Folks, if you buy a 100 buck guitar, and complain about the tuning machines and strings and other smallish items, then don't buy one. I have a black LP SL, and the tuning machines were crappy, the strings sucked, and the action was awful. So what? About 20 bucks and 2 hours later I have a really nice playing and sounding guitar. New strings and tuning machines, truss rod adjustment, and I was ready to play. The nut on my particular guitar was fine. The pickups on this guitar are great, the neck is very nice, and I really like to play it.
I got mines too, a couple of weeks ago. Everything works perfectly!!! I am really enjoying it and practicing all the time. Soon and hopefully, I'll be purchasing a newer model by Les Paul. As I further my musicianship on the guitar.
I actually kind of like the sound, kind of a "60s budget guitar" sound. Cool thing is it's a bolt-on neck so you can get the action as low as you want it. Which is why I switched from set necks in the first place.
I just got my SL a few days ago - The black one. I can tell you, it sounds magnificent, and been practicing and playing on it for an hour or so everyday - and I got it perfectly in tune and it is still perfectly in tune. Fretwork is great, tone is great - I totally love it. Even the guy at the guitar shop where I bought it told me, my friend, I played this guitar and I can tell you, this guitar plays, looks and sounds great (And this is a leading guitar shop in South Africa where they stock all the other Top brands).
I'm actually more excited about this guitar than many many more expensive ones. I want it in hideous yellow though :) (My expectations aren't anything more than you should expect for £99, mind)
But if it can stay in tune from the moment is shipped all the way to your door then you won't have a problem of it going out of tune while your playing
Guitars. Like wine. Buy the cheapest bottle in the store and it will taste like crap. Pay twice as much and it will be perfectly drinkable. Above that, law of diminishing returns applies.
I 100% agree with you. There is an incredible jump in quality between $100- $500 guitars, and then another jump from $500-$1000, past that you are dealing with small differences in quality having more to do with cork sniffing over materials and abstract ideas about who built it and where than design and quality control.
All within reason of course and I'm by no means saying this thing will ever become a classic or even a great player but one must remember guitars like the Les Paul Jr. Back in the 50's this was nothing more than a cheap Les Paul designed to be cheap. A student model. Today I don't know too many guitarists who wouldn't give their left one to own one. But what were Les Paul Standard players saying about the jr's back then.Or even an early Danelectro. I currently have at least fifteen guitars and have had a lot more over the years and for me the absolute Holy Grail of playability, not sound mind you, of any guitar I've ever owned is an old 1962 Gibson Melody Maker. An even cheaper version of the Les Paul. If all guitars felt like this one I'd be a happy camper. So who knows.
My cheapest "good" guitar is an Epi Wildkat. The P90s have a unique sound, and I personally rank it as a guitar worth purchasing. That one was under 400.00. I've got a couple of Carvin guitars from prior to their explosion, as far as price and popularity goes. I bought (and still have) a V220, in 1984. All black, chrome hardware, Kahler trem, and hardshell case. Paid between six and seven hundred for it, as I recall. It was, and remains, the easiest to play guitar I've ever picked up. The build quality rivalled anything out there, by any company. Out of the box, about the only setup it needed (like any guitar) was a good tuning. I've had it serviced once in the 33 (soon to be 34) years I've owned it - and that was to make the trem a bit more strat like, as far as feel goes. Nothing else. I personally think that high end guitars are mostly too much money for too little return.
New strings are must for ANY new guitar,I have bought high dollar guitars and super cheap guitars and none of them have had good strings from the Factory.
Let me clarify my answer,even though they come with high quality brand name strings my experience with them is they don't play/feel right,I don't know why but they always need replaced ? The only exception is one guitar, 2016 Gibson Firebird Vibrola that came with D'Addario NYXL's (which many others also came with) that were actually playable out of the box.
The only USA made guitar that I've ever had the opportunity to play was a Les Paul Custom in Guitar Center, and I have to say, it didn't feel too much different than the $120 Epiphone SG that I was playing at the time. These cheap guitars just need new tuners, and maybe new pickups if they're not the greatest. I don't get why people shame these "cheap" guitars, I love them.
Zachary Volt there's definitely a BIG difference between epiphone and gibson anyone who has a good ear and knows will tell you from cheap to quality.. i've started from epiphone guitars.. and i can tell you by experience that epiphone is a great guitar to start but also learn what's everything wrong with guitar. modifying an epiphone is just a waste of YOUR money.. is just like trying to pimp out a neon dodge or something.
Erick Cardenas I’ve owned and played dozens of guitars across the entire budget spectrum...the difference between a 1960’s Gibson Les Paul and a modern Epiphone Les Paul might be worlds apart, but the essence of that difference is in the pickups. As far as modern Gibson’s go, it’s a crap-shoot as to whether you’re getting a $200 guitar with a $2000 price tag, or an actual good guitar. That being said, the actual differences between the guitars quality is not that far apart, and, with the same pickups and electronics, often sonically indistinguishable. The main difference is that you can spend a couple hundred dollars on a couple hundred dollar guitar, put the work in yourself, and have almost the exact same guitar for less than half the price. The biggest differences between Epiphone and Gibson are the fretboard and the tuners, in my opinion. The tuners will cost you a little bit of money, the fretboard will cost you a little time. In conclusion, if I have the choice of an inexpensive instrument with quality parts that I have put in myself that are equal to an expensive instrument that I am most likely still going to have to do work to out of the box, I’m going to choose the less expensive version. Of course, I actually enjoy tearing my guitars down and rebuilding them, and I also enjoy just flat-out building them. Your assertion that you can automatically tell the difference between a cheap guitar and an expensive one, though, is a lie that you can continue to tell yourself. It’s been debunked by builders, by individuals on UA-cam, by professional players. At the end of the day, those high dollar names are simply a status symbol...I prefer to let my guitar playing tell my story, and not the name on the headstock.
I have the same model, with the Ebony Finish. I think it's great for a starting electric. The amp it comes with is pretty good too, with it's overdrive. Course, it's not the $200-$500 amps, but it's very decent for the price.
Maybe I got extremely lucky and got a super good one, but mine plays like a dream, and I don't have to worry about banging it into things. I just have to worry about the other things I bang it into, lol.
Robert is the Man! I have had the pleasure of dealing with him a couple times at their location. Love that Store, love the company! Glad they were able to get you some fireballs! lol
I am just a hobby guitarist of 7 years . Bought mine 2 weeks ago . Nothing wrong with mine . Just tuned it up ready to go .Action is fine ,no sprout fret , strings seem ok . Pick ups are ok but seem a little lacking . I have the bullet Mustang , which is slightly better due to the humbuckers. Both are really easy to play.
Try fixing the nut first. I have an Epi Special with P 90s and once I had the nut changed to bone the tuners were less of an issue. The tuners are still cheap but they work.
I have bought and sold many guitars on ebay. I would always loosen the strings, and put protection between the string and fingerboard before shipping. Graphite dust will lube up that nut. I always put fresh strings on a new guitar and set action and intonation as soon as i get it.
