This review is from: Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar, Midnight EbonyI love the sound of a Les Paul, but I refused to buy one because having been a Strat player for years, I just felt that LP's were uncomfortable to play. This Les Paul addresses the two major factors in why a traditional LP is uncomfortable:#1, Weight. Ever pick up a real LP? They weight a ton and by the end of a show, your shoulder and lower back are killing you. This thing is super light! The acoustic chambers make it essentially a hollow-body. I'm not sure what the actual weight is, but it's significantly lighter than a solid body LP, but sounds the same (actually better with the piezo). #2, Body Contours. I don't have a huge belly, but the sharp corners on regular LP's cut into my gut and just aren't comfortable. This guy has a nice body contour in it, so it's really quite comfortable. The neck has some kind of radical "satin" finish on it that is LIGHTNING fast to play on. It's almost like a rough finish, but it's great because your hand doesn't stick to it like it would to a traditional painted finish. You just have to try it. This thing has that LP growl that all guitar players associate with a LP. The humbuckers are phenomenal!! In my band, we play classic rock covers with a few heavier tunes thrown in. I figured this guitar would fit right in with some of the more "mild" songs, and songs that were recorded on a LP. "Hold On Loosely", "Deuce", "Life In The Fast Lane", and a couple of Journey tunes... stuff like that. This guitar certainly covers those styles perfectly. But wait... The first time I took this to practice, we started playing "Man In The Box" with a heavy overdrive, and when I hit an artificial harmonic in "G" on the low "E" string... O-M-G!!! The rest of the band members jaws all dropped and they commented that this guitar screamed like a Zakk Wylde. It's VERY responsive!! Then I dialed it back, and tried out the piezo acoustic pickup for our rendition of "Comfortably Numb". I know, shudder at the thought of playing a LP for a Pink Floyd song... The piezo acoustic sound was absolutely incredible, but then when I turned the piezo down and the humbuckers back on for the solo's, it filled the bill again! This guitar will get you pretty much ANY tone you want (except for the buzz of a single coil). All I can say is, try it!! There are only 2 things I don't like about this guitar, hence the 4-stars. While the body is light, the headstock isn't, and it tends to pull on the shoulder. It's just not very well balanced, so it takes some getting used to. Also, it's still tough to get to the higher frets just like any LP. Otherwise, you get the killer LP sound with the added bonus of an acoustic, and the unexpected bonus of COMFORT! This guitar is well worth the price and I'd say it's essential to any collection. You can cover so much ground with it!...
This review is from: Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar, Midnight EbonySorry this review is so long, but this is a complex guitar.I am a musician that plays eclectically. Some songs, I play the acoustic guitar and some the electric. That creates a restrictive set list as we have to plan around decreasing guitar changes. This guitar seemed to be the best of both worlds (which it is- now). The way I route this guitar is NanoMag>DI>mixer and Humbuckers>pedal board>amp (microphoned). I have a footswitch to route it this way. I had to purchase a T-Rex stereo footswitch as an ABY wouldn't accomplish my goals of separating the pickups and sending them to different places. (Acoustic pickup doesn't sound as good going through an electric amp.) The only issue is I can't have both pickups working at the same time. (Both pickups working together sound kind of cool for certain things.)Pros: Appearance is beautiful! NanoMag active acoustic pickup sounds great accompanied by the chambered body giving it a good acoustic sound. Humbuckers also are really good. Ergonomically speaking, it feels great. The satin finish on the neck really assists well in sliding my hand back and forth quickly. The volume and tone knobs are in a good position so they are out of the way yet easily accessible. Warranty covered necessary repairs.Cons: Some of the electronics were poor quality, so I had to take it for repair twice. I had a ground wire problem that created this gnarly hum when I took my hands off the metal parts of the guitar and the stereo output jack was popping badly. I got a ground wire soldered properly (which stopped the humming), but received a new jack from Epiphone (which was also substandard). It just so happened that the repairman had a better jack and now the guitar works without fail! The circuit board compartment is a little crammed, so some metal parts may touch (which mine did and caused the bridge pickup to cut in and out). The plastic around the output jacks is thin and will probably break. I needed a footswitch that would separate the pickups and combine them (which one would think Epiphone would have someone make since they made the guitar that basically requires one for optimal sound). I had to compromise and get the aforementioned footswitch that will only separate the NanoMag and Humbuckers. I don't like playing timidly, but had to at my last gig so I didn't make the pickup cut out.Overall, now that I have this guitar in proper working order (thanks to an AWESOME repairman), I can play with confidence and I am well satisfied. I just hate that I had to go through such an ordeal on a brand that I thought I could trust (quality control needs work)....
This review is from: Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar, Midnight EbonyThis is a beautiful instrument the finish is immaculate. It embodies all that I need in a guitar at this time, great acoustic tone, the Les Paul "classic look" and sound - without the weight (its about 3lbs lighter than an ...
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