Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90 x3 NGD!!!

[Chad]

Epiphone special and jr bolt on are being discontinued and I always wanted to try out one of the Special I P90 in TV Yellow. These are supposedly a really good guitar, great pickups... possibly just as good if not better than the ones Gibson uses supposedly, all mahogany body and neck with rosewood fretboard. Here are the specs...

Body

Body shape: Single cutaway
Body type: Solid body
Body material: Solid wood
Top wood: Not applicable
Body wood: Mahogany
Body finish: Gloss
Orientation: Right handed

Neck

Neck shape: SlimTaper D
Neck wood: Mahogany
Joint: Bolt-on
Scale length: 24.75"
Truss rod: Standard
Neck finish: Gloss

Fretboard

Material: Rosewood
Radius: 12"
Fret size: Medium
Number of frets: 22
Inlays: Dot
Nut width: 1.68" (42.67mm)

Pickups

Configuration: SS
Neck: P-90R
Bridge: P-90T

They got the TV yellow at guitar center right now for $119.99 but are out of stock, so I just bought all 3 and got the worn cherry and worn black too. I plan on keeping one and giving one to my Dad and the other to my Brother. I really hope there are no lemons out of all 3. I will be picky and do a full inspection on them and send back anything that cant be fixed, but fingers crossed I wont have to send any back. I ordered the TV Yellow one yesterday for the sale price from guitar center and today over the phone I asked what they could do if I ordered 2 of them and they said 10% off, so I paid up for the other two to make a complete set. Triple new guitar day coming soon!!!

[glasshand]

That's the model I used to make my "Checker Cab" guitar. My feelings were:
- the wood is quite decent. There is some kind of veneer on it, surprisingly enough (or at least there was on the one I got some years back). I think "mahogany" may be stretching the definition of the word, to be honest.
- the fretwork is surprisingly good and the nut entirely serviceable
- the pickup is fine, although I replaced mine with a Buddha anyway
- the hardware is junk

Overall, it's still quite a deal on a really inexpensive guitar.

[nomadh]

They can be quite playable so good luck.

[dearlpitts]

i have the yellow one.great guitar. pic ups are great. only prob. were the tuners. put some good locking tuners on it. its a fully gig worthy guitar now.

[Chad]

That's the model I used to make my "Checker Cab" guitar. My feelings were:
- the wood is quite decent. There is some kind of veneer on it, surprisingly enough (or at least there was on the one I got some years back). I think "mahogany" may be stretching the definition of the word, to be honest.
- the fretwork is surprisingly good and the nut entirely serviceable
- the pickup is fine, although I replaced mine with a Buddha anyway
- the hardware is junk

Overall, it's still quite a deal on a really inexpensive guitar.

I'm guessing there is something up with their claim of it being an all mahogany body as well... you aren't the first person to say something like this. Another person claimed that they had a mahogany veneer on top of basswood. I hear some people replace the tuners and bridge, but I also hear they use full size alpha pots, and the electronics and pickups are really good on these models! I am going to replace the tuners with some good locking ones and see how the factory bridge works out... as long as it has good sustain and intonates well I might leave it alone. I hope that the nut and frets are good to go on them as well.

[Chad]

Well my Brothers worn cherry came in today. The weight wasn't light enough to be a basswood guitar, and Im pretty sure it is mahogany... when I went to check the control cavity it looked to still be mahogany grain on the inside and side walls too, but the intonation is pretty good, the frets are nicely done and no fret sprout, I have not stretched out the strings yet, but the tuners felt ok when tuning up and I imagine they might actually be able to be used instead of having to upgrade them, but knowing me I might upgrade them. Pinch harmonics were easily achieved on this one and I enjoyed the tone of those pickups. Yes they still have full sized alpha pots as well. The worn black one shipped off today and I can only hope that one plays and sounds/reacts the same as this worn cherry one, so fingers crossed there because that one will end up being mine. My Fathers TV Yellow should be coming in sometime soon as well. If any of you guys want a super cheap P-90 guitar that is a whole lot of guitar, I would strongly suggest looking at one of these.

[sabasgr68]

Well my Brothers worn cherry came in today. The weight wasn't light enough to be a basswood guitar, and Im pretty sure it is mahogany... when I went to check the control cavity it looked to still be mahogany grain on the inside and side walls too, but the intonation is pretty good, the frets are nicely done and no fret sprout, I have not stretched out the strings yet, but the tuners felt ok when tuning up and I imagine they might actually be able to be used instead of having to upgrade them, but knowing me I might upgrade them. Pinch harmonics were easily achieved on this one and I enjoyed the tone of those pickups. Yes they still have full sized alpha pots as well. The worn black one shipped off today and I can only hope that one plays and sounds/reacts the same as this worn cherry one, so fingers crossed there because that one will end up being mine. My Fathers TV Yellow should be coming in sometime soon as well. If any of you guys want a super cheap P-90 guitar that is a whole lot of guitar, I would strongly suggest looking at one of these.

That´s great, Chad. Not sure if I´ve asked you this before, or if you have said it, but are you just a bedroom player, or do gigs from time to time? Just curious...

[Chad]

Well my Brothers worn cherry came in today. The weight wasn't light enough to be a basswood guitar, and Im pretty sure it is mahogany... when I went to check the control cavity it looked to still be mahogany grain on the inside and side walls too, but the intonation is pretty good, the frets are nicely done and no fret sprout, I have not stretched out the strings yet, but the tuners felt ok when tuning up and I imagine they might actually be able to be used instead of having to upgrade them, but knowing me I might upgrade them. Pinch harmonics were easily achieved on this one and I enjoyed the tone of those pickups. Yes they still have full sized alpha pots as well. The worn black one shipped off today and I can only hope that one plays and sounds/reacts the same as this worn cherry one, so fingers crossed there because that one will end up being mine. My Fathers TV Yellow should be coming in sometime soon as well. If any of you guys want a super cheap P-90 guitar that is a whole lot of guitar, I would strongly suggest looking at one of these.

That´s great, Chad. Not sure if I´ve asked you this before, or if you have said it, but are you just a bedroom player, or do gigs from time to time? Just curious...

Just a bedroom player for now... I enjoy writing my own songs for the most part, but later on down the line I plan on doing a cover band to challenge myself and get back into playing with other musicians again. Only been in 3 bands since 2003.