After a several year hiatus, I decided to pick up the guitar again. Money is tight, so naturally I went looking for something that wasn't going to set me back a lot. I've always wanted a TV yellow LP Jr or Tele, and when I found this I got really excited.
Anyway, let's get down to it.
The one I got was made in Indonesia. The finish on it is flawlessly opaque on the top and sides, but I can make out a little bit of the grain on the backside. It doesn't have any binding along the fingerboard, and the frets could use some side-filing, but it doesn't have that big "D" neck shape that is common on a lot of Gibson guitars. That's an even trade-off, in my opinion.
It came set-up just fine for the way I play -- the intonation was spot on, and the action was fast all the way up to the 22nd fret. Some of the other reviewers have mentioned buzz between frets 1 and 3, and I had a little bit of that as well. They also mentioned that the machines haven't been able to keep the guitar in tune. After having this a few weeks I decided to restring it with my normal brand and most of these problems have gone away (although the G string still seems to slip out of tune every now and again).
I'm most impressed with the electronics in this thing. It came with a single bridge humbucker (instead of the p-51 pickup). I don't know the make of the pickup that I got, but it's HOT. H.O.T. HOT. Even with zero processing it starts to clip if I dial the volume up past 8ish. This clip shows what mine sounds like at about a 9, with no processing [...] (skip to the 1 minute mark). Also, the tone control is very awesome. I'm a big fan of neck pickups and was skeptical of buying a guitar that only had a bridge pickup, but if I roll the tone all the way down, it really does sound like I've got my neck pickup switched on.
Anyway, the only real downsides to this guitar are the frets that need filing due to the absence of binding and the strings occasionally slipping out of tune. Otherwise, this is a great sounding, easy-playing, inexpensive guitar that I would happily gig with and tell my friends about.
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Fantastic Deal
I happened to see this guitar on Amazon and could not believe the price. It looked just like an old Gibson Les Paul Junior TV Model I used to own back in the late 60's (wish I still had it) I had my doubts that the Epiphone would be any good since the price was so low but I know Amazon has a pretty good return policy so I thought what the heck I'll order it and send it back if I don't like it. I was pleasantly suprised. As one commenter mentioned the guitar is more yellow than it appears in the picture on Amazon and the finish is a little uneven but it's a great looking guitar and really captures the flavor of the original. At first it played a little stiff but I decided to replace the strings with some Earnie Ball 10's and that made a huge difference.I had read that the guitar doesn't stay in tune and I thought I would need to replace the tuning keys but I think the problem is with the nut. The strings get hung up there. I put some graphite lubricant on the nut and that helped but I will probably have the guitar guy I use fix or replace the nut. I think it stays in tune about as good as my 70's Gibson Les Paul.I also thought I would replace the pickup with a Seymour Duncan but the Epiphone pickup isn't bad at all and I will probably leave it for now. The only real change I have made is to add straplocks. A lot of reviewers have said this is a good starter guitar and they are right, but I have been playing for 40 years and own many much more expensive guitars - still I can see where this guitar will get a lot of use and will be a nice addition to my collection. One of the things I like is that the guitar is very light and is great for just sitting around practicing. The neck is great and the string height was perfect for me (very low) right out of the box. I didn't bother to buy a case but it fits perfectly in my Gibson Les Paul case. The only limitation is that there is only one pick up so the guitar is not real versatile but for just rockin out it's great.Right after I bought mine Amazon raised the price but I still think it's a good deal. If you are interested in this guitar I would not hesitate to buy it - just replace the strings. My first Epiphone and I am very impressed.
