If you don’t want to spend the $4,000 that costs the Slash Gibson signature but you are a big fan of Velvet Revolver’s guitar player and want to own one of its signature guitars this is good news for you, Epiphone will release the Slash Les Paul Standard Plus-Top Guitar a small and cheaper version of the Gibson signature.
The Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard Plus-Top features mahogany body with flamed maple top, mahogany neck, Slash neck profile, rosewood fingerboard, 22 medium jumbo frets, 24.75″ scale length, LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece, 2 Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro (neck and bridge version) humbucker pcikups, 3-way pickup switch and 2 volume and 2 tone controls.
This guitar is available in a great tobacco sunburst finish but the top hat is not included. The price of the Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard Plus-Top has not been announced yet but it will be available on December 14th.
UPDATE (12.06.2007): The Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard Plus-Top is now available for preorder and its price is $699, similar to other Epiphone signature guitars.
Wouldn’t it be better to just get a tobacco sunburst Gibson Les Paul that isn’t a signature model than get the Epiphone?
Unfortunately, cheaper means worse in most of the times. I don’t know if this is the case here, but I just have the feeling. Plus that usually, novice guitar players buy idol guitars.
Jon, a the cheapest Gibson Les Paul with Tobacco Sunburst I’ve seen is approximately $1,500, I suppose this model will go out for approximately $600. At least I hope it but I thinking of getting one
“Cheaper means worse”? Probably, just like an Epiphone guitar theoretically is worst than a Gibson one.
yes this will not play like a gibson you are going to need to replace the electronics cause they are cheap, the nut is also cheap made of plastic and last would be the tuners then it will be really close to a gibson I really like the long neck tenon on this guitar have not seen it on a epiphone before.
I contacted the Gibson Customer Service Hotline to ask them about the guitar, but the guy on the other line (Larry Cole, I think was his name) said that the information was “top secret” like it was some sort of government affiliate. Anyone know what’s going on?
I don’t really know it looks like it’s sold out everywhere, we’ll have to wait
Get a gibson les paul and replace the pickups in them . It is alot cheaper then sig les paul.
really gibson complared to epiphone sreally to me it does not make that much of a tone differance if you jsut swap the cheap epiphone pick ups out. up to you
What if you went for a standard Epiphone and then put the Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pros in it with the stopbar tailpiece, would it be more cost effective?
Probably not that cost effective unless you can bargain down the prices. If you’re comfortable with ebay you can get an Epiphone LP Standard for $375 USD. A little less, a little more. If you’re comfortable with a soldering iron you could then get the pickups new or used (on ebay) cheaper. But buying it all new you probably wouldn’t save anything really and might as well buy the Slash signature model.
Saying that the electronics and tuners on an Epiphone are bad and that changing them will “make it like a Gibson” are not completely informed statements. One, a nut on a Gibson Les Paul is not bone like people think it is. It’s also plastic. Second, the pickups do in fact sound like the stock 496R and 498T pickups found on the Les Paul Studio. You cannot compare a recorded guitar tone of a Les Paul with a Les Paul alone.
There are differences in terms of some of the materials, namely the wood of both, that make a Gibson and Epiphone different but to say that tonally they’re a far cry from each other and that one should invest in some expensive modifications shows that whoever is saying really doesn’t have any idea what they’re talking about.
cheaper does not mean worse at all, they have the same form but a slightly different tone, i have seen squiers that are better than strats and epis better than gibsons, it does not mean worse at all, just perhaps a little different with a different writing, your paying for a name not a guitar gibson/epiphone, pretty much no difference
RE: jeff
You say the Epiphone has cheap electronics and hardware.
Yet the Slash Sig has Duncan Alnico Pro II’s which arent cheap at all(over $200 a set)
and the lock tone bridge is better or equal to Gotoh or similar upgrades.
The long neck tenon or Gibson construction is a real welcome.
The tuners may be suspect on these Epiphones for $700 but for all the other ’s and the fact these are made in the Gibson China plant for Epiphone leads me too believe these are Very good guitars for the $$$ and as with all newer Epiphones should be considered Gibsons Import Economy line not the “inferior” instruments some uninformed folks want other too believe.
