Unfortunately, the MF/GC shipment has sold out - but I was happy to at least get to review this one! Good luck on the used market 🔴Reverb: reverb.com/item/42795414?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly 🔵eBay: ebay.us/R9fACt
Great catch/purchase, thank you for the review. To the Player who bought this through the NGD, thank you, much appreciated and congrats on your new Custom.
Thank you for reviewing this! Can you please review one of the older Gibson BB King models or a Murphy Lab of some kind? I really enjoy your channel ☺️
I liked this finished binding 🤷🏻♂️ it doesn't look true aged but it's cool seeing color to them aside from cream. Reminds me of the Les Paul ( Steve Howe ) or the Widow series with their colored binding.
@@_dmfd the binding is really odd for me, I can't work out if its orange or yellow and seems to change radically from the playing shots to the shots in the case.
Bought this last year when it came out. I actually pre-ordered it and got it when it was released. Not perfect but I think it's a nice guitar especially for the price point. Was happy to see you doing a video review of it. 👍🏻
@@christopherweise438 the guitar is a great Blues/Bluesrock machine for the money. I don‘t know what he meant with it „not being perfect“. The only thing which I could imagine is that the nut is not cut 100% well, this could have been done a bit better, but is not a major bummer. In my case, the pickups sound great in my opinion, but it probably depends on the amp and the levels of gain you use this guitar with. Furthermore, the guitar has noticeably high levels of sustain and sounds great „unplugged“, both probably due to the fat neck-profile, the massive body and the long neck tenon. I can state that the neck pickup is great on a clean amp. In this context, the guitar can actually be used as a perfectly viable jazz guitar (on a dedicated, good clean amp). Otherwise, I use low- to mid-gain blues and rock tones, and for such tones the pickups work great. I can make no statements about high-gain heavy metal-type tones, however. Maybe that is where the guitar may fall flat, who knows. But even if you don‘t like the pickups: you can just exchange them! Overall, the guitar is a great base for modding, considering that the overall build quality is quite tidy.
While I can understand the critique with the scratchy frets, one has to keep in mind that these things don‘t stay this way. After some few hours of blues playing on this thing, with some nice deep bends on all frets, all the frets will start to feel better. I have been playing (and loving) my JB Black Beauty since it’s arrival last winter and now the thing plays like butter. Effortless bends are possible on all frets, just like with my Gibson.
@@jgenoese neck on mine has been oiled thoroughly (ebony wood is actually very dry right out of the Box; after some thorough treatments with Dunlop lemon oil, one can start to appreciate how beautiful the fret boards on these models actually are). Furthermore, I tend to use nice strings (either D‘Addario XLs or DR „Veritas“ strings). Instead of sitting down and polishing the frets, the blues-guitar playing did it for me, as mentioned above. I am usually going for deep Gilmour-style bends a lot of the time and all over the neck, so it played nicely after just a few hours. But hey, if polishing the frets by hand is your method of choice and does the Trick, go ahead and do it. Actually, I always had the impression that the oil-treatments, together with wiping off the oil thoroughly, had huge positive effects on the playability. Sometimes, the „scratchiness“ which Trogly mentioned comes from a combination of non-polished frets and a dry fingerboard. For me, sometimes the wood of the fingerboard has an actually larger effect than the frets (the wood is what you actually press the strings down on; so this is what makes a large part of the „feel“ of the guitar).
@@smelltheglove2038 Just polish them! I agree. I got a Dremmel to trim my dogs nails (thought it would be more gentle). He HATED it so I never really used it for nails. It spins slower than my regular Dremmel. I got a buffing wheel for it. I use the tiniest dab of metal polish after cleaning the frets and rub it in then buff with the "Dog Dremmel" at the lowest speed. Spectacular mirrored frets. I use Semi Chrome metal polish after first cleaning with 0000 Steel wool. Literally mirrored shine. Makes a HUGE difference in playability. I urge anyone to try mirroring their frets before saying it is unnecessary. It is a big, big difference. Semi chrome seems expensive but one tube is easily about 10 lifetimes of polish (you literally need the amount you would get by touching the corner of the rag to the top without squirting any out. One pea sized dot is enough to clean about 5 guitars).
I love Trogley's videos, but some of his comments on guitars, bugs me!!! $650 Epiphone - The guitar is ok! It has some fretboard tooling, the color is ok, the frets are rough, and the pickup cavity could use some work!!! $5,000 Gibson Les Paul- It has a small crack around the nut...its been re fretted...the input jack has been replaced, the paint has been touched up, and the pickguard is missing.... But that's ok!!! Me- 🤷♂️
He's a Epiphone snob. I have a Standard Gibson and a Standard EPi, the EPI feels better, sorry but it do!! But he would never admit that. It hurts me so say it but I'm not going to lie.
He never said it was bad for the value, he just point out some issues the guitar has, not every guitar has rough frets at that pricepoint for example, and think of the $5,000 Gibson as a collection item, it's NOT ok for him when something is replaced or repaired, but if it doesn't affect the playability I mean it isn't a $5,000 guitar bc of nothing, obviously it's gonna have great pickups and play well
@@sbeard73 maybe yours does, that doesn't mean every epiphone plays better than a Gibson, that would even be illogical, but exceptions exist, maybe the Gibson has some issue or something
@@facurojas4477 you’re gonna laugh at me but I kid you not I have a 2006 Gibson Standard Goldtop. I also own a super shitty Epi Les Paul 100 in cherry red. Guess which one I play constantly and the neck feels like butter? It’s the Epiphone. I even like the pickups on it better because of how easy it is to get feedback on them. That thing was just meant to produce sweet rockin tones. My Gibson hardly ever gets played these days, i feel bad but it’s just the way it goes
@@sebastianmedina1234 I think maybe you don't have the same style of someone who wants a Gibson, I have a lot of respect for the LP100, I have the Cort version of that guitar (CR100) and I love it, A LOT but maybe the epi is more your style than the goldtop
I don't know what was going on with the color balance or whatever during the play demo, but the binding and headstock appointments look orange. Like some kinda speedway orange, and it looks way better than that lemon yellow.
@@derrickharmon7980 Yeeeeeeeeeees! It is very Halloween-y. Now that we're talking about it I've realized how much I NEED a spooky Les Paul. And by spooky, I mean lookin' like a Halloween themed worksheet you'd give a third grader. Cheesey-ass bats and witches and jack-o'-lanterns. That kinda stuff.
I was able to buy mine brand new about 10 days before the official release (10/08/2020) at my local GC. As soon as I picked it up and plugged it into a Dsl40cr and played the first note, I knew I was gunna buy it. Great feel and sound. It’s tied for my favorite guitar with my gibs tv yellow special. I like it better than my Gibson 50s standard -and my 50s tribute.
I have the same amp - and it sounds great out of that DSL40cr!! I thought about selling it for the $$ a few times, but when I play it again - I keep changing my mind and keeping it!
@@vincebauerle5942 you thought of selling the Dsl40cr or the JB BB? I mostly play the JB BB through my dsl20hr and dsl100 now, so I’m selling the 40. Either way though they’re all great amps that this guitar sounds awesome through.
@@the_hippykiller22 the weight and feel of the neck is really just a bit better. The pups are different so I don’t rate it the same in the tone department (all my gibbys have p90s). So it is strictly a better feeling guitar
I agree. The last 3 years or so they've stopped polishing them correctly at the factory but do a proper job and they won't scratch at all. They do wear sort of quickly tho but nothing crazy.
Thanks for the great review! I was one of the lucky ones to get this from Guitar Center when they magically reappeared. So happy with it. I have two Gibson Les Pauls and I have to say I enjoy this just as much and am playing this beast more than the other guitars in my “herd.” The middle position on the switch has a great single coil tone which I can’t get enough of (even with distortion running through it). I agree the yellowing on the binding is a bit much in certain lights, but if you dim the lights a little it looks authentic! Lol! Also, comparing this to the other custom shops by Epiphone, I really prefer the aesthetic of the ebony neck vs the rosewood as well. Lastly, the guitar stays in tune even after 30 minutes of messing around with solos from Gilmour. 5/5 stars from me.
I love what Epiphone is doing. They are making crazy good guitars for the price. I've bought 3 Epiphones since 2020, and my Les Paul Modern is amazing.
@@Trog The value they offer is amazing. The Probuckers are very underrated, locking tuners, am ebony fretboard and color variety. What more could you want?
What is a standard Epiphone Black Beauty? Do you mean the regular 2 humbucker LP Custom in black? I think it has have 3 pickups to be called a black beauty. That name doesn’t apply to any black and gold LP.
@@Dr.Jekyll the truss rod cover of the standard Epiphone custom in black with gold hardware said Les Paul Black Beauty. I have a Gibson Les Paul custom in black with gold hardware and the truss rod cover says Les Paul Custom. The black beauty name seems to be an Epiphone thing. They are currently discontinued.
