Frank Frazetta is a fantastic artist and his paintings were the cover art for a few bands from the 70's and 80's. The Berzerker was the cover art for Molly Hatchet's Beatin' the odds LP.
Through a friendly viewer leak of the whole lineup... I'm incorrect about 4:45 :( But didn't do toooo bad on the rest 🟢My Website: www.troglysguitarshow.com 🔴Reverb: reverb.com/shop/troglys?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly ❓Private Help Sessions: troglysguitarshow.com/help-appraisals/
"The Berserker" by Frazetta would have been really cool on a Duane Roland signature Les Paul if Gibson made one. Considering that it was the actual cover art for Molly Hatchets "Beatin' The Odds" album. And Duane was an absolutely amazing lead guitarist for that band and one of my favorite guitarist's of all time. R.I.P. Duane.
I’ve been flying a 2017 Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro for a while, and it’s hands down my favorite out of every instrument I’ve ever played. I chose it over a Gibson LP Studio, and I’d do it again without hesitation. Then again, I’ve yet to have the opportunity to get to know a Gibson Custom…
Those Epiphones are some incredible pieces of art. It’s shame there’s no way to display the art while you’re playing the guitar, unless you can pick with your teeth.
While this art series is great for the collector, I really hope they do a permanent run of these Epiphones - just regular, aged Silverburst. So long as they keep the SD humbucker in the bridge and the maple neck with long neck tenon. Pretty much everything I'd want in that spec.
@@ghalsor That rumor is bullshit. There's only 6400 of these being built, and even if they decided to make more, why would they lower the price? How much do you "think" they should cost?
@@andrewbecker3700 like I said, pure rumor which came from somebody's Sweetwater rep (supposedly). There will be a plain back released, whether it is limited edition remains to be seen. My money is it will still be limited to 800 like the rest. It could be cheaper due to no artist licensing fees, maybe around $1100.
@@ghalsor The plainbacks are the last 800 in the series. The art has very little, if any impact on the price. Even a regular silverburst custom is $799. Factor in the Burstbuckers and chainsaw hardcase, and $1299 is right on the money. They have zero reason to lower the price. That's what they're charging for ALL the top if the line models now.
After looking at these on Reverb, I'm not sure I could bring myself to pay that much for an Epiphone. They look cool and all but for almost $2k, I'd settle for a used Gibson LP Classic instead.
Trogly, actually most epiphone headstock inlays are actual mother of pearl. Not as easy to spot as it would be on block fretboard inlays but there regardless!
Your wrong about the neck profile, as it's clearly not a D and actually closer to a C or even U. It's nothing like Epiphones normal slim taper used on Customs. I'd wrongly assumed this myself and was very happy when I realized it's rounder and the volute completely changes the feel of that flat area other Epi customs have. Best neck on a custom I've ever felt.
Epiphone limited editions traditionally have been fantastic players and very good values. I have several Epiphone/Gibson pairs and the Epi's really are remarkably good. They also have done well from an investment standpoint. As an example, the John Lee Hooker 100th anniversary Zephyr has nearly doubled in value in 5 years. These are a bit different than replicating an otherwise unobtainable guitar but I suspect that they will do well. Cheers!
Pretty Adam Jones Custom Art LP by Mark Ryden! Limited run of 800 and new costs $1900CAD so why not have the neck position Gibson Custombucker to really offer that collectable value? Seems like Epi fans would be ok with this but I'm a Gibson fan, probably not the demographic they're selling to.
Also beat out Joe bonamassa. For greeny. Gary Moore's guitar in messiah will come again and peter greens famous Les Paul... And he was t about to let Joe have it.. it was hilarious. He's basically was like. I will put a cigarette burn on it if I want to. I have that much money. Joe
Thank you for making this video, my wife loves the Veil of Bees, she wants one to hang in her office. I passed on one a few days ago. I love florentine Les Pauls, especially the ones from the '90s. But I can see wanting new content for videos, and moving previous guitars along. The pin strips on that one are not my thing though.
I own the Veil of Bees and it's a FANTASTIC guitar. The best Epiphone I've ever owned, and one of the best overall guitars I've ever owned. It was well worth the $1299 price.
It's pretty cool that Epiphone actually put a Seymour Duncan pickup in the bridge on those guitars. I got a epi "wino" Jerry Cantrell signature model a few months ago. It's got a Epiphone brand pickup. Would've been nice to get a Seymour Duncan in those too.
I would love to see you review the newest Epiphone Adam Jones silverburst Les Paul with the Gibson headstock and compare it with the other Adam Jones LP's.
