Identifying Epiphone Les Paul

[Josh Pelican]

Hey, ladies! I'm working on a trade and I'm trying to identify which Les Paul this dude has. It's been modified so my trail leads me in multiple directions.

It's a gold top with upgraded SD humbuckers. The truss rod cover says "GIBSON", which was probably changed, and the back of the headstock says "Limited Edition". It also has silver tuners. At first I was leading towards the '56 or the Bonamassa. Unfortunately, the guy isn't 100% sure because he got in a trade. He hasn't played it much because he's more of a bassist. It's in great condition.

Here's one picture he sent me (waiting for some more):


Not really big on gold tops, but I want to grab it for a project I'm working on. I could always refinish it, but I'll probably end up leaving it.

Any of you knobs care to give it a whirl?

Thanks!

[Ghost Hip]

A lot of Epiphones in the 90s had gibson truss rod covers. I had a 99 Epiphone Junior that had a gibson cover on it.

[Josh Pelican]

Thanks for that information, pun'kin.

Apparently the original owner of the guitar owned (or used to own) a music store, so there's no way of knowing what has been done to it. I have no idea how old it is, but I've got a serial number. Here are some more pictures he sent me:








I see one small chip near the neck joint, but everything else looks good. Very tempting to go ahead with the trade, but I'd at least like to know what model it is.

[Jeff-7]

Made in China at the Saein Plant (little tricky here as they still had the korean plant and china plant around this time from what im reading, so it could possibly be MIK). October of 2002, production number 3251. Serial alone won't tell the model but if you email epiphone they can possibly tell you which it is. Might post this over on the Gibson forums under the epiphone electrics subforum. Those guys are pretty knowledgeable and helpful.

[Greenfuz]

that's a real ugly gold top though

more like yellow sparkle

[dubkitty]

they were doing some funky finishes then...i remember seeing a similarly sparkly blue one from the same general time period.

[delaydecay]

this wiki: http://epiphonewiki.com/index.php/Les_P ... rkle_Flake

says Finish: Sparkle Flake Top only (1995-1999) Sparkle Flake Top & Back (2011)

Colors:
Blue Flake
Silver Flake
Red Flake
Purple Flake (1995-1999)
Gold Flake (1995-1999)
Green Flake (1995-1999)


they may have kept making them a bit afterwards, i dunno. looks like the guy may have changed the pickups and maybe the tuners(you can see a small hole above the GROVER) new knobs? and taken off the pickguard and selector ring.

[greyscales]

Those tuners are definitely upgraded. But they don't look straight to me in the pic. Like the posts are in the right place, but they are screwed in a little off 90 degrees to the strings. Might be a bit annoying.

[Josh Pelican]

I ended up going ahead with the trade after seeing it in person. It looks much better and plays perfectly. It just needs a little love. I gave it a polish, a string change, and shined up the hardware. Looked around on eBay and found a pickguard with brackets and screws for eight bucks shipped. The shops around here had 'em for $22 plus tax. I'll pass on that. Riffed around for a bit and I'm happy with how it feels and plays through my amp.

They tuners are Grover Rotomatics, which I'm not too fond of. I'll probably change 'em back to the regular Keystone-style tuners. Maybe some Kluson or the standard ones with the Epiphone logo. I'll end up swapping out the pickups if I can find out what I want. Thinking about setting this guitar up for C or C# and riffing on some stoner metal.

I'll probably end up refinishing this guitar some day if I feel like getting my hands dirty. Might just go with a plain black and upgrade some of the hardware. Definitely need to get new screws for it. They look a little rusty.

[Holy Schnikes]

I ended up going ahead with the trade after seeing it in person. It looks much better and plays perfectly. It just needs a little love. I gave it a polish, a string change, and shined up the hardware. Looked around on eBay and found a pickguard with brackets and screws for eight bucks shipped. The shops around here had 'em for $22 plus tax. I'll pass on that. Riffed around for a bit and I'm happy with how it feels and plays through my amp.

They tuners are Grover Rotomatics, which I'm not too fond of. I'll probably change 'em back to the regular Keystone-style tuners. Maybe some Kluson or the standard ones with the Epiphone logo. I'll end up swapping out the pickups if I can find out what I want. Thinking about setting this guitar up for C or C# and riffing on some stoner metal.

I'll probably end up refinishing this guitar some day if I feel like getting my hands dirty. Might just go with a plain black and upgrade some of the hardware. Definitely need to get new screws for it. They look a little rusty.

Nice, congrats!

As for the tuners, not sure the Klusons will fit without conversion bushings as the grovers are def bulkier. Screw holes won't line up right either so you may have to do some minor/simple drilling. If you're just after Keystone-style buttons, you can get those from WD, put 'em on my old Custom awhile back, real easy to do (remove string tension, unscrew kidney bean button, replace) and looks so much better.

Here's a link:

http://www.wdmusic.com/grover_keystone_ ... 1039n.html

[Josh Pelican]

I thought about that.

I think there are little holes from there the original screws were holding the tuners in place. I wonder if I ordered the standard Epiphone logo set, would cover the new holes? Would I still end up with extra holes sticking out?

HMMMMMM