It's beautiful. Whenever I see the black beauty I think of Billy Jones from the band "The Outlaws" who's a great player. I got a Les Paul custom earlier thisyear, my dream guitar. Thanks to the stimulus money, for stimulating my guitar collection.
billy realy knew how to get a great tone out of that black beauty. such a great and underrated player, i love the video where he and hughie joins skynyrd in winterland '76
@@agusrgoro That's awesome man. I was raised in the late 80's and 90's. My dad raised me on Southern Rock, which makes sense as I'm a Southerner 😀. I always was drawn to his playing, and somber lyrics. As I got older and more musically inclined, I appreciate it even more. Other than the well known facts most outlaw fans know. Is there anything you know about this mysterious guitar player? There's not much of anything about his personality or whatever Billy may have been dealing with mentally. Another words... I'd like to know more about Billy, he was awesome 👌
Finally here is the review I have been waiting for since I get my JB Black Beauty in March 2021! Was sold out rapidly in Germany and I could grab a B-Stock from Thomann. Someone gave it back because of sharp fretends and I have to thank this customer. After overworking the frets in their workshop ( polishing too!) it was perfect and I love this guitar! The neck works perfect for me and it looks really amazing. BTW - The tuners on my guitar looks more like the ones in video and in this video Joe explains that the middle pickup is NOT installed in the way to have this out of fade tone! Anyway I like it and maybe I will swap the PUs to the 57 classic - it seems worth for me, because this guitar will never leave my house again! And I think that the tones in your demo have a little to much distortion to show what this guitar can sound - no highgain beast, more in the crunch and „Blues Driver“ range for great sounds 👍 Thanks for the review and greetings from Germany 😎🎸
I bought one of these and loved it! Unfortunately it was way too heavy (it weighed even more than my Gibson LP Standard 50's that I added a Bigsby to). I ended up selling mine locally for $1000 (on Facebook Marketplace) and put that money towards a Gretsch. I am sad that I had to sell it, but it was too hard (weight wise) to play, even sitting down. But if I could find one that is less weighty, I would love to get one again.
I got my JB early this year and I love it. I really lucked out on price. It was the last one available that I paid $650 new. Even for someone to pay $799 or more, it's worth it. Does it sound as good as my 59" Epiphone Les Paul? It sounds different. I do like the Gibson Burstbuckers better. Still, if you are a JB fan or not, it's a great value. If you don't like the Probuckers, it's still worth it to change them. I'm happy with the stock set up and I have other guitars with better pickups in them. Each guitar I own sounds different and that's what I want. To each his own. I always say, If it rings, sings, and screams it's for me lol.
Wow you found one at $650, good deal!! I got mine a few months ago on sale for $699 and I thought that was a steal!!. It's an excellent sounding/playing guitar.
@@Trial212 $699 is still a steal! What a guitar man. I got really lucky with Sam Ash direct and they guy said act fast, it’s my last one. I said how much? Come on man I don’t wanna eat Mac n Cheese for to long lol. He laughed and I got that great deal.
I've got an old Epiphone Black Beauty (old style head) that I bought in Australia in 2004. The binding on that was ivory, rather than that sickly yellow. I think it looked much better with the ivory look on the black body. The gold pick ups and bridge added to the beauty of it.. Also a very nice sounding guitar. But a bit too heavy, gave me bad back at gigs.
I personally love the finished binding on these. I'm telling you tho man you really need to find an Epi Lee Malia RD Artisan to get in and review. They were run in 2017 ik you're sort of familiar with this series but they are hands down the best bang for your buck artist limited edition Epi has one recently. Made in Indonesia, Gibson USA pups that Lee worked with the Custom Shop with, Gibson electronics and the Artisan outfit along with the RD body, they're just a gem. The tone diversity is so beautiful with that thing you can play any genre and sound great. Lee & and the CS did great on them. I lucked out last year and found a new old stock one and got it for MSRP! these sell for $1,200+ on their own but I also found a 24¾ scale Gibson USA TKL hardshell case for an RD for $100 last year too! Deal of the century on that case they're impossible to find 😂
I have a Epi 2005 50th anniversary edition black beauty. While I did switch out the original pups for the probuckers, the Joe Bonamassa you just tested sound bad. Nothing like my epi. My guess is somebody skimped on the bobbin windings on that one. I like my Grovers because they stay tuned and add to the gold look of guitar. Finally, NOT a fan of the yellowing pin strip bindings. Mine are turning a brownish tint, naturally of course.
@@PopeyeFPV wouldn't of thought so Gibson Own the factory they build guitars in. They built it 17 years ago as a way to drive up standards instead of using OEM factories to build epiphone guitar's.
@@PopeyeFPV what's more the west hardly treats it's works fairly. So I don't get this sinophobia plenty of American workers are treated much worse. China isn't chosen to manufacture stuff because it's cheep (it isn't anymore) it's chosen because it has far better skill set and better infrastructure. Where as the west was more concerned lining the pocket of billionaires than fixing problems of infrastructure and investing in the country. Strangely these type would have you believe they are patriots.
Bravo T《☆》The binding turned orange when you were playing it😁I miss my 79 Black beauty◇¿.I was thinking about adding a middle pickup before my preg gf said it'd be a good idea to put it out at our yard sale in 1993😎🎱☮🔊🖖👍
I have one of these bad boys. Truly amazing for the price point. Plays great...honestly feel lucky to have picked it up for 800 bucks In my local guitar shop in rual Owensboro Kentucky. GOBLESS
It's Sunday, July the 28th 2024. I just bought one of these off the rack for $1375. I didn't get the Bonamassa case but it came with a really nice "Road Runner" case, well padded like a Lifton case. Had to make adjustments to pick up height and the action which I set to 5/64 on the bass side and 3/64 on the treble side. Neck relief was spot on at .010". All in all it was a good purchase, something I'll play for the rest of my days along with my other guitars.
It was either this or a 79 Greco so I bought the Greco. I appreciate joe b a lot. But I’m just not into this model I saw them on guitar center a few weeks ago it looks really nice but I just never liked how epiphones sound.
I actually have a 2005 three pickup Gibson Les Paul custom bigsby fitted it’s TOP NOTCH! The Greco is my first vintage guitar it’s one of those Japanese Les Paul copies I figure if I don’t like it much I can just sell it and buy a bassbreaker or something I just want to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be
70's 'lawsuit era' Greco's are fantastic guitars though. They really are. (& this coming from a guy who owns 6 Gibsons & has owned at least 20 over the years)
Not a bad looking guitar! I never thought I'd buy a Chinese made guitar but I got the Epiphone Alex Lifeson model a couple months ago. It had some initial issues that I was able to fix but other than that...it's awesome! Still waiting for you to review that one!
In front of the green screen the binding looks orange. Yellow or orange I would rock the hell out of that. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be available from Musicians Friend
I have been content with a KOREAN made Epiphone. Every Epi I have been lucky to gather from that country of manufacture has been good and dependable. I have friends who laugh and make fun of them, I was told that in the past there was some rough issues with QC. I have not noticed. Just swap the pickups and away we go.
Personally. I think this is truly the best epiphone on the market. If you can find one anymore. I got mine about 18 months ago and love it. The only thing I wanted to do to it was put locking tuners in it as, all my guitars have them. But the screw pattern seems to be a little different then other's. I bought a set for it. But when I went to put them on, the holes were different, so I said nope. Not drilling holes in this one. But thank you for this video, as well as all your videos. Love your channel 🤘🤘 my preference for this is to play with the mid and bridge pick ups. Love the sound of them together. And the only thing i did, was raise the bridge up, just a little bit. But for 800 bucks. It truly is a bargain. Especially with the case you get too.
They should be epiphone took a huge punt opening a factory in China to improve consistency and have great control of quality. It's payed off largely now the factory is over 17 years and produces fine guitars. The LP tend to be the best, but that should be expected since Les Paul are kinda Gibson and epiphone bread and butter.
I pre-ordered mine and got it in the first batch to be delivered. It's a really good guitar and has been a very nice to play and compare to other Gibson models. The quality is definitely way better than the regular models. The Slash J45 is also of much better quality than the IBG model is, so I feel like it's something specific to artist model Epiphone guitars.
I Bought the $679 2021 custom because I like the white binding so much better. Got it use like new for $400 . Someone had taken off the gold pickup covers. I put them back on. I love it so much. glad for the current headstock shape.
I agree. I got that Bonamassa Black Beauty and I really want a custom with white binding. It could be a two pickup version but still, I want a mahogany top and a long neck tenon like the one above. That being said, I accept that my Bonamassa comes with yellow tinted binding. By accepting its yellow, I really like it but now I have to resist putting a Batman Sticker on it. Black and Gold look great together.
