Gibson specs as possible. Custom wound Brandonwound boutique P-90's (8k bridge, 7.5k neck), CTS Vintage Taper 500k pots, .022uF PIO caps, Gibson style 50's braided wiring, Mojoaxe wraparound bridge, Switchcraft switch with amber tip, and topped off with period-correct replicas of a Gibson TRC and jack plate! The only things left stock are the nut, pickguard, back plate and switch cover. Even with all of the mods done, the total cost still came out below the cost of a new Gibson LP Special, and I'll gladly and proudly put this guitar up against one anytime...it's an absolute tone monster! 🎸👊🔥😁
I recently bought an epiphone les paul standard and a special. Both played and sounded great right away. I sold a Gibson les paul standard a couple of years ago. I'd choose Gibson, but at this time I can't afford it, and really can't justify the expense to play at home when my epis sound, play, and look so good.
I have had a few Epis all 2018 to present: ES339 Pro, ES335 Pro, Les Paul Standard Pro, LP Special (in this video)but only one Gibson (1997 LP DC Studio). All were preowned. It was before I could do setups so I had them set up "professionally". For me, my Epis have been worth every penny.
I was given an Epiphone Les Paul 100 tobacco burst about five years ago. I have slowly modded it out. The pots and switch were fine, so I didn't mess with those. I replaced the stock pickups with SD P90 Phat Cats. It was a cool way to get a P90 in that model, without having to adapt the pickup holes. I replaced the large knobs with top hats, put in a tusq nut, and replaced the tuners with klusson style tuners. My friend got this model special, and head to head they are near identical sparing the set neck in the special. Upside to my mod, is I learned things about guitar building, electronics and tech work. Down side would have been if I bought the guitar myself. as a gift, I didn't pay the base price of $399. So the parts I put in amounted to about $290 out of pocket, which total would have put the expense at about $ 700. So for me, I got a special knock off for $290, but anyone else who wants one would be well off in buying the special outright. Especially for the set neck, the color, the feel and the aesthetics of it. Just the same, I think my LP 100 mod is cooler. I retained a stop tail and tunamatic bridge setup, where the Special has only the stop tail uni bridge. I love the tobacco burst over the yellow, and the phat cats retain that nickel humbucker look while delivering a very nice (slightly different) P90 sound. At least, that's my take on it 😀 IMHO
THAT is my favorite Epiphone that I own for the price.... It's the only Epi I have bought in the last 2 years that DID NOT need to level and crown the frets on... I didn't change anything but lower the action to my taste and changed strings to String Joys 8-38 ... Enjoyed this video ... thanks !!!
Dude! “Busted nut”……..Nearly fell off my barstool. It wasn’t broken it was the floating nut option. FYI - don’t squeeze the calipers that hard as it will throw off the calibration. As usual great demo. P90s sound so much beyond the $449 price point its ridiculous. Thanks!
I had one of these, really a good guitar. I didn't expect it to be as good as it was, awesome value imo. edit - and YES, it does need some love, but it becomes the guitar you want after some attention :)
I have a 1997 Gibson version and a few earlier Epi version of the LP special. I have the very first special Epi made that was for real made of plywood and even stamped Gibson on the truss cover. LP specials are prefect guitars. Congrats to anyone who picks one up.
I have one the cheaper ones with a bolt-on neck and 1 volume/1 tone pot. Made in China, all mahogany, bought it used for way south of $100, and love to bits! Bonus: the guy who owned it before me did a fabulous job of going over the fretwork and setup, so they were about perfect.. Would recommend to anybody, or for a few more $ get the nicer model you tested today. P90s: weird,, but right handy!
Ironically, this particular IBG model would possibly tempt me. It’s too bad that, after owning and turning loose of eight guitars (plus one bass) over 28 years (as of Dec. 2023) and only keeping the latest, I’m kind of Epiphoned out. Then, there is the unreasonableness of Gibson prices, being obligated to pay quadruple what one would have to shell out for this model just to have the right brand at the top while not being confident the quality control is up to snuff.
