Customer Reviews

Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar, Black Satin

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From unpacking to soaking my fingers after 4 hours of breaking this baby in, it ROCKS. I've had Epi's through the years and this one beats the older Les and SG models I've played. Pickups scream, sweet neck with low action. If you use a death or grunge box along with it I suggest cranking the amps to 12.

Was going to purchase from Musicians Friend but gave the sponsored link from Sweetwater music store a shot. The guys are great to deal with, and all former musicians. I'll be doing more biz with them, awesome customer service.

"T" wasnt lying about the pickups, the do indeed scream. The more I play it, the more i like it. Plain and simple, it looks, feels and sounds great. Previous to this guitar i have been playing my dad's Gibson Les Paul Recording... Tonally I am not noticing much difference. Honestly I think if i switched to higher gauge strings like that which are on my dads LP, my guitar would sound virtually the same. I'm not the sharpest tack in the box when it comes to the nitty gritty details of guitars/pickups/overall tone, but i wasnt expecting my Epi to sound so close to an actual Gibson LP.

If it helps paint the picture, I play a lot of Tool... and the solo from Rossetta Stoned sounds perfect on this guitar. It's no Silverburst, but you sure as hell can ballpark it.

The only downfall i have found about this guitar is that it does have somewhat limited access to the extreme upper frets. I cant really play too far past the 20th fret. But thats it, i am otherwise 100% satisfied.

I've wanted a Les Paul since I was 13, but I stopped playing guitar in 1989, so I wasn't in the market for one again until April of '09 when I made the decision to start playing again. The Goth Studio seemed like a great choice - smoking hot slabs of tone and sustain, vicious good looks and a great price point as I was able to snag one for $260. I didn't have to sell my kidney to get a Les Paul!

From the first moment I took it out of the box, I knew I had finally gotten what I wanted all those years. My biggest surprise was yet to come. When I plugged it in, I was shocked. This guitar sounds as good as guitars costing 5 or 6 times the price! The pickups are amazingly hot, but remain very articulate and musical. The guitar is incredibly touch-sensitive. It will be as coy as a maiden when you want her to be, but howls like a banshee when you want her to scream. This thing sounds so good that a professional guitarist literally offered to trade me for a $2500 Mollenhauer Les Paul straight up!

I've owned and played strats, teles, semi-hollows, Warlocks, Ibanez RGs, boutique guitars...nothing else feels or sounds quite like a Les Paul. Whether you play blues, rock or chugging, screaming, blistering metal, if you think you dig the sinister good looks even in the slightest, this axe NEEDS to be in your arsenal. Try one out, and I guarantee you'll bring it home!

I bought one with a trem and just plain love it. I don't use trems ( I block them off in the back of the guitar to prevent movement in the case of a string breaking). I just like guitars with tremolos for the fine tuners. I have my Paul set up for Drop C tuning (.11~.56 gauge strings) and the Epi handles great. I was gonna replace the pick-ups with Carvin's that I normally use, but the stock ones are quite good. The "Goth" has served me well in the past three years out on stage with no failures. Word up.

Three hundred bucks is a steal for what your getting here. If your somewhat savvy with your electric guitars you know your average OG Les Paul is a fine instrument. This is not that instrument... After spending many hours with a '74 LP Custom I can tell you that. But this guitar has many innate features very similar and crucial to that of it's blue-blooded cousin. It's made of Mahogany. It has Alnico pickups. It has a pitched neck and a tune-o-matic bridge. It is shaped like a Les Paul with Les Paul features. In other words it's the same damn thing minus the lace and doilies! My suggestion; buy this guitar, buy some fancy pants pickups and take the instrument to someone professional. Now upgrade your amp's speakers and drop that death metal in your granny's basement. Like I said this isn't a Gibson but it's a steal for a 1000 bucks less.

Perhaps you should also replace the nut as mine just snapped...

EPIPHONE FOR LIFE!!!

This guitar exceeded my expectations by so much. I bought it for aesthetics and thought for the price it may lack technical greatness but upon purchase and playing for even a few hours, I was proven wrong. I plugged this guitar into my recording interface and played from there, the pickups that are stock built in are absolutely amazing. I have owned an epiphone guitar before but was not impressed. The pickups in my former guitar (which is no longer produced, or is produced by a different name) were very very plain, the sound was just not what you'd expect or want. Definitely was a beginners Guitar. Playing my friends Ibanez guitars and Schecter guitars got me more into some good sounds. I had a Starcaster for my first guitar, a lower end epiphone for my second, and then a dean for my third, this is my favorite of all I have bought or played. The fretboard is fast for those who like metal, but Im more of a mellow guy and the sounds clean are stunning, especially adding a chorus effect. It has a built in killpot, which I love the feature. It adds quite the effect, though you can hear a minor clicking when recording from pushing the knob. All in all, best guitar Ive bought and if anything changes I will edit and add to this review. Thanks for your time, for the time being I in no way regret buying this and I doubt highly that you will either.

