Epiphone Les Paul Custom AW

I want to note right away, this is my first Les Paul, and I've heard a lot about the "great" quality of Gibson, but I understand that guitars of this brand are not bought for quality. Epiphone is no exception. The sound is really amazing, I also liked the ergonomics, the fittings, the overall appearance are very good. The guitar is really very beautiful. But. Small production errors make me upset. The volume and tone controls were not fixed and practically do not hold, flaws are visible when applying paint, the contours are not even, the switch is very weakly held. Otherwise, if you do not consider the guitar all your free time, but play it, you will not be dissatisfied. The sound is amazing.

I bought this guitar past June and now that i have been playing with it a few months, i think my impression of it is quite realistic and beyond the honeymoon phase. It is a really good guitar, and i honestly do not understand why so many people badmouth epiphones. This guitar has made me definitely an Epiphone fan boy. It came in very good condition. I simply adjusted the trust rod to remove a small buzzing and heightened the bridge as i prefer to play with high action (mostly due to my playing classical guitar primarily). The guitar stays in tune just fine, the pickups sound very nice, although a bit more muddy than i would prefer, but still very good, especially for the cost. Obviously one can easily replace the pickups, but these can get the job done just fine. The instrument is beautiful, and my first les paul (i mainly play Strats), and it really can give you a deep and sweet sound that a Strat cannot. I still prefer my 2 strats to be honest, because of the more shreddy nature of their playability and clearer sound for solos, but this Les Paul is definitely worth it and has its own character that can not be duplicated by a Strat. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking about a Les Paul (i would advise to go with an Epiphone as i think Gibson is definitely overcharging)

Pro: I received this guitar today and it was almost performance ready! All that was needed were slight adjustments to the bridge and that was it. The guitar plays beautifully.

Con: I somehow expected Grover tuners (like my Epi Sheraton II Pro) but got Wilkinsons instead. Also when looking at the guitar from the 'cut' side all is flawless, but when you look at the guitar from the 'uncut' side then the finish along the base and at the top of the neck seems a bit lumpy. These are very minor cosmetic flaws to me but maybe not to others, although I will not be buying another painted guitar after this...I would rather prefer to see the wood grain. Also beware of the frets...I'm seeing scratches on the frets after bending the strings where I could have sworn there weren't scratches before. And there is a grinding feel during bending. Perhaps a polish and string change will fix things.

All in all this appears to be a decent guitar and I'm somewhat glad I purchased it...especially before the recent price jump! I'll have to keep an eye on the frets however.