Every Epiphone I've bought in the last 10-12 years gets a 2 week acclamation period. Then a full level/crown/polish and end dressing. I go through the wiring, make any repairs/upgrades. Finally a full setup. Every one gets a chance to be the best it can be. I've kept about 25% of them. The Eppie Firebird is one of the best deals they have also. I can't believe they do that 9 piece neck-through at that price! JMHO's 8) --gary
I have over 10 Epiphone guitars, most from the Inspired by Gibson range. They are fantastic quality guitars for the money. Only with the LP Classic and the SG Custom i had some issues with the wiring and electronics. They do need a setup and new strings so they all went straight to my luthier for that. On most i upgraded the pickups but it was only really necessary on the guitars with Probuckers. The Alnico classics are better and these Pro P90’s are really good. This LP Special is great, one of the best ones, thanks for the review! 🎸
The Gretsch G2215 Streamliner Junior Jet would make for a good head to head comparison here. Only 1 P90 in the neck but a broadtron in the bridge and it's less expensive.
Great video, nice to have met you.(virtually) I`ll be back. You really lay things out with minimal fluff. I just bought this guitar, waiting to pick up at GC. I love the P-90 sound... I bought an Epi Wildkat for the P-90`s, I got the Koa limited edition, absolutely gorgeous, but, The set up was inherently horribly wrong by design. Wild Kats come with a Bigsby trem. The angle was wrong coming from the trem to the bridge, to much angle. Then, this is what gets me, The tuneomatic bridge is like running the strings over a knife (with a trem?) I got a roller bridge and another roller set up for the bigsby, The Epi roller on the Bigsby didn't`t roll at all and had gold finish on it that further made it bind. The roller is called "Biggsfix" amazing solution. With the roller bridge and the "Biggsfix" I can dive bomb the Bigsby and it stays in tune, The product surpassed expectation.I thought about adding locking tuners but don't really need them. So.... I have a beautiful Koa semi-hollow with P-90`s that is rock solid. Now, the P-90`s on the Wildcat aren't potted with wax, and will squeal at you at higher volumes. So, I waxed them. Great example of understanding what you pay for and dealing with it. I love that guitar now. But out of the box???? Horrible set up by design. I also have an Epi Es-335 Pro, Flawless set up out of the box and an amazingly versatile guitar with the coil splitting humbuckers, That guitar has a huge bang for your buck. The nut coming off when you measured it was awesome. Your reaction was classic,.. good times. I'm more excited than ever to unbox mine. Thanks for the review. Nice job.
I own one, and it's a great box!! Yup, robust neck, slab body, and the neck pickup rocks. Wrap the strings around the tailpiece to assist with tuning. Just took it out of the case...jammin', Mon......
Really good overview and some wise comments. I have three IBG Epiphones (the 335, the 339 and the '59 Les Paul) and I've really been fortunate in that they've all been almost flawless. But QC still seems to be the weak spot in these Chinese-made guitars. Still, I'm really tempted to get one of these Epi LP Specials since I don't have a guitar with P90s.
I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Special P90 in 2020 - I love the guitar even though I prefer thinner necks in general. Some things I have noticed about it: string spacing is uneven - this is true of the 2020 Epiphone SG Special I purchased as well - there's a larger gap between the E and B strings than the rest. It doesn't affect playability - it just looks funny if you take a close look at the bridge. Also, I've recently noticed that the bridge posts are leaning forward. I'll need to have my tech take a look at it - but it's playing fine right now and I haven't noticed any intonation issues. I'm using 11s on it right now. I usually use 10s on most of my guitars but this Epi feels great with 11s - hope that's not what is causing the posts to lean. Overall, it's been a great guitar and definitely the best sub-$500 guitar I've ever played or owned. I love the P90s but they're damn noisy when you crank up your amp.
I noticed on the one I bought about a month ago that the bridge does the same thing - leans forward. Actually looks like the bridge doesnt sit flat in the posts and kind of tilts forward, but the posts also don't fit snug into the body and that leaves a little leeway for the posts to lean forward. Like you said, I don't think it affects playability, but it bothers me a bit.