Hi Ryan. I got my black one last Wednesday. It is definitely a plus to get the optional $30 setup at Sweetwater. The action and intonation was far beyond what I would think a $99 guitar could do. It has better action than my 2015 mexi strat... every fret is in tune and zero fret buzz. I had them change my strings to 9-42 gauge (stock is 10-46). They did a great job, and it plays beautifully after a couple of days stretching out the strings and letting it breathe a bit. I took it to band practice tonight, and it worked fine. Yeah, the tuners aren't the best, but mine hold tune most of the time. Its a spanky little axe. Pickups are pretty hot, I had to lower mine a couple of turns, and they mellow out some. I was going to have a luthier buddy rout out for butterbars, but then when I plugged it in and banged on it for a few hours, I said nah... I like these pups. Amazing quality for the price point.
You must have inspired me, I also made an unboxing video (actually in two parts, I screwed up the first one) for mine. First time doing anything like that. Thanks for your efforts to show us this new piece of.... wood.
Received mine yesterday, in Vintage Sunburst. Here is what I think: These guitars, like most well made epiphone entry-level models, need nothing more than fresh strings and a good setup. But it goes beyond just slapping strings on. Lot's of noobs complain about how the tuners suck, and how quick they were to replace them. Some already had the replacements before the guitar! If you string up using the locking method, demonstrated by Gary Brawer (look him up), you can enjoy the most budget guitars without having to replace a thing (as long as they are well built guitars, like Epiphones are). With the locking method of stringing, lubricating the nut with a pencil, and properly stretching the strings, I can keep it perfectly in tune, no slipping at the tuner or buzzing or problems with the nut. Everything works as it should. The wraparound bridge, another common hasty replacement, works perfectly as well. I use 9-42 D'Addario strings and play blues, jazz, classic rock and alternative rock and the pickups will play any of these genres well. The pickups, which you can adjust (modders rarely do this, but they are quick to throw in replacements which they still do not adjust smh) sound great and remind me of a telecaster tone, although sometimes it sounds like p90s. Also, I wish I could share a picture of the frets: they are medium jumbo and perfectly installed, it would seem the neck was pulled from a much more expensive Epiphone, that's how nice they are. I polished them and they look great, no fret spout or sharp frets as reported by other people when they first came out. I put chrome telecaster knobs on it and I am happy with it stock. Bottom line: get one and enjoy it for what it is. If you are a modder, at least spend time with it before throwing unnecessary components that will take time and money away when you can be enjoying this. If you have some decent amps, tube or not, or modeling amps, you will find many great tones with this cheap but killer ax. I got the satin finish and it is a resonant joy to play.
I'm totally getting one, tuning it to open E, using it to learn to play slide. Upgrades and stuff will come in time, but honestly, I'm impressed :) felt great to play in a store yesterday!
I can relate to Zyle. I've bought an Epiphone, Squier, and Ibanez - with the Epiphone costing twice as much as the other two. The Epiphone _looked_ better than both of them. Everything else was a mile behind the others, from the wonky tuners to the sharp frets and warped neck and bloody thick plastic-ky feel I mean, most of the issues were fixable, but most beginners wouldn't know/won't know what to do.
I picked up this same guitar from Sweetwater. First let me say Sweetwater is awesome. They are great to deal with and I have purchased amps, pedals, and guitars with them. As to the SL...It was $99.00 and you get what you pay for. Definitely jumpy tuners like he said in the video and that’s after cleaning and lubricating the nut. The strat style knobs are cheap as hell. I replaced mine with some chrome top hat’s from eBay. Much nicer look. The bridge tilts forward under string pressure but it still intonates and adjusts ok. Just don’t expect any whisper close action from this guitar. You can get it close though. I play 11-48’s so i had to adjust the truss rod. I was pleasantly surprised that the truss rod worked as well as it did. The fretboard is maybe rosewood? It’s definitely not from a premium cut and mine has a furry, rough cut texture going on. Still plays nice but if you are looking for a hard rock maple or ebony or even a stiffer rosewood feel this is not your guitar. The pickups: the neck is wooly and if you roll off the tone you are in some weird county. Very muted and boomy and not super useful. The bridge pickup has some good spank and chime and i would say is an average sounding single coil. This guitar would be great for swapping pickups though because the wiring set up is stupid easy and you should be able to slap about any aftermarket single coil you want in there. The finish was good and the guitar is very very light which is great for bad shoulders and necks. All in all this is a great guitar for a beginner and can be an even better every day player with a few basic mods. I’d be happier if the guitar was $50 more and had a proper stop bar, some better tuners, decent knobs, and a little bit sturdier feeling fretboard. Still it’s a good value.
I'm really digging the blue finish! The sounds are surprisingly nice from your initial tests! I'm excited to see what you think about it after you get new tuners and maybe a new nut (or the nut lubricated, ps. do you think you'll change the nut all together?).
Sounds like a good plan. To my ears, it's got some pretty killer sounds especially since most LP guitars are are Humbucker equip'd. Another PS. I started listening to the podcast about a month or 2 ago, I'm really loving it! Hope you had a good vacation!
Good to get another review of this guitar. I'm still waiting for mine. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks. I'm not expecting it to be amazing, but I do expect a certain standard. For 99 quid you can get a killer guitar in the UK. If it's bad in any way I'll just send it back. I'm sure it will be fine though. Having said that, we'll see how bad Epiphone's QC is. I want to buy an SG off them, and if this git is no good, I'll go for the Revelation version instead. I bought a Revelation 335 off them and it's a killer. Same price as Epiphones too. I won't bother modding it. It sounds fine to me. Don't want the grief. This is just a beater guitar and I don't mind sorting out a few frets or a bit of finishing here or there (at the nut or whatever). I'm just looking for something small I can have on my lap while browsing the net learning scales and new chords. Unless it's got any major defaults, I won't worry about it. I'll fix what I can fix and be done with it. But for 99 quid, it should be a decent playable, sounding guitar at least. I'm kind of excited to get it eventually, hopefully not too much longer.
That might be a cool guitar for $99, but for $149 I got the Les Paul Special 2 with 2 humbuckers and a much better bridge. I planned on it being a project guitar, but it works well just like it is.
I had a S2, and the only issue I had was I couldn't tell the difference between the bridge and neck pickups. I had to adjust the height just to tell. The neck was too wide for my tastes, but that's not a fault of the guitar.
Found your channel today Claude, it's so great...... making my way through all your videos and subbed now. Keep up the great work Claude.... awesome guitar for the pissy price
Just bought one of these. I thought I'd use it as an extra guitar at home, maybe try to upgrade some of the components. As it turned out the guitar is pretty damn good for the money. I love the weight and the feel, the color is awesome and it plays really well. The strings I got with it were crap and the fretboard was dry as a desert, but after some scrubbing, a bit of lemon oil and a new set of strings it really is a capable instrument.
