New Epiphone Inspired by Gibson range: More than just a headstock!
Epiphone adds a new headstock shape to its 2020 line-up
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Epiphone has just released full details of the Inspired by Gibson models we wrote about during the NAMM show. And it’s a firecracker of a release, including some great features and finishes as well as some refreshing takes on classic designs. We’ve picked out the hottest models for you!
All in the headstock?
The story so far: Epiphone announced the launch of a new Inspired by Gibson range of guitars that feature a new headstock shape. Is that all that’s new? Emphatically: no! Here’s the low-down on the most interesting models.
Les Paul Standard 50s
Let’s start off with a classic. The Les Paul Standard ’50s has a mahogany body with a maple cap and mahogany neck with a proper long neck tenon. This series has ProBucker humbuckers with 50s style wiring and CTS electronics, a LockTone ABR Tune-o-matic bridge and Stopbar tailpiece, plus Epiphone Vintage Deluxe 18:1 ratio tuners. The Les Paul Standard 50s comes in Metallic Gold, Heritage Cherry Sunburst and Vintage Sunburst finishes.
RRP – USD 599
Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50s · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Standard 60s
This one has similar specifications to the model above. Here there’s no mention of a ‘long neck tenon’ on the Epiphone official specifications for the model. And it has a slim taper 60s neck profile. But overall it’s a great looking single-cut and is available in Ebony, Bourbon Burst and Iced Tea finishes.
RRP – USD 599
Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Custom
A cracking take on the classic singlecut design we all know and love: it’s the Les Paul Custom. It has a mahogany body and an ebony fingerboard, gold hardware, ProBucker humbuckers with CTS electronics, Grover machine heads and custom inlays. The Epiphone Les Paul Custom is offered in Alpine White and Ebony finishes, so you can go for either the Steve Jones or Billy Duffy vibe.
RRP – USD 799
Epiphone Les Paul Custom · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Classic
The Les Paul Classic comes in Ebony, Honeyburst and Heritage Cherry Sunburst finishes. This model has a mahogany body with a plain maple cap, mahogany neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. It comes with a set of open-coil “zebra” Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers with CTS electronics, coil-splitting and phase switching as well as Grover Rotomatic tuners.
RRP – USD 499
Epiphone Les Paul Classic · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Classic Worn
The Worn version has the same specifications as a Classic, just with a worn-in look and feel. Available in Worn Ebony, Worn Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Worn Purple and Worn Gold Top finishes.
RRP – USD 449
Epiphone Les Paul Classic Worn · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Modern Figured
This one has weight-relieved mahogany body with a nice figured top, a mahogany neck and an ebony fingerboard. It comes loaded with a pair of ProBucker pickups with coil-splitting, phase switching and a treble bleed circuit. The Modern Figured also has Grover Locking Rotomatic tuners with Tulip buttons and an 18:1 ratio as well as a Graph Tech nut. The Les Paul Modern Figured is available in Caffe Latte Fade, Magma Orange Fade and Caribbean Blue Fade finishes.
RRP – USD 699
Epiphone Les Paul Modern Figured in Caribbean Blue Fade · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Modern
The Les Paul Modern also has a weight-relieved mahogany body with a maple cap and contoured heel, mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard. This model comes in in Vintage Sparkling Burgundy, Graphite Black and Faded Pelham Blue finishes.
They have a pair of ProBucker pickups with coil-splitting, phase switching and a treble bleed circuit, Grover 18:1 Locking Rotomatic tuners with Tulip Buttons and a Graph Tech nut.
RRP – 649
Epiphone Les Paul Modern · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Muse
An interesting take on the classic single-cut, the Les Paul Muse comes with a lightweight chambered Okoume body with a maple cap, Okoume neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. You also get a pair of Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers with coil-splitting and phase controls plus a treble bleed circuit.
The Radio Blue Metallic, Wanderlust Green Metallic, Purple Passion Metallic, Jet Black Metallic, Smoked Almond Metallic, Pearl White Metallic and Scarlet Red Metallic finishes are new colours for 2020.
RRP – USD 499
Epiphone Les Paul Muse · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Studio
The Epiphone Les Paul Studio has a mahogany body with a plain maple veneer top, mahogany neck and pau ferro fingerboard. There’s also a pair of Epiphone-designed Alnico Classic humbuckers, Grover tuners and a LockTone ABR Tune-o-matic bridge and Stopbar tailpiece. The finish options are Alpine White, Ebony, Wine Red and Smokehouse Burst for this stripped back model.
