help deciding on a les paul....

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Sampler

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Hey all...

I'm looking to get an epiphone les paul and looking for some advice. I'm looking to spend around $500 (hence why i'm getting an epiphone and not a true gibson :D )

Ok so the models I've been looking at are...

Les Paul Standard

Les Paul Standard Plus

Les Paul Ultra

Now I know that the Standard is $100 below my budget...but heres my delima:

I can't decide if I should upgrade my practice amp or not...its one of those cheap Marshall MG 10-watt combos...the distortion on this is fine but I don't know if its gonna pay tribute to the les paul (I'm currently using a very very cheap electric through it right now)...so my question is...would it make sense to spend the extra money for a decent amp...or just get a distortion pedal?

Also, as a more general question...will I get a better sound with a cheaper guitar but a better amp...or better guitar and cheaper amp? Because I'm not sure if I should invest in the Standard Plus or Ultra and continue to use my basic amp for now...or get the regular Standard and buy a better amp?

Thanks for any help, advice, guidance...whatever you can offer!

:D
 
Play both of them and see if its worth the extra $100 to you. But I don't see $100 being enough to upgrade your current amp.
 
I would put the money into a better amp for sure. I dont think you'll hear $100 worth of better or worse in a guitar.
 
What kind of guitar do you have now? If you wanted the biggest improvement in your tone it would most likely come from spending the 500 on a new amp and sticking with the guitar you have now. A good guitar through a bad amp sounds worse than a bad guitar through a good amp.

Another option is upgrading the pickups, Epiphone's stock pickups suck IMO (and in just about everyone's opinions) and the ones on whatever current guitar you have (which I'm guessing is also cheap) could probably get a huge upgrade, so spending a little over 100 on pickups for your current guitar would sound better than a 500 dollar Epi. And then you still have 400 or so left for a new amp.

Unless of course your current guitar is completely unplayable and doesn't stay in tune. I just don't like to see people upgrade a bit at a time, so what if your guitar is better than your amp? you can always buy a much better amp later when you come across more money, or the other way around. Spending a bit of your current budget on each one in the long run means you'll just upgrade both again much sooner.
 
i didnt say that...

and now that u mention it. it looks like shit

but it is a gibson, and thats all i said
 
OOOORRRRRR,
Get a real gibson, but buy a studio used. I got mine from a friend, but he got it for about $400, I have seen these on ebay for $500-700 and they are a great deal for a nice sounding and playing guitar.

With a good setup it will play like butter- if butter weighed about 19 pounds with the sustain to go along with that mass.

Daav
 
jonnyc said:
Yuck. That guitar just oooozzes cheapness. Doesn't look like it has the two piece body with binding. The inlays look way cheesier than the standard gibson trapezoids. You really think that thing would sound any better than an Epi?
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That is a damn cheap gibson, no where near the quality of a real Les Paul, but when compared to an Epi IMO it's definitely worth the extra $150. It will sound much better than the Epi simply because of the quality of the components/wood used.
 
I can highhhly reccomend Agile guitars, I have a couple of them myself, and I can say they leave epiphone in the dust in terms of quality for lower prices.

Plus they come in sweet/different combos, there's some with floyd's (blech), bigsbys (yeah!), cool paint/pickup combos.

You could afford one of their top models (http://www.rondomusic.net/al3500prestblkch.html), which I've never played, but heard those are about the same quality as gibbys.

A guy I knew had an epi LP custom, and through a terrible accident, we found out the top was made of some kind of pressed cardboard paper material :confused:

Weird stuff, that's why I'll never buy an epiphone again.
 
ibanezrocks said:
That is a damn cheap gibson, no where near the quality of a real Les Paul, but when compared to an Epi IMO it's definitely worth the extra $150. It will sound much better than the Epi simply because of the quality of the components/wood used.
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Comparing the standard les paul epi to this, there isn't much of a difference in wood or electronics so where does the difference in tone come from? Now I understand the difference between a real les paul and an epi les paul but this guitar doesn't look a damn thing like a real les. So reasoning would lead me to believe it's probably on par with an Epi although way uglier. But I don't even play guitar so what the fuck do I know.
 
jonnyc said:
Comparing the standard les paul epi to this, there isn't much of a difference in wood or electronics so where does the difference in tone come from? Now I understand the difference between a real les paul and an epi les paul but this guitar doesn't look a damn thing like a real les. So reasoning would lead me to believe it's probably on par with an Epi although way uglier. But I don't even play guitar so what the fuck do I know.
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There isn't much difference in wood or electronics? maybe if all mahogany is the same and all pickups are the same. There should be better quality wood on the Gibson (though not great, this is still lower end stuff here), and definitely better electronics as Gibson pickups are atleast bareable, especially compared with Epis.
I know the Gibson isn't great quality, and they dont have the fancy finishes like the Epiphone (though that flamed maple isn't really much of a cap, its almost paper thin) but I have played both and the Gibson played better and sounded WAY better, both unplugged and plugged in.
 