Opus Dei so I’m just starting to play guitar like I have a guitar I bought for $5 at a garage sale and it is terrible so would this be a good guitar for me to practice on? I’m not experienced with changing tuners and strings I kinda just need something that I can tune and play. Sorry I’m asking you, you’re just someone that has this guitar so I thought I’d ask😂
OFERCRISAKE! this is the BEST unboxing vid on the web! I've watched lots, and everything you guys are complaining about, like : did you expect it to come tuned, if you don't like the machine heads and strings don't buy it, makes you an idiot! This is an INFORMATIONAL video, and Ryan does a great job covering every aspect of the guitar! He also does it with no "I'm too cool vulgar vocabulary, and just enough testing to remain interesting, rather than turn me off by showing me how fast he can shred. Ryan, everybody has their opinion, and mine is that you do a great service to those of us that aren't too good to listen to what you have to say! THANKS!!
Wow what a piece of junk! Sounds absolutely horrible. *Walks over to gibson les paul* It's alright, nobody is better then you :( You're worth every penny I promise :( Jokes aside. It sounds pretty decent for the price.
Realistically it's a $50 guitar in quality because of the percentages that the vendors take + marketing + cost of shipping to the vendor + other 3rd party costs. And it's doubtful that there's anyone actually setting up those guitars. Buying something from Rondo or a Harley Benton, you'd be getting a much higher quality instrument around that price range because they don't have as much overhead as the big companies, and sometimes you even get one that's been setup.
You are entirely ignoring the huge advantage Gibson has in terms of scale (better pricing on every part, probably more modern equipment, less 3rd party work) and access to places to sell at. They almost certainly even get a better price on shipping. It's even possible that Gibson or their Vendors make very little , or even take a loss on these guitsrs, in hopes it makes someone a fan who will spend more money in the future. The guitar itself could be considered "marketing" see how they are getting attention, even right here?
The proven Economic theory of Economies of Scale make no sense? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale Gibson is able to negotiate better prices on parts and material because they buy in bulk and sellers want their account. They also are able to make a lot of things in-house. A lot of the parts they have already done the design and engineering for already. They have worldwide contacts for selling their items, for having things made, and getting materials. They are able to make a very small profit, or even take a loss on a certain product (or SKU) in hopes of making up for it elsewhere. Maybe they make nothing on this guitar, but that person goes on to buy a more expensive Epiphone, and then a pricey Gibson, and a bunch of Gibson T-shirts. A company specializing mostly in "cheap" guitars needs to make a profit on those cheap guitars.
I'm not debating whether or not you can read. Gibson does not buy "in bulk", they make an order of guitars to a factory based on the # they expect to sell. They don't buy 200 guitars if they expect to sell 20. No company is going to mass produce something for a loss. And it's not "marketing" if the product is a cheap piece of junk. You clearly did not read my comment because Gibson and every other large guitar company then sells their guitars to a retail store like Guitar Center, who then inflates the price to make a profit on their end. They pay for signs in stores, artist endorsements, and for magazines to advertise the guitars, which further inflates the price. And they also have to ship the guitar from the factory to Gibson HQ, then to the store, which inflates the price. After all that, the consumer pays $1,000 for a guitar that realistically only cost $150 to produce. Rondo doesn't sell in retail stores, they don't pay for advertisements, and they don't endorse anyone. All that means you're getting the same guitar from the same factory that cost $150 to produce, but for only $400. If this was really the difference between micro and macroeconomics then Rondo would only be producing a few guitars at a time, at a higher cost to them, and be charging MORE for them, not LESS. Clearly you cannot read your own article because this is explained right there in the graph of the wikipedia page.
You think Gibson pays the same price for pickups, wood etc as a small company. You think all the parts are one offs or maybe all the research, design, testing, and tooling can be spread over several models. Even if Gibson and some relatively small company put in iidentical orders to a factory, that factory is going to fighter hard for Gibson and offer a better cost to a Gibson in hopes of getting more of their business.
Looking forward to the peek under the hood! First mod I'd do is put a 4-way blade switch in there (it's what I put on my Tele), those switches run around $11 in the usual places and give neck, parallel, bridge, plus series humbucker. Those tuners can be fine as you should only tune up to pitch and if overshooting drop back a half step and try tuning up again. Graphite in the nut slots though.
I bought one over here in Thailand whilst waiting on a Les Paul Standard. Les Paul has arrived but still keeping this. It 'twangs'man. I like the sound and have recorded with it. I will change out the tuners though.
It is actually a deliberate part of packing a guitar for shipment to lower all the string tension off, in case it gets a big bump in transit that might crack the neck to body joint. The cheap tuner issue seems to be a real problem of all brands with their entry level instruments. Didcard them immediately! Invest in some Schallers or Grovers, you can put the original ones back on if you sell it.
I love my GHS Boomers 9s haven't broke one in over 20 years ! Maybe you have a heavy touch ? I find the glide just fine and stretch out quick when new .
@@Jonnyboy6667 Yes it was, technically it wasn’t a twelve string at the time of recording because Kurt didn’t replace the missing strings, but it was supposed to be a twelve string.
I bought an Epiphone special ll for $99 a coupe of years ago out of curiosity. It's basically the same guitar as the SL with P-90's. Don't waste your time or money, these guitars are pretty much junk. What do you expect for $99? I put about 4 hours of bench time into it just to get it to play at a barely acceptable level. I had to use a 1/16 inch shim under the neck that forced me to have to modify the bridge to get the intonation right. Then I had to file the fret ends, level and re-crown the frets, and re-cut the nut slots. After all that bullshit, it still sounded like a cheap $99 dollar guitar and not in a good way. You can't polish a turd, lesson learned. Save your money and buy decent gear, this isn't it.
Jason T. The biggest issue with these cheapos seems to be QC. Almost every aspect of playability varies noticeablely from guitar to guitar. It's definitely possible to get a Special II that plays fine with standard adjustment that one would do to any new guitar, but it's just as possible or even more likely that you'll get a dud. Epiphone is really bad for this. Stick with Squier if you want cheap, playable instruments.
I can tell you its not like a special. The quality is much improved on this model than the specials a few years ago. Its not going to sound like a $1k guitar, but its playable and sounds pretty good. I don't know about Ryan's guitar, but my fret ends were really smooth. My strat is like a cheese grater (I haven't taken the time to dress them yet) compared to the SL.
I recently purchased a Special with P-90's and it is perfect ,sounds amazing ! I have Gibson's and it sounds just as good.Perhaps you got a Friday afternoon guitar?
if you are buying any cheap guitar for a beginner its not hard to adjust the truss rod, change the nut , level polish and crown the frets intonate it and add some better pups tunners if you want, or pay 400 for an epiphone and still have to do most of the set up anyway same with most guitars ive ever owned i always do my own set up. ps gibsons need a full set up half the time and you pay good money for their products.
I have no idea what any of you guys are talking about. Sure the Special II's aren't the greatest but they play pretty darn well and for the price they're unmatched. Epiphone has put out amazing budget guitars for a long time. I think some of us need to get off our high horses and realize that just because you aren't shelling out 3 grand for a Gibson Les Paul, does not mean the guitar is of poor quality.
