Gibson Les Paul 56 Goldtop Review

History:

Purchase: Purchased at "Music Shoppe" in Harrison, oh. Paid between $500.00 - $600.00.

What I Like About This Unit: I absolutely love the feel of the guitar, it just "fits" you dig. Just the right amount of heft, not too heavy. The body and the neck feel just right to me, the guitar begs to be played. I`ve really fallen in love with the epi-les paul. The finish is, well, absolutely gorgous!!! There are no flaws I can detect, smooth and clean as a whistle. The semi-sparkle, gold finish is a thing of beauty, vintage all the way and then some!!! Make no mistake the people who built this guitar were under orders to do it right. The neck-body joint is tight and clean, no shortcuts here either. Actually this special edition from Epiphone looks better than many Gibsons I`ve seen and plays like a dream. Oh yes, it plays wonderfully, action is great and the included P-100 pickups give the player a great deal of range. You can sing sweetly with the neck pickup with your amp set clean, throw out the blues grind by upping the gain and with my Marshall 50 watt amp set on overdrive I get all the singing lead and roar most players could ask for. Of course that is only my opinion and real high gain power cats might feel less than fully armed. I just know this, with a good amp this guitar sounds a lot like the best of the guitar work from the "Allman Bros" albums i grew up with and love, that is the best complement I could give really. Would i rather have the new "Gibson 56 Gold Top" reissue, Well of course, I mean you`re talking on of the best guitars ever built, but for $2,500.00 less you can`t go wrong with the Epiphone.

What I Do NOT Like About The Gibson Les Paul 56 Goldtop: There isn`t much I don`t like about this guitar. I might put on a pair of the new Seymour Duncan "virtual vintage" P-90`s in favor of the stock pickups, but for the price i have no complaints.

Les Paul 56 Goldtop Quality: Like I said, this guitar is beautifuly built . It is obvious the manufacturer went into the thing intending to craft a quality instrument.

Summary: All I can say is I`m as happy with this purchase as any I have ever made, I`ve owned several guitars, electric and acoustic, Gibsons, Martins, Yamahas and fenders and this little Epiphone goldtop is as much fun to play as any of them.

Rating of this product: 4

This Gibson Electric Guitars Review Submitted By: Bluewilly

Date: 2001-07-23