NGD - korean epi les paul content

[markD]

i have been getting more into music like old jethro tull lately. i really dig their early albmums like, "this was", "stand up", and "benefit". i have been wanting to cop those tones easier (and still on a good budget), so i have been getting into les pauls a lot more. i still think they suck overall - especially for soloing above the 12th fret - but i can't deny that they get a certain sound that is unique...

my wife and i popped into our local GC to see what used gear they had on the wall. my REAL intent was to go check out a toft mixing desk they had, but this guitar caught our eye. over in the used LP section we saw an emerald glow...we walked in that direction, and hanging in front of us was a 1996 epi les paul sparkle top!! here is a picture:



now, luck was on my side because my wife's favorite color is green...so she was laready in love with this guitar just upon seeing it!! well, looks are half of it for me, so i took it down, plugged it into a mini-recto and began running it through its paces. i was pleased. it sounded great, it played great...it had that smokey, throaty sound i was after....AND it was cheap!! so, i went and saw my salesman worked a trade deal (sight unseen) and left the store. i went back an hour later with an epi SG and made a straight trade!!

here are some more pics:












as you can see in the last pic, there a couple of little nicks in the top, but that is the extent of the damage. so now my LP collection is up to three. here's a pic of the other two:

[xenophobe]

Grats! LP's aren't my thing, but my eyes are now open to Korean build quality...

[markD]

i will tell you what is even odder. the other two are chinese made, and aside from a couple of filler marks on the sunburst, they play astonishingly well. the 'burst is totally alive in my hands...the resonance is outstanding. the jr isn't as resonate, but it takes a beating like you wouldn't believe and never goes out of tune. at one point i installed a JB and played a series of shows with it. it was ultra-reliable. more so than my PC-1 which goes out of tune as soon as it gets under a stage light.

the korean one FAR surpasses the LP studio and LP tribute guitars i was playing yesterday at sam ash. it was depressing, really. being new to the whole LP thing, i am finding that i am quite happy with my epi's - just like i was VERY happy with my agile 3000M. i just can't ever find myself wanting to spend the money on gibson's name when if i look around a little i could find a KILLER epi for about 1/10th of the cost of a new, good gibson.

no shitting here.....the ONLY les paul that sam ash had that felt as good as my green epi was a $5700 VOS '59 burst. sure, ALL the high priced gibsons looked good on the wall. many sounded good. many played good. very few had BOTH - good playability and a good sound. that VOS had it ALL. and for $5700 it better have it ALL. the other gibsons had noticeable filler around inlays, dead spots when bending, dry-ass fretboards, slippery tuning pegs. one guitar that was priced at $4300 had orange peel on the back of the neck!!!!!! i could FEEL it!!!!! WTF?!?!?!

now bringing this back to jackson....what sold me on exclusive use of USA jacksons throughout the early 2000's was this: QUALITY. i was at a shop and they had a gun metal gray SL2H. i had been told that jacksons were awesome. i always hated the pointy head. but i tried it anyway. at the time i was playing ESP and ibanez guitars. the ESPs were great, but hard to find. the ibanez guitars i was buying used and then hot rodding. the jackson was ALREADY done!! it had all the right parts. it played like a motherfucker. it sounded perfect through my amp. AND IT WAS PRICED RIGHT!!!!! i bought that GMG SL2H for $1099 out the door with a HSC.

what does that have to do with LPs? well, i would have had to spend $5700 to get a gibson that gave the same boner that GMG soloist gave me. instead, i got it from a $300 epiphone. it amazes me at how far the imports have come.

now, admittedly, i am not AS picky as xeno. i can overlook tiny shit like filler around inlays or a tiny bit of paint on the binding...as long as the guitar plays and sounds good. i gig so the important factors for me are playability, tuning stability, and overall sound. i WILL change/upgrade electronics if i am TOTALLY in love with an import. if not, i want to try to use it as is. those things i can overlook are because i know what i am getting at a certain price point. but this epi blew me away. side-by-side with gibsons it was a clear winner. even the salesman at sam ash was shocked. we spent a couple hours dicking around (that store is DEAD - i wonder how long until they close), and it was clear!!!! and for those who like to know what amps were used...we used a PRS SE50, a twin reverb, and a marshall 1987 with a tube screamer.