Oh I saw this same guitar at a Cash America Pawn and it costs $180. I am sure that someone bought it for their son or daughter and then they took it to the pawn because they didn’t play it anymore. I also saw a bass guitar. I think it was a Mitchell MB200 Modern Rock Bass with Active EQ, that was being sold for $90.
Hi Ryan ..... since the guitar has a wraperound bridge and you cannot adjust the intonation correctly because the missing strings can be adjusted ... you can replace the bridge with a single string saddle without much effort .. if so, which ones come into question? I guess one like the one on the original Les Paul? Thank you in advance for your answer
I found a Switch! Vibracell guitar with a single humbucker pickup at a local shop for $90. It sounds fantastic. You don’t need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for a good guitar!
I don't know if 95% of the time is an accurate statement you have to remember you get a lot of beginning guitarist watching even high-end Gear videos looking at all the stuff they want to buy before they frankly know how to use it. So I wouldn't see the ads as to out of place, and remember if they keep doing it that must mean it's working
THIS is my bangup guitar......I first changed the tuners 'n strings to di a'ddario 9's I had the one piece bridge, saddle balanced and height...set...nut refiled ..I sanded with my nail file the frets..it cost me less than forty bucks..and it plays and sounds good! Pick ups quack real nice, single coils. It's a fun Lil hike..beach or drag around I use my blackstar 3watt fly and it does sooopryzz many. .......why ? cuz I can...like ma small block soopa scootin' VEGA !!! w a V8 !!😁.
When you really want a Les Paul but you're fuckin broke. Jesus if you want single coils just get a Squier Telecaster. I won't lie though, entertaining to see a Les Paul with non P90 single coils that costs 99 dollars.
I was kind of excited about it, but you started pointing out what should be obvious, the very very cheap hardware on it that made it budget in the first place. Might be cool for a first guitar, but even then you could get something a little better. I wouldn't actually mind if there was a single coil Les Paul with better hardware. It's a cool idea, but I guess what's the point when a coil splitting Epiphone Les Paul is the next guitar I want.
I uh... think you may have those pickups backwards. On most Gibson/Les Paul/Epiphones, the low position on the pickup switch is the neck, and the high position is the bridge. That's why they sounded opposite... because they were
Les Paul Melody Maker E1 Electric Guitar - Turquoise Solidbody Electric Guitar with Poplar Body, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, and 2 Single-coil Pickups - Turquoise
Folks, if you buy a 100 buck guitar, and complain about the tuning machines and strings and other smallish items, then don't buy one. I have a black LP SL, and the tuning machines were crappy, the strings sucked, and the action was awful. So what?
About 20 bucks and 2 hours later I have a really nice playing and sounding guitar. New strings and tuning machines, truss rod adjustment, and I was ready to play. The nut on my particular guitar was fine. The pickups on this guitar are great, the neck is very nice, and I really like to play it.
Buy a used 1990's washburn for 40.00 on craigs list and steal the 305 grovers off it.
Your guitars are shit.
Margi Hernández your personality is shit
@@dak-o-lanturn your shit
DannyP 6 I’m taking a shit
5:56 He starts to play
kkkfts thanks
Honestly I think the guitar looks really good personally. It gives me a 50’s looking guitar vibe and I like the look
Adolf Hitler he used a harmony guitar 😂😂😂
It reminds me of a Danelectro with regular single coils
I got the same guitar the other day. Mine is sunset yellow tho. It’s my first one. I like it so far.
That looks great in yellow. I hope you like it.
Mike Ellis yeah I like it. I’ve learned some riffs. I got a mini amp so far. Trying to upgrade soon.
I got mines too, a couple of weeks ago. Everything works perfectly!!! I am really enjoying it and practicing all the time. Soon and hopefully, I'll be purchasing a newer model by Les Paul. As I further my musicianship on the guitar.
Still a good guitar?😂
Doffen Doffenson I would defiantly get a stray instead
I actually kind of like the sound, kind of a "60s budget guitar" sound.
Cool thing is it's a bolt-on neck so you can get the action as low as you want it. Which is why I switched from set necks in the first place.
But if it goes out of tune every 2 minutes?
@@PedroYippeekayaye than buy new tuners
yeah and when the neck angle on a set neck goes bad you're screwed
I just got my SL a few days ago - The black one. I can tell you, it sounds magnificent, and been practicing and playing on it for an hour or so everyday - and I got it perfectly in tune and it is still perfectly in tune. Fretwork is great, tone is great - I totally love it. Even the guy at the guitar shop where I bought it told me, my friend, I played this guitar and I can tell you, this guitar plays, looks and sounds great (And this is a leading guitar shop in South Africa where they stock all the other Top brands).
I sold mine a few years ago and got a squire telecaster. I really regret it.
@@garrett3055 that is not somthing to regret at all
@@garrett3055 does it have the ashtray bridge?
@@garrett3055 igualmente, bueno excepto la parte de donde me arrepiento realmente me gusta la guitarra pero no puedo evitar sentir algo de nostalgia
I'm actually more excited about this guitar than many many more expensive ones. I want it in hideous yellow though :) (My expectations aren't anything more than you should expect for £99, mind)
yellow is not very appealing to me, but it's up to you if that's what you like.
Child labour and modern slavery has come a long way.
The yellow is awesome
This could be the ugliest lp ever produced. Single coils and that pickguard make this thing a heap. 😂
Bet you mean TV yellow; it's the color that gained popularity because it looked good on black and white TV, exactly why they came up with it.
One thing I must say is that i REALLY like that color!
Did you expect it to arrive tuned?
1337million many guitar companies actually do try to have the guitars in tune when they arrive to you
He's a musician, what do you expect.
But it's almost unreasonable to expect a guitar to be delivered in tune, you're gonna be tuning it anyways so why bother?
But if it can stay in tune from the moment is shipped all the way to your door then you won't have a problem of it going out of tune while your playing
That's a good point
Guitars. Like wine. Buy the cheapest bottle in the store and it will taste like crap. Pay twice as much and it will be perfectly drinkable. Above that, law of diminishing returns applies.
I 100% agree with you. There is an incredible jump in quality between $100- $500 guitars, and then another jump from $500-$1000, past that you are dealing with small differences in quality having more to do with cork sniffing over materials and abstract ideas about who built it and where than design and quality control.
All within reason of course and I'm by no means saying this thing will ever become a classic or even a great player but one must remember guitars like the Les Paul Jr. Back in the 50's this was nothing more than a cheap Les Paul designed to be cheap. A student model. Today I don't know too many guitarists who wouldn't give their left one to own one. But what were Les Paul Standard players saying about the jr's back then.Or even an early Danelectro. I currently have at least fifteen guitars and have had a lot more over the years and for me the absolute Holy Grail of playability, not sound mind you, of any guitar I've ever owned is an old 1962 Gibson Melody Maker. An even cheaper version of the Les Paul. If all guitars felt like this one I'd be a happy camper. So who knows.
