Gibson Les Paul/Epiphone Les Paul???

[bubinga5]

Does any one have any experiences with these two basses..Apart from the price, what are the differences...What can the tone be compared to...Do they still make the Gibson Les Paul?

Any thoughts?

thanks

[Cat Burrito]

I had an Epi Les Paul which was great but I sold it to tarcher as I'm more of a Fender player. Floyd Pepper has just bought a Gibson & I know he was very pleased with it.

[Tinman]

If they're anything like their 6 string brethren - the major difference will be in the electrics. I remember the pickups in the Epi were quite poor - things might have changed though.

[Noisyjon]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='707821' date='Jan 10 2010, 04:27 PM']Does any one have any experiences with these two basses..Apart from the price, what are the differences...What can the tone be compared to...Do they still make the Gibson Les Paul?
Any thoughts?
thanks[/quote]

Hi Bubinga5,
I have an '03 Gibson Les Paul Standard bass, Honey Sunburst. It is constructed with a Mahogany body and neck with a Maple top and Ebony fingerboard. It has 2 x Thunderbird Plus pickups with 2 x Vol, 2 x Tone & a 3 way switch.
It has a 34" scale with a Warwick style bridge and stop bar tailpiece. The sound is HUGE, Not a million miles away from the Thunderbird sound to give you a good reference point.

I don't think there's a US LP bass made any more, just the Epiphone LP Special model...

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Jon

[Pow_22]

Just sold my Epi LP std bass and matching epi case to fund a Burns Bison. They are VERY loud and sometimes can be a bit ''Boomy''. Very nice bass tho, had mine for 7 years without a prob. The standards are quite rare now and in my opinion look way better than the specials. If your near bolton mine is still in the local guitar shop tho i dont know what they are asking for it

[bubinga5]

Just spotted these Gibson LP Standards at Thomann.... 2 with Ceramic humbuckrs and one with Barts (this one doesnt seem to have the pick up switch)...

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/cat_PG_3.html?gf=misc_4_string_basses&oa=prd"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/cat_PG_3.html?gf=...sses&oa=prd[/url]

after a little research i found out the one without the switch is the earlier 90's model, with barts and a bart pre..they are also alot heavier..the later ones had a pickup selector and chambered bodies for lightness and passive elctronics...I wonder if the later ones would have enough room for an Aguilar OBP1 and the batt's???

Edited January 10, 2010 by bubinga5

[neepheid]

I have a 2004 Epiphone Les Paul Standard bass, I must confess I was a little underwhelmed by the stock pickups. So I overkilled the situation and dropped in 2 EMG-HBs and an EMG-BTC control for 3 band EQ with mid sweep. Which means I spent as much on upgrades as buying the bass itself, oops It's a monster now though, and while I have a horrible 3 point bridge instead of the nice bridge with separate tailpiece I do have an extra fret over the Gibson LP. Lookswise, at least for the black model there's not a lot in it, save for the logo. Doubtless a burst finish would expose some less nice looking wood on the Epi.

Edited January 10, 2010 by neepheid

[tarcher]

Hi
Got my Special off Burrito as he said.Its about 6years old.I've put black nylons on and with all the black hardware she looks gorgeouse.Body is tobacco burst rosewood fret board and block inlays.
I would love the opportunity to listen to a Gibson to hear the difference but at the moment I'm quite happy with the sound I'm getting.
Neepheid swapped his pups for active emg's and he.s happy.
If you want the look without the Gibson outlay go for an Epi and possibly play around with the pups.
Peronally I don't like the look of the new black Epi Les Paul,but the older Korean made ones give you an awful lot of guitar for the dosh.
While I was writing this it occurred to me that my middle name is Les so that makes me Paul Les.
Cheers
Hope you find what your looking for

[noirpunk]

Love the shape of the Les Paul bass (down to me starting life out as a guitarist who loves Les Pauls) My first bass is an Epiphone Les Paul bass. Balances very nicely, plays superbly, the aesthetics are a little underwhelming to some but I remedied it with some leopard print fur stuck to the front



As mentioned the pickups quite frankly are absolute rubbish... luckily at the time I was playing through a Trace so I could get over that. Very reliable basses mind, I absolutely abused mine - throwing it about and generally being a heavy handed clot! It's still solid as a rock and I could never part with it

I've never tried a Gibson version but I know a friend of mine has one and I've heard it... does sound rather lovely sort of a cross between a Thunderbird and an EB3. They look stunning, especially the ones with the selector switch!

I remember a few years back lusting over a white copy, a Greco I think - exactly like the Gibson switch version but in the Les Paul Custom colours. Stunning!

Definitely consider an Epi though, if you can change the pickups you're onto a winner for sure.

[Floyd Pepper]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='707847' date='Jan 10 2010, 04:47 PM']I had an Epi Les Paul which was great but I sold it to tarcher as I'm more of a Fender player. Floyd Pepper has just bought a Gibson & I know he was very pleased with it.[/quote]

Yep, I've still got the Gibson. I actually have a Les Paul Double Cutwaway which I bought from the US. Root beer finish and gold hardware.
Plus points with this one are the well balanced feel of the bass (It's not a neck diver), smaller body shape and the very boomy tone (especially from the E string). This thing rocks.
The other thing is that it is a lovely looking bass (IMHO).
For me the only down side is that it does feel limited with tone, hence I very rarely use it for gigs as I always use the Lakland Jazz and the Fender Precision. Then I ask myself as to why I keep it....but it's just too lovely to move on (At the moment).
Cheers,
J

[bubinga5]

[quote name='Floyd Pepper' post='708246' date='Jan 10 2010, 09:58 PM']Yep, I've still got the Gibson. I actually have a Les Paul Double Cutwaway which I bought from the US. Root beer finish and gold hardware.
Plus points with this one are the well balanced feel of the bass (It's not a neck diver), smaller body shape and the very boomy tone (especially from the E string). This thing rocks.
The other thing is that it is a lovely looking bass (IMHO).
For me the only down side is that it does feel limited with tone, hence I very rarely use it for gigs as I always use the Lakland Jazz and the Fender Precision. Then I ask myself as to why I keep it....but it's just too lovely to move on (At the moment).
Cheers,
J[/quote]Floyd do you have a newer model with the pickup selector, whats the weight like, how much room is in the electronics compartment, enough for a pre amp?

ahh ive just noticed its not an LP standardyou have...im guessing its the LP Money?

Edited January 10, 2010 by bubinga5

[Floyd Pepper]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='708259' date='Jan 10 2010, 10:11 PM']Floyd do you have a newer model with the pickup selector, whats the weight like, how much room is in the electronics compartment, enough for a pre amp?

ahh ive just noticed its not an LP standardyou have...im guessing its the LP Money?[/quote]

This was the original review in BGM. It's the Double Cut one.
[url="http://www.bassguitarmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=37:bassguitars&id=63:gibson-les-paul-double-cut-a-standard-basses"]http://www.bassguitarmagazine.com/index.ph...standard-basses[/url]

[thebeat]

I have a 2009 Epi Les Paul Special, the underwhelming, all black version. It's a pretty decent bass for the price and i find the stock pick ups are more than adequate and have a pretty high output. Only thing that pissed me off about the bass is that the bridge was on a wee bit squint when i received it, but that was an easy fix. Was thinking of making some sort of pickguard to break up the black.

[merello]

Cool as...