I'm looking forward to mine arriving, hopefully in the next couple weeks. I have a new epiphone les paul custom, the cheaper one, not the inspired by gibson custom shop model. Nice guitar but the pots are terrible..either fully up or almost fully off with just a fraction of a turn. Tossing the pickups and all the electronics for much better stuff. Hopefully I will be happy with the pots and pickups in this Bonamassa 55 model. This guitar cost me $1700 in Australian dollars. By comparison an epiphone inspired by gibson custom shop model les paul is about $2800 Australian . A gibson les paul standard 50's or 60's is around $5k here
I had the Greeny (got it for much less than the market price) and really didn't like the sound in the middle position. The guitar came with a knob on which the paint was kinda peeling off and that really annoyed me. If I had paid 1499$ for it I'd have been absolutely furious. Sold the guitar, no regrets. Was kinda hoping this Epiphone would be my next pick, but after hearing some samples online, I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe a Korean Epi with P90 would be the better choice.
Beautiful guitars, but I’d be concerned about that scarf joint being so high! on 99% of guitars it’s down a few languages lower which seems to make it much more stable
I've seen scarf joints in the same area last for decades. I've seen scarf joints down lower that didn't last 5 years. It's kinda in how they did the work we cannot see, rather than what we can see. I do feel like it's an odd place to piece together a neck. And I would recommend NOT letting it fall on, or near, the headstock. Time will have to be the ultimate judge of whether they did this one right or not.
Feel? No. Appearance? Yes, just a little. Sound? Yes, and it's because of the setup. I just adjusted the Sweetwater one a little bit to make it closer to the first one and it sounds identical. So that really was just the setup on it making it louder.
Because I'm impatient and thought my Sweetwater sales rep was going to miss them on launch day. I had a standing order for one with Sweetwater, but my sales rep didn't answer when I called in, so I decided to order one from another shop I had a contact at. Later in the day, my Sweetwater rep called and told me he had the guitar set up to be shipped, and I decided to keep my order with him since he's a friend of mine.
While I 100% agree with that, I must say that Epiphone is making better instruments than they have in the previous 40+ years. I've played some Epiphones from the 1980s. They were pretty bad. I'm sure each generation has had some high points. But the Epiphones electrics that are being made right now are pretty exceptional in the sub $1000 pricerange. The crazy thing is that there are now some Epiphones that are the same price as Gibsons. The latest Inspired by Gibson Custom offerings from Epiphone are almost the same price as Gibson Les Paul Studios, and are the same price as the Gibson Les Paul Modern Lites. So they are moving Epiphone upmarket. This particular one stickers for less than $900, and, at that price, it's hard to find something with P90s that is better in appearance, feel and sound.
There were some really well made Japanese Epiphone models years ago. And there are some that will tell you that they were the best Epiphone has ever been. I've never played one but I've heard a few of them. And I don't think they sound any better, or worse, than the modern Epiphone models. Especially the models with the Gibson USA pickups in them. With Gibson making some Epiphones in the USA again, I can't help but wonder where they will draw the line. There's a cult following for Epiphone, but I'm not sure it's enough to sustain the USA made models. And I kind of wonder if they are giving the high end Epiphone models open book headstocks now because they are going to discontinue the USA made models at some point. And that brings up the question of how discontinuing the USA made models is going to affect the price of those in the used market. Will there be a surge in demand for them, in the future, when they become quirky short lived models? Or will they become a cheap way to get an American made Epiphone?
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I gotta love em....
I'm looking forward to mine arriving, hopefully in the next couple weeks. I have a new epiphone les paul custom, the cheaper one, not the inspired by gibson custom shop model. Nice guitar but the pots are terrible..either fully up or almost fully off with just a fraction of a turn. Tossing the pickups and all the electronics for much better stuff.
Hopefully I will be happy with the pots and pickups in this Bonamassa 55 model. This guitar cost me $1700 in Australian dollars. By comparison an epiphone inspired by gibson custom shop model les paul is about $2800 Australian . A gibson les paul standard 50's or 60's is around $5k here
P90's are such a great pickup, even cheap ones sound amazing
I had the Greeny (got it for much less than the market price) and really didn't like the sound in the middle position. The guitar came with a knob on which the paint was kinda peeling off and that really annoyed me. If I had paid 1499$ for it I'd have been absolutely furious. Sold the guitar, no regrets. Was kinda hoping this Epiphone would be my next pick, but after hearing some samples online, I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe a Korean Epi with P90 would be the better choice.
Beautiful guitars, but I’d be concerned about that scarf joint being so high! on 99% of guitars it’s down a few languages lower which seems to make it much more stable
I've seen scarf joints in the same area last for decades. I've seen scarf joints down lower that didn't last 5 years. It's kinda in how they did the work we cannot see, rather than what we can see. I do feel like it's an odd place to piece together a neck. And I would recommend NOT letting it fall on, or near, the headstock. Time will have to be the ultimate judge of whether they did this one right or not.
Do you notice the necks feel different in any way?
Feel? No. Appearance? Yes, just a little. Sound? Yes, and it's because of the setup. I just adjusted the Sweetwater one a little bit to make it closer to the first one and it sounds identical. So that really was just the setup on it making it louder.
Why did you get a 2nd one?
Because I'm impatient and thought my Sweetwater sales rep was going to miss them on launch day. I had a standing order for one with Sweetwater, but my sales rep didn't answer when I called in, so I decided to order one from another shop I had a contact at. Later in the day, my Sweetwater rep called and told me he had the guitar set up to be shipped, and I decided to keep my order with him since he's a friend of mine.
@@guitarsandgears3948 makes sense
Unfortunately it's still an Epiphone.
While I 100% agree with that, I must say that Epiphone is making better instruments than they have in the previous 40+ years. I've played some Epiphones from the 1980s. They were pretty bad. I'm sure each generation has had some high points. But the Epiphones electrics that are being made right now are pretty exceptional in the sub $1000 pricerange.
The crazy thing is that there are now some Epiphones that are the same price as Gibsons. The latest Inspired by Gibson Custom offerings from Epiphone are almost the same price as Gibson Les Paul Studios, and are the same price as the Gibson Les Paul Modern Lites. So they are moving Epiphone upmarket. This particular one stickers for less than $900, and, at that price, it's hard to find something with P90s that is better in appearance, feel and sound.
@@guitarsandgears3948 What about those made in Japan? Aren't Japanese Epiphones supposed to be absolutely superior to everything else out there?
There were some really well made Japanese Epiphone models years ago. And there are some that will tell you that they were the best Epiphone has ever been. I've never played one but I've heard a few of them. And I don't think they sound any better, or worse, than the modern Epiphone models. Especially the models with the Gibson USA pickups in them.
With Gibson making some Epiphones in the USA again, I can't help but wonder where they will draw the line. There's a cult following for Epiphone, but I'm not sure it's enough to sustain the USA made models. And I kind of wonder if they are giving the high end Epiphone models open book headstocks now because they are going to discontinue the USA made models at some point. And that brings up the question of how discontinuing the USA made models is going to affect the price of those in the used market. Will there be a surge in demand for them, in the future, when they become quirky short lived models? Or will they become a cheap way to get an American made Epiphone?
Epiphone out does gibson by a mile I own both.
Yes it was unfortunate that the Beatles..Stones..Kinks all used Epiphones.