Limited Edition 1959 Epiphone LP

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Epipehone 1959 Les Paul

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[jamesduckworth]

Thanks for the chat at Sweetwater during Gearfest. I bought my 1959 Epiphone Les Paul in cherry burst that day. Your review pushed me over the edge.

[briank]

5-minute mark, great tip with the sandpaper. I also use that trick with sandpaper wrapped around feeler guages, they are firmer than strings.

[ghalsor]

Phil, over the past few deep dives, I feel you have set the industry standard for a guitar review. I sure you moved some units for Epiphone with this vid for sure.

[richardclark.]

You nailed it. I have owned one since they came out and I will never sell it. I have real gibsons and a custom shop telecaster. This gets as much playing time as they do. I would almost call the finsh matte. I actually thought mine was until I saw your review, lol. Mine is starting to gloss up nicely just from playing. Getting shiny in all the right places, I expect it will continue to look better as time goes by. If you can find one of these for under $725 I would consider it a steal!

[Nakarucci]

I have one of these. Best LP in the Epi range. As Phil said, the effort went into the important parts and it really shows.

[Zoso]

I've been a guitarist for a little over 30 years now. I've owned more Les Pauls than I can count, the majority of which were Gibson. My favorite being my 2019 Les Paul Traditional. I just bought a new Epiphone 1959 in Southern Fade finish, and it is the most impressed I've ever been with an "off the shelf" guitar. Playability and tone for days... Epiphone really did mail it with this model. 🤘

[Robbie]

I have one and I love it. The satin finish is gorgeous. The guitar sounds fantastic, stays in tune and is an absolute joy to play.

[itsalwayssomething]

I love watching videos about guitars, but I also hate it. I have enough guitars, but these videos always make me want to buy more. So, I just watch while talking myself out of buying one.

[davva]

I have one of these, got it about 3 weeks ago. I love it. It is the best guitar I own in terms of how it came out of the box. It was actually slightly better, out of the box, than my Fender American Strat. Had to tweak the truss rod on the Strat to get the set up right.

Beyond that, it sounds great, really like the pick ups. It was set up really well, no dead spots and the fret ends were good, no sharp spots. Fit and finish is great. Weight is 8.6 pounds, my Strat is 8.2 so not really much heavier. The tuners are very good, no issues there, I may decide to go to locking tuners but haven't decided yet.

I personally can not justify Gibson prices, I only play for my own enjoyment. I believe this is a very good quality alternative. Much better than any previous Epiphones I have owned or tried.

I also think its good value even compared to other Epiphones. The 50s Standards are $650 and do not have the better electronics.

[mikecarreca]

Hello Philip, I have a Slash Epiphone .I had Sweetwater install a bone nut and full custom setup to my specifications.
1.65 at low E and 1.5 on the high E. I did the sock test and just barely bumped. Has played excellent. I also have a 59 edition like the one you have. Thank you for your work.

[sonicd]

Epiphone Les Paul is probably the best value in a guitar today (last 10-15 years). The finished product is usually outstanding. I typically play Fender (us+mim+mij) but I do have an Epiphone LP that I love. I think Epiphone gets closer in feel, playability, and tone to their US Gibson counterparts than Fender does. Yes, it is China-born, but the manufacturing techniques and technology has come light years ahead of where it was 20 years ago. They can build really well finished instruments. And the Epiphone Les Paul creates an opportunity to upgrade electronics along the way as you’d like. Finally, when you look at the finished product compared to a strat, there is just so much “more” of a guitar here (beautiful finishes, binding, set-neck, etc.). It’s just an all around more expensive guitar to produce, but they bring it to market at such an incredible price point for what you get. I love my fenders but I have a huge appreciation for what Epiphone is doing. They are great looking and hold up under regular use. And generally speaking, you can have 3 or 4 of them for the price of a Gibson (depending on specifics). What’s not to love about that? I see another one coming to my collection in the future… I just love the fact that I can play and enjoy without worrying about damaging a $3, 000 guitar. I am scared to play and enjoy anything above $1, 000, so anything in that range or above usually just becomes wall art for me (and that is just a shame) !!!!

[TheKrude]

Loved the pace of this video! Fast, informative and to the point! That is a lot of tone for the $$!

[terryoquinn]

These guitars are great ! I bought an aged dark cherry 🍒 burst for $799, liked it so much, I negotiated a deal with my rep for the aged dark burst for $681.69 ! Both on close out pricing in early 2025 . Get one while you can !

[xanawolf]

Hands down the very best detailed review and breakdown of this remarkable offering from Gibs... er... Epiphone. Can’t wait for my Plek Pro treated Dark Cherry Burst to arrive.

[Doug_Zbi]

I’ve had one of these for 4 months now. It’s really a great player. The neck is like a baseball bat, so if you like chunky necks this guy is for you!

[TheLampylamp]

I love the sock test.. I always get a chuckle at picturing Phil out buying lots of ladies socks 😄 .. absolutely love this channel. 🙏☘️☘️☘️

[markdakel]

I greatly appreciate the detailed review if the Epiphone, they have some very good guitars at good price points and value.
You did an excellent job explaining what it is, and, what it is not. There is nothing that you could not do with the Epiphone that you could do with a Gibson, it’s a fantastic working musicians instrument

[jamasters]

That slow-motion bass-side panty hose snag test was the most exciting thing I've seen all day. Yeah, I have no life. I sure would love one of these in this color. I need to get out ye Olde piggy bank and start saving for one. Great review Mr. M!

[Brytons_Thoughts]

The Epiphones from the past few years, in my view, have been out of this world. The recent Firebird and Flying V they put out from those said years were incredibly top-notch and their dedication to quality control like this LP is mind blowing for a supposed budget brand with some of them even being better than their Gibson equivalents.

[PeterDad]

Well Phill you just helped me make up my mind over which new Epiphone Les Paul to purchase. I already have a nice Gibson Tribute that is my best sounding and easiest playing guitar and since I have two Strats and three Tele's I wanted a second Les Paul. I was really wanting to spend as little money as possible and Epiphone has several Les Paul models all at affordable prices. I found a new Limited Edition 1959 Epiphone LP with a $200 discount (it has very minor scratches) so I made the purchase just now and paid $799 over at Sweetwater. Joe Seccu is my Sweetwater Representative and we get along very well and I like him. I liked your in depth review/teardown and like I said you helped me to make up my mind. At around 8:09 you show and say that the body is a 2-piece Mahogany. Please note my version is a one piece solid body.
- Peter age 73