RRP – USD 449
Epiphone Les Paul Studio · Source: Epiphone
SG Custom
This could be my favourite out of this bunch. The custom finish looks tasty and the whole instrument seems to ooze class. The Epiphone SG Custom has a mahogany body, mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard with a Les Paul Custom style inlay. There’s also Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers with CTS electronics, gold hardware, a LockTone ABR Tune-o-matic bridge with Stopbar tailpiece. It comes in a very lovely Ebony finish.
RRP – USD 579
Epiphone SG Custom · Source: Epiphone
SG Special
The SG Special with P90 pickups is another lovely looking guitar, available in either Sparkling Burgundy or Pelham Blue. It has a mahogany body, mahogany neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. This SG is loaded with Epiphone P-90-PRO single coil pickups. It has a Lightning Bolt Wrap Around bridge and Epiphone Deluxe tuners.
RRP – USD 399
Epiphone SG Special in Sparkling Burgandy · Source: Epiphone
SG Classic Worn P-90s
The Epiphone SG Classic Worn has a mahogany body with a “worn” open grain finish, mahogany neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. It comes in either a Worn Cherry or Worn Inverness Green finish. It comes with a pair of Epiphone P-90-PRO soap bar single coil pickups, a LockTone ABR bridge and Stopbar tailpiece and black “batwing” pickguard.
RRP – USD 379
Epiphone SG Classic Worn P-90s · Source: Epiphone
SG Standard ’61
The SG Standard ’61 has a mahogany body in a Vintage Cherry finish, mahogany neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. There’s also ProBucker humbuckers with CTS electronics, a LockTone ABR Tune-o-matic bridge and Stopbar tailpiece and Epiphone Deluxe Vintage tuners.
It’s a nice take on the SG, this one, as it harks back to the first production year of Gibson’s SG. You know it will look good when played through a loud stack at gig volume.
RRP – USD 449
Epiphone SG Standard ’61 · Source: Epiphone
SG Standard
The classic SG Standard with ‘batwing’ pickguard is available in Heritage Cherry, Ebony and Alpine White. It has the traditional mahogany body, mahogany neck and Indian laurel fingerboard with trapezoid inlays. Twin Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers with CTS electronics will get you the tones you need and a set of Epiphone Deluxe tuners round it off nicely.
RRP – USD 449
Epiphone SG Standard in Arctic White · Source: Ephiphone
SG Standard ’61 Maestro Vibrola
This is a very tasty looking SG model. The Epiphone SG Standard ’61 Maestro Vibrola has the same spec as the regular ’61 SG above just with a newly-designed ‘60s-style Maestro Vibrola. This model comes in a Vintage Cherry finish and looks lush!
RRP – USD 549
Epiphone SG Standard ’61 Maestro Vibrola · Source: Epiphone
SG Modern Figured
The SG Modern Figured has a mahogany body with a AAA Flame Maple Veneer top and comes in a Trans Black Fade finish. There’s also a mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard. It comes loaded with a pair of ProBucker humbuckers with coil-splitting, phase switching and CTS electronics and Grover Locking Rotomatic tuners with Tulip buttons with an 18:1 ratio.
RRP – USD 549
Epiphone SG Modern Figured · Source: Epiphone
SG Muse
The SG Muse has a similar feel to the Les Paul Muse models above. It has has a mahogany body, mahogany neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. There’s also high-output Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers with coil-splitting and phase controls plus a treble bleed circuit.
The same metallic finishes are also offered here on the SG: Radio Blue Metallic, Wanderlust Green Metallic, Purple Passion Metallic, Smoked Almond Metallic, Pearl White Metallic, Jet Black Metallic and Scarlet Red Metallic.
RRP – USD 429
Epiphone SG Muse · Source: Epiphone
Firebird
The Firebird has a mahogany body in a Vintage Sunburst finish and has a mahogany/walnut neck and Indian laurel fingerboard. It is fitted with Grover 18:1 ratio mini tuners and Epiphone ProBucker humbuckers with CTS electronics.
RRP – USD 599
Epiphone Firebird · Source: Epiphone
Flying V
Epiphone’s Flying V is based on the original 1958 with an Ebony finish. It has a pair of ProBucker humbuckers with CTS electronics, a Flying V string-thru tailpiece and Epiphone Vintage Deluxe tuners. The body and neck are made from mahogany, paired with an Indian laurel fingerboard.
I’m a massive fan of Epi’s Flying V models and own three different ones myself, the 1958 Korina Limited Edition, a Brent Hinds signature model and a Richie Faulkner model as well. I love them! They are great gigging instruments.
RRP – USD 599
Epiphone Flying V · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Junior
A lovely, simple classic single P90 pickup instrument. The ’50s design has a mahogany body in Vintage Tobacco Sunburst finish, that single dog-ear P-90 PRO single coil pickup, a Lightning Bar wrap around bridge and Epiphone Deluxe Vintage tuners.
