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Epiphone Les Paul Classic Quilt-Top Review

Epiphone Les Paul Classic Quilt Top Review

Over the years, there have been many guitars I have played and loved. One guitar, however, has been consistently my favorite to play - the Les Paul. I love Firebirds, Stratocasters, Telecasters, SGs, Ibanezs, PRSs and lists of others. But, time after time, I always come back to a Les Paul. The way they play, sound, feel, and look just says something to my soul. I know that Les Pauls aren't for everyone - no problem. They're just wonderful to me.




Quick Opinion: The Epiphone version of the Les Paul Classic Quilt Top is a well-done rendition, with great features and decent sound. The guitar does not approach its Gibson cousin, but is definitely worth its price and then some.

The Epiphone Les Paul Classic is not currently in production, but you can find out more about Epiphone Les Paul guitars and get Free Shipping at GuitarCenter.com

Playability: In the world of Les Pauls, there are two main camps. Those that like thick necks and those that like more modern C-shaped necks. The Epiphone Les Paul's neck is much more comperable to a modern Tele or Strat than a 50s Les Paul. The neck is slightly less beefy than the 60s-neck Gibson Les Pauls, and significantly less beefy than the 50s-neck Gibson Les Pauls. If you're a modern Fender fan, the Epihpone will probably feel much more at home than the Gibson necks. If you're used to Ibanez electrics or modern ESP/LTDs, for example, you'll find the Epiphone very similar.



The neck plays like greased lightening, and is very comfortable from a grip point of view. The string spacing is excellent for most hands, and the string height is actually superb - right out of the box. In general, Les Pauls have a short-ish scale length (means, the length of the string is a little less than the average guitar). The shorter scale makes thicker strings a little more comfortable to play, and makes reasonable string-bending possible with 10s or 11s.

The balance of neck and body is good, and the fretboard is comfortable and smooth. Some may find the weight of Les Pauls (in general) a bit much to lug for hours at a time, but I think it is a reasonable trade-off for the MILES of sustain and depth of the guitar's sound.

Features The Epiphone Les Paul Classic Quilt top is very high in the features list arena. Were this a Gibson, the features of this guitar would be between a Les Paul Studio and a Les Paul Standard. The single-ply cream-colored binding is applied to the top edges and the fretboard. The back is pretty much a natural mahogany color, and the entire guitar is gloss finish (including the back of the neck). The quality of the smoothness of the finish is very good, although my particular guitar has a few blemishes underneath the top coat on the back (almost like a filler was applied to the wood, then finished over without coloring the filler).



The Classic Quilt Top is actually a beautiful instrument, with mahogany body and quilted maple carved cap/top. The fretboard is a comfortable and nice quality rosewood, and the headstock overlay is fairly well done. The stop-bar tailpiece is standard Gibson stuff, as is the Tune-o-matic bridge. The guitar sports two tone knobs and two volume knobs, with one of each for each of the two pickups. My Classic came with superb, chrome full-sized Grover tuners. Epiphone appears to have made the switch from the jade-keystone-two-screw vintage tuners not long before my instrument was made - all the catalogs and internet sites still showed the guitar with the vintage tuners and not Grovers. (As an aside, I found some new Gibson-authorized Grover chrome tuners that have the keystone/tulip shape for the tuner buttons - and they were a direct replacement for the factory Grovers. I just like the keystone shape of the tuners better than the butterbean shape.)



Overall, the Epi Classic is complete with features that compare favorably with other, nicer Les Pauls.

Sound: Sustain, sustain, clarity, clarity, and clarity. When you look up sustain in the dictionary, there's a picture of my Les Paul. Nuff said.

The pickups are a little on the low-output side (although still better than the Classic's less expensive siblings). When compared to Burstbuckers or Classic Gibson pickups, the edge, bite, and growl are significantly more tame with the Epi's pickups. But to put them in real perspective, they are more versatile, warmer, and more creamy than any other humbucker I've played in guitars in the same price range. Pickups are almost a matter of preference - when concerning their overall sound. Some like the visceral sound of EMGs, some like the mellow twangy-beefy of Fenders, and others like the true-blue broad-spectrum sound of Burstbuckers. The pickups in the Epi are most comperable to the Gibson humbuckers, but with less output and less tonal range. I realize I ramble on this part of the subject, but I think most will agree that you will always want more pickup sound (unless you've bought a top-of-the-line Gibson/Fender/Etc.).

The sound of this particular Epi Les Paul is good for rock (almost all types), good and gutsy blues, electronica, and some forms of traditional metal.

Value: This is a $550 guitar in value (not 'retail', 'street'). This guitar is significantly nicer than the lower-end Epi Les Pauls, and is an excellent value for the money, the sustain, and the features.

Wishes: I love my Les Paul. Even when my budget will allow me to buy the Gibson Les Paul Standard of many a dream, my Epi will still get lots of play time and recording time.