@@mikestrowbridge You also have better wiring mine has the quick connects and disc caps. Mine is all mahogany but a short tenon. I'm going to re wire with 4 push/pull pots soon.
I am pretty confidant it is already amazing. Keep your pickups and wiring intact for later as best you can after that install. Hope you have fun and it sounds great. I have a 2019 Epiphone Traditional Pro III limited Edition with the battery compartment so its fourth push pull on the bridge tone is a 15 db boost. Helps when you pull the out of phase and the power is cut and when I am playing on a battery powered amp !
Since Epiphone is starting to do collaborations with the Gibson Custom Shop plus how popular these guitars are, I would find it awesome if they released an Epiphone collection of the Widow series. Get the Black, Red, Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Orange Widows for the Epiphone Les Pauls
I want one of those guitars at that price even if it is an Epiphone guitar. and just for the guitar itself, the bonus is that it's a Joe Bonamasa signature model. he's a fantastic guitarist and one of my favorites. what an AWESOME value? but I bet their all gone by now but I'm to check out guitar center.
Great review! I have a 2020 Les Paul inspired by 1955 with P 90s and the binding is definitely not white over sprayed. I know this because there was some roughness on the binding in a few spots that I was able to buff smooth with micro fiber pads and the color didn’t change. Bought it from Musicians Friend and it came with polished frets and set up out of the case. Guitar was over all very clean no bleed in binding and finish was good throughout..
Guitar Center/ Musician's Friend got a batch of around 50 guitars. These were made in November of 2020, it looks like this batch was delayed, probably due to Covid related logistical reasons. 50 guitars is not that much and they were sold out in just few days. Some lucky people scored some and it looks like there will be no more of these JB guitars.
So, I was surfing Guitar Centers epiphone section a few weeks ago, at the wee AM hours. Randomly, I saw these pull up & as in “in stock” I thought these were sold out last holiday season like everyone else. I Couldn’t Believe it! I ordered it, and I even called my GC rep later on to confirm it wasn’t an error or a site error, cause GC and MF be like that. I went away and continued my order and got it within in a few days. Love, love it!
Good catch! Congrats on scoring what is truly a collectible. I got mine straight from Joe's website, so I got the meet and greet passes as well. I agree with you and Trogly about it being a good guitar, well worth the money in my opinion. Seems like most of Joe's Signature Epiphone series guitars sell out quickly and prices rise up pretty quickly on the used market. I really wanted to get the Korina flying V and missed out ordering it before they sold out. I eventually was able to pick up a used one in mint condition for $900. I've seen listings now for $2400. The quality that I've seen on both my Black Beauty and Flying V lead me to believe that if I see another JB Epi signature come up that I like, I should BUY it immediately, because it most likely will be a great guitar and is guaranteed to sell out and most likely raise in price.
I got lucky and grabbed on on 7/30/21. I went to my local GC center and they had none in stock but ordered on the spot from the warehouse. I asked if it was a floor model and he said no. They had 19 in stock on this date at the warehouse in KS. SCORE. Sounds and feels great. I always polish my frets with steel wool and a throw on a good set of D'addario's. Plays insanely well for the price. Even had the same US qc inspector #11. Maybe this dude snoozed on getting them thru?
Lol.. I think you explained the tight input jack backwards. Going in easy and hard to get out would be what you’d rather have. That way your wire wouldn’t fall out… Love the channel!!! I never miss a video
Glad you finally got to check one out. Great video! I got one of these this past December and definitely think it's great for the unique features it offers at the price point.
epiphone needs more love. i wouldn't change a thing about my '56 Goldtop. i plan on getting rid of the quick connect wiring but only because i want to wire it with a single volume single tone based on the way i use it / make it easier to service.
Salutations Austin! I started to get excited about ordering one of these, and then I checked the date that you posted this video, which was a year ago, and I then was disappointed. This is a great Epiphone Les Paul for the price and it comes with a very nice hard shell case too. It sounds great and really came alive when you kicked in the overdrive. This may be the only Epiphone Les Paul Custom that is routed for three (3) pickups that I am aware of unless they also make a Peter Frampton Signature Les Paul Custom also. I would really like to pick up one of these someday, and add it to my collection. Thank you for posting these videos! Please have an excellent and awesome day! ☀️✨🎸
Bought my son an Epiphone LP studio while with gold last Christmas and myself a Gibson LP studio early this year. They are both nice players and without the ability to compare Id speak highly of the Epiphone at id think 499? Last week had to re- solder the output jack on his epi. Yeah the price difference comes from more than where its made.
@@SionynJones Ive got a dozen guitars, fender mexico, dean, dangelico, g&l, squiers, and a few gibsons. Have also some over the years that I regret selling. Am impressed with what is coming out of Indonesia these days for instance. I bought "open box" LP studio around $950 (1500ish list) came near perfect condition and setup. Still can't bring myself to spend big gibson $ and I like all my guitars for different reasons, but the studio just really shines in ways that none of the others do
I saw one recently at a local Sam Ash on the wall and I immediately came back with stuff to trade in and took it home the same day. It’s such a beautiful guitar that would be a great mod platform. I was thinking of going with a Pearly Gates set for the Bridge and Neck and a Phat Cat for the middle pickup.
Can't help but wonder if part of the $800 is the case. After watching you wax poetic these last couple year...is that case valued at maybe $200? $225. With the JB graphics? That brings the guitar down on its own to around $575 to $600? Am I close? Its gorgeous and I admit Ive wanted a Black Beauty for a while. I prefer the Frampton signature version...but I would never turn away a Joe Bonamassa version... Any how...that being what I suspect...it seems to me a casual "is it worth it?" becomes...hell yess! " The case is extra".......lol
@@johnnyola2205 It's not clear to me whether those import guitars get checked once arrived and before they go to customers.I also understood humidity matters, so living in a port city may be different from living in drier states?
It is true that this guitar, for around a grand, gets you probably 80% there to where an original '58 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty gets you, for like, $70 grand or more of an investment. Upgrade the pickups and the tuners and it would put you even closer. You also have to consider, that the quality and tone varied dramatically in the 1950s on Gibson guitars.
Exactly like I wanted, an Epiphone, with the new headstock, a three pickup black beauty. Only thing I just couldn't get over is that super yellowed binding. It just ruins it for me.
Okay so I know it's just the green screen keying that has turned the binding orange but honestly I'm digging it, if I could afford too I would definitely do a made to measure doing just that
Wow! Splendid demo, Austin! Thx for defining a Black Beauty, which can be controversial. I love this axe. Definitely would ROCK this. I have 2 Epis so this would be nice to own but when I play 3-pup axes, my pick taps on the middle pup so I don't own any 3-pup axes.
The Middle Pickup is designated as PB2GHBM-C The Neck is designated PB2GHBN-C. Even though they are both Alnico 2s, they have a different model number.
Epiphone doesn’t really make any limited edition things. Pretty sure when they announced the 59 Les Paul with burst buckers there was supposed to be 1,959 made and I bought the one immediately and they still make it over 3 years later and it still says limited edition on the back of the head stock.
Headed off to sell mine to a guitar store later (rewatching to see if I have all the case candy to go with it). It's hilarious because when you did the case opening I got a whaft of the smell of mine. Totally psychological. I started laughing.
I have one of these, and I agree about the tuners, they feel really crappy and sharp to tune. Funny yours didn't have any of the Blood Red streaks in the tuners. As far as the frets go, I polished mine to a mirror finish, they feel much better now. Thanks for the review, I just found it 🙂 Purchased mine October 2020.
Yup orange 🍊 factor was trippy huh?..was thinking it needed a pumpkin 🎃 on it like the art guitar he did the other day..And to me sounded like it was playing through a wah pedal..Awesome riffs Trogly cool review!
It's a shame in the Tone Demo that "yellow" binding looked more like the product of rubbing a Tenessee pennant over it and that orange colour bleeding through. Not good.
Living in Nashville and knowing many Gibson employees--I know for a fact that many (most?) of them are Tennessee fans! I think if we sent a few pennants to Asia it would likely improve the whole Epiphone line.
Too hardcore orange; should be more yellow... but still beautiful. I’m happy they’re still available. Also happy they sound good! HEY- I just noticed, at the end of the review the color had apparently adjusted and the binding (to me) now had the correct amount of yellow!!
The first thing I saw was those really itchy looking frets. That's fixable easy enough, but for $900 it's a small ask for stainless steel fret wire. Other than that, knowing it's not a solid neck, and made in China are the only turn offs for me, I like the yellow & black look, so all good there. The problem is, I'd feel obligated to swap out those pick ups, not a fan of the stock Epi's, and that fret wire has to go, I'd probably try to fix that major blemish where the neck material was sealed into the neck binding...I'd have about $1,200 -1300 into an Epiphone, albeit a decent one, but I could also buy a starter LP that needed some work, and never lose a penny on it. That's a rough price range it's in, I think these may appeal far more to Joe fans(I love Joe, the dude rocks! but I don't want to BE him, lol) than someone looking for a long term 6 string friendship with a Les Paul.
