attractive grain pattern in the mahogany
body. In order to save on cost, the flame top
is a maple veneer that is attached to a solid,
carved maple top. While the body itself has
a nice, deep grain, holding it up to the light
shows it to be comprised of four pieces of
mahogany joined together, as opposed to
one or two. It’s hardly noticeable, but can be
detected if you really look for it. I’m a huge
fan of larger Gibson-profile necks, and this
particular one didn’t disappoint. It’s rather
beefy, but not quite as large as a ’ 58 profile,
and certainly not as thin as the ’60s slim taper
shape. It was very comfortable running up
and down the neck with my hand, and even
more pleasing not to find any sharp fret ends.
Apart from the action being a little too low,
even the setup was pretty good right out
of the box. Speaking of great things about
the neck, the Epi ’ 59 Les Paul Standard
also sports a long tenon, which is one of
the construction features of classic Gibson
instruments that helped them achieve their
legendary sustain qualities. This extra wood
in the neck joint gives the two more coupling,
providing more resonance. Even though the
famed long tenon is employed in its construction, the neck is still comprised of three
pieces of mahogany. I believe that a better
sound could be achieved with just one piece.
Electronics-wise, the instrument shares much
in common with its Gibson brethren, sporting
high quality CTS pots and Burstbucker 2 and
3 humbuckers in the neck and bridge positions, respectively.
tone and solid construction that’s miles above
their standard Les Paul models, but some vintage purists will desire the fuller tone of the
Gibson. For example, the neck position of the
Epiphone, while having a nice, clear tone in a
clean amp setting, has a somewhat dull quality by comparison when overdriven. There’s a
slight but noticeable lack of midrange—one
that I haven’t heard with this exact same pick-up in an actual Gibson Les Paul Standard.
instrument. I don’t feel that the lack of those
features should deter too much from the
guitar, however. This release from Epiphone
certainly deserves a look, especially if you
were a fan of their Elitist line. If you’re interest is piqued, I’d recommend you jump on
one fast. Epiphone has only produced 1,959
of them, in conjunction with the year of the
original iconic Gibson model, so they’re sure
to become collector’s items in the future.
oh, That Sound
The original 1959 Les Paul Standard is
closely associated with the sound of an overdriven vintage Marshall stack (although some
players, such as Mike Bloomfield, attained
incredible tones out of Fender Twins and
Bassmans). Strapping on the Paul, I plugged
it into a 1973 Marshall Super Bass head into
a Bogner 4x12 cabinet with four Celestion
Vintage 30s. Jumping for the train immediately, I cranked the head in true Marty
McFly-fashion and hit an open G chord. With
incredible detail, the Marshall emitted an
extraordinary overdriven tone, with complete authority and even top end. Rolling
the volume knob on the guitar down caused
the tone to transition smoothly from higher
gain to lightly overdriven tones, thanks to
the great taper of the CTS pots inside.
Turning down the tone knob to roll off the
highs to compensate helped a bit, but not
vastly. To be perfectly honest, the Epi ’ 59 Les
Paul Standard reminds me a lot of Epiphone’s
now discontinued Elitist series. These guitars,
which included models such as the Les Paul
Custom, Standard and ES-335 DOT, where
made with much higher quality materials
and construction methods than many other
Epiphone instruments, and were only around
for a short period, which ended in 2008. I
was a big fan and was sad to see them go.
The Epi ’ 59 reissue shares a lot in common
tone-wise with the Les Paul Standard in that
line, so if you missed out on the Elitist series I
highly recommend checking this one out.
you’re in the market for a good,
inexpensive Les Paul and missed the
boat on an Elitist model.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you’re a stickler and nothing short
of a Gibson Custom Shop model (or
the real thing) will suffice.
Rating...
4.0
However, since the guitar bears the ’ 59 Les
Paul Standard namesake, it’s fair to say that
one of Gibson’s Custom Shop models will
likely please the ear a little more. Those
instruments have great resonance, even
unplugged, which the Epiphone version simply cannot fully achieve. Don’t get me wrong,
this Epi is an outstanding instrument, with
The Final Mojo
The Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard is an
excellent guitar in its own right. It’s difficult
to criticize some of the cost-cutting features
of this particular Les Paul. Epiphone has gone
out of their way to provide as close to a ’ 59
Les Paul Standard guitar as was possible
while still keeping it under the $1000 mark,
and each of the trade-offs is defensible. While
it would have been nice to see a one-piece
neck, a one-piece (or even two-piece) body,
or a solid flamed maple top, the addition
of those would have most unquestionably
put the pricing into the ballpark of a Gibson
ONTHEWeb
Click here to hear sound
clips of the guitar in action at
premierguitar.com
Epiphone
Street $899
epiphone.com