My cheapest "good" guitar is an Epi Wildkat. The P90s have a unique sound, and I personally rank it as a guitar worth purchasing. That one was under 400.00.
I've got a couple of Carvin guitars from prior to their explosion, as far as price and popularity goes.
I bought (and still have) a V220, in 1984. All black, chrome hardware, Kahler trem, and hardshell case. Paid between six and seven hundred for it, as I recall. It was, and remains, the easiest to play guitar I've ever picked up. The build quality rivalled anything out there, by any company. Out of the box, about the only setup it needed (like any guitar) was a good tuning. I've had it serviced once in the 33 (soon to be 34) years I've owned it - and that was to make the trem a bit more strat like, as far as feel goes. Nothing else.
I personally think that high end guitars are mostly too much money for too little return.
You don't know pretty much about wine, do you?
Except a professional wine taster cannot make the wine taste good while a professional guitarist can make the cheapest guitar sound great
New strings are must for ANY new guitar,I have bought high dollar guitars and super cheap guitars and none of them have had good strings from the Factory.
Not always Düsenberg has great strings on their guitars. At least those guitars are a "little bit" expensive.
I actually like Fender's factory strings (Fender bullet regular)
Let me clarify my answer,even though they come with high quality brand name strings my experience with them is they don't play/feel right,I don't know why but they always need replaced ? The only exception is one guitar, 2016 Gibson Firebird Vibrola that came with D'Addario NYXL's (which many others also came with) that were actually playable out of the box.
Todd Flowers
How I said the strings by Düsenberg are awsome maybe the best strings you can buy for that kind of guitars.
mostly because they sit for months and also are usually dried out or just never were stretched or broken in
Bought a Sears Robuck 99.00 electric for my eight year old son for Christmas back around 92 , that guitar still rocks to this day.
Just wanted to swing by and pay homage to the beard's humble beginnings. Hello from 2022 my sweet summer child
The only USA made guitar that I've ever had the opportunity to play was a Les Paul Custom in Guitar Center, and I have to say, it didn't feel too much different than the $120 Epiphone SG that I was playing at the time. These cheap guitars just need new tuners, and maybe new pickups if they're not the greatest. I don't get why people shame these "cheap" guitars, I love them.
Zachary Volt there's definitely a BIG difference between epiphone and gibson anyone who has a good ear and knows will tell you from cheap to quality.. i've started from epiphone guitars.. and i can tell you by experience that epiphone is a great guitar to start but also learn what's everything wrong with guitar. modifying an epiphone is just a waste of YOUR money.. is just like trying to pimp out a neon dodge or something.
Would not mind a replica Flying V and Thunderbird, just hang 'em on the wall, bring them down every once in a while.
@@erickcardenas2698 Are you seriously saying Epiphone only makes beginner level guitars?
@@erickcardenas2698 dr epiphone says all epiphone L. P come with grover tuners
Erick Cardenas I’ve owned and played dozens of guitars across the entire budget spectrum...the difference between a 1960’s Gibson Les Paul and a modern Epiphone Les Paul might be worlds apart, but the essence of that difference is in the pickups. As far as modern Gibson’s go, it’s a crap-shoot as to whether you’re getting a $200 guitar with a $2000 price tag, or an actual good guitar. That being said, the actual differences between the guitars quality is not that far apart, and, with the same pickups and electronics, often sonically indistinguishable. The main difference is that you can spend a couple hundred dollars on a couple hundred dollar guitar, put the work in yourself, and have almost the exact same guitar for less than half the price.
The biggest differences between Epiphone and Gibson are the fretboard and the tuners, in my opinion. The tuners will cost you a little bit of money, the fretboard will cost you a little time.
In conclusion, if I have the choice of an inexpensive instrument with quality parts that I have put in myself that are equal to an expensive instrument that I am most likely still going to have to do work to out of the box, I’m going to choose the less expensive version. Of course, I actually enjoy tearing my guitars down and rebuilding them, and I also enjoy just flat-out building them. Your assertion that you can automatically tell the difference between a cheap guitar and an expensive one, though, is a lie that you can continue to tell yourself. It’s been debunked by builders, by individuals on UA-cam, by professional players. At the end of the day, those high dollar names are simply a status symbol...I prefer to let my guitar playing tell my story, and not the name on the headstock.
I have the same model, with the Ebony Finish. I think it's great for a starting electric. The amp it comes with is pretty good too, with it's overdrive. Course, it's not the $200-$500 amps, but it's very decent for the price.
I'd swap the pickups out. Pickups and fresh strings are all you need for a guitar to sound good.
It kinda looks like a toy guitar in my opinion
Viktor Albrant Barbie called she wants her runway back. >
It IS a toy guitar
That's what makes it fun. especially after you mod it to be bad ass.
@@Andres9632 Sorry, but that guitar will never be bad-ass.
@Everything no its bot..
the way he’s just holding it like it’s just super light omg. i’d be so nervous just trying to open it
I have so many questions about every guitar in the background.
He clearly has an obsession with cyan and strange designs. That's for sure. XD
I think I can guess his favourite colour....
I’m glad that you know you have to stretch the strings before it’s ready to play. Thank god somebody knows what they’re talking about on UA-cam
Was thinking about one for my living room noodle guitar
Maybe I got extremely lucky and got a super good one, but mine plays like a dream, and I don't have to worry about banging it into things. I just have to worry about the other things I bang it into, lol.
Robert is the Man! I have had the pleasure of dealing with him a couple times at their location. Love that Store, love the company! Glad they were able to get you some fireballs! lol
SQUIER BULLET HAS ONE MORE PICKUP OF OPTIONS FOR TONE AND STAYS IN TUNE BETTER
Trem fun and better scale length to help tuning and more frets
I am just a hobby guitarist of 7 years . Bought mine 2 weeks ago . Nothing wrong with mine . Just tuned it up ready to go .Action is fine ,no sprout fret , strings seem ok . Pick ups are ok but seem a little lacking . I have the bullet Mustang , which is slightly better due to the humbuckers. Both are really easy to play.
Try fixing the nut first. I have an Epi Special with P 90s and once I had the nut changed to bone the tuners were less of an issue. The tuners are still cheap but they work.
True. I have a Epi SG Special with the same tuners. Swapping out the stock plastic nut with a compensated brass nut made a huge difference.
I have bought and sold many guitars on ebay. I would always loosen the strings, and put protection between the string and fingerboard before shipping. Graphite dust will lube up that nut. I always put fresh strings on a new guitar and set action and intonation as soon as i get it.
Hi Ryan. I got my black one last Wednesday. It is definitely a plus to get the optional $30 setup at Sweetwater. The action and intonation was far beyond what I would think a $99 guitar could do. It has better action than my 2015 mexi strat... every fret is in tune and zero fret buzz. I had them change my strings to 9-42 gauge (stock is 10-46). They did a great job, and it plays beautifully after a couple of days stretching out the strings and letting it breathe a bit.