Bought his ES-335 in black with the gold hardware. I have to say I’m so glad they didn’t go yellow on the binding. Love the guitar but talk about chunky, how about 10 plus pounds and I removed the Bixgby!
Mine sounds great - after I put in some neck relief and raised the bridge to get rid of the buzz. My only gripe, and I'm very surprised the Trog-master didn't mention it - are the sharp fret ends on all frets, both sides. Unless I just got one that they rushed thru the factory, it is very noticeable while playing, and nowhere near any of my Gibson LP's. So I'll have to take it to have them filed down. Not the end of the world, but the way JB bragged on the quality of these, I was disappointed.
For that, you could either go the Townshend way where you have a standard 3 way selector for N, N&B, or B and a toggle to turn on the middle, or you could have the same 3 way selector but replace one of the tone controls with a pot to serve as a blend for the middle pickup in any position and then make the remaining tone a master tone.
Wouldn't need an extra selector, you would just wire it so one of the knobs control the middle pick up volume and its always on. So then the switch would function like normal selecting the neck bridge or both, and then you would just roll the middle volume off if you just wanted just the neck or bridge or traditional middle position combo.
Epiphone ‘61 Les Paul (SG) triple humbuckers have three volume and one tone. I have this Joe Bonamassa and lime it much more than an older Epiphone black beauty that I sold a few months ago. Good review by Austin once again.
With such a yellowed binding the nut should have been an aged bone nut... I'm just nitpicking 😁 I could install one easily if necessary... Great Les Paul, I considered getting one of these a while ago to go with my Korean Black Beauty... Maybe it's just the light where you are but the binding looks orange around the guitar...Which is unique and fabulous...
Interesting your comment on the jack socket. When mine arrived it was next to impossible to put the plug in, any way took it to the tech. I use and when he opened it up the cavity was so small that there was physically not enough room for the latching part of the socket to move back and admit the plug and the tech had to enlarge the cavity. Also the frets were terrible as far as level was concerned. Cost me about £150 to get it into good playable condition.
If I found the demo model I played @ guitar center, I would love to play it again, and again. No question, it was the very finest guitar I have ever played. Setup, intonation, every single piece was perfect. And as a Bonamassa, why are the strings not over wrapped?
I think I'd like the ability to blend the additional pickup. Or if there was a way to not detract from the original set up for the looks. Maybe a different toggle with more switching options. Maybe it's something with your lighting doing the sound run through but everything gold or yellow appears as either copper or a deep dark brass. That in my opinion what look awesome as an option on such a guitar.
I have an epi black beauty with custom pickups, and becouse of the custom pickups i use it sounds better then gibson black beauty the dad of a friend of mine has, (both tested on 2 jcm900 at the same time) the gibson one is slightly heavyer and plays a little better, but for the money, i prefer my choise of epi and changing the pickups (not that the originals were bad)
The one I’m dying to find/see is the Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess model with the piezo and Floyd rose. I cannot find those anywhere, including Reverb.
I have an Epiphone whose output jack was like this guitar's--hard to insert the cable jack. Upon investigation, I found that a wire had found its way into the input jack area. I pulled it out of the way and that took care of the problem. As for the fret buzz on the Bonamassa, if it is in the cowboy chord area, the neck might just be too straight, or have a slight back-bow.
Suppose it's the floor model that you're after? I remember during my birthday in January 2017 ,I went to get the Epiphone ES-355 Pro from Guitar and was all set to go home with the floor model. Next thing I know, the employee selling it to me is putting the floor model back on the rack he took it down from and pulling an untouched one out of their inventory. That one never satisfied me the way the floor model did. Wishing you hadn't mentioned Kemper. I've been trying to resist getting any of his products for a long time.
It’s funny but having 3 humbuckers doesn’t have the effect you might expect. It doesn’t make the guitar louder or clearer. Having only one bridge pickup would have that effect. 3 humbuckers makes it sound muddy.
Great review! It would be interesting to review Epiphones that immediately appreciated in value. The John Lee Hooker 312T was presold before dealers received them and jumped 50% in two years. I had s '62 and was amazed at the quality of the JLH model that one of my students bought. Another stunner was the Elite or Elitist Series Byrdland. I have a 1959 Byrdland which became too valuable to gig in some clubs. I was a dealer and bought the Elite series Byrdland...wow, what a fantastic guitar! Gibson realized the folly of marketing a Japan built CARVED TOP instrument for a quarter of the price of the American built guitar pretty quickly and retired it after a few years. They doubled in value very quickly. I wonder what other models appreciated so quickly. Maybe the new Texan will? Cheers!
I like the shape of those Epiphoney cases way better than my Gibsons. I wish my cases came with that bubble on the top like that. I like that better. Maybe custom shop cases are like that? I’ve got like 5 USA ones and although they’re nice I wish they were more shaped like that.
A lot them got trashed in shipping too there's significantly less than any one thinks. Gibson and epiphone churn out Les Paul custom like there's no tomorrow, you litterly have one the most rare guitars hear.
I really don't like the binding, and really glad I was one of the first to pre-order the Epi 59 RI, which I will never understand why you haven't even unboxed one. It's a much better sounding guitar, looks great, and my frets came well polished. Peace, Keith
Unfortunately, the MF/GC shipment has sold out - but I was happy to at least get to review this one! Good luck on the used market
🔴Reverb: reverb.com/item/42795414?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly
🔵eBay: ebay.us/R9fACt
Great catch/purchase, thank you for the review.
To the Player who bought this through the NGD, thank you, much appreciated and congrats on your new Custom.
Thank you for reviewing this! Can you please review one of the older Gibson BB King models or a Murphy Lab of some kind? I really enjoy your channel ☺️
Funny, in the clip of you playing, the binding color is a bit off... Looks like a Halloween guitar! Binding kinda looks orange.
Made in China right? 👎
I like the fact he said fra-gi-le it must be from Italy 😂 right @trogly's guitar show
They call that binding color “Marlboro yellow” 😂
I liked this finished binding 🤷🏻♂️ it doesn't look true aged but it's cool seeing color to them aside from cream. Reminds me of the Les Paul ( Steve Howe ) or the Widow series with their colored binding.
@@_dmfd the binding is really odd for me, I can't work out if its orange or yellow and seems to change radically from the playing shots to the shots in the case.
Bought this last year when it came out. I actually pre-ordered it and got it when it was released. Not perfect but I think it's a nice guitar especially for the price point. Was happy to see you doing a video review of it. 👍🏻
Did the same, got it last December but couldn't fit the Bigsby/vibramate on it so I sold it a couple months later
Gary Styc - What's not perfect about it? Just the Epiphone vs. Gibson thing.....or major flaws?
It's a great value no doubt. I didn't do anything special to mine. It sounds great and plays very well.
Love the triple bucker!
@@christopherweise438 the guitar is a great Blues/Bluesrock machine for the money.
I don‘t know what he meant with it „not being perfect“. The only thing which I could
imagine is that the nut is not cut 100% well, this could have been done a bit better,
but is not a major bummer. In my case, the pickups sound great in my opinion, but
it probably depends on the amp and the levels of gain you use this guitar with. Furthermore,
the guitar has noticeably high levels of sustain and sounds great „unplugged“, both probably
due to the fat neck-profile, the massive body and the long neck tenon.
I can state that the neck pickup is great on a clean amp. In this context, the guitar
can actually be used as a perfectly viable jazz guitar (on a dedicated, good clean amp).
Otherwise, I use low- to mid-gain blues and rock tones, and for such tones the pickups
work great. I can make no statements about high-gain heavy metal-type tones, however.
Maybe that is where the guitar may fall flat, who knows.
But even if you don‘t like the pickups: you can just exchange them! Overall, the guitar is
a great base for modding, considering that the overall build quality is quite tidy.
While I can understand the critique with the scratchy frets, one has
to keep in mind that these things don‘t stay this way. After some few hours
of blues playing on this thing, with some nice deep bends on all frets, all the
frets will start to feel better. I have been playing (and loving) my JB Black Beauty
since it’s arrival last winter and now the thing plays like butter. Effortless bends are
possible on all frets, just like with my Gibson.
Just polish up the frets.
Or ya know… oil the neck, polish the frets, and change the strings as soon as you get it.