This is a real can of worms, but lately Gibson's quality has really seemed to wane (especially compared to its price point) while Epiphone has done quite a bit to improve their products.

I have a Les Paul Special (from before the dawn of the *lovely* "SL"), and I have to say that although the hardware is really good, the assembly is still disappointing. The thing was like seven hundred bucks and won't intonate because the tune-o-matic is at its adjustable limit. For seven hundred dollars of Korean Labor, you can get far better assembly (even if you sacrifice a bit on parts).

I'd say for that hundred bucks, you might look at an Epi Valve Junior, as well. I've seen them for between $110 and $120 depending on the store. It's a one-trick pony, but definitely a blast to turn up and wail on.
 
First I would say that the pick ups in the guitar have to put out what you like. Try our your Epi on a good quality amp down at the "guitar center" and see if you like it. Then you at least know the guitar is capable of producing what you want. Then I would go for the Amp upgrade, but as was mentioned previously, it will cost more than $100 to get a good quality amp. Good quality effects aren't going to improve your sound all that much if you amp sounds like crap. All in all, I think a good guitar and amp combination will give you a solid foundation to build on.
 
Get the epi standard. My friend has one, and although it ain't gibson quality this thing still rocks. I like it almost as much as my gibson sg (which I love to death). Take the extra $100 you save and put it towards a new amp, because the one you got now ain't/won't cut it.
 
Sampler said:
Hey all...

I'm looking to get an epiphone les paul and looking for some advice. I'm looking to spend around $500 (hence why i'm getting an epiphone and not a true gibson :D )

Ok so the models I've been looking at are...

Les Paul Standard

Les Paul Standard Plus

Les Paul Ultra

Now I know that the Standard is $100 below my budget...but heres my delima:

I can't decide if I should upgrade my practice amp or not...its one of those cheap Marshall MG 10-watt combos...the distortion on this is fine but I don't know if its gonna pay tribute to the les paul (I'm currently using a very very cheap electric through it right now)...so my question is...would it make sense to spend the extra money for a decent amp...or just get a distortion pedal?

Also, as a more general question...will I get a better sound with a cheaper guitar but a better amp...or better guitar and cheaper amp? Because I'm not sure if I should invest in the Standard Plus or Ultra and continue to use my basic amp for now...or get the regular Standard and buy a better amp?

Thanks for any help, advice, guidance...whatever you can offer!

:D
Click to expand...



If you are going to get an Epiphone, get the best they make........The Custom...$599..a little over your budget but if you aren't Les Pauling it, get this model!
 
I strongly recommend trying an Epiphone Elitist Les Paul. You can find a used Studio for $500, a used Standard for $600.

They are very high quality guitars for the money. I don't think too highly of the regular epiphones, but these elitists are great guitars.
 
This forum is really going down hill, where you used to get some actual advice now you get a bunch of kids who've only played a few Les Pauls and all of them Epiphones claiming theyre almost as good as something they've never played. Outlaws may piss people off but someone needs to give a few people a slap around here once in awhile before you get too delusional about your cheap knockoff gear.

100 dollars for an amp may be better than what you have now, but it will still suck, and you'll just lose more money trading it in later for something better.

A new 500 dollar amp will improve your sound a lot more than ANY guitar (no matter how expensive) through whatever crappy amp you have now. So just choose if you actually want a Les Paul, in which case get a USED Gibson, or if you want to invest in the new amp and get something that you will be happy with for awhile either way. Going half-way on both decisions makes no sense, as you dont sound as good as you could and you'll quickly grow tired of both.
 
of the three you listed I like the Epi ultra. it has wood routed out of the body before they attach the maple top. cool feature.
 
dude id say fuck a les paul and grab yourself a schecter.

they are around the price and in my opinion sound better and play better.

plus most of them come standard with seymours.
 
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