Epiphone Les Paul Custom Silverburst
Wow. The subtle shimmer in the paint, the shine of the chrome hardware, the luxurious appearance of the split diamond inlay, the flawless color scheme, and the pure beauty of the Les Paul Custom in Silverburst. The Silverburst edition of the Gibson Les Paul Custom was introduced in 1979. It has been reissued to satisfy Les Paul lovers who have been craving their own Silverburst, or players looking to add another work of art to any guitar collection.
The Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst features a one piece mahogany neck, a mahogany body with a maple top, an ebony fretboard, and 490R / 498T Gibson pickups. The Block inlays on the fretboard and the split diamond inlay on the headstock are a Les Paul Custom standard feature. The whole guitar - neck, body, and headstock - is bound in a lavish black and white multi-ply binding. Chrome hardware, a Tune-O-Matic bridge, and speed knobs top off this wonder of a guitar. In person, this guitar stands out so well on the wall of about 20 other Gibson Les Paul Standards, Customs, and Studios. This is a true dream.
The Epiphone is pretty much the same wood wise, but instead of an ebony fingerboard, it has a rosewood one instead. I'm a big ebony fan, so I wish the Epi had it. Oh well, I guess I'll have to get myself a Gibby one of these days. Darn. ;)
The Epiphone Les Paul Custom Silverburst is the model I have had for over a year. It has held up great through playing at church often and practicing even more frequently. Let's start with appearance.
Looks - Stage presence is huge today and always has been. If you look cheap or inexperienced on stage, a good portion of audience will think before you even start playing that you might not have a clue what you are doing. This guitar says you know what you are doing (even if you don't). The stage lights make this guitar shine like nothing I have seen before, and a lot of that is thanks to the chrome hardware - it just shines. Sitting on a guitar stand in any room, it just looks so cool.
Looks are a big part of a guitar to me, but that's not everything (obviously), because a guitar should sound as good as it looks if not BETTER.
Sound One - The first time I played my Silverburst, I was in love. The chunky humbuckers completely filled my ears with sweet sustain. The Standard Tele I had had the 2 years before I got my Les Paul is great, but this is a whole different animal. The shorter scale length neck was a slight playing adjustment, and the set neck was also foreign feeling at first. Now I am accustomed to it quite well.
Sound Two - The Epiphone humbuckers still sound good, just not the same to my ear. I play so dang much though, that I sometimes get tired of hearing the same sound - the reason I have about 4 overdrive pedals. The cleans sound clear, but somewhat flat in dynamics, not pitch. I can live with it for now. The overdrive sounds sort of one dimensional and not very deep. Still a nice sound, just not something that is extremely memorable. Soon I plan to change the pickups to some Gibson 57 Classics, Gibson Burstbucker Pros, are some Seymour Duncans. All three options sound really good.
Looks - Sweet. Sound - Okay. Build - ? Let's find out.
Build Quality - The guitar itself is built very carefully and well. I have noticed that the maple top seems softer than the alder body of my Tele. The Tele is three years old with not a scratch or ding on it, but the Les Paul is a year and a half old and has buckle rash, and few dings and dents. The rosewood fretboard has held up well and has little wear on it. The neck is put on the body flawlessly, and the electronics - volume knobs, tone knobs, input, and pickup wiring and switching - are perfect. No sharp ends on the frets and the tuners are excellent. However, the tuners are Grovers - what did you expect? One qualm I have is that the top edge of the guitar where the binding is is not very smoothly rounded and is sort of sharp on your arm after a while. No worries about this though, because even Gibson Les Paul Customs are like this around the edges.
Worth It? Would I suggest this guitar to you? That depends on how much you can get it for. The price now is $750 and Musicians Friend usually has that knocked down to $600. Me? I got mine for $500 even - period. The price at the time was $550. I have connections. Haha! So if you can get a good deal on this, I would go for it. It is a unique Les Paul Custom because it has the Silverburst color and chrome hardware. Overall great buy.
Read more about my guitars and other gear at my website www.theparkinggarage.webs.com!