@@jgenoese neck on mine has been oiled thoroughly (ebony wood is actually very dry right out of the
Box; after some thorough treatments with Dunlop lemon oil, one can start to appreciate how beautiful
the fret boards on these models actually are). Furthermore, I tend to use nice strings (either D‘Addario
XLs or DR „Veritas“ strings). Instead of sitting down and polishing the frets, the blues-guitar playing did
it for me, as mentioned above. I am usually going for deep Gilmour-style bends a lot of the time and all over
the neck, so it played nicely after just a few hours. But hey, if polishing the frets by hand is your method
of choice and does the Trick, go ahead and do it.
Actually, I always had the impression that the oil-treatments, together with wiping off the oil thoroughly,
had huge positive effects on the playability. Sometimes, the „scratchiness“ which Trogly mentioned comes
from a combination of non-polished frets and a dry fingerboard. For me, sometimes the wood of the fingerboard
has an actually larger effect than the frets (the wood is what you actually press the strings down on; so this is
what makes a large part of the „feel“ of the guitar).
@@smelltheglove2038 Just polish them! I agree. I got a Dremmel to trim my dogs nails (thought it would be more gentle). He HATED it so I never really used it for nails. It spins slower than my regular Dremmel. I got a buffing wheel for it. I use the tiniest dab of metal polish after cleaning the frets and rub it in then buff with the "Dog Dremmel" at the lowest speed. Spectacular mirrored frets. I use Semi Chrome metal polish after first cleaning with 0000 Steel wool. Literally mirrored shine. Makes a HUGE difference in playability. I urge anyone to try mirroring their frets before saying it is unnecessary. It is a big, big difference. Semi chrome seems expensive but one tube is easily about 10 lifetimes of polish (you literally need the amount you would get by touching the corner of the rag to the top without squirting any out. One pea sized dot is enough to clean about 5 guitars).
It's funny how in that your tone demo that binding looks orange instead of yellow. I actually think it looks better that way.
Maybe a weird reaction to the green screen behind him?
Incandescent lighting?
I love Trogley's videos, but some of his comments on guitars, bugs me!!!
$650 Epiphone - The guitar is ok! It has some fretboard tooling, the color is ok, the frets are rough, and the pickup cavity could use some work!!!
$5,000 Gibson Les Paul- It has a small crack around the nut...its been re fretted...the input jack has been replaced, the paint has been touched up, and the pickguard is missing.... But that's ok!!!
Me- 🤷♂️
He's a Epiphone snob. I have a Standard Gibson and a Standard EPi, the EPI feels better, sorry but it do!! But he would never admit that. It hurts me so say it but I'm not going to lie.
He never said it was bad for the value, he just point out some issues the guitar has, not every guitar has rough frets at that pricepoint for example, and think of the $5,000 Gibson as a collection item, it's NOT ok for him when something is replaced or repaired, but if it doesn't affect the playability I mean it isn't a $5,000 guitar bc of nothing, obviously it's gonna have great pickups and play well
@@sbeard73 maybe yours does, that doesn't mean every epiphone plays better than a Gibson, that would even be illogical, but exceptions exist, maybe the Gibson has some issue or something
@@facurojas4477 you’re gonna laugh at me but I kid you not I have a 2006 Gibson Standard Goldtop. I also own a super shitty Epi Les Paul 100 in cherry red. Guess which one I play constantly and the neck feels like butter? It’s the Epiphone. I even like the pickups on it better because of how easy it is to get feedback on them. That thing was just meant to produce sweet rockin tones. My Gibson hardly ever gets played these days, i feel bad but it’s just the way it goes
@@sebastianmedina1234 I think maybe you don't have the same style of someone who wants a Gibson, I have a lot of respect for the LP100, I have the Cort version of that guitar (CR100) and I love it, A LOT but maybe the epi is more your style than the goldtop
I don't know what was going on with the color balance or whatever during the play demo, but the binding and headstock appointments look orange. Like some kinda speedway orange, and it looks way better than that lemon yellow.
Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty limited Trogly Halloween proto🎃👻 1 of 1 can turn yellow jacket to pumpkin depending on the time of the year
@@derrickharmon7980 Yeeeeeeeeeees! It is very Halloween-y. Now that we're talking about it I've realized how much I NEED a spooky Les Paul. And by spooky, I mean lookin' like a Halloween themed worksheet you'd give a third grader. Cheesey-ass bats and witches and jack-o'-lanterns. That kinda stuff.
In real life it matches the gold hardware
Might be the green screen process affecting the colour, I remember him doing a gold sparkle finish which turned orange in the demo.
I like the orange look better than the actual yellow.
I was able to buy mine brand new about 10 days before the official release (10/08/2020) at my local GC. As soon as I picked it up and plugged it into a Dsl40cr and played the first note, I knew I was gunna buy it. Great feel and sound. It’s tied for my favorite guitar with my gibs tv yellow special. I like it better than my Gibson 50s standard -and my 50s tribute.
I have the same amp - and it sounds great out of that DSL40cr!! I thought about selling it for the $$ a few times, but when I play it again - I keep changing my mind and keeping it!
@@vincebauerle5942 you thought of selling the Dsl40cr or the JB BB? I mostly play the JB BB through my dsl20hr and dsl100 now, so I’m selling the 40. Either way though they’re all great amps that this guitar sounds awesome through.
@@jasoncamara8061 thought of selling the JB BB . Not the Marshall. But I do still have both.
Why do you like it more than your gibsons?
@@the_hippykiller22 the weight and feel of the neck is really just a bit better. The pups are different so I don’t rate it the same in the tone department (all my gibbys have p90s). So it is strictly a better feeling guitar
Binding turned orange during the playing demo. Looked better than the yellow
The green screen he uses filters out the yellow… so you just get the red remaining!
Halloween guitar
22:48 it's not the wire, it's the polish job, or lack thereof. You can get them polished up really nicely.
I agree. The last 3 years or so they've stopped polishing them correctly at the factory but do a proper job and they won't scratch at all. They do wear sort of quickly tho but nothing crazy.
Thanks for the great review! I was one of the lucky ones to get this from Guitar Center when they magically reappeared. So happy with it. I have two Gibson Les Pauls and I have to say I enjoy this just as much and am playing this beast more than the other guitars in my “herd.” The middle position on the switch has a great single coil tone which I can’t get enough of (even with distortion running through it). I agree the yellowing on the binding is a bit much in certain lights, but if you dim the lights a little it looks authentic! Lol! Also, comparing this to the other custom shops by Epiphone, I really prefer the aesthetic of the ebony neck vs the rosewood as well. Lastly, the guitar stays in tune even after 30 minutes of messing around with solos from Gilmour. 5/5 stars from me.
Didn't know "cold" tuning knobs were an issue lol. 😂
It’s more apparent because the guitar is Burning Hot!
I love what Epiphone is doing. They are making crazy good guitars for the price. I've bought 3 Epiphones since 2020, and my Les Paul Modern is amazing.
The epi moderns are the best!
@@Trog The value they offer is amazing. The Probuckers are very underrated, locking tuners, am ebony fretboard and color variety. What more could you want?
I'm due for another one. I should, I gained $12K on just two of my crypto coins in the past 3 days ;-) No need to sell an old guitar for $$.
I tried one of these when they first came out. Compared to my standard Epiphone Black Beauty, I couldn’t get past the binding color on this one.
I agree, the binding color ruins it for me.
What is a standard Epiphone Black Beauty? Do you mean the regular 2 humbucker LP Custom in black? I think it has have 3 pickups to be called a black beauty. That name doesn’t apply to any black and gold LP.
@@Dr.Jekyll the truss rod cover of the standard Epiphone custom in black with gold hardware said Les Paul Black Beauty. I have a Gibson Les Paul custom in black with gold hardware and the truss rod cover says Les Paul Custom. The black beauty name seems to be an Epiphone thing. They are currently discontinued.
It's beautiful. Whenever I see the black beauty I think of Billy Jones from the band "The Outlaws" who's a great player. I got a Les Paul custom earlier thisyear, my dream guitar. Thanks to the stimulus money, for stimulating my guitar collection.
Oh yeah! Loved the outlaws! 🤗🤗🤗
billy realy knew how to get a great tone out of that black beauty. such a great and underrated player, i love the video where he and hughie joins skynyrd in winterland '76
@@agusrgoro That's awesome man. I was raised in the late 80's and 90's. My dad raised me on Southern Rock, which makes sense as I'm a Southerner 😀. I always was drawn to his playing, and somber lyrics. As I got older and more musically inclined, I appreciate it even more.
Other than the well known facts most outlaw fans know. Is there anything you know about this mysterious guitar player? There's not much of anything about his personality or whatever Billy may have been dealing with mentally.
Another words... I'd like to know more about Billy, he was awesome 👌
Finally here is the review I have been waiting for since I get my JB Black Beauty in March 2021! Was sold out rapidly in Germany
and I could grab a B-Stock from Thomann. Someone gave it back because of sharp fretends and I have to thank this customer.