I have been playing for over 45 years had many a Epiphone and many. A Gibson. My first being a 92 ltd colours edition fuschia... Gibson Les Paul . And Epiphone now. Is not the Epiphone of old . They have stepped up there game. I just purchased the worn GOLDTOP. It honestly feels like a vintage Paul. Or an early 90,$ Paul . Great years for a Paul. The oldest one I have owned and played is a 70 deluxe. The year I was born .. 1970. And. Epiphone has stepped up.. I can't believe how much so . The traditional pro IV GOLDTOP is a diamond in the rough. A gem
I've been telling my friends for a couple of years now that Epiphone are making some really good quality guitars with great finishing. The only let down that I can see is with the pickup selector switch and the input jack. Other than those two issues I can't really fault them.
Has anyone else noticed tone differences from one art series model to another? I bought two of them from different series. One is the veil of bees, and the other is the berserker. The tone difference is significant enough for me to ask. I understand pick ups are going to sound exactly the same every single time. I’ve purchased custom shop versions which have a quality that far surpasses anything I’ve purchased off the shelf.
Funny, I did the opposite, lol. I traded 3 Epiphones (Gothic V, Gothic Explorer, and a Gothic Les Paul) for a Gibson SG. While I loved the all black hardware and matte black finishes on the Gothic series, I was always getting lost on the fretboard because of no fret markers. And the tiny dot markers on the side were hard to see on a dark stage. I really miss the sound of the Explorer. I did modify them all with coil splits.
They look and sound fantastic, but one was sold by a dealer here in aus for 3 grand. I'm sure theyre good but 3 grand is getting mighty close to used gibson territory.
That barbarian is 100% the cover of Conan the conqueror 9 and as a Conan super fan, I will never two on each and every single copy of that guitar no matter how long it takes all of them will be in my collection
It's a bold burst because it doesn't really transition like most do, it's kinda pear-like. but the "veil" image, the girl really does look like she's standing there in the burst, like a painting I guess. really nice. in a lot of cases you can argue that Epi has their fit & finish down better than some Gibsons we see out there.
I have one of the Julia Heffernans…it’s absolutely gorgeous…I have no regrets on the price tag…I went through my local guitar shop and it took a few months to get one directly from epiphone but also worth the wait…
The artwork was first customized for Conan the Conqueror book by Frank Frazetta. He did many that were applied to the Conan novels. Amazing artist, and a great looking back of a guitar! 🤩
Isn’t the artwork just going to get destroyed by buckle rash? Unless these are just meant to hang on your wall I don’t see the point of the art on the back.
The silverburst Epi LP's are really sweet, especially since they have a volute, but the artwork on the back of them is not.. The berserker is definitely a lot cooler than the bee veil thing though. Whatever floats your boat. 🤷🏻♂️ Some plain ones, that would be wonderful! They'd probably sell a lot more of them.
@@R3TR0R4V3 Yeah, I was responding to "They'd probably sell a lot more" plain ones. They're already selling as many as they make. Can't sell any more than that. I have heard that the final version will be an "art-less" burst.
Is this the first time epiphone has done a legitimate burst? I always hated how epiphone customs bursts don't have the tear drop shape. They go all the way around the pickup switch which I hate.
Really nice to see some Epiphone Les Pauls get some props. I have three and I love them all. My ‘59 limited edition standard has Gibson burstbuckers and it sounds and looks amazing (circa 2003), my ebony (2022) custom looks awesome and the epi probuckers work just fine same for my classic worn gold top (2021) with the added tone flexibility of split coils. They are all quality guitars that are fun to play. Thanks for vid Trogly I was also a big Hatchet fan back in the day, and still love their gritty brand of southern rock. Noticed Frazetta’s amazing artwork as soon as it flashed on the screen.
I once tried to do this. A fellow said he would have to sell three Epiphones to get one Gibson so I offered to trade him a Gibson for all three. He declined.
I had a real Siverburst Custom from 1979. It had a regular case with red lining no chainsaw BS. My friend Paul went to Gibson in 1980 and filled up his van for his shop with some choice stuff. I nearly bought a unfinished 25/50 also that was spectacular.
