In all fairness, most gave it 4.5 to 5 stars. Only one was a 3.
3
I returned it
Submitted 1 year ago
By Craig
From Waterford. CT
Verified Buyer
Second Epiphone Iâve bought, second one I unloaded. Same reason both times, subpar fret work. Positives though, sounded nice, mostly played well. But in the end youâd spend even more money getting the frets leveled. My other Epiphone was an SG, it had loose frets. I did spend the money to get it fixed and ultimately sold it.
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The reality probably is that spending an additional $800 on a more expensive guitar would still probably need a luthier setup to make a player happy. In that regard, itâs a hell of a deal
Here is my latest guitar. 1986 Japanese made Fender Thinline Tele. I had Fralin Blues Specials put in, a Callahan bridge, Callahan brass and steel saddles, a 4 way switch so that the single coils will pair in phase and out of phase, all new wiring, locking tuners, the neck re-shimmed, some minor fret levelingâŚAND is freaking amazing.
No shit, it caused two of the little Supro amps to start smoking. Had to return two amps in two days; one to university the other bought in Pineville.
I had first played an exact 86 thin line in myrtle beach thru a reissue bassman in 1986, but parents couldnât afford. One popped up on Craigslist and couldnât pass it up. Someone had put Texas Specials in it and they were a bit harsh. I started trying to swap out pieces and couldnât get it right before dropping the immaculate guitar onto a concrete floor-dammit. Took it to Smiling Moon and now there is not a better Tele Thinline on the planet. It isnât throwing money away. It is glorious
Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree etc has been pretty synonymous with PRS for the past 20+ years, but lately has been playing a '63 Telecaster both in the studio and on stage.
He is really good. PRS guitars have sexy bodies and silky tones. That is a nice twangy Tele that still has blues grit. Nothing Teleâs like a Tele. My PRS has a coil tap to split the humbuckers to single coils, but I cannot make them sound like a Tele.
I did put a John Mann bridge in my PRS. He was Paulâs original machinist and would do work at night for him on Westinghouse company equipment. Itâs a solid piece of machined brass and significantly increased resonance, sustain, tone quality, bridge response and intonation. I canât help myself. If I know the guitar will sound better, I will make a change.
Lacking a guitar and the cash to buy one, he persuaded a music teacher to let him build a guitar for credit. He got an A, of course. He also dropped out to play and repair guitars, opening a shop in a reputedly haunted garret in Annapolis.
âAs a repairman working on every conceivable type of guitar, I became convinced that vintage instruments were desirable not because they had improved with age, but because they had been built differently from current models,â Smith relates. âThe reason some of the electrics from the â50s and early â60s felt and sounded so good was that a great attention to detail went into the manufacturing process, and that the manufacturers had a real sense for the subtle points.â
Itâs over an hour long, but this PRS factory tour watch will definitely explain why their USA guitars are superior to Chinese made and other foreign sourced guitars. You get what you pay for. If you are just starting out, a cheap foreign made knock off is fine I guess for dipping your toe. If you are all in on playing guitar, quality is everything. At some point, rareness if woods can skyrocket PRS guitars to $30,000! But that is more aesthetics. PRS guitars in the $1500 to $3500 are worthy of keeping for life and passing on when you do.
Itâs very interesting that Paul Reed Smith learned from the one main guy that made the early Les Paulâs so great. He said if you copy from one, itâs stealing. If you copy from 10, itâs research
I can go up to $2K, but itâs hard to convince myself to spend that kind of money. Itâs not like Iâm a fantastic guitar player. I like to dabble but have always wanted a Les Paul. Itâs probably due to Slash. lol
FWIW when it comes to Fenders, you can also get Japanese ones which are also very good in my experience. And to be honest, Iâve played a few made in Mexico Fender guitars that were perfectly fine. You can find tons of honest comparison videos on YouTube by musicians who will point out that the differences are minimal in most cases. I would say the American builds are a little more consistent in terms of quality - however a good unit from any build location is still a good guitar. You just might have a few more misses in every build batch.
This guy might take $2,500. For new guitars online, the people at Sweetwater will take great care to match you with the right Les Paul. $2,500 is a generous top end budget number. To that end, matching up a $1,600 Les Paul and using the remainder for a quality all tube amp would be best if you donât have an amp you love already. Nowadays the best tube amps to me are the lower wattage (about 20 watt) amps. You have to push a tube amp to get that Welcome to The Jungle sound right, and everyone in your neighborhood will hate you if you push a 50 watt tube amp.
The only time I ever ordered a new guitar without playing it first was the PRS, and a close engineering guitarist friend I trust had bought the Same model and talked me into to leaping. Sweetwater will take a guitar back and will finance sometimes 2 years 0%.
Les Paul models vary so much and that is lifetime investment, so I recommend playing as many as you can until you find one that speaks to and for you. It could be a beautiful art piece on anyoneâs wall too.
All true. The Japanese made Fenders in the mid to late 1980âs are well known to have craftsmanship and quality control that exceeded that of many USA made guitars during the Same period. When I played that 86. Thinline in 1986, the sales guy heard me trying a Malmsteen strat, which I hated. He handed me the country looking Fender Thinline and I was like naw, I want to rock and that think canât rock! Single coils and no whammy bar, and look at that cheesy pickguard! He insisted and I never stopped thinking about how great it felt, sounded and played. I was still in my early teens. itâs so important to play a guitar before you buy. I picked many very expensive PRS guitars that were not my cup of tea. Once you own, you can almost always improve one, but it better fit you like a comfortable glove first, or you can spend lots of money for naught
That is my favorite thing about these guitars - they tend to more than hold their value.
Mine was 2nd hand. Touring musician sold it for I donât know why. It has a few road nicks on it, but it plays like butter despite being all stock. Itâs my go to because I swear it makes me sound better than I am.
Thatâs been my point all along. That fender you have is special. There are plenty of paper champion guitars out there that would suck bad compared to your Fender. If it doesnât make sound better than anything else, why bother? It shouldnât be harder than it already is. The better it feels, plays and sounds, the more likely you are to pick it up, enjoy it and improve
Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely try a few out before/if I ever purchase one. Iâve read that some versions are heavier than usual so not really into that. This is just one of the purchases Iâve always thought about, but always thought too expensive. Similar to a frigginâ Rubicon Jeep. lol
I had a 2014 rubicon . Loved it. Put adjuster ranchoâs on it and a killer sound system. I ultimately went back to a taco because the solid axel sucks as a high mile daily driver-duh. My wife and kids hated it. They didnât care for too down and doors off like I did. Badass vehicle would go almost anywhere. One day maybe I will have another as a bonus vehicle.
If you are local, head down to Woodyâs in rock hill or Midwood guitars in plaza Midwood. Both are relatively expensive with some budget stuff, but most everything is market price and best qualities. PRS makes a semi-hollow single cut that should make Les Paul sounds at lighter weight. You can live chat sweetwater sound engineers and ask for feed back on guitars meeting your budget and sound wants. They are so helpful and thorough. They could steer you toward a good les Paul for you. There are so many les Paul variations that itâs very confusing
