Tried a few more Les Pauls today

[Bengal]

Easy killer - Ron did NOT call you a troll.

:ROTF::ROTF::ROTF:

OK. That's a good one...

[Bengal]

Cyg,
Sorry to short you. I forgot you have or had a Hamer Phantom too...

See, I'm paying attention...

[shobet]

I always wanted to be a show girl, but I haven't got the legs

[Cygnus X1]

I always wanted to be a show girl, but I haven't got the legs

Rsmacker says you have the tits, though...

[shobet]

Nowt wrong with my moobs, you sound jealous. I'm off to bed now to let my other half play with them. I'm secretly a lesbian stuck in a mans body.

[Cygnus X1]

Nowt wrong with my moobs, you sound jealous. I'm off to bed now to let my other half play with them. I'm secretly a lesbian stuck in a mans body.

:ROTF:

You, sir...get it.
Have a good one, and safe LP shopping.

[Racerx2k]

The Epi Lp that I owned played better than either one of our other guitarists' actual Gibson Les Pauls, both Studio and Standard, all three of us agreed. They were amazed. Like others, I don't like the Epi headstock, but that didn't stop me from buying it, as it was a good deal. Played our singer's Les Paul, and hate it. Sounds and feels like crap, IMHO. I'm not saying it's Gibson, as I've had Gibsons that I loved, too. I just don't care if it says Gibson on the headstock or not. If I like it, I play it, and so should anyone else, cause, after all, that's what really matters. Picked up a Burny LP Custom, not too long ago that I simply adore. An absolute keeper.

[shreddermon]

Wow. Were we talking about Les Pauls in here somewhere?

Maybe I have my head up my ass. Or maybe I just can't find any "good" Les Pauls. Or maybe it's both. :ROTF:

[cookiemonster2]

Not to hijack your thread, although I wouldn't be the first here, I went and looked at Strats today. I've wanted a strat for a long time but every time I look at one it immediately goes back on the rack without plugging it in. Today I looked at one of the brand new American Standard Strats. The neck on this thing had a bow in it like I've never seen on a guitar before. I could almost put my pinky finger between the top of the twelfth fret and the low E. Contrast that to my $400 Korean built Ibanez SA which came from the factory with a medium action and no buzz.

So I guess my point is, unfortunately, thousand dollar guitars do not necessarily equal quality. But that's not news I guess.

That said I still wouldn't buy an Epiphone Les Paul.

[Racerx2k]

Trust your hands, Shredder. If it feels right, great. If not, move on to something else. Simple as that. YOU'RE the one who's gonna have to pay for it and play it, right?

[Bengal]

A guitar needing a neck adjustment doesn't equal poor quality...

The problem there lies in the store that just pulls it out of the box and hangs it up. A good store will always set it up before hanging it. A well set up guitar will always sell faster...

I think Fender's QC is quite good. Better than Gibson, in my humble so and so...

[straycat]

I prefer the early 80's studios.Just something about them.

[sully]

yes! the ones with the dots and binding! now those were kickass guitars. imo, les pauls need binding! my stepdad had one of the first editions. i used to sneak it into my room and play it. ahhhhh, good times.

sully

[straycat]

I missed an 84 studio standard a few months back still kicking myself.Just didn't have the $1000 to get it.
Love the binding and dots.

[Rupe]

Please educate me on "what to look for" in a Les Paul that's significantly different than any other guitar brand or model?

I would guess, simply from knowing several of the guitars that you have, that you had all of the controls wide open and went for a hard rock/metal tone right out of the gate. Les Pauls will certainly do this, but to truly appreciate one there is so much more to it. Matching it to the amp being used and finding the sweet spots with a combination of volume and tone knob tweaking where the guitar responds to your playing/picking dynamics is where the magic is truly at. Most Epiphones will not have this type of responsiveness without a hardware and electronics overhaul...and even then, the actual resonance of the bodies are very hit or miss as most of them are made from 5 or more pieces of mahogany.
With the gain cranked thereby effectively eliminating dynamics from the equation, the playing field is greatly leveled. At that point, I would guess that there was simply something about the Epiphones, be it weight, neck shape, etc, that you preferred.

Bengal also got at a huge issue that I had as a Gibson dealer...shitty set-ups. I never hung a Les Paul up for sale without a set-up and string change. Shame on Gibson for not taken the time to properly set up and intonate a high end guitar (and for shipping most of them with dead strings) but that is not a reflection on the quality of the guitar, simply the apathy of the manufacturer.

So, Rupe, explain to me...
I like superstrats, is there a particular reason why I tend to like the less expensive
Studios? Or were the five or so that I have played exceptional?
Again, I have played some seiously expensive, vintage LP's, and something about the necks, the weight, hell I can't pin it down...I just didn't like. What was different about the Studio's?

Many Studios are not that much different than their Standard counterparts aside from the binding. That said, several models had "Chromite" inserts (Gibson's fancy term for Balsa wood) to lighten the load and give the guitars a more modern, lively tone. I would guess that the feel of no binding (which gives a slightly softer contour to the top edge of the guitar) and the lighter weight was more appealing to you as a player of superstrats. I think Studios are great guitars and I can easily see some players preferring them to Standards and Customs. What I don't get is someone preferring Epiphone's quality when multiples of each are played and compared. There truly is no comparison if the rare and infrequent exceptions are ignored.