After overworking the frets in their workshop ( polishing too!) it was perfect and I love this guitar! The neck works perfect for me and it looks really amazing.
BTW - The tuners on my guitar looks more like the ones in video and in this video Joe explains that the middle pickup is NOT installed in the way to have this
out of fade tone! Anyway I like it and maybe I will swap the PUs to the 57 classic - it seems worth for me, because this guitar will never leave my house again!
And I think that the tones in your demo have a little to much distortion to show what this guitar can sound - no highgain beast, more in the crunch and „Blues Driver“ range for great sounds 👍
Thanks for the review and greetings from Germany 😎🎸
I bought one of these and loved it! Unfortunately it was way too heavy (it weighed even more than my Gibson LP Standard 50's that I added a Bigsby to). I ended up selling mine locally for $1000 (on Facebook Marketplace) and put that money towards a Gretsch. I am sad that I had to sell it, but it was too hard (weight wise) to play, even sitting down. But if I could find one that is less weighty, I would love to get one again.
I got my JB early this year and I love it. I really lucked out on price. It was the last one available that I paid $650 new. Even for someone to pay $799 or more, it's worth it. Does it sound as good as my 59" Epiphone Les Paul? It sounds different. I do like the Gibson Burstbuckers better. Still, if you are a JB fan or not, it's a great value. If you don't like the Probuckers, it's still worth it to change them. I'm happy with the stock set up and I have other guitars with better pickups in them. Each guitar I own sounds different and that's what I want. To each his own. I always say, If it rings, sings, and screams it's for me lol.
Wow you found one at $650, good deal!! I got mine a few months ago on sale for $699 and I thought that was a steal!!. It's an excellent sounding/playing guitar.
@@Trial212 $699 is still a steal! What a guitar man. I got really lucky with Sam Ash direct and they guy said act fast, it’s my last one. I said how much? Come on man I don’t wanna eat Mac n Cheese for to long lol. He laughed and I got that great deal.
A goodly number of years ago I saw a Gibson Gene Autry, looking at the price I'm thinking 'For that much I'd want my own name on the fret board!'
I've got an old Epiphone Black Beauty (old style head) that I bought in Australia in 2004. The binding on that was ivory, rather than that sickly yellow. I think it looked much better with the ivory look on the black body. The gold pick ups and bridge added to the beauty of it..
Also a very nice sounding guitar. But a bit too heavy, gave me bad back at gigs.
I personally love the finished binding on these. I'm telling you tho man you really need to find an Epi Lee Malia RD Artisan to get in and review. They were run in 2017 ik you're sort of familiar with this series but they are hands down the best bang for your buck artist limited edition Epi has one recently. Made in Indonesia, Gibson USA pups that Lee worked with the Custom Shop with, Gibson electronics and the Artisan outfit along with the RD body, they're just a gem. The tone diversity is so beautiful with that thing you can play any genre and sound great. Lee & and the CS did great on them. I lucked out last year and found a new old stock one and got it for MSRP! these sell for $1,200+ on their own but I also found a 24¾ scale Gibson USA TKL hardshell case for an RD for $100 last year too! Deal of the century on that case they're impossible to find 😂
Frog Leaves in the HOUSE!!!
I have a Epi 2005 50th anniversary edition black beauty. While I did switch out the original pups for the probuckers, the Joe Bonamassa you just tested sound bad. Nothing like my epi. My guess is somebody skimped on the bobbin windings on that one. I like my Grovers because they stay tuned and add to the gold look of guitar. Finally, NOT a fan of the yellowing pin strip bindings. Mine are turning a brownish tint, naturally of course.
That epi have better QC that most Gibsons 😂
There’s probably nets surrounding the building too. 😂
@@PopeyeFPV wouldn't of thought so Gibson Own the factory they build guitars in. They built it 17 years ago as a way to drive up standards instead of using OEM factories to build epiphone guitar's.
@@SionynJones the CCP owns it and Gibson takes its cut of the money. You do know China is communist right?
@@PopeyeFPV what's more the west hardly treats it's works fairly. So I don't get this sinophobia plenty of American workers are treated much worse.
China isn't chosen to manufacture stuff because it's cheep (it isn't anymore) it's chosen because it has far better skill set and better infrastructure.
Where as the west was more concerned lining the pocket of billionaires than fixing problems of infrastructure and investing in the country. Strangely these type would have you believe they are patriots.
@@SionynJones you didn’t answer my question. Again, You do know that China is communist right?
Bravo T《☆》The binding turned orange when you were playing it😁I miss my 79 Black beauty◇¿.I was thinking about adding a middle pickup before my preg gf said it'd be a good idea to put it out at our yard sale in 1993😎🎱☮🔊🖖👍
I have one of these bad boys. Truly amazing for the price point. Plays great...honestly feel lucky to have picked it up for 800 bucks In my local guitar shop in rual Owensboro Kentucky. GOBLESS
I love mine and I've got to say that if I ever had to take a guitar to riot then I'd want this guitar. It is built like a tank.
I’m also getting Robert Fripp vibes, he played a similar Black Beauty Custom in the 1970s on iconic King Crimson albums like Red.
It's Sunday, July the 28th 2024. I just bought one of these off the rack for $1375. I didn't get the Bonamassa case but it came with a really nice "Road Runner" case, well padded like a Lifton case. Had to make adjustments to pick up height and the action which I set to 5/64 on the bass side and 3/64 on the treble side. Neck relief was spot on at .010". All in all it was a good purchase, something I'll play for the rest of my days along with my other guitars.
Sounded different when Joe played it?
It was either this or a 79 Greco so I bought the Greco. I appreciate joe b a lot. But I’m just not into this model I saw them on guitar center a few weeks ago it looks really nice but I just never liked how epiphones sound.
I agree.
I would just rather try to save up a couple of grand and buy a 3 pickup Gibson
I actually have a 2005 three pickup Gibson Les Paul custom bigsby fitted it’s TOP NOTCH! The Greco is my first vintage guitar it’s one of those Japanese Les Paul copies I figure if I don’t like it much I can just sell it and buy a bassbreaker or something I just want to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be
@@janiterinadrum1627 the Gibson equivalent of this guitar is 6k
@@janiterinadrum1627 ok boomer
70's 'lawsuit era' Greco's are fantastic guitars though. They really are. (& this coming from a guy who owns 6 Gibsons & has owned at least 20 over the years)
Not a bad looking guitar! I never thought I'd buy a Chinese made guitar but I got the Epiphone Alex Lifeson model a couple months ago. It had some initial issues that I was able to fix but other than that...it's awesome! Still waiting for you to review that one!
What problem did you have with the Alex Lifeson model? Was it the whammy bar?
In front of the green screen the binding looks orange. Yellow or orange I would rock the hell out of that. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be available from Musicians Friend
Those tuning knobs, Frank Zappa had them on his Les Paul Custom, the one depicted on the "Shut up and Play your Guitar" boxset ;)
I have been content with a KOREAN made Epiphone. Every Epi I have been lucky to gather from that country of manufacture has been good and dependable. I have friends who laugh and make fun of them, I was told that in the past there was some rough issues with QC. I have not noticed. Just swap the pickups and away we go.
Personally. I think this is truly the best epiphone on the market. If you can find one anymore. I got mine about 18 months ago and love it. The only thing I wanted to do to it was put locking tuners in it as, all my guitars have them. But the screw pattern seems to be a little different then other's. I bought a set for it. But when I went to put them on, the holes were different, so I said nope. Not drilling holes in this one. But thank you for this video, as well as all your videos. Love your channel 🤘🤘 my preference for this is to play with the mid and bridge pick ups. Love the sound of them together. And the only thing i did, was raise the bridge up, just a little bit. But for 800 bucks. It truly is a bargain. Especially with the case you get too.
Much better QC than recently reviewed Gibsons!
Yes but apparently the more people pay the more forgiving they are of QC
They should be epiphone took a huge punt opening a factory in China to improve consistency and have great control of quality.
It's payed off largely now the factory is over 17 years and produces fine guitars. The LP tend to be the best, but that should be expected since Les Paul are kinda Gibson and epiphone bread and butter.
@@SionynJones Epi‘s produced in China are probably one of
the factors that saved the whole Gibson brand in their 2016 - 2018 crisis.
I pre-ordered mine and got it in the first batch to be delivered. It's a really good guitar and has been a very nice to play and compare to other Gibson models. The quality is definitely way better than the regular models. The Slash J45 is also of much better quality than the IBG model is, so I feel like it's something specific to artist model Epiphone guitars.
I Bought the $679 2021 custom because I like the white binding so much better. Got it use like new for $400 . Someone had taken off the gold pickup covers. I put them back on. I love it so much. glad for the current headstock shape.