RRP – USD 379
Epiphone Les Paul Junior · Source: Epiphone
Les Paul Special
The Epiphone Les Paul Special has a mahogany body with the classic TV Yellow finish. The neck is also mahogany and the fingerboard is Indian laurel. There’s also pair of P-90 PRO soapbar single-coil pickups and CTS electronics, Lightning Bar Wrap Around bridge and Vintage style Deluxe tuners with ivory buttons.
RRP – USD 399
Epiphone Les Paul Special · Source: Epiphone
ES-339 PRO
The ES-339 PRO has custom wound Alnico Classic PRO humbucker pickups with coil-tapping and a set of Epiphone Deluxe tuners. The laminated maple body has a solid centre block and comes in Cherry, Pelham Blue and Vintage Sunburst finishes. It is a maple neck and pau ferro fingerboard.
RRP – USD 499
Epiphone ES-339 PRO · Source: Epiphone
Dot Deluxe
This limited edition Dot Deluxe model has a Flame Maple Veneer top and body in Aquamarine and Blueburst finishes. It has a mahogany neck with a SlimTaper D-profile, Alnico Classic humbuckers and Grover Rotomatic tuners
RRP – USD 499
Epiphone Dot Deluxe · Source: Epiphone
Dot ES-335
Available in Cherry or Vintage Sunburst, the Dot ES-355 is a laminated maple body, with a mahogany neck that has a 1960’s SlimTaper D-shape profile. It has a LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge and Stopbar tailpiece, Grover tuners and Alnico Classic humbuckers.
RRP – USD 449
Epiphone Dot ES-335 · Source: Epiphone
Thunderbird Vintage PRO
The Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage PRO comes with two ProBucker bass humbuckers and a vintage-styled ‘60s Thunderbird Tune-o-matic bridge and Claw tailpiece. Available in Alpine White, Ebony and Tobacco Sunburst
RRP – USD 699
Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage PRO · Source: Epiphone
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These Epiphones are totally garbage guitars.
Just checkout the Thomann photos in the link below: The pickup frames are visibly bent and the shine in the paint shows the uneven bumpy surface. Also read some forums, they all have very bad reviews.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/epiphone_peter_frampton_lp_custom_pro.htm?sid=16cb56fbb675ebf1b549bc075fed8827
Surely, that is an old one? Not one of these new 2020 models? I own three Epiphone guitars and they are all really well made, sound fantastic and I gig them. I also own PRS, Gibson, Fender, Fano, Ibanez, ESP and many more, so I have. a lot to compare them with. YMMV of course.
I’m with Jeff, still have to find a bad Epiphone myself That being said, if you look long enough you can find bad guitars with any brand, really. Epiphone still offer good value for the money
In practise, if your new Epiphone was that bad, a company like Thomann would cover you. As they are an authorised dealer and even offer an extended warranty on goods they have sold. Again I have been super lucky as never owned a bad Epiphone guitar in my life. Back in the ’90s I worked in a guitar shop and saw plenty of ‘lemons’ and at every price point. We just sent them back to the distributers and refused to take the bad ones. A good guitar store/online company is worth using when buying a new instrument for this very reason.
I’ve had in the past 4 years 5 guitars shipped from Thomann.
The problem with Thomann is, and always has been, that they imply their “check” of guitars would weed out the bad ones. It doesn’t. If you read the fineprint you’ll see that they say “with inexpensive guitars we let visual imperfections pass as long as they don’t inhibit playability” (roughly translated from the German version). Now most buyers will interpret that as saying, “Unless the guitar costs 100 Euros Thomann will not ship it in case it has serious flaws”.
What it actually means is that anything below 1000-ish Euros will be shipped to you even if the jack is loose, even if the fretboard is scratched, even if the strings are heavily corroded, even if the pickup rings are deformed, even if the nut is cut badly, and so on.
I have bought 5 guitars from Thomann, and returned 4 of them. And that included a 35th anniversary PRS SE for 1000 Euros. Another one had a spot on the fretboard where the hole for the dot marker had been incorrectly drilled and filled with brown sawdust. Had another PRS a while ago where the pickup frame was screwed in skewed, bad fret buzz, and more.
So back to Epiphone, from another retailer I had a Matt Heafy signature model. Fresh out of the box it had sawdust sticking to the body, there was a crack in the neck pocket, and overall it had many imperfections. Ordered it from another retailer, even worse: bad frets, same neck joint crack, cracks in headstock.
So given Epiphone’s history, and given Thomann’s history, I have no doubt that many bad apples will be shipped by Thomann to buyers.
By the way, in case it’s still unknown to readers, gearnews.com/.uk/.de are all domains owned by Thomann GmbH. Not making this up.