1995 Epiphone Les Paul

Pickups: Seymour Duncan 59 (neck) and JB (bridge)

Fretboard: Rosewood

Neck: 1 Piece Mahogany

Body: 4-5 Piece Mystery Wood (Basswood?)

Top: 2 Piece Maple

Nut Material: Bone

Bridge: Gotoh TOM bridge and Lightweight Aluminium Tailpiece

Colour: Honey Burst

Country of Origin: Korea

Weight: 3.38 kg / 7.45 lbs

Korean Epiphones of this era are generally quite well regarded by players (especially those on a budget), and I tend to agree with them. My opinion is that this guitar is well constructed, with very cheap materials and electronics. It's top is not as deeply arched as say a vintage or Reissue Les Paul would be. The bridge pickup was mounted a little off where it should have been (i.e. the pole pieces were not centered over the strings). This has since been corrected. As with most Asian copies it has a scarf joint for the headstock end.

I'm not sure what wood they used to construct the body with but the grain pattern does not look like mahogany to me. It could be basswood. There are multiple pieces, maybe up to 5 judging by the end grain. The neck does look like mahogany, and the fretboard looks like Indian Rosewood.

Information available online reveals that this guitar was built in the Samick plant in Korea.

Tone: Compared to the other Les Pauls I have played, I would say this has a scooped mid-range. It is brighter than the other 2 Les Pauls I own, although the high end is not unpleasant nor uncontrollable. I don't even remember what this guitar used to sound like without modifications - but over the years the upgrades have made it enjoyable to play. The SD 59 is a nice workable pickup, in my opinion.

Set up: Action is great with a neck with very minimal relief. Plays very well and I've never had a problem with the neck or truss rod.

Electronics have been swapped with CTS pots, Orange Drop caps, switchcraft jack and switch. Rewired with the vintage wiring scheme.

Bone nut has been fitted. Hardware has been upgraded to Gotoh. Ever since changing the bridge to the Gotoh, I have had issues with the high E string producing a sitar-like sound. This happens acoustically as well. It only happens on bends, however it also happens on a bend on the last fret, so it cannot be a fret problem. I suspect it is the string binding on the TOM slot, I will hopefully get to the bottom of this soon.

Jobs/Upgrades to be done:

Fret Level/Crown/Polish

Buzzing E string

Tuners

Inlays (?)

Upgrades done:

Bone Nut

SD Pickups

Gotoh Bridge and Tailpiece

Orange Drop Caps

CTS Pots

Switchcraft Jack