Epiphone Les Paul Special Wine Red Blk HWElectric Guitar

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Wine Red finish complimented by black hardware
Mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard
Two humbucking pickups
An ideal first guitar

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£99.99

As I’ve explained previously, the main difference between the LP Special and the Special II is...

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Description

Epiphone Les Paul Special Electric Guitar Wine Red Black Hardware

Epiphone have created the Les Paul Special II following on from the original model which is specifically targeted at the beginner or entry level consumer. It offers a well manufactured Les Paul guitar to thousands of musicians who otherwise would not have had access to the genuine Gibson model. As many of you will know Epiphone has been reproducing replica copies of the Gibson Les Paul under licence after Epiphone were purchased by Gibson several years ago.

The Epiphone Les Paul Special made its debut in 2006 and has now been supplemented by the Les Paul Special II. The main difference between the original and the LP Special II is the choice of woods on the body, the original was laminated mahogany whilst the Special II features a laminated Alder/Maple body.

The neck however is still made from mahogany with a rosewood finger board, like the original Special model the body is flat and therefore devoid of the curved top as on the Les Paul standard and custom models. The pick-ups are hum-bucking open coil type and the bridge tail and machine heads are chrome plated. This particular model is available in several finishes that include Ebony, Heritage cherry sunburst, Vintage Sunburst, White, and Wine red with black hardware.

by Gig Stig

As I’ve explained previously, the main difference between the LP Special and the Special II is the material used on the body of the instrument. As the Special II uses a laminated Alder and Maple body the guitar feels slightly less like a Les Paul as it is much lighter when worn with a strap. I’m not sure if this is a psychological trait but having got used to that heaviness and density of Les Paul’s with a mahogany body, this initially felt a little strange....

On the flip side, this is an entry level Les Paul aimed at the beginner or novice player which for the most part will be made up of enthusiastic teenagers. So perhaps creating a Les Paul that is slightly lighter may not be such a bad thing after all. Sound wise this guitar is still very good when taking the price into consideration, the hum-bucking pick-ups kick out a considerable amount of gain with the usual Les Paul mid-range creaminess.

Tonally the variation is perhaps not as wide as on the more expensive Epiphone models but it’s worth remembering that this instrument was made to a specific budget, and therefore there will undoubtedly be elements where it doesn’t quite measure up to its bigger brothers. However it plays well, is well made and for the price this is a fine starter guitar.