ShortScale.org

I didn't even change the strings on it, just raised the action a bit and it plays great. The neck is, say chunkier than a 1970s Gibson, but not as thick as my Squier Mustang's. The fretwork is excellent, much better than any Epiphone I've ever played.

The body and neck seem built like a tank (but not so much the hardware). The body is heavier than the majority of guitars I've played, but not the heaviest, and it's quite comfortable to play. Two of the knobs got damaged in shipping, not that big of a deal, I think I have two extra ones like that somewhere.

The bridge pickup really didn't work when I plugged it in, but I opened it up and did nothing except remove the computer plug and plug it back in and it works fine now.

Supposedly you can tell Gibson/Epiphones from fakes by looking inside the cavity:

Surprisingly, there was nothing wrong with the switch:


The pickups are not bad but could be a little better. I did notice (measured) that the neck pickup is a bit hotter than the bridge. I've seen pictures of Chinese guitars with the gold and silver "EMG"s in either position, actually more often in the same positions as my guitar. But it is quite logical that that gold one is hotter and has red wire, when the silver one is less hot and has a blue wire. I'll probably swap the neck and bridge pickups with each other sometime.


The workmanship is pretty nice, not perfect but very nice. The binding is actually more gray than cream, but it's pretty classy. I don't know if they sprayed over a Gibson logo, I can't tell if they did but I asked for no logo. I also asked for no "Made in USA", and I think that they did spray the back of the headstock simply because the serial number is hard to read, no other indication, they did a good job with that.

I've never had any kind of Les Paul before, but I did notice that this has much better sustain than any guitar I've ever owned. And the sustain is not wonky like on a strat or hollowbody, it's very smooth and even and doesn't fluctuate in pitch.

that looks so much better than a real lp

will you tell me where you bought it? PM if you don;t want to advertise it

No problem, I used dhgate because they seem to offer more buyer protection, maybe it's not much different than aliexpress, but dhgate doesn't support straight counterfeits. The actual store you buy it from gets the money when you have actually received the guitar.

Seller was: link

I call the seller "Bicks Lee" so I can remember the name (which is spelled weird). He actually has a pretty bad reputation because one guitar he sent out broke in transport and someone made a video on youtube, but I noticed that a lot of people had good transactions with him on the China Guitar Skeptic forum (I'm not a member but I read some of the threads before buying). His English is pretty good, grammar not perfect but he understood everything I wrote (I think this is important if you don't want them to mess something up).

It's a pretty good deal, Epiphone charges 500 and up for LP Customs, which are just one extra binding on the back and headstock, these cost less than a Standard and have more finish options.

You get a nice guitar, but you have to have patience. A couple of weeks of private messages with the sellers before buying, and extension they ask for for extra work (for example the stock photo didn't have the headstock inlay and they certainly covered over the "Made in USA"), waiting for them send pics at the end (a good idea so they don't send you something else) and waiting for the shipment and customs, the whole process can take 2 to 3 months. In the end it's worth it, but if you want it for a music video next week or something, then stay away.

brainfur wrote:that looks so much better than a real lp

will you tell me where you bought it? PM if you don;t want to advertise it

did you want that same model exactly? there were 2 or 3 other dealers on dhgate that had them if you don't want to use the same one I did.

I did try another dealer first, but he seemed to have trouble understanding the questions/requests I had, which could have been a problem I guess.

but if you do get one like mine, I'm really curious if it would have the same serial number.

{shit, I wanted to pm this, I guess it doesn't matter that much with this post, but wasn't there a button to erase posts?}

Uggghhh, Rickenbacker basses for £160.... these sites fucking kill me, they really do. If they're even half decent that's worth it.

I've had two fake rics, probably originated from places like dhgate and the like. A 325 and a 330....both were quite good, the 330 especially. Didn't FEEL like a Ric, but they sounded and looked the part, and played like a funny shaped epiphone like you'd hope they would.

Yeah, never been bothered about the guitars but I love 4003 basses. But, not being a bassist, I'm not really into the idea of spending anything between £500 for the Tokai versions or up to £1500 for an actual Rickenbacker.

Same here, but seeing as I've been content with my guitars and amps and haven't been gassing for anything new for years save for maybe a partscaster tele and a few pedals, a real 4003 may be next on my agenda. Yeah not being a bassist it might feel silly having a bass worth more than any guitar I own (my local shop sells them for $1,600 new), but cost and value being subjective things and only really needing one bass, etc, makes it more justifiable in the long run.

Each time I owned a fakenbacker I felt a bit wrong about it, most likely because they didn't have that rick feel with the glossy fretboard and such. It was a bit more like driving a Pontiac Fiero with a Ferrari kit.

I recorded with an old rick bass once and it felt ok and sounded good but if I was going to spend rick money id buy one of those stupid ugly musicman basses that sound ~perfect~

I'm too superficial to buy ugly guitars.

oh man i need to stop looking at those chinese sites, i keep lusting for a fakenbacker, and i just now saw a 12 string with a bigsby and what look like firebird pickups? fuck me, i need one.

EDIT: AW FUCK I NEED THIS ONE, GOTTA GET MY MIKI BERENYI/WILL SERGEANT ON

Nick wrote:I'm too superficial to buy ugly guitars.

bruh I know this feel

oh shit that site daftsupernova posted has a sonic blue fakenbacker bass. :0 yoooo

I like it but it looks like someone's mum ran their Zakk Wylde LP through the wash and tried to fix it before he got home.

I like that and I think that they are great guitars for the money. The Les Paul models especially seem to be good. Mine is better than any Epiphone I have ever played at least. A pickup change and a proper set up does wonders. Still love mine and play it regularly.



http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtop ... on&start=0

YOOO
okay i think i have found my next bass.

paul_ wrote:I like it but it looks like someone's mum ran their Zakk Wylde LP through the wash and tried to fix it before he got home.

haha, awesome, I wanted to add this extra quote to my sig, but it said my sig is too long.

Here's a more intricate version, I call this the "full bloom" version: full bloom teacup lep saul

although I don't recommend that site because I've never used it, plus it's from a cosmetics dealer.

I'm not sure what the Chinese call this, they called mine "bule flower", and I've seen "bule" often instead of "blue", maybe a translating software problem. Also flower seems to indicate flame maple too.

I like that pattern. It's almost an anti LP.

DGNR8 wrote:I like that pattern. It's almost an anti LP.

Agreed, it's even more anti-Lester than the Edwards Ken Yokoyama model.

Hawaiian shirt Les Paul is my new fucking jam.