I agree. I got that Bonamassa Black Beauty and I really want a custom with white binding. It could be a two pickup version but still, I want a mahogany top and a long neck tenon like the one above. That being said, I accept that my Bonamassa comes with yellow tinted binding. By accepting its yellow, I really like it but now I have to resist putting a Batman Sticker on it. Black and Gold look great together.
@@mikestrowbridge You also have better wiring mine has the quick connects and disc caps. Mine is all mahogany but a short tenon. I'm going to re wire with 4 push/pull pots soon.
I am pretty confidant it is already amazing. Keep your pickups and wiring intact for later as best you can after that install. Hope you have fun and it sounds great.
I have a 2019 Epiphone Traditional Pro III limited Edition with the battery compartment so its fourth push pull on the bridge tone is a 15 db boost. Helps when you pull the out of phase and the power is cut and when I am playing on a battery powered amp !
@@mikestrowbridge I will and thanks for the boost mod tip. I think I might add that in.
That's a sweet Schleppiphone there Trickystringz
I’m really happy with mine, love the neck and the tone. The knobs on mine have quite a bit of red swirl to them.
16:00 - Funny how it looks completely orange in the tone demo. Sounds nice though!
Since Epiphone is starting to do collaborations with the Gibson Custom Shop plus how popular these guitars are, I would find it awesome if they released an Epiphone collection of the Widow series. Get the Black, Red, Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Orange Widows for the Epiphone Les Pauls
This was a collaboration too
I want one of those guitars at that price even if it is an Epiphone guitar. and just for the guitar itself, the bonus is that it's a Joe Bonamasa signature model. he's a fantastic guitarist and one of my favorites. what an AWESOME value? but I bet their all gone by now but I'm to check out guitar center.
Great review! I have a 2020 Les Paul inspired by 1955 with P 90s and the binding is definitely not white over sprayed. I know this because there was some roughness on the binding in a few spots that I was able to buff smooth with micro fiber pads and the color didn’t change. Bought it from Musicians Friend and it came with polished frets and set up out of the case. Guitar was over all very clean no bleed in binding and finish was good throughout..
Guitar Center/ Musician's Friend got a batch of around 50 guitars. These were made in November of 2020, it looks like this batch was delayed, probably due to Covid related logistical reasons.
50 guitars is not that much and they were sold out in just few days. Some lucky people scored some and it looks like there will be no more of these JB guitars.
Also, unlike other Epiphone les Paul Customs this guitar is not chambered. Important for some…
What's the price tag for this same Epi without Joey's signature attached?
So, I was surfing Guitar Centers epiphone section a few weeks ago, at the wee AM hours. Randomly, I saw these pull up & as in “in stock” I thought these were sold out last holiday season like everyone else. I Couldn’t Believe it! I ordered it, and I even called my GC rep later on to confirm it wasn’t an error or a site error, cause GC and MF be like that. I went away and continued my order and got it within in a few days. Love, love it!
Good catch! Congrats on scoring what is truly a collectible. I got mine straight from Joe's website, so I got the meet and greet passes as well. I agree with you and Trogly about it being a good guitar, well worth the money in my opinion. Seems like most of Joe's Signature Epiphone series guitars sell out quickly and prices rise up pretty quickly on the used market. I really wanted to get the Korina flying V and missed out ordering it before they sold out. I eventually was able to pick up a used one in mint condition for $900. I've seen listings now for $2400. The quality that I've seen on both my Black Beauty and Flying V lead me to believe that if I see another JB Epi signature come up that I like, I should BUY it immediately, because it most likely will be a great guitar and is guaranteed to sell out and most likely raise in price.
I got lucky and grabbed on on 7/30/21. I went to my local GC center and they had none in stock but ordered on the spot from the warehouse. I asked if it was a floor model and he said no. They had 19 in stock on this date at the warehouse in KS. SCORE. Sounds and feels great. I always polish my frets with steel wool and a throw on a good set of D'addario's. Plays insanely well for the price. Even had the same US qc inspector #11. Maybe this dude snoozed on getting them thru?
Guitar center? Is it used ?
Totally reasonable question, but he he did address their “policy” in the video. He was promised that it was not a demo or used.
Lol.. I think you explained the tight input jack backwards. Going in easy and hard to get out would be what you’d rather have. That way your wire wouldn’t fall out…
Love the channel!!! I never miss a video
Glad you finally got to check one out. Great video! I got one of these this past December and definitely think it's great for the unique features it offers at the price point.
epiphone needs more love. i wouldn't change a thing about my '56 Goldtop.
i plan on getting rid of the quick connect wiring but only because i want to wire it with a single volume single tone based on the way i use it / make it easier to service.
It certainly looks like a great guitar - however I just couldn't get over the bright yellow binding. I'd feel like I was in a Stryper cover band!
Salutations Austin!
I started to get excited about ordering one of these, and then I checked the date that you posted this video, which was a year ago, and I then was disappointed.
This is a great Epiphone Les Paul for the price and it comes with a very nice hard shell case too.
It sounds great and really came alive when you kicked in the overdrive.
This may be the only Epiphone Les Paul Custom that is routed for three (3) pickups that I am aware of unless they also make a Peter Frampton Signature Les Paul Custom also.
I would really like to pick up one of these someday, and add it to my collection.
Thank you for posting these videos!
Please have an excellent and awesome day!
☀️✨🎸
Bought my son an Epiphone LP studio while with gold last Christmas and myself a Gibson LP studio early this year. They are both nice players and without the ability to compare Id speak highly of the Epiphone at id think 499? Last week had to re- solder the output jack on his epi. Yeah the price difference comes from more than where its made.
True but really Gibson guitars are quite overpriced especially their run of the mill guitars.
@@SionynJones Ive got a dozen guitars, fender mexico, dean, dangelico, g&l, squiers, and a few gibsons. Have also some over the years that I regret selling. Am impressed with what is coming out of Indonesia these days for instance. I bought "open box" LP studio around $950 (1500ish list) came near perfect condition and setup. Still can't bring myself to spend big gibson $ and I like all my guitars for different reasons, but the studio just really shines in ways that none of the others do
I loved the “orange” binding when you were on the chromakey, like an Epiphone orange widow!
I saw one recently at a local Sam Ash on the wall and I immediately came back with stuff to trade in and took it home the same day. It’s such a beautiful guitar that would be a great mod platform. I was thinking of going with a Pearly Gates set for the Bridge and Neck and a Phat Cat for the middle pickup.
Yes! Great pickup combination.
@@johnmagee8195 Thank you!
Can't help but wonder if part of the $800 is the case. After watching you wax poetic these last couple year...is that case valued at maybe $200? $225. With the JB graphics? That brings the guitar down on its own to around $575 to $600? Am I close? Its gorgeous and I admit Ive wanted a Black Beauty for a while. I prefer the Frampton signature version...but I would never turn away a Joe Bonamassa version...
Any how...that being what I suspect...it seems to me a casual "is it worth it?" becomes...hell yess! " The case is extra".......lol
Dude. Its a steal
The cargo ships! Yes! Great deduction. I wonder how much other "out of stock" inventory is still sitting in ports and waiting to be unloaded.
Can affect the used market for sure. suddenly a bunch of unexpected new ones appear? kinda like dollar bills with the govt .. lol..
There was one stuck in the Suez Canal for a while. So not shipS, just one, with a large cargo.
@@johnnyola2205 That sounds (more than) reasonable
@@johnnyola2205 It's not clear to me whether those import guitars get checked once arrived and before they go to customers.I also understood humidity matters, so living in a port city may be different from living in drier states?
It is true that this guitar, for around a grand, gets you probably 80% there to where an original '58 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty gets you, for like, $70 grand or more of an investment. Upgrade the pickups and the tuners and it would put you even closer. You also have to consider, that the quality and tone varied dramatically in the 1950s on Gibson guitars.
Exactly like I wanted, an Epiphone, with the new headstock, a three pickup black beauty. Only thing I just couldn't get over is that super yellowed binding. It just ruins it for me.
It’s better in person
@@jgenoese was about to say the same thing.....its just stunning in person...the whole guitar. Great player too
Its pretty much a 2019-2005 Epiphone Black Beauty 3, which are still affordable on the used market, and will actually have genuine age to the binding.
The Sammick & Unsung plants, Korean-made Epi's are usually great guitars tbh
Not really considering it has orange drop capacitors CTS pots and probuckers mahogany top and body and a ebony fingerboard.
Okay so I know it's just the green screen keying that has turned the binding orange but honestly I'm digging it, if I could afford too I would definitely do a made to measure doing just that
it's like an Epiphone Black Widow! 😂
Wow! Splendid demo, Austin! Thx for defining a Black Beauty, which can be controversial. I love this axe. Definitely would ROCK this. I have 2 Epis so this would be nice to own but when I play 3-pup axes, my pick taps on the middle pup so I don't own any 3-pup axes.