I took it to band practice tonight, and it worked fine. Yeah, the tuners aren't the best, but mine hold tune most of the time. Its a spanky little axe. Pickups are pretty hot, I had to lower mine a couple of turns, and they mellow out some. I was going to have a luthier buddy rout out for butterbars, but then when I plugged it in and banged on it for a few hours, I said nah... I like these pups.
Amazing quality for the price point.
You must have inspired me, I also made an unboxing video (actually in two parts, I screwed up the first one) for mine. First time doing anything like that. Thanks for your efforts to show us this new piece of.... wood.
Another great video, I'm anxious to see how the mods turn out. Thanks again!
Received mine yesterday, in Vintage Sunburst. Here is what I think:
These guitars, like most well made epiphone entry-level models, need nothing more than fresh strings and a good setup.
But it goes beyond just slapping strings on. Lot's of noobs complain about how the tuners suck, and how quick they were to replace them. Some already had the replacements before the guitar!
If you string up using the locking method, demonstrated by Gary Brawer (look him up), you can enjoy the most budget guitars without having to replace a thing (as long as they are well built guitars, like Epiphones are).
With the locking method of stringing, lubricating the nut with a pencil, and properly stretching the strings, I can keep it perfectly in tune, no slipping at the tuner or buzzing or problems with the nut. Everything works as it should. The wraparound bridge, another common hasty replacement, works perfectly as well. I use 9-42 D'Addario strings and play blues, jazz, classic rock and alternative rock and the pickups will play any of these genres well. The pickups, which you can adjust (modders rarely do this, but they are quick to throw in replacements which they still do not adjust smh) sound great and remind me of a telecaster tone, although sometimes it sounds like p90s. Also, I wish I could share a picture of the frets: they are medium jumbo and perfectly installed, it would seem the neck was pulled from a much more expensive Epiphone, that's how nice they are. I polished them and they look great, no fret spout or sharp frets as reported by other people when they first came out. I put chrome telecaster knobs on it and I am happy with it stock.
Bottom line: get one and enjoy it for what it is. If you are a modder, at least spend time with it before throwing unnecessary components that will take time and money away when you can be enjoying this. If you have some decent amps, tube or not, or modeling amps, you will find many great tones with this cheap but killer ax. I got the satin finish and it is a resonant joy to play.
WAIT, does sweetwater always send people candy with their items?! Now I have a reason to shop there.
They do. Bought 3 things and each item came with candy.
Yes!
Yes I good tootsie rolls. Don’t get this guitar though.
I'm totally getting one, tuning it to open E, using it to learn to play slide. Upgrades and stuff will come in time, but honestly, I'm impressed :) felt great to play in a store yesterday!
5:28 i'm not a big fan of the strings also, i prefer to play without them.
I took off all the strings of my guitar. Never sounded better
I play with out the neck it stop the fret buzzing immediately.
Dude that SG in the background is killer!!!
God bless spread his word!
The Bullet Mustang is in another league to this thing! Can’t wait for the comparison, though!
Buys 100$ guitar then proceeds to point out all the problems every 100$ guitar has.
will ross that’s the idea
@@60CycleHumcast It was a terrible idea.
Are you following the Oroville dam?
I can relate to Zyle.
I've bought an Epiphone, Squier, and Ibanez - with the Epiphone costing twice as much as the other two.
The Epiphone _looked_ better than both of them. Everything else was a mile behind the others, from the wonky tuners to the sharp frets and warped neck and bloody thick plastic-ky feel
I mean, most of the issues were fixable, but most beginners wouldn't know/won't know what to do.
Definitely sounds like a hundred bucks. Its got that going for it 🤷♂️
Saw another review on this same model and the guy had 0 issues playing or tuning it. Guess its an experience thing.
The qc is all over the map on these. I’m sure there’s good ones out there.
Totally shocked. I was expecting a dumpster find. Sounds great. The action look to be pretty smooth. 99 bucks you say?
I picked up this same guitar from Sweetwater. First let me say Sweetwater is awesome. They are great to deal with and I have purchased amps, pedals, and guitars with them. As to the SL...It was $99.00 and you get what you pay for. Definitely jumpy tuners like he said in the video and that’s after cleaning and lubricating the nut. The strat style knobs are cheap as hell. I replaced mine with some chrome top hat’s from eBay. Much nicer look. The bridge tilts forward under string pressure but it still intonates and adjusts ok. Just don’t expect any whisper close action from this guitar. You can get it close though. I play 11-48’s so i had to adjust the truss rod. I was pleasantly surprised that the truss rod worked as well as it did. The fretboard is maybe rosewood? It’s definitely not from a premium cut and mine has a furry, rough cut texture going on. Still plays nice but if you are looking for a hard rock maple or ebony or even a stiffer rosewood feel this is not your guitar. The pickups: the neck is wooly and if you roll off the tone you are in some weird county. Very muted and boomy and not super useful. The bridge pickup has some good spank and chime and i would say is an average sounding single coil. This guitar would be great for swapping pickups though because the wiring set up is stupid easy and you should be able to slap about any aftermarket single coil you want in there. The finish was good and the guitar is very very light which is great for bad shoulders and necks. All in all this is a great guitar for a beginner and can be an even better every day player with a few basic mods. I’d be happier if the guitar was $50 more and had a proper stop bar, some better tuners, decent knobs, and a little bit sturdier feeling fretboard. Still it’s a good value.
I'm really digging the blue finish! The sounds are surprisingly nice from your initial tests! I'm excited to see what you think about it after you get new tuners and maybe a new nut (or the nut lubricated, ps. do you think you'll change the nut all together?).
Eric Merrow I'll start by lubricating it and changing strings
Sounds like a good plan. To my ears, it's got some pretty killer sounds especially since most LP guitars are are Humbucker equip'd. Another PS. I started listening to the podcast about a month or 2 ago, I'm really loving it! Hope you had a good vacation!
Eric Merrow I did! Thanks!
Always good to lubricate your nuts
@@Tunesnthings yes
Good to get another review of this guitar. I'm still waiting for mine. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
I'm not expecting it to be amazing, but I do expect a certain standard. For 99 quid you can get a killer guitar in the UK. If it's bad in any way I'll just send it back. I'm sure it will be fine though. Having said that, we'll see how bad Epiphone's QC is. I want to buy an SG off them, and if this git is no good, I'll go for the Revelation version instead. I bought a Revelation 335 off them and it's a killer. Same price as Epiphones too.
I won't bother modding it. It sounds fine to me. Don't want the grief. This is just a beater guitar and I don't mind sorting out a few frets or a bit of finishing here or there (at the nut or whatever).
I'm just looking for something small I can have on my lap while browsing the net learning scales and new chords. Unless it's got any major defaults, I won't worry about it. I'll fix what I can fix and be done with it. But for 99 quid, it should be a decent playable, sounding guitar at least.
I'm kind of excited to get it eventually, hopefully not too much longer.
That might be a cool guitar for $99, but for $149 I got the Les Paul Special 2 with 2 humbuckers and a much better bridge. I planned on it being a project guitar, but it works well just like it is.
