My honest review of my Epiphone Les Paul Special-II

This will be my short review of an Epiphone Les Paul Special II which I recently sold.

It's a budget guitar which has more flaws than positives but heck... if you are an absolute beginner guitarist, it will serve you well for a cheap price too!

Pros:

There are not too many positives of the Epiphone LP Special II. But let's look at them:

• Very affordable price!

• Pickups

• Looks!

• Volume and tone knobs

Let's look at the pros one by one.

Price.

It cost me a few hundred euros when I purchased it some 14 years ago. Now it cost between 200 - 250 euros but it's not that easy to find online.

Pickups.

They are actually not that bad. Two humbuckers side by side. And you can even get some nice tones out of them.

Genres it can do are something like rock, blues, metal, jazz, fusion, etc.

Looks.

The Epiphone LP Special 2 has actually a nice appearance to it. Not like a premium guitar but for a budget price it looks great.

I had the vintage sunburst one and I liked it.

Knobs.

I like these. I've always liked more the knobs with numbers. They are easier to use for me.

Cons:

Let's take a look at some disadvantages now.

• Difficulty of play-ability

• Bad tuners

• Three-way toggle switch

• High bridge

• Overall not a guitar for intermediates-advanced players

Play-ability.

Well, this is where it gets tough for me and other beginner guitarists.

It's not that comfortable to play compared to let's say an Ibanez Prestige. The neck is okay for a complete beginner but for intermediate and advanced guitarists the neck feels stiff.

The neck and the frets are not made so well and the action could be better too. Of course, you can adjust the action but I feel this is just a problem we have to face and live with.

Tuners.

I had a big problem with my tuners before I sold this guitar. The problem is that they are low quality and if you tune a lot then they will get damaged easily and quickly.

My tuner broke and I had to exchange them or use duct tape.

Three-way toggle switch.

The switch is also low built quality and can get broken.

I don't have a problem with only 3 way switches but this one feels bad quality.

Bridge.

The bridge needs some adjustment because I place my hand near or on the bridge to play clean notes or palm mute and it just is too high for my comfort of right hand.

Beginner level guitar.

I think this guitar shines in one aspect - it's made for beginners primarily. I don't know whether expert guitarists would want to play this guitar for all their life.

Myself, I would rather invest more money and get a premium quality guitar.

Quick summary

If you are a complete beginner and don't want to spend tons of money like 1000 EUR for a guitar I easily can suggest the Epiphone LP Special 2 if you can get one.

Any Epiphone at this price range would be a good fit for you.

But as time passes and you get better I would recommend something better depending on your musical preferences.