The Middle Pickup is designated as PB2GHBM-C The Neck is designated PB2GHBN-C. Even though they are both Alnico 2s, they have a different model number.
Nice spot Joe mentioned they were voiced to be like his black beauty much like the probuckers used in slashes guitar these are unique to this model.
Epiphone doesn’t really make any limited edition things. Pretty sure when they announced the 59 Les Paul with burst buckers there was supposed to be 1,959 made and I bought the one immediately and they still make it over 3 years later and it still says limited edition on the back of the head stock.
Headed off to sell mine to a guitar store later (rewatching to see if I have all the case candy to go with it). It's hilarious because when you did the case opening I got a whaft of the smell of mine. Totally psychological. I started laughing.
I have one of these, and I agree about the tuners, they feel really crappy and sharp to tune. Funny yours didn't have any of the Blood Red streaks in the tuners. As far as the frets go, I polished mine to a mirror finish, they feel much better now. Thanks for the review, I just found it 🙂 Purchased mine October 2020.
Yup orange 🍊 factor was trippy huh?..was thinking it needed a pumpkin 🎃 on it like the art guitar he did the other day..And to me sounded like it was playing through a wah pedal..Awesome riffs Trogly cool review!
It's a shame in the Tone Demo that "yellow" binding looked more like the product of rubbing a Tenessee pennant over it and that orange colour bleeding through. Not good.
Living in Nashville and knowing many Gibson employees--I know for a fact that many (most?) of them are Tennessee fans! I think if we sent a few pennants to Asia it would likely improve the whole Epiphone line.
That neck binding just almost glowes.
Too hardcore orange; should be more yellow... but still beautiful.
I’m happy they’re still available.
Also happy they sound good!
HEY- I just noticed, at the end of the review the color had apparently adjusted and the binding (to me) now had the correct amount of yellow!!
whats with the yellow binding,?$800 ya good price i guess,not a fan of those bridges either.would rather have a low end gibson myself
The first thing I saw was those really itchy looking frets. That's fixable easy enough, but for $900 it's a small ask for stainless steel fret wire. Other than that, knowing it's not a solid neck, and made in China are the only turn offs for me, I like the yellow & black look, so all good there. The problem is, I'd feel obligated to swap out those pick ups, not a fan of the stock Epi's, and that fret wire has to go, I'd probably try to fix that major blemish where the neck material was sealed into the neck binding...I'd have about $1,200 -1300 into an Epiphone, albeit a decent one, but I could also buy a starter LP that needed some work, and never lose a penny on it. That's a rough price range it's in, I think these may appeal far more to Joe fans(I love Joe, the dude rocks! but I don't want to BE him, lol) than someone looking for a long term 6 string friendship with a Les Paul.
Which would you choose? Black Beauty or Lazarus?
Bought his ES-335 in black with the gold hardware. I have to say I’m so glad they didn’t go yellow on the binding. Love the guitar but talk about chunky, how about 10 plus pounds and I removed the Bixgby!
Mine sounds great - after I put in some neck relief and raised the bridge to get rid of the buzz. My only gripe, and I'm very surprised the Trog-master didn't mention it - are the sharp fret ends on all frets, both sides. Unless I just got one that they rushed thru the factory, it is very noticeable while playing, and nowhere near any of my Gibson LP's. So I'll have to take it to have them filed down. Not the end of the world, but the way JB bragged on the quality of these, I was disappointed.
I got super distracted by the Levi's guitar strap! What model is that?
Did Gibson ever wire these models so you could run all three pick-ups simultaneously? I suppose it would require an additional selector switch?
For that, you could either go the Townshend way where you have a standard 3 way selector for N, N&B, or B and a toggle to turn on the middle, or you could have the same 3 way selector but replace one of the tone controls with a pot to serve as a blend for the middle pickup in any position and then make the remaining tone a master tone.
master tone knob - 3 vol.
Wouldn't need an extra selector, you would just wire it so one of the knobs control the middle pick up volume and its always on. So then the switch would function like normal selecting the neck bridge or both, and then you would just roll the middle volume off if you just wanted just the neck or bridge or traditional middle position combo.
Epiphone ‘61 Les Paul (SG) triple humbuckers have three volume and one tone. I have this Joe Bonamassa and lime it much more than an older Epiphone black beauty that I sold a few months ago. Good review by Austin once again.
With such a yellowed binding the nut should have been an aged bone nut...
I'm just nitpicking 😁 I could install one easily if necessary...
Great Les Paul, I considered getting one of these a while ago to go with my Korean Black Beauty...
Maybe it's just the light where you are but the binding looks orange around the guitar...Which is unique and fabulous...
Interesting your comment on the jack socket. When mine arrived it was next to impossible to put the plug in, any way took it to the tech. I use and when he opened it up the cavity was so small that there was physically not enough room for the latching part of the socket to move back and admit the plug and the tech had to enlarge the cavity. Also the frets were terrible as far as level was concerned. Cost me about £150 to get it into good playable condition.
It's a switchcraft Jack and switch too.
If I found the demo model I played @ guitar center, I would love to play it again, and again. No question, it was the very finest guitar I have ever played. Setup, intonation, every single piece was perfect.
And as a Bonamassa, why are the strings not over wrapped?
I think I'd like the ability to blend the additional pickup. Or if there was a way to not detract from the original set up for the looks. Maybe a different toggle with more switching options. Maybe it's something with your lighting doing the sound run through but everything gold or yellow appears as either copper or a deep dark brass. That in my opinion what look awesome as an option on such a guitar.
Easy fix, just alter the wiring to 3 volume 1 tone with the middle on in any position and blended in with the 3rd volume control!
I have an epi black beauty with custom pickups, and becouse of the custom pickups i use it sounds better then gibson black beauty the dad of a friend of mine has, (both tested on 2 jcm900 at the same time) the gibson one is slightly heavyer and plays a little better, but for the money, i prefer my choise of epi and changing the pickups (not that the originals were bad)
I had one of those back in the mid 70's wish I had kept it.
The one I’m dying to find/see is the Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess model with the piezo and Floyd rose. I cannot find those anywhere, including Reverb.
I have an Epiphone whose output jack was like this guitar's--hard to insert the cable jack. Upon investigation, I found that a wire had found its way into the input jack area. I pulled it out of the way and that took care of the problem. As for the fret buzz on the Bonamassa, if it is in the cowboy chord area, the neck might just be too straight, or have a slight back-bow.
Suppose it's the floor model that you're after? I remember during my birthday in January 2017 ,I went to get the Epiphone ES-355 Pro from Guitar and was all set to go home with the floor model. Next thing I know, the employee selling it to me is putting the floor model back on the rack he took it down from and pulling an untouched one out of their inventory. That one never satisfied me the way the floor model did.
Wishing you hadn't mentioned Kemper. I've been trying to resist getting any of his products for a long time.
"Everybody and their brother's mother?" lol
measure the scale length it is not 24 3/4
Halloween axe!! It turned orange during demo, looked cool. It's all there, needs some twiddling, but great for the money. Ü♥♫
It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison of this black beauty and the Lazarus.
It’s funny but having 3 humbuckers doesn’t have the effect you might expect. It doesn’t make the guitar louder or clearer. Having only one bridge pickup would have that effect. 3 humbuckers makes it sound muddy.
Great review!
It would be interesting to review Epiphones that immediately appreciated in value.
The John Lee Hooker 312T was presold before dealers received them and jumped 50% in two years. I had s '62 and was amazed at the quality of the JLH model that one of my students bought.
Another stunner was the Elite or Elitist Series Byrdland. I have a 1959 Byrdland which became too valuable to gig in some clubs. I was a dealer and bought the Elite series Byrdland...wow, what a fantastic guitar!
Gibson realized the folly of marketing a Japan built CARVED TOP instrument for a quarter of the price of the American built guitar pretty quickly and retired it after a few years.
They doubled in value very quickly.
I wonder what other models appreciated so quickly.
Maybe the new Texan will?
Cheers!
I like the shape of those Epiphoney cases way better than my Gibsons. I wish my cases came with that bubble on the top like that. I like that better. Maybe custom shop cases are like that? I’ve got like 5 USA ones and although they’re nice I wish they were more shaped like that.
Love that yellow binding.
"These are strictly limited to the number we can sell."
A lot them got trashed in shipping too there's significantly less than any one thinks.
Gibson and epiphone churn out Les Paul custom like there's no tomorrow, you litterly have one the most rare guitars hear.
You gonna review the fender jagstang reissue?
What’s up with the orange binding on the playing demo? 🧐
I really don't like the binding, and really glad I was one of the first to pre-order the Epi 59 RI, which I will never understand why you haven't even unboxed one. It's a much better sounding guitar, looks great, and my frets came well polished.
Peace, Keith