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Im interested in gettng a les paul type body..Im a strat player and recently got back into playing guitar again. I finally have a fun side band going and looking to get a les paul type body.

The reason why Im looking for a l.p type body is my Strat is too flat... playing standing up, I like the neck but the body doesnt seem comfortable to me anymore. I was just given a Epiphone Les Paul to borrow for a week and it sounds great and feels great.

Im now looking into buying a used Epiphone.. I want a medium priced guitar but something that sounds and feels good. I might even get a used Gretsch Duo Jet for a great price.

any of you have any advice with les paul type guitars? thanks

I have an Epi LP and love it, after upgrading the electronics etc. Some other options you can look at are the Tokai and the Agile copies. Do a search on the forum and you'll find plenty of info on all 3.
Personally, I think the Gretsch would beat them all hands down, but i'm not sure how Les Pauly they sound...i think they have their own kinda thing going on .
Be sure to try before you by! It's hit and miss with copies, so find something that feels just right in your hands.

If you get a copy make sure its got the same wood as the gibsons if your looking for a similar sounding instrument. Agile is probably better value then epiphone, never tried tokai or whatever they are called. The epiphone les pauls always seem great to me, I love them. Gibsons price tag on a real les paul turns me of theres, its not the fact of spending that much cash, its more the fact its insulting they ask so much for it compared to other instruments. Not sure about america, but a les paul standard costs about $5200 in australia so i find it insulting.

I went with an Epi LP a month or so ago. I knew I wanted two things: Humbuckers, and a Tune-o-matic style bridge. Everything else was a blank slate. After trying and retrying 15-20 guitars that retailed under $1000, I found this particular Korean Epi that is now mine.

The stock pickups are awful, so i have replaced them. I am very happy with it so far.

I had three epi les pauls, two off ebay which were not that great and one from musician's friend which was fantastic. Gotta at least swap out the pickups though, if not all the electronics. The Elite series is more expensive but is very close in quality to a Gibson. I've never played a Tokai Love Rock, but that guitar gets really high grades as well.

Pecan, there's a new Tokai distributor in Australia with a list of shops selling these guitars:

from : localhost/Tokai Registry has a lot of info about them, too, also a forum:

from : localhost/www.tokairegistry.com/

my bro has a standard and a friend has a classic. Great guitars and even better if you swap the electronics. You should play alot though, and I wouldnt buy online. Look for one with a nice piece of wood, especially because some can look ugly.

I have 2 Epis... a LP Standard and an Exployer... Both have been smashed and repaired..... The glue joints on both necks gave when they were broken.... the hardware is cheaply plated and is easy to peal off.... Not the best built instruments....

mine is better built that the usual epi lp.

Epi LP's are great. I have 3 and have no problem recommending them. They all sound, feel and look great. Like others said, expect to eventually replace the pups and some bad electronics. After that, it does the LP thing just fine...

do yourself a favor and spend a bit more and get an Edwards Les Paul from ebay!!! trust me. i own 2 gibson les pauls (now, i have had more in the past) and an edwards Les Paul and the edwards is just as good if not better in some areas than the real deal. i have also in the past had Epi les pauls and while some are great others are so-so so if you do go that route i'd try playing them in person before buying.

-Mike

1 for the quot;yay epiphonequot; crowd! Play an epi or two, get the one that feels good for ya, and stick a duncan or 2 in there. You'll have a strong instrument there!

I have a LI 59 Replica Tokai Love Rock that I bought new in 91....I replaced the stock pickups(which were actually pretty good)with Duncans,CTS pots,Gibson switch,and re-wiring,bone nut and I Love mine! I wanted a Gibson 59 reissue but a lefty was over 4k and so I spend about 1k total to get mine perfect....Someone told me the top of the line EPI and Tokai models of the LP were made in the same factory? Not sure,but mine looks quot;exactlyquot; like a 59 Gibson LP.Even the headstock shape and truss rod cover are exactly like a 59...Just amazing stuff! Mine is Japan made..

I have and use and Epi and rather like it. I've replaced the stock pups/electronics and I've had to reglue a couple of frets that started to lift, but overall it's a decent guitar that sounds good.

I went for a Gothic LP though, which is a little thinner than your average LP, so it has a slightly brighter tone. I've come to prefer it's tone to that of a real LP, though I won't try and bullsh*t you and say it's actually better, just that I prefer it more.

Moral of the story, if you buy and Epi, be prepared to replace the pickups. Also, be prepared to have the frets lift, the pickup selector break (after a year or so on the cheaper models), and the bridge saddles to suffer from pre-mature wear (soft metal). If you really want to hotrod an Epi you should also consider replacing the nut (the stock is plastic), pots/caps and bridge/stoptail with higher quality parts.

Like I said, I love the sound of my Epi, but it's definatly a quot;playerquot; guitar and hardly a top shelf sorta insturment.

I would also suggest looking at a PRS Tremonti SE, quite similar but not quite the same.

If I add up all that I've spend to ugrade my epi I would probably be shocked since I've replaced all the hardware on it exept the tuners and output jack.
So after getting a bone nut, fret dressing/glueing, new pickups, rings, pots, switch, bridge amp; tailpiece I have a seriously great playing and sounding guitar. I swear the body is all mahogany and the neck is alder, it's weighs very heavy and is a dark sounding guitar.

It's a comfy players guitar that can take a serious abuse but don't expect it to have a lot of character, it still emulates the real thing. Exept for the frets I have found no flaws in build quality, it stays in tune well and the neck is quite wide but comfortable.

Some of them are good, some awful. Overall, I think you can do better. If you don't mind deviating from the LP shape, and just want a maple/mahogany dual hum, there are a lot of great reasonably-priced guitars out there. Lots of good recommendations in this thread so far.

Here is a Schecter with a maple top/mahogany body, Duncan Designed humbuckers, Tone Pros bridge and few more goodies.

from : localhost/www.schecterguitars.com/spec.asp?id=39

I've been lookin into picking up an epi too. I've had this vision of getting an epi 56 gold top and refinishing the top in ebony, then replacing the pickups with p90s or maybe P-90 neck/firebird bridge, and adding a bigsby ala neil young.

I just did a search on ebay, and i found this beautiful epiphone japan. These are different from the elites IIRC and are actually more like the orvilles.

from : localhost/cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-Les-Pau...QQcmdZViewItem

Can anybody tell if that is a solid top or just a veneer? It looks pretty natural with the mineral streaks. Whether that top is solid or not it looks like a killer deal. I have a gibby r7 so I need that like a hole in the head but I just can't get over how beautiful that guitar is.

I'll keep my eyes out for a japan made 56 RI, cause the korean ones are mahogany/alder.edit: just read in the auction that its a venner but its still a good deal

i already owned an epi, but sold it again, because i just didn't bring me
the warm and sustainful sound i was looking for.

i'm mainly a stratguy, but want to have a paula too. last week i was
testing some epiphones and gibbys at the dealer.

this did the same experience, i already had in the past. the epiphones
just don't do the sound i'm looking for. their well built i think.
the look and feel may be nearly the same, but the sound just isn't
paula. it may be different for distorted rock playing. but clean, or just
slightly overdriven leads don't fit for me.

i tested 4 different epi's from 360.- to 8xx.- #8364;
compared to a pricely reduced b-stock standard and a studio
gibby priced around 14xx.- #8364;

i desided to safe some money to buy me a gibby studio plus somewhen.