August 14, 2009

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Guitar – History and Facts of a Legend

Guitar enthusiasts often find themselves debating over whether it is a smart idea to buy an Epiphone Les Paul guitar. Because it is labeled as a cheap guitar, the misconception of it being of low quality is often construed.

During the 19th century, Anastasios Stahopulous, a Turkish instrument maker went to live with his family in the US bringing with him his expertise in making musical instruments with strings. It was the year 1903 when they moved in the US and started a company. The company he set up was quite successful in the United States.

Anastasios Stathopoulos, a Turkish instrument maker in the 19th century, mastered the art of making string instruments. When he migrated to the United States in 1903 along with his family, he started a company which became successful because it was at this time that Americans developed a fascination for the banjo.

The first Les Paul guitar model came into being in the 1950′s when Gibson, the new owner, created and produced them based on the designs made by Les Paul himself, a famous guitarist and a guitar inventor too. At first, Les Paul’s initial plans and sketches on how a solid body guitar should look was ignored by Gibson.

Thereafter, Gibson made an electric guitar of solid built which was named after the famed guitarist and inventor, Les Paul. Les Paul made a design for the body of the guitar but the first design was turned down by the company. However, Gibson did seek suggestions from him when they were coming up with their own design and in fact, Les Paul himself endorsed this guitar throughout the country.

Today, the Epiphone Les Paul guitars are actually the inexpensive version of the original Gibson guitar. These guitars are created in Korea where labour cost is low and the materials are cheap which is basically why the Epiphone is not expensive like the standard Les Paul guitar.

Fond guitar users would usually heat up the Yes and No sides as to the argument of how good the Epiphone model is compared to the original Gibson creation. The critics would say that the tone emanating from the Epiphone models will not level up to the quality produced by the original.

In truth, the quality of the Epiphone Les Paul guitar is not much different from the original Gibson design. It has been modelled from the original Gibson guitars with almost the same inlays. It may be a bit lighter compared to the original but according to guitar users, they find it to be more responsive and the sound to be almost identical to the original Les Paul.

In its defence, satisfied users would say that the Epiphone model performs well. It weighs lighter but it sounds perfect like the original. This is because the Epiphone model is also made of more mahogany pieces to produce the same sound like that of the Gibson model. The pickups for the two models are even similar. Even if the machine head for the Epiphone is bouncy, it aids well in making the guitar tune out well.

Aside from these similarities, the Gibson and the Epiphone models are physically created to look similar, almost like twins.

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Filed under Music & Music Players by Mark McPherson

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