I have this guitar myself. It's the only P-90 equipped guitar I own. I have to say it's really stellar. The sound is fantastic. The retro vibe of the guitar is very cool. It plays great. And for the price these go at you won't be disappointed. That said, I think the electronics is the weak spot. I own three Epiphone guitars and on all of them the pickup selector switch has gone bad. Either the soldering has broke or the switch itself is bad. They all went around the same time after about the same amount of play. I have yet to fix them as two of them are semi-hollow and I'm dreading fishing everything through the f-holes or through the pickup cavity. My impression on Epiphone is that overall they are fantastic guitars for the price, but don't expect them to be perfect out of the box, and there may be some longevity issues with the electronics. Given that they are about five times cheaper than the Gibson equivalent, I can't complain.
Just picked up one at GC barely used for 375! Love it so far…I have four more Epiphone les Paul’s…Joe Bonamassa, 59, and two 50s and I love them all! Like you, I love the chunky necks! I feel like this one will be my work horse though. Love the P90s tone. I had the same issue with the nut falling off while changing the strings on one of my 50s Epi and just glued it back as well. I plan on upgrading the jacks and electronics on all of them and I’ll be good to go. For the price you can’t beat these new inspired by Gibson Epiphones.
I have one of these. I love it. And that neck fits my big 50yr old hands nicely. The thinner necks make my hands cramp! Also I had zero issues on mine. The setup was even pretty close on delivery
I like that Special a lot; neck dimensions, slab body and P90's. What's not to love? It's all ready for a nut shim if it needs it as well. That was nice of Epiphone. Nice one, guys. Keep 'em coming.
I got one right when they came out, had to send the first one back but kept the second one. It's a fine guitar and it's got all the top parts, that's why I got it but don't play it much at all and thinking about selling it.
I rented that guitar and tried it out, it was ok, especially when comparing it's price to the Gibson version. Hey how about that video on the Epiphone 61 SG Standard with/Maestro Vibrola. Anyways great video as always.
I have a nylon string that the nut isn’t glued but the string tension holds it in place. I’m not a tech or luthier but from what I’ve heard glueing it on is more of a convenience so it doesn’t fall off during a string change. Also if unglued it’s easier to swap it out.
Yes on nylon I could see that working okay, but on electric particularly with bending the whole nut moves with the bend haha. One dab of superglue or even a simple white glue will do the trick. Thanks for watching!
@@PlayandTradeGuitars I bend the crap out of my nylon strings, that’s how I polish the frets lol. I suppose there could be other reasons to glue it but I don’t think bends move it unless maybe you’re bending all the bass strings.
Great job guys, used your link again for my second guitar (59) 1st was a 50's goldtop. Epiphone, most of us who know expect high frets. That's the bummer. All of mine (7) have needed fret dress and level. Switches and Jack's, loose nuts aren't really worth mentioning. That we take care of...for the money the shops shouldn't have to deal w/ that. The frets however they should. My tech for 150$ did all mine because I understand the value of these great guitars. It sux but that's our reality.
My 2017 Guitar Center Epiphone LP Special I P90 is an overwound monster for DCR, the P90 Pros in the inspired by Gibson are 7.6K/3.8K/7.6K N/M/B. Mine are 8.2K/4.4K/9.2K (N/M/B).
i had this guitar , i swapped the pu's for tonerider P90's , sounded and played great , but the color kept on bugging me ( don't like tv yellow ) , so i sold it ( with some loss in value ) and bought an 2e hand gibson 2011 tribute lp satin honeyburst ( with also p90's ) , happy now : )
I have three Inspired by Gibson Epiphones: a Les Paul Special, an SG Special, and the Billy Joe Armstrong Junior. I might have a thing for P90s. Haha. I feel like I'm batting .1000. I am very satisfied with each one. The pickups do sound great, for sure. My SG has a minor cosmetic flaw in the finish, but I haven't experienced any other QC issues. But I have to agree about beginners. You don't want anything to discourage a young player from playing and learning.
