Epiphone Les Paul Traditional PRO-III Electric Guitar Metallic Gold

Most Liked Positive Review

I'm surprised

Let me preface this as I am usually a Fender Stratocaster guy but this guitar, for the money, is one of the best Les Paul style guitars I have ever played. I do not usually enjoy playing on Les Pauls. I find the neck and overall shape of the guitar uncomfortable and while the latter is still true, the neck on this guitar is a dream to play on. The setup out of the box is good enough. Neck relief, action, intonation were all solid. The finish on the back of the neck is stellar. I can tell it could be easily damaged but its so smooth to play on. The fretwork is nice, nothing sharp. The binding and both the front and rear finishes all look solid, minus some very minor imperfections where the neck meets the body. This guitar does tend to get dye on your fingers after a decent play session. No biggie. The electronics are surprisingly good. All four pots have an even tight feel. The pickups themselves are quite hot and bright. There is very good variation in the tone controls to roll off the brightness and get more warmth. My only complaints would be the visible black tape around the sides of the pickups and like every Epiphone I've ever owned, the selector switch, while solid feeling, does sometimes crackle in between switching. The tuners all have an even feel to them. The guitar stays in tune real well. Well provided you add some graphite to the G String. Before adding the graphite is was prone to binding in the nut during bends and slipping out of tune. I saw quite a few people claiming they're not Grovers. Well, my guitar shipped with a label claiming they were. And they look and feel like Grovers to me. Regardless they feel quality. This is my first guitar to have a Pau Ferro fret board. I was worried given the cost of the instrument that I would receive some bottom of the barrel piece but its an extremely beautiful grain of wood that matches the paint job perfectly. Whoever is in charge of matching fret board material with body has a good eye.