I've been a guitarist for thirty-plus years. I've owned a lot of guitars. Plenty of "really expensive" ones, too. This guitar is really great for the price. Seriously. As some of the other reviewers have noted, the Alnico Classic Plus(TM) Humbucker pickups are pretty hot (I can't track down the actual voltage but I'd say the bridge pickup runs 250+mV, anyway), but they are a tad bit noisy (which could possibly just be a result of the wiring (I haven't had a chance to shield it or anything, yet), which can be easily fixed). I'm probably going to opt for a couple DiMarzio Evolutions or perhaps Seymour Duncans... just personal taste. The tone on this guitar is really, really great, though. Very crisp on the bridge and very mellow on the bridge. Depending on what kind of amp/processor setups you're using, this guitar is capable of everything it's expensive counterpart is capable of. I've read reviews elsewhere stating that this is a "neck-thru" guitar, but it's not. It's a set neck... which is just fine and dandy - it's really solid and has a great feel to it. The "Killpot" is a unique touch - by pushing on the pot, it kills the signal, much like flipping the pickup selector with one of the volumes down, making for a nice little effect if ya need it, saving SERIOUS unnecessary wear on the pickup selector. The pickguard is a little cheap, but again, an easily rectified situation.

Bottom line - if you've got $2,500 laying around, yeah, buy the Gibson... but for this price, this is an amazing guitar right out of the box. Anyone worth their salt in the business will tell you so.

whatever-"T's" review says so little,but says it all...seems people think they have to put in a bunch of comparasins,metaphors,and bragging....whatever....nice guitar,nice price...hey let me try.....hmmmm....this guitar sears your chops like a flame-thrower at your dead uncles cook-out in the heart of hell,as your fingers prod the frets and your palm melts to the hot shaft...you can hear the screams of fallen angels rise above the cackling of satan himself!!!ive sold my soul,and several vital organs to tear up over-priced guitars like a teenage boy with a victorias secret catalog!!!the sustain is amazingly like the squealing of tires of a mazerratti kareening into a pre-school playground at 160 mph!!!the paint job alone provokes the darkest depths of my soul,and i feel the power,wrath and rage of bundy,gacy,and dahmer-flowing through my viens like a fat man stuck at the back of the line-at an all-you-can-eat buffet line!!!!the price is what really amazes me! i not only got this killer axe that voorhees himself would envy-i had enough cash left over to afford abortions for all the women i knocked up while on tour!chicks dig me,and my guitar playing!i now have more licks in me than a tootsie-pop!

Not sure if you are aware but, the current run of guitars, since around 2006 are not of the same quality as when the original Epiphone Goth series was introduced in 2002.

[...]

Epiphone Goes Goth - Jul 19, 2002

The Epiphone Goth Series lends a dark, mysterious look to four favorite Gibson solidbody models. The Goth Les Paul Studio/FR, G-400 Xtreme, Goth 1958 Explorer/FR and Goth 1958 Flying V/FR have a satin-black finish and black chrome hardware, a roman numeral "XII" inlay at the 12th fret, and Celtic Cross on the headstock.

The Goth Les Paul Studio, 1958 Xplorer and 1958 Flying-V have an optional Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo system for added moves and grooves, and '57N Hot-B humbuckers. The G-400 Xtreme is equipped with an aluminum diamond-plate pickguard and E-series Ultra-HOT humbuckers. "For those who like powerful guitars with a sleek look, the Goth Series come across like black panthers," says Jim "Epi" Rosenberg, president of Epiphone. "The Floyd Rose tremolo gives you the freedom to dive bomb and bend your way to hellacious highs and lows."

The Epiphone Goth Collection is based on Gibson's successful "Gothic" Line.

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I bought mine in 2003 with the Floyd Rose Tremolo system. It is a great, great guitar. The thick, chunky tones it belts out amazes me each time I pick it up. I tuned this down to drop "D" and almost fell over when I started playing! The new models are not built as nice but, they are still a great value. I have been very pleased with mine over the last eight years.

Hello, I'm not a professional guitar player, not even a musician but just a 0 miles beginer who dreamed to have an electric guitar. I was looking at the thousands of options in terms of price, brand name, quality, service, etc; so I decided to buy this beauty.
I've got it last week end and I'm more than shocked for what I have got vs. price paid.
This is more than the most beautiful guitar... IS MY GUITAR!!!! I'm, very, very satisfied with my purchase. I also bought the Spider 6 IV 15 watt and is excellent.
This comment comes from a very very happy customer.