The water colorist Daniel Merriam would’ve been a artist to feature, his amazing work have fit right in stylistically with Frank Frazzeta in this Adam Jones run of Epiphone’s, the general idea of art prints on the back of the guitars is awesome, the Gibson Adam Jones signature Les Paul sounded more deep and tightly compressed, but those pick up values are high. I’m usually more of a fender guy but I’m really itching for Troggly’s black Les Paul custom stealth with purple binding & upgraded EMG X pickups. Yet by the looks of it, I’d have to hit a scratch off lottery ticket or sell off my old project car on the back burner. Up in those numbers I’d rather have a modern Access neck heel Les Paul and just load it with the active EMG X’s? I’m no collector and more require player grade guitars to comfortably take out of the house to jams around drunken buddies…LoL. I have a 71 Gibson SG custom 3 pickup stop bar and a magic natural ash 1999 hardtail American standard strat that I don’t even like to take out of the house anymore unless it’s a rare jam. The back up guitar I mainly bring out lately is a rowdy used Charvel DK24 hard tail HSH 24 fret super strat with the roasted maple compound radius neck the body has a carved heel and neck pocket, for a relatively cheap guitar it’s a beast, and in some was it’s better then my treasured old strat, I’d bought the used walnut Charvel modified with 2 lace sensor Red Blue dual bridge and a Purple Emerald dual neck with a RWRP silver single coil middle, and the string pull of the lace sensors is certainly unique, while not being active battery powered pickups, they almost could get into the ball park of the Custom EMG X Stealth tonally but no not quite, but it will have to suffice. Austin might have even compared these Adam Jones Epiphone and Gibson models to his original late 70’s silver burst?…Theres a rare baritone sub sonic custom shop red sparkle Stratocaster on reverb that Troggly should document and snatch up for his collection…8)
Iv said this the whole time..... always go for 3 epiphones over 1 gibson. and if you want to change pickups either mess around with an eq pedal, or get wilkinson, vanson, tonerider, artek, or alnicov pickups as a worthy but cheap change. Even better buy 6 harley bentons and a whole variety of pickups and cts pots for the same cost
That Frezetta piece is absolutley off the hook. If you read any Fanticy/SciFi in the 50's, 60's, 70's and beyond you might have encountered Frazetta's artwork. If so he's a part of you and this guitar will call out to you in the night . Edited: Hey Trog's that bee one is cool too!
For anybody watching this now for some reason. Epiphone, especially with these Adam Jones models, has done an amazing AMAZING job. I sold my Gibson Les Paul Dark night for financial reasons, and figured I would get another rare guitar to fill the void of the beauty. Well, here I am with my Ernst Fuchs Adam Jones and WOW. This thing has less glaring quality issues than that 3000$ Gibson and sounds INSANE out of the box. Hole shit stacks this thing sounds like an absolute monster. The finish is perfect, the neck shape is the baseball bat that I wished the Dark Knight had. I know this is long winded, but fuck this guitar is awesome and I honestly wish I never dropped 3K on that Gibson. For an Epiphone the price tag absurd though I will say that
The guitars themselves look great. Love the Epiphone Custom design - very close to Gibson. I really do not see the point of the artwork on the back though - just seems to shout "collectors pieces only" and not to be played. Buy a painting, or buy a guitar - this seems to be an unsatisfactory halfway house.
Awesome looking guitars, but basically wall art rather than a piece you would play. Good for a collection / museum sort of deal, but not something a player would deal with. Cool but mostly there to suck up collector money.
My biggest gripe with epiphone is they all seem to have a D shaped neck 😂 pisses me off cause their customs are all mahogany while The regular Gibson ones aren’t
The new non-art ones with the Gibson open book headstock seem to have addressed almost every single issue you mentioned. Has real MoP fretboard inlays. I have both, and the non-art is better in almost every respect, and even comes with the mirror. I replaced the tuners with a set of Gotoh 510s just because I like locking tuners on all my guitars, for string change ease.
I have to admit, the Epiphone tones were better (to my ears) than the Gibson. Of course Epiphone is not on par with Gibson overall, but I kind of get a thrill when Epiphone one-ups Gibson in different ways…. and it happens A LOT.
It’s crazy how you get a period correct style case, a better and more correct burst to the 70’s/80’s, the correct bridge pickup, and burst on the back but at $3,000 you don’t
Traded a custom Gibson for 3 limited edition Made in China Epis? Even if I was a Jones/Tool fan... Sheesh. No way I'd take that trade, even if monetarily they're close in value.
Vail of bees looks like the art style of Margaret Keane, I’d pay extra for creepy paintings on the backs of my guitars, even if there never seen it’s a cool touch
Rumor has it the last release will be normal silver burst back without a graphic…I assume that will be the most popular one so hopefully they won’t limit that one.
I preferred the Berserker to Veil Of Bees…but that moon one is def the best. Wish they would confirm some of these…I got the Berserker but would have held out for that one.
Buyer beware! Because the necks are narrower on these than other Epiphone LesPauls, the nuts are improperly installed. They aren't centering them, and the low E string ends up too close to the edge of the first few frets. I'm pretty pissed about to. Apparently nobody else has even noticed? That's unacceptable on a $1300 guitar.