I had a S2, and the only issue I had was I couldn't tell the difference between the bridge and neck pickups. I had to adjust the height just to tell. The neck was too wide for my tastes, but that's not a fault of the guitar.
Found your channel today Claude, it's so great...... making my way through all your videos and subbed now. Keep up the great work Claude.... awesome guitar for the pissy price
I have three Epiphone, guality/price is good.
Just bought one of these. I thought I'd use it as an extra guitar at home, maybe try to upgrade some of the components. As it turned out the guitar is pretty damn good for the money. I love the weight and the feel, the color is awesome and it plays really well. The strings I got with it were crap and the fretboard was dry as a desert, but after some scrubbing, a bit of lemon oil and a new set of strings it really is a capable instrument.
Opus Dei so I’m just starting to play guitar like I have a guitar I bought for $5 at a garage sale and it is terrible so would this be a good guitar for me to practice on? I’m not experienced with changing tuners and strings I kinda just need something that I can tune and play. Sorry I’m asking you, you’re just someone that has this guitar so I thought I’d ask😂
Interested to see how this moves along, to be fair most new budget guitars need a bit of setup time, and modding cheap guitars is fun!
We now know it moved right off a bridge.
AMAZING VIDEO!! Never clicked subscribe so fast.
Great vid!
OFERCRISAKE! this is the BEST unboxing vid on the web! I've watched lots, and everything you guys are complaining about, like : did you expect it to come tuned, if you don't like the machine heads and strings don't buy it, makes you an idiot! This is an INFORMATIONAL video, and Ryan does a great job covering every aspect of the guitar! He also does it with no "I'm too cool vulgar vocabulary, and just enough testing to remain interesting, rather than turn me off by showing me how fast he can shred. Ryan, everybody has their opinion, and mine is that you do a great service to those of us that aren't too good to listen to what you have to say! THANKS!!
glad you like it! i'd shred if i could, lol.
Video starts at 5:50
Thanks from Brasil
Listen to lemon twigs theyre great and Far from Alaska ( brasil band )
I'm pretty sure it starts at 0:00 mate
You make it look so cool that I want one and in the same color. It looks and sounds like alot of fun. Great vid.
Wow what a piece of junk! Sounds absolutely horrible.
*Walks over to gibson les paul* It's alright, nobody is better then you :( You're worth every penny I promise :(
Jokes aside. It sounds pretty decent for the price.
Pretty much hahah
This one might be light enough to pick up though.
No. It actually sounds much better than with cheap humbuckers
removedot tried to play this on a store because I was curious since it's still a "les paul"
it's like carrying an acoustic guitar lol
Hey, that's a mean sounding guitar from a gentle looking guitar.
Beautiful colours, too.
For 99 bucks it's pretty terrific, huh?
This was my first guitar and it only cost £89 for me
Thanks for the review. Is it's neck thinier than the Squier Bullet Mustang neck?
The candy and packaging cost more than the guitar.
Art Knight I don’t know how there’s any profit left over after shipping
the blue on that squier mustang is amazing
love the color
I got one and changed tuners and I like it for what I do. Sounds good with my little RolandCube
Realistically it's a $50 guitar in quality because of the percentages that the vendors take + marketing + cost of shipping to the vendor + other 3rd party costs. And it's doubtful that there's anyone actually setting up those guitars. Buying something from Rondo or a Harley Benton, you'd be getting a much higher quality instrument around that price range because they don't have as much overhead as the big companies, and sometimes you even get one that's been setup.
You are entirely ignoring the huge advantage Gibson has in terms of scale (better pricing on every part, probably more modern equipment, less 3rd party work) and access to places to sell at. They almost certainly even get a better price on shipping.
It's even possible that Gibson or their Vendors make very little , or even take a loss on these guitsrs, in hopes it makes someone a fan who will spend more money in the future. The guitar itself could be considered "marketing" see how they are getting attention, even right here?
Your comment makes absolutely no sense.
The proven Economic theory of Economies of Scale make no sense? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale
Gibson is able to negotiate better prices on parts and material because they buy in bulk and sellers want their account. They also are able to make a lot of things in-house. A lot of the parts they have already done the design and engineering for already. They have worldwide contacts for selling their items, for having things made, and getting materials.
They are able to make a very small profit, or even take a loss on a certain product (or SKU) in hopes of making up for it elsewhere. Maybe they make nothing on this guitar, but that person goes on to buy a more expensive Epiphone, and then a pricey Gibson, and a bunch of Gibson T-shirts. A company specializing mostly in "cheap" guitars needs to make a profit on those cheap guitars.
I'm not debating whether or not you can read. Gibson does not buy "in bulk", they make an order of guitars to a factory based on the # they expect to sell. They don't buy 200 guitars if they expect to sell 20. No company is going to mass produce something for a loss. And it's not "marketing" if the product is a cheap piece of junk. You clearly did not read my comment because Gibson and every other large guitar company then sells their guitars to a retail store like Guitar Center, who then inflates the price to make a profit on their end. They pay for signs in stores, artist endorsements, and for magazines to advertise the guitars, which further inflates the price. And they also have to ship the guitar from the factory to Gibson HQ, then to the store, which inflates the price. After all that, the consumer pays $1,000 for a guitar that realistically only cost $150 to produce. Rondo doesn't sell in retail stores, they don't pay for advertisements, and they don't endorse anyone. All that means you're getting the same guitar from the same factory that cost $150 to produce, but for only $400. If this was really the difference between micro and macroeconomics then Rondo would only be producing a few guitars at a time, at a higher cost to them, and be charging MORE for them, not LESS. Clearly you cannot read your own article because this is explained right there in the graph of the wikipedia page.
You think Gibson pays the same price for pickups, wood etc as a small company. You think all the parts are one offs or maybe all the research, design, testing, and tooling can be spread over several models. Even if Gibson and some relatively small company put in iidentical orders to a factory, that factory is going to fighter hard for Gibson and offer a better cost to a Gibson in hopes of getting more of their business.
Looking forward to the peek under the hood!
First mod I'd do is put a 4-way blade switch in there (it's what I put on my Tele), those switches run around $11 in the usual places and give neck, parallel, bridge, plus series humbucker. Those tuners can be fine as you should only tune up to pitch and if overshooting drop back a half step and try tuning up again. Graphite in the nut slots though.
It reminds me lot of the old 60s Gibson melody maker stuff.
Stevie Klaer you're right it definitely has that vibe
I bought one over here in Thailand whilst waiting on a Les Paul Standard. Les Paul has arrived but still keeping this. It 'twangs'man. I like the sound and have recorded with it. I will change out the tuners though.
So considering this.
After painful setup, new tuners, new pots and switches, some dog ear P90s, action setup, intonation and a fret level, it could sound pretty good.
Looks cool. Sounds like ass.
Justin Moore 😂😂😂😂😂
Justin Moore to your ears, not for some of us
Lol well you enjoy that buddy.
what do you expect from a 99 dollar guitar
It is actually a deliberate part of packing a guitar for shipment to lower all the string tension off, in case it gets a big bump in transit that might crack the neck to body joint. The cheap tuner issue seems to be a real problem of all brands with their entry level instruments. Didcard them immediately! Invest in some Schallers or Grovers, you can put the original ones back on if you sell it.
