Cheap Les Paul alternative.. ESP? EPIPHANY? Schecter?

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napalmdeath

napalmdeath

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Epiphone, china??
ESP LTD EC1000 CTM with 30th Anny Dimarzios?
Schecter Solo II Custom?
ESP Skolnick??
 
Used Gibson studios $500 - $700 depending on model/Color/finish
 
LPJ, they can be had for cheap and they are pretty sweet. Same can be said for the Faded Studio models before them. If you want something other than a Gibson the Eclipse is always a good option.
 
halebox":2hro18uz said:
Just get a used studio or LPM
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Dude. I have a 90's studio lite I will never part with. It's seen a few guitars come and go. Ebony board. Shredder neck. Weighs around 7.5 lbs, and just sings. I've put a bone nut on it and had the frets leveled, shave put it up against a few guitars 2-3 times its market value. One of my favorite sleeper models ever. I think I paid around $700 for it years back.
 
I was kinda on the same boat a while back... still am actually LOL :D meaning I was looking for a $1000ish Les Paul shaped guitar.

The Gibson Studios I tried in that price category were pretty meh. And it sure was a crap shoot in the sense I tried about dozen of them and the quality was all over the place.

Epiphone were really good but the headstock... is too fugly.

LTD EC1000, very shreddable neck profile, very consistent build quality too. Athough I haven't had a chance to try the CTM version but I'd suspect it's at least as good as the "regular" EC1000's.

Hmmm... what else... oh yeah, PRS SE Zach Myers (semi-hollow yeah). I'd go as far as to say the two of these I tried were really high quality and the best of the bunch of single cut shaped guitars I tried, plugged in or acoustically.

That's my 0.02€.
 
If you can get past the Signature version attitude some people have, the Epi Bonamassa is a monster guitar. Long Tendon neck, real maple cap, and burstbuckers with decent pots.
 
Cant say enough good things about PRS SE's or even used PRS USA singlecuts. Can be found for good buys. Studio's are a great option to get a monster playing guitar without paying for the finish and trim options of a standard/custom/etc..
Whats your budget... and that lp in the classifieds is a killer deal at 1200..
 
Besides the Gibson Studio the PRS SE 245 is an incredible guitar
A used S2 singlecut worth looking into also if you dont want Gibson
 
Check out the FGN guitars, too. GREAT Les Paul guitars for the buck.
But if i were you, at least check out the PRS Tremonti, it has an inbetween neck scale (betweeen Fender and Gibson lenght) so it has clarity but also some punch. Great guitars, i own a 2007 which has high gloss finish. Man this guitar with its high output treble pickup is a monster player. Articulation, punch, clarity, woodiness, you name it.
 
JimmyBlind":gm5jtcs7 said:
Check out Edwards.
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First thing that came to mind for me, nothing but good experiences with these, great values and worth tracking down. I've played the PRS SE's, definitely nice for the money too, but my first choice would be the Edwards.
 
If you like skinny necks, the ESP EC1000 are really top notch build quality and they play well. The PRS Tremonti (technically the current model is the Tremonti II - the one with a trem) also has a skinny neck. They aren't Jackson skinny, but they are on the thin side. Great guitars.

If you want fatter, go with a PRS SE245. Best playing singlecut guitar on the market for the money. You'll probably want to upgrade the pickups, but it's a great value and it plays great. Fat, beefy sound, too.
 
Tokai Love Rock. I have the Standard and the Sykes copy. I play them both more than I play my '86 Standard.
 
I just picked up a PRS SE zack Meyers and it kicks all kinds of ass, look into a Korean SE like the 245 mentioned or the Bernie Marsden theyre really great guitars and I got mine for 550 shipped brand new...
 
MR MARCUS":csxyup94 said:
Tokai Love Rock. I have the Standard and the Sykes copy. I play them both more than I play my '86 Standard.
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Oh yeah I completely forgot about Tokai in my message... I had Japanese Love Rock way back in the 90s. That was a great guitar IIRC but with that said, I never played anything else so time may be a big factor here :D . I also had a Chinese Les Paul Custom copy for a while, nothing wrong with that one either, but it left me kinda meh in the feel department.

I did try the new Chinese Tokais as well when in search for my Les Paul shaped guitar. Nothing wrong with them, supposedly "correct" specs etc.

About your Sykes copy Tokai MR MARCUS, is that a Japanese or a Chinese made one?
 
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