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Travis Browning Epiphone Les Paul Special VE review


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Sounds like great bang for the buck!

 

It is! And beyond that, its just a great guitar! I think the "60s SlimTaper-D" is my favorite neck ever! I do a lot of picking around open chords and it provides enough chunk to feel just right for me, and when I go to the middle of the neck for some melody lines it tapers down and fits my hand perfectly. I don't have massive hands, but I do have fairly long fingers.

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  • 1 year later...
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Finally I find an objective review from a real expert. What a great and informative review this truly is. I'm into rock and metal and want to play along to my favourite bands. I Googled the best guitar for beginners and the Epiphone Les Paul Special player packs came up with Bryan Epsey doing demos of the Epiphone Les Paul Player Pack, Performance Pack and Goth SG Performance Pack. After some deliberation I chose the Epiphone Les Paul Performance Pack but discovered that it had been discontinued with the Electar 15w. This has put me in the position of buying the guitar and amp separately. The amp which suits my budget is the Line 6 Spider Classic 15 1x8 Combo. I am still undecided on the guitar. I watched demos and reviews on YouTube and watched Lee from Dawsons demo the Epiphone Les Paul VE and the Special II. He was extremely impressed with the Epiphone Limited Edition Les Paul Special II Plustop (Heritage Cherry Sunburst).

 

I get the impression that the VE is a downgrade of the Special II, especially sine the VE costs less. Now I have a dilemma of not knowing which to choose. I would be immensely grateful for your thoughts? [h=1][/h]

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  • 2 years later...
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Hi Travis & all, great review ! I read it after I bought this guitar for adding to my collection and it is indeed spot on. I'm a die hard Tele player, got also one with "Keef-openG-tuning" for our Stones covers, but I wanted to play around with Les Paul style guitar and how it feels/sounds and this without spending a lot of money on a GIBSON Les Paul. I did try some GIBSON's Les Paul's from my fellow guitarist in our band. For me, owning a Les Paul is just for fun & home practice because in our band live performance, I can't really play a Les Paul : I am using my Tele Plus (with Lace Red & Blue) which blends perfectly with my mate playing his LP, also we switch lead regularly in our playing : really great sound !

Now about the Epiphone LP sound : I first thought about changing the pickups, but I am not going to do it right now. My first mod will be to install DPDT on-on-on switches on both pickups so I can do Series/parallel/coil-split on the humbuckers, as a next step I might change the pickups, but not for now.

So my question : can anyone share his/her experience on this mod ? I mean "soundwise", not with the hardware/wiring install (I am an electronics engineer 🙂 )

Best regards

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Here it is in 2021 and your review is still helping others; it sure helped me a lot. I have been all over the place regarding buying this guitar. I was near-convinced a couple of times, but backed away, due to comments from assorted self-professed aficionados. Well, you dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's. I'm in. Will order mine tomorrow. I'm going for the ebony finish, and thanks to you I'm doing so with confidence. Like you, after 40 years, Fender and I have begun to drift apart. Be well, my friend. Good morning (it's evening here) from Thailand.

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On 1/13/2021 at 3:24 AM, EddyBiesemans said:

So my question : can anyone share his/her experience on this mod ? I mean "soundwise", not with the hardware/wiring install (I am an electronics engineer 🙂 )

Best regards

I have done it many many many times in the past. It's a useful mod for giving a hum, single, and p90ish tone. The issue YOU may have, is that the pickups aren't 4 conductor. You will have to rewire the pickups. Not hard, just a PITA. 

Edited by badpenguin
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  • 6 months later...
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This is the best review about this guitar so far, i feel exactly the same. 

Always been on camp Fender, then one day i walked in our local music store and i instantly fell in love with this guitar. 

The feel, the touch, the looks... The price!!! Omg... 

The sound!!!

I bought it without even playing it in the store, took it home with me, when i hooked it up at home it blew me away... At this price range the quality is unbeatable. 

5 stars, it is now my favorite guitar. 

Don't get me wrong, i still love my squire affinity stratocaster with original Fender hot 1950's pickups. 

But this guitar, it's to die for... 

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Ahoy!

Right.

Just received an Epi Les Paul VE....wanted the worn walnut but couldn't find one anywhere.

Color wise, I wasn't too uncomfortable with the Worn Cherry so I opted that finish.

I was expecting sharp fret ends, string buzz, and intonation issues but there were none. Nada.

Another pleasant surprise was the neck profile. Not too straight and just right for my preferred action.

I may have to barely adjust intonation on the high E but that's no biggie. 

After tuning and stretching twice it got there and stayed tuned while I gave it a test drive.

Very pleased with delivery time, and a sub retail price deal made a big difference. 

Highly recommend these.

Happy Walter

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