[CowboyFromHell]

Import Les Pauls have really surprised me as well. Seems if a person can close their eyes and judge on feel and sound then some great surprises await. With eyes open many of the imports can still impress. The quality may be hit or miss but I guess I was lucky and got a great one. Congrats on a great score.

[rdamaral]

+1 on most Epi's quality. I've said it before, and I will say it again, my Zakk Epi was way nicer than my Gibson LP Standard. I sold the Standard and kept the Epi. I won't even waste my time looking at Gibson ever again. But if I ever see a cool Epi, I will definitely give it a look.

Grats on a cool, different looking guitar.

[Ward]

Very cool grab! Love the green sparkle.

I finally got an LP a couple of years ago. I don't like the way it feels and I don't play it much, but like you said, it just has that sound. I wouldn't get another, but I'm glad I have that one for those times when nothing but an LP through a Marshall will do

It's also the guitar that started my love of mahogany. I've picked up 5 mahogany Jacksons since (still have all but the PC1). For me it's a perfect mix of Jackson feel with the mahogany sound, but it's different than that LP sound...

[data187]

Love the green epi. I had a gold sparkle one a while back and regret selling it.

[jeff b]

That green sparkle looks pretty sweet Mark. Nice score bro.

[straycat]

Nice color I will say that.
I'm not much of a Gibby fan but have had some nice USA L.P's over the years I can almost always sell them for more than I paid that = good business.
USA juniors now there is a great guitar hands down the best Gibson has to offer.
I agree the Korean EPI's are good quality guitars.Good score.
Been looking at a Korean EPI Ultra III and just can't strike a good deal on it.

[xenophobe]

now, admittedly, i am not AS picky as xeno. i can overlook tiny shit like filler around inlays or a tiny bit of paint on the binding...as long as the guitar plays and sounds good. i gig so the important factors for me are playability, tuning stability, and overall sound. i WILL change/upgrade electronics if i am TOTALLY in love with an import. if not, i want to try to use it as is. those things i can overlook are because i know what i am getting at a certain price point. but this epi blew me away. side-by-side with gibsons it was a clear winner. even the salesman at sam ash was shocked. we spent a couple hours dicking around (that store is DEAD - i wonder how long until they close), and it was clear!!!! and for those who like to know what amps were used...we used a PRS SE50, a twin reverb, and a marshall 1987 with a tube screamer.

I'm really not all that picky... in my reviews, I was just being honest and thorough. I'm fine with my DX1, I'm just not all that happy with overall build quality. If it was MIJ or MIK build quality I'd have easily paid 3x as much for it. The frets and neck are great, everything else was marginal. It's a flat black guitar so every feature about the shiny sparkly ones is easily glossed over. I'm really tempted to make a DX1 one-off Custom order I liked the design so much. The Stealth on the other hand, is just immaculate for the price. I'm taking it to my luthier for a fine tune fret level tomorrow. It's worth every cent of that $150 I'll have to spend as the guitar is just amazing on so many levels that a finicky neck issue doesn't bother me in the slightest... a pro fret tune will easily make it play like a custom guitar.

You never really see me review any CS guitars ever. I might talk about them when I post a NGD, but I don't really review them. There's no point in reviewing something that's a one-off or built-to-order guitar. I know I haven't reviewed anything here for like the past decade, but the last time I bought a new standard production model is when the Charvel Model A first came out nearly a decade ago. I was pretty critical of that as well, but overall favorable.

I honestly have had my blinders on because I've been hearing people talk about the Korean Epis, LTD's, PRS, etc... but blew it off as more import junk. Korean quality, at least from World Guitars and the few models I've played since I got my Stealth has really opened my eyes. These are nothing like Chinese or Indonesian guitars. Korean workmanship is really up there.

[lepard]

What's the serial number on the Epi ? Some were made by UnSung, some Samick, some by Saein and some by Peerless.

[markD]

u6071820

the dudes on the les paul forum said it was made at unsung.