I am thinking of buying a Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus top

[F4DPhantomII]

I saw a Std Plus top at GC today for $549 in Honey Burst.I liked it.It was new and made in Korea opposed to the others they had that were made in China.I had read some where that the Korean ones were better than the Chinese made ones.What do Fret net readers think about it?Thanks.

 

[Rocket]

Not true.
That was the case some years ago before Epiphone built their own facility in China. Now the products from their China plant are top line instruments.

 

[Spudman]

Not true.
That was the case some years ago before Epiphone built their own facility in China. Now the products from their China plant are top line instruments.

Definitely. I have a very nice limited edition Birdseye LP made in china that is a great guitar.

There have been plenty of good Korean LPs as well. It really comes down to 'a good guitar is a good guitar.' It doesn't matter where it was built just that you like it.

 

[TS808]

I don't know much about Epi's....never played one, but give a look at the Agile AL-3000. Top notch guitar and you'll have some money left over for a pedal or two.

 

[wingsdad]

True, a variety of Chinese factories made Epis of inconsistent quality, especially LP's & G400's (SG's), and Korean Epi LP's, particularly by Unsung and Peerless, were generally superior products while those so-so Chinese jobbed guitars were being made, before Gibson opened their own factory and assumed better QC and consistent spec production. They still jobbed occasional runs of LP's out, though, for a while, particularly PlusTops, to Unsung Korea. They still do, or did as late as early 2008, job some acoustics to Samick Indonesia.

I'm only guessing, but that Korean LP you looked at is likely to be New Old Stock, hanging around that GC for at least a year or more, especially since that's an 'old' price, about $100 less than new Gibson China LP PT's.

I couldn't intelligently compare an Epi to an Agile, since I've never seen an Agile 'in person', and I never buy guitars unless I put my hands on them first, but I've played Samick Avions (Greg Bennetts) and they're essentially an Epi LP with a Samick headstock.

 

[F4DPhantomII]

Korean LP

"I'm only guessing, but that Korean LP you looked at is likely to be New Old Stock, hanging around that GC for at least a year or more, especially since that's an 'old' price, about $100 less than new Gibson China LP PT's."

Yeah I was wondering about it being around awhile.How can you tell if it was an Unsung made guitar?Are they,Epiphone, still making them in Korea and bringing them in? Thanks.

 

[Spudman]

"I'm only guessing, but that Korean LP you looked at is likely to be New Old Stock, hanging around that GC for at least a year or more, especially since that's an 'old' price, about $100 less than new Gibson China LP PT's."

Yeah I was wondering about it being around awhile.How can you tell if it was an Unsung made guitar?Are they,Epiphone, still making them in Korea and bringing them in? Thanks.

The serial number may start with a 'U'.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

The serial number may start with a 'U'.

Yeah, my WildKat is an Unsung and the quality seems fine to me. As previously stated though, it really depends on the particular guitar rather than the country. I have a MIC Fernandes Ravelle that equals any of the MIK guitars (Epi WildKat, Epi G400 SG, numerous DeArmonds, Agile Valkyrie SG-type, Epi Flying V, Schecter Tempest Special, pre-Fender Gretsch Electromatic, etc.) I own or have owned. In fact, according to the scuttlebutt amongst Fernandes Ravelle owners, the original production was in China, then moved to Korea for a year or so, but then moved back to China because the Korean-jobbed Ravelles were generally not as nice as the original MIC ones.

 

[F4DPhantomII]

Serial number

The serial number may start with a 'U'.

No U on it just numbers.

 

[markb]

Epi serial nos decoded here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphone

 

[Rocket]

Epi serial nos decoded here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphone

I sure would help if they didn't change their methodology/consistency every couple of years.

 

[Guitarist327]

i have some personal experience with epi's. i dont have one but i played them alot at GC everytime i go.

They are Great. Go get em.

 

[markb]

I sure would help if they didn't change their methodology/consistency every couple of years.

Well they should be more consistent now with their own Chinese factory. I think the problem is that Epi manufacture has just been contracted out to (presumably) whoever gave Gibson the best price. Different models from different factories in the same period, even. It's no wonder qc can be a lottery on Epiphones.

 

[Rocket]

I'm quite satisfied with all the Epiphones that I've had and currently keep. Wish I could say the same for Gibsons. The last Gibson I bought now resides with Dreadman. My previous fav Epiphone now belongs to Childbride.

My wife is thrilled with her Epi Masterbilt... it has completely replaced both her D-28 and Hummingbird as her goto guitar. That's quite a feat!

 

[markb]

My wife is thrilled with her Epi Masterbilt... it has completely replaced both her D-28 and Hummingbird as her goto guitar. That's quite a feat!

Praise indeed!

 

[Suhnton]

If you can remember the full s/no. you can verify it at the Guitar Dater Project site. If it's an Unsung job, it should start with a U, and the next 4 digits are year and month of manufacture, respectively. I have 2 Unsung guitars (SG and Firebird) and both of them are excellent guitars. The stock pickups are good, I don't think they're as hot as the Gibson p/ups, but I prefer a mellower sound so they're just right for me.

 

[F4DPhantomII]

Korean Epi LP Plus Top serial #

Any idea which Korean factory made this Epi Les Paul Standard Plus top serial #0811210681?I tried the Guitardater project site with no luck.Thanks.

 

[just strum]

Any idea which Korean factory made this Epi Les Paul Standard Plus top serial #0811210681?I tried the Guitardater project site with no luck.Thanks.

No letter at the beginning?

 

[M29]

Man Phantom how did you remember that number? I was there today with ya and I did not see you write anything down. I thought the quality was very good.

M

 

[F4DPhantomII]

Serial no.

No letters at the beginning like the Chinese one with EE. M29 I wrote it down while you were in the restroom.

 

[Suhnton]

No letters could possibly mean it's a MIJ (Fujigen). Fujigen made guitars for Ibanez and Greco, and are quite highly regarded in Japan. Have a look here for MIJ guitars, and who the manufacturers are/were:

http://www.music-trade.co.jp/etc.html

 

[F4DPhantomII]

But it was new

No letters could possibly mean it's a MIJ (Fujigen). Fujigen made guitars for Ibanez and Greco, and are quite highly regarded in Japan. Have a look here for MIJ guitars, and who the manufacturers are/were:

http://www.music-trade.co.jp/etc.html

and had a Made in Korea sticker. Are Fujigen's made in Korea? It was a honey burst model but the brown is much lighter in color than the Made in China's that I've seen.

 

[wingsdad]

... Are Fujigen's made in Korea? ...

Fujigen is one of Japan's premier guitar manufacturers. They've made/make top-of-the-line Ibanez for 30+ years, notably the 'lawsuit' Les Pauls of the mid-70's that thrust Ibanez to reputability in the USA as a maker of 'affordable' top-quality guitars.

Besides the higher-end Epiphones like the Elitists, and were the company that made the first Fender imports in the early 80's.

With an MIK sticker and no letters at the beginning of the s/n, that's something of an anomaly, but it might be an 'Elite' (vs. Elitist). In the past year, Epiphone has taken to leaving letters off the s/n's off much of their Gibson China product.

 

[Childbride]

My previous fav Epiphone now belongs to Childbride.

i just took a break; she and i are working out with the metronome. speed with accuracy... and timing.