I own 2 Korean made Les Pauls and don't regret buying either! A few simple mods and no one can tell the difference in the mix! Gibson prices are just out of sight these days!
Bought one of these last year to try a guitar with P90s. Threw on Hipshot Vintage 8.5 mm Locking tuners, a Gotoh 510UB Wrap Around Bridge, Metal Jack Plate and a Pure Tone Jack. I tend to tweak and modify, but these new Inspired By Gibson Epiphone guitars have a lot of good meat on the bone.
I get a professional setups after issues happen with new purchases which is very rare. I bought an Epiphone modern recently and it’s a great guitar for the money. Not quite as good as a $3000.00 Gibson but very close.
So far I have never had a problem with Epiphone I have had 3 Gibson's that had problems from the factory and had to go back. 2 were Tony Iommi Gibson's. And I own 4 Epiphones. My question and I do own a Gibson Les Paul Special, how much better is the Gibson if at all?
I had an Epi SG with active EMG pickups a few years ago. Generally happy with it, but there was a buzz on the 5th (A) string around the 6-8th frets that bugged me. Also, literally in the first 20 seconds of taking it out of the box, I bumped it very lightly against something and about a ½" chunk of the finish chipped off. I let it go for something else in a trade.
I’m looking at an epiphone coronet . Single p90. You should look at reviewing one of these. I’ve got the same tv yellow epiphone and other than action adjustment was good to go out of box. Great guitar.was going to switch pickups but they sound great so leaving it
i do my own setup , polish & level the frets , and i upgrade my epiphones , to make them even better . really impressed with them , vs the old ones which , quite frankly wasnt any good , overall .
I bought one of these and honestly was really disappointed. Just a feel thing for me, I think the guitar is a great value but was not comfortable at all. Very very stiff, chunky neck, no give to the guitar at all. Fretboard a little too wide for me too. I really wanted this guitar to work out too. Oh well.
I’m curious why you demo guitars going DI. Seems bizarre to me not to put the guitars through an amp or an amp sim for clean tones, but I’m probably missing something here.
The DI gives the purest representation of the pickups without color from the amp in my opinion. We have a three stage demo process: DI Cleans, Riffs with an amp, and then behind a track with amp. The DI Cleans you reference is only one portion, purposely isolated as DI. Thanks for watching!
@@PlayandTradeGuitars thanks for your reply. I would much rather hear cleans through an amp as I will never play or listen to any guitar I purchase as a DI signal. It would be much more useful to me to hear the pickups through an amp for clean tone demos, as that matches the application of how I’ll use the instrument. Maybe a poll would be good to get wider feedback from your audience. :)
I bought one a couple months ago and love it. Only issue I've had is that the bridge leans forward on it a bit and it kind of bothers me. Doesn't seem to affect the playability though.
I am torn between this one and the SG special. In your video the SG sounded duller on the bridge pickup compared to the LP. How was it for you in person? It looks as if the bridge pup on the SG is a bit further away from the bridge but maybe that is just my brain fussing with me.
Both are great values and both are slab mahogany bodies, so go with whichever shape you prefer - double cutaway on SG gives better fret access too. Thanks for watching!
Honest question. If I already own an Epiphone SG Classic P90, is there ANY reason to buy the Les Paul Special? I think its the same hardware and build.
If you have a two P90 SG you can get the sound, but body construction is a lot different obviously. There's always a reason to get another guitar especially at this price haha, Thanks for watching!
I first got the Gibson sg special and loved it so much got the LP special in tv yellow. Anyway they are a completely different experience and they sound pretty different. Ide say get both.
I know I’ll likely catch hell for saying this, but that paint….nowhere near the true TV Yellow! Looks plastic. poly finishes that drastic turn me off. I love the Gibson….the wood grain shining through….so authentic . This axe is just too far off for me. 🤷🏼♂
epiphone must have an army of fake commenters on social media, every one of their guitars I have owned or tried have been really rterrible. not sure how people are saying this sounds good. it sounds dull and noisy to me. most of the comments say things like "epiphone is really stepping up their game". as if to counter the fact everyone knows they're garbage.