However - The finish flaws on the back side could have been avoided. Also, as seems typical of many Chinese Epis, my guitar's lead wire solders were not very good. I had to re-solder most of the wiring into the pots before I could get the guitar to behave correctly (as was true of at least 6 other classics at my favorite guitar stores).

I do wish the pickups were covered with nickel covers. I do think the sound might change a bit with nickel covers - but to me, after looking at Les Pauls for so many years, nickel-covered pickups were traditional. Perhaps this model could be offered with more than one type of pickup system.

Labels: classic, electric guitar, epiphone, epiphone les paul, guitar, set neck

posted by Jim Pearson @ 6/08/2006 10:48:00 PM 0 comments links to this post

Fender 351-shape Lightweight Pick/Picks Review

This week, I am dipping into my Peck O’ Picks to review three of my most used flat-pick plectrums. In this case, the picks are Fender™ 351-shape that fall into the “thin” or “light” category.



LOTS of variety and information about Fender traditional 351-shape picks here at GuitarCenter.com!

Picks (for those that use them) are probably the least expensive and least considered, but most important parts of guitar playing. Certain types and shapes of picks are best suited to playing a given type of guitar or even a given type of playing style. The thins covered in this review are generally used for soft strumming (particularly with acoustics), and for certain types of fast picking.


However, one of the least-considered and least-understood parts of picks is their affect on clarity and brightness of attack. Most folks seem to focus on comfort (important, yes) and whether or not the pick lasts through hours of playing (also important, yes). In this review, I’ll consider these factors, but will focus more on how picks make attacks sound.


Of the zillions of styles, picks and materials I have for picks, I go through the thins the most. Part of the reason is that thins/lights cause a very clean, precise (if not bright) attack on a given note. If the pick is held with only a little tip exposed to the string, the guitar’s sound becomes very clear and concise. If the pick is held far back away from the tip, the sound is a little softer, but gives an interesting “clicking” sound when recording a mic-ed acoustic. It is the brightness of attack that brings me to use a thin or light pick in certain of my tunes. At times, when I’m recording one of my acoustics (particularly when I double-mic from the front of the guitar) I like to use thins to give a nice “live” effect when I’m doing strummed chords.


The main disadvantage of most thin picks is that they shred, crack, tear, or outright break fairly often. Most (not all) common pick materials (celluloid and clear plastic included) will tear or break, particularly with fast or hard playing. My son cannot use a celluloid or clear plastic thin pick when he’s shredding – he’ll tear the pick within about an hour of playing something loud and hard. However, there are thin picks made of materials that will last significantly longer. In particular, the Delrin™ Fender picks (and other brands, too, like the Dunlop™ Tortex™ and Ultex™ picks – covering those in another review sometime) last a very long time and are very hard to tear or break.


In short, if you want a bright note attack, use a thin or light pick. If you need durability, use one of the other materials, such as Delrin. Note that the Delrin picks have a slightly more warm-bright attack than do celluloid or clear plastic picks.


The Fender Celluloid Thin (medium pictured here): These picks come in neat "moto" colors and even some faux shell/pearl/abalone colorings. They’re generally low-cost, and can be purchased at almost any music store/catalog (an advantage). The lifetime of the celluloid picks is medium, and the attack sound is medium-bright. I like these picks for strumming 12-string guitars and my warmer-sounding guitars (Sycamore and Cedar). These particular picks are a very old standard, and are reliable enough to play through a jam set (most of the time) or a few weeks of light casual playing. I have only broken a few of these picks in the past couple of years – remembering that I have hundreds of picks and rotate through them frequently based on sound, style, and mood.


The Fender California Clear™ Light clear plastic pick (medium pictured here): These picks have a delightful, bell-clear attack that is better than any other brand or type I’ve tried (when it comes to a bright attack). They come in lots of neat clear colors, and have a cool palm tree motif on the front. These picks are bright, but are extremely fragile. If you want brightness, and 1) have lots on hand or 2) are a very light picker, these are the picks for you. I regularly break (or more appropriately, tear) one of these picks in any given recording session or Jammin’ Rug jamming session. These picks receive awful reviews, mostly based on their short life spans. However, I always keep a dozen or so of them around specifically for their sound. I just assume that they are throw-away picks – they’re indispensable in my arsenal of sounds.


The Fender Delrin Light pick (medium pictured here): This pick generally comes in plain, bright colors, and has a delightful non-gloss, very grippy texture. When these picks are new, they are great for sweaty paws – they don’t slip around much. As they age, they shine up a bit, but don’t lose their edge. I have yet to break one of these, in any type of playing situation. My son has never broken one of these, either, even in two solid hours of hard rock playing and shredding. The Delrins have a bright attack, although not as clear as the Clears. These are more expensive (by a few cents) than the plastic and celluloid picks. They are also very hard to find in even mega-stores. I tend to buy these online by the dozen.



We'll dive back into the Peck O' Picks again soon to look at Nylons, and some other great brands of picks.

Labels: 351, classic, fender, pick, picks

posted by Jim Pearson @ 3/12/2006 09:30:00 AM 0 comments links to this post