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The Epiphone Les Paul’s are economy versions of the famous Gibson Les Pauls. These versions are now made in China and over the years they’ve been manufactured in Korea and Japan.

In 1988 they introduced the first Les Paul copies in to the line, the Les Paul Standard, the Les Paul Custom, and the Les Paul 2. The Standard and Custom had set-in necks while the Les Paul 2 had a bolt-on neck. In 1991 they introduced the LP-300 which was a low cost guitar that lasted about a year. In 1993 the Epiphone Les Paul 100 was finally added. It too was a low cost guitar with a bolt-on neck. Today there are a number of Gibson copies made by Epiphone:

The earlier Epiphone versions where plainer looking while today’s EPI Les Pauls are almost as good as their American made versions and come in a wide variety of models. Currently most of them are made in China after being made in Japan and then Korea.

The main differences between the Gibson and Epiphone versions are quality of wood, finish, and electronics used. Many players can’t tell the difference or the difference is negligible while others can clear tell. The pickups are made in China and Indonesia to the exact specifications as the same models made in the US. The same thing applies to the electronics as well. The wood on the Epiphone versions are made from less expensive mahogany while Gibson uses the rarer Honduran mahogany. The finish on the Epiphones is somewhat thick gloss catalyzed finish while Gibson uses usually a nitrocellulose finish.

Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II
The Ultra-II is a 6-string solidbody guitar with a chambered body. This isn’t your normal Les Paul but one that comes with humbuckers as well as an acoustic sounding pickup called a NanoMag. It allows you to get both high-gain distortion allow with the clearness of an acoustic guitar and a whole bunch of tones in-between. It’s based upon the new Epiphone Les Paul Ultra with the addition of the NanoMag pickup.

Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul GX
The prophecy GX is a six-string electric made in China. This is a custom LP with Gibson Dirty Finger humbuckers. It features a bound mahogany body, highly figured quilt Maple top, Set-in Mahogany neck, 24-Jumbo frets, SpeedTaper satin neck profile, Pearl knobs, Grover Tuners, Coil tapped Gibson Dirty Fingers humbuckers, and bound ebony fretboard.

The Zakk Wylde Buzzsaw is made of mahogany with a maple top. The maple top adds an additonal top end to the guitar sound.

TheCustom is a 6-string electric guitar based upon the Gibson Custom. It's a great guitar for intermediate and professional guitarists. There is also a Epi Les Paul Custom Plus version that has a flame maple top and maple neck also set into the body.

The LP Studio is a lower cost alternative to the American made Gibson Les Paul Studio. It features two a mahogany body, set-in mahogany neck, dual humbuckers, and tune-o-matic bridge with Stopbar tailpiece.

The LP-100 is a low-cost alternative to the Epi and Gibson Les Pauls. It's a six-string electric guitar that is a great beginner's and intermeddiate guitar. This is a stripped down version of the more expensive epiphone lps.

The Elitist Les Paul Custom is a 6-string electric guitar based on the Gibson Les Paul. It is for the professional musician that is interested in great tone and sustain as well as a classy looking guitar.

Epiphone Les Paul Special II
TheSpecial II is one of Epiphone's most popular guitars. It comes with two humbucker pickups (Open Coil). This is a great beginner's guitar and can be used for anything from metal to jazz.

Epiphone LP Junior Special
The body is made of tonewood with a bolt on Mahagony neck. The 24.75" scale neck is made of mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. The hardware is chrome with a stop-bar tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge. The single Humbucker is positioned at the bridge and has a high gain output. The neck also features a dot inlays.

The Black Beauty has a very elegant and classic look. It features 3 humbucker pickups with gold pickup covers. The Bridge pickup is a Alnico Hot Humbucker with the middle and bridge pickups Alnico Classic HB's.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard
The Standard comes with a body made of Mahogany and Alder with a Maple top. The 24.75" scale neck is set into the body. It's made of mahogany with trapezoidal Inlays. The hardware is chrome and the pickups are alnico HB's.