Remember not everyone has $2000-$4000 to dump on a good guitar.
First of all. Slash does not need the money for endorsing any guitar. He is a multi-millionaire. Second, there is quality control issue in America. Toyota vs. Ford???
The labor cost in America is too high to produce anymore quality goods. That is why we import so many products. The Slash Epiphone is acutally a better buy than an American made Gibson. Not because of the price, but because of cheaper labor cost. If I were to buy a Les Paul. I would buy an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top, change the Nut, the tuners, the stop piece, and the pickups. If I bought a Gibson, I would still have to change the tuners and the pickups. Don’t be fooled by American made products.
If Slash is putting his name on this product, it is not for the money but for the quality that is being put into it. Think about it.
I have been on the waiting list for one of these for 2 months they keep changing the release date and the price.Did anyone actualy get to buy one these guitars before they were discontinued in Jan.08? They were gone before you could even buy one. Is the guitar that’s being Released April 1 the same guitar only with the case,Top Hat, sunglasses and COA. with the new price of a grand?
All the specifications make me think that you are right, the guitar is the same with some accessories.
The Slash Epiphone was listed in MF Catalog for March at $699. For some reason they pulled it and jacked up the price to $999.With all due respect to Slash,putting good pickups on a cheap Epiphone is like putting lipstick on a pig.Does anyone really think Slash would actually play this p.o.s. live or anywhere else????
Heyy ….. i went to a guns and roses concert earlier on in the year and he was playing the epiphone !
The Epi is the only one with a long tenon of the three.
The epiphone rocks. It pretty much sounds like the real gibson. I love it. It has great pick ups. It sounds amazing.
P.S. Slash You rock.
I have the new Epi Les Paul Slash, and it rocks! Flat out. It was pre set-up in america. Meaning it has almost perfect intonation right out of the box, and has already had the pickups balanced. All my Pole peaces were turned when I took it out of the case! The tuners and bridge are upgrades of standard Epi Les Pauls for sure…
I wish they would have put a Trembucker spaced bridge pickup in, and left the Seymour Duncan logos on, but all in all a Great guitar!
I have number 316 of only 2400….. Go Try it!
I have one of the Slash series epi les pauls, and so far I am very pleased with it. It sounds great it is a far better quality guitar than the usual epi’s. I would say that Epiphone/Slash have pulled out the stops to make this guitar a quality product.
(Although I am getting buzzing from the tuners which i’ll get checked).
funny, iwent to guitar center looking at prs guitar, slash epi was on the wall, im prety much a novice now by not playing for so many years. but i do like to play mostly les paul. there was adude there ,just a customer and we were both going back and forth from different gibsons, i showed him the slash and he thought it was agreat deal, but as i turned away he was playing a gibson standard paul. but as i turned back a minute later, there was the slash being played. he was led zep shredding and i could not tell the sound difference between the two. im just a person who cant get past that gibson label(logo). im going back to buy the epi manana.
I’m in Brazil. I would like to konw how to buy a epiphone les paul gold top slash signature! I need help to search, a store… how the store will send it to me… I never to buy things from USA, but I want it! Someone help me please!!! Thanks.
I’ve had an epi slash sing and it is really great at quality, at finish, at great-great sound-I thing is the best epiphone ever and it’s better than some gibsons!!! go look for it!!!
From personal experience, I have to disagree with a few comments here. I recently bought an Epiphone Zack Wylde Bulls eye. Of course it came with the EMM Hz’s on it. But i purchased a set of Zack Wylde 81/85 EMG’s on ebay for almost half the price they go for in stores. And let me tell you. And had it setup to my liking. If it wasn’t for the epiphone head-stock instead of the Gibson Open book head-stock, you wouldn’t tell the difference from the Gibson version. I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom and this is why i say that the difference is really not noticable. And the Epiphone cost me 1/3 than the Zack Gibson. Even with the pick-up upgrade.