Legit sounds like a tin can
JG Brasier it's kind of charming in an odd way.
Dear lord I just bought 2 high end fenders and now I'm tempted to buy the 99 dollar paint pallet
Would be fun to modify. Before you know it you’ve doubled the cost, but would be a very unique guitar
JG Brasier too funny
I dig the color a lot more than I thought! Sweet grab Ryan!
Sounds like $99 worth of problems. Oh look over there, a Harley Benton.... see ya!
I've been hearing a lot of good things about Harley Benton. Probably time to see if I can find one stateside or figure out how to get one. - steve
60 Cycle Hum Thomann
Lol was about to make the same comment! That or a slick if your going for that 'vintage' sound
It's thomann's Chinese knock off brand.
+Eoin Byrne yeah but the quality is great for the price.
I love my GHS Boomers 9s haven't broke one in over 20 years ! Maybe you have a heavy touch ? I find the glide just fine and stretch out quick when new .
I hate the texture of them, i don't think they break more often that other strings, they just feel bad to me.
All my guitars are female ... my girls are all precious to me ...
Brian Donnelly I like to imagine my guitars as people and draw them as people
Brian Donnelly ha i know how you feel☺
Guitars are inanimate objects, not male or female.
All my guitars are gender fluid.
I like to picture my guitar like a fighting ninja. Fightin off ninjas all day
That color looks great! I also like that SG behind you I don't often see a color other than black or red.
kurt cobain recorded polly on a $50 guitar from the pawn
What guitar brand did he bought for $50?
@@gieman75 Harmony Stella 12 string. Lead Belly played the same model guitar.
@@TheKurtTribute polly wasn't recorded on a 12 string
@@Jonnyboy6667 Yes it was, technically it wasn’t a twelve string at the time of recording because Kurt didn’t replace the missing strings, but it was supposed to be a twelve string.
It's going to be sweet with some proper strings and setup
I bought an Epiphone special ll for $99 a coupe of years ago out of curiosity. It's basically the same guitar as the SL with P-90's. Don't waste your time or money, these guitars are pretty much junk. What do you expect for $99? I put about 4 hours of bench time into it just to get it to play at a barely acceptable level. I had to use a 1/16 inch shim under the neck that forced me to have to modify the bridge to get the intonation right. Then I had to file the fret ends, level and re-crown the frets, and re-cut the nut slots. After all that bullshit, it still sounded like a cheap $99 dollar guitar and not in a good way. You can't polish a turd, lesson learned. Save your money and buy decent gear, this isn't it.
Jason T. The biggest issue with these cheapos seems to be QC. Almost every aspect of playability varies noticeablely from guitar to guitar. It's definitely possible to get a Special II that plays fine with standard adjustment that one would do to any new guitar, but it's just as possible or even more likely that you'll get a dud. Epiphone is really bad for this. Stick with Squier if you want cheap, playable instruments.
I can tell you its not like a special. The quality is much improved on this model than the specials a few years ago. Its not going to sound like a $1k guitar, but its playable and sounds pretty good. I don't know about Ryan's guitar, but my fret ends were really smooth.
My strat is like a cheese grater (I haven't taken the time to dress them yet) compared to the SL.
I recently purchased a Special with P-90's and it is perfect ,sounds amazing ! I have Gibson's and it sounds just as good.Perhaps you got a Friday afternoon guitar?
if you are buying any cheap guitar for a beginner its not hard to adjust the truss rod, change the nut , level polish and crown the frets intonate it and add some better pups tunners if you want, or pay 400 for an epiphone and still have to do most of the set up anyway same with most guitars ive ever owned i always do my own set up. ps gibsons need a full set up half the time and you pay good money for their products.
I have no idea what any of you guys are talking about. Sure the Special II's aren't the greatest but they play pretty darn well and for the price they're unmatched. Epiphone has put out amazing budget guitars for a long time. I think some of us need to get off our high horses and realize that just because you aren't shelling out 3 grand for a Gibson Les Paul, does not mean the guitar is of poor quality.
Oh I saw this same guitar at a Cash America Pawn and it costs $180. I am sure that someone bought it for their son or daughter and then they took it to the pawn because they didn’t play it anymore. I also saw a bass guitar. I think it was a Mitchell MB200 Modern Rock Bass with Active EQ, that was being sold for $90.
Hi Ryan ..... since the guitar has a wraperound bridge and you cannot adjust the intonation correctly because the missing strings can be adjusted ... you can replace the bridge with a single string saddle without much effort .. if so, which ones come into question? I guess one like the one on the original Les Paul? Thank you in advance for your answer
the nut is sticky
momo 😏
maybe the candy melted on it.
I found a Switch! Vibracell guitar with a single humbucker pickup at a local shop for $90. It sounds fantastic. You don’t need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for a good guitar!
5:32 Of course you're picky with your strings, you pick at them all the time!
Sorry for the dad joke
I love how your guitars are colorful
hey,isn't that the Gibson Melody Maker?
Exactly, that's why I got one. I love it!
Dude, you're great. Subbed.
Ill never understand why there are learn to play guitar adds on videos that are watched my people who already can 95% of the time
itsyaboisnake only reason I was able to learn to play was because of one of those ads.
I don't know if 95% of the time is an accurate statement you have to remember you get a lot of beginning guitarist watching even high-end Gear videos looking at all the stuff they want to buy before they frankly know how to use it. So I wouldn't see the ads as to out of place, and remember if they keep doing it that must mean it's working
itsyaboisnake SAME
THIS is my bangup guitar......I first changed the tuners 'n strings to
di a'ddario
9's I had the one piece bridge, saddle balanced and height...set...nut refiled ..I sanded with my nail file the frets..it cost me less than forty bucks..and it plays and sounds good! Pick ups quack real nice, single coils. It's a fun Lil hike..beach or drag around I use my blackstar 3watt fly and it does sooopryzz many. .......why ? cuz I can...like ma small block soopa scootin' VEGA !!!
w a V8 !!😁.
Better off buying a pedal, that thing is junk
Daniel Doran a pedal doesn't have strings
Why not both?
Hear that a lot from no talent hacks about other peoples gear. Just sayin....
tuning on that guitar specifically is to use J-B weld on the I'm Bridge after you turn it up
What concerns me most is that Fez just sitting the the self.
I had that tuner problem on my Epiphone les Paul Jr. I switched them out for a nicer pair and it was definitely worth it
When you really want a Les Paul but you're fuckin broke.
Jesus if you want single coils just get a Squier Telecaster.
I won't lie though, entertaining to see a Les Paul with non P90 single coils that costs 99 dollars.
From A Great Height there's a very real novelty factor with this thing.
I was kind of excited about it, but you started pointing out what should be obvious, the very very cheap hardware on it that made it budget in the first place. Might be cool for a first guitar, but even then you could get something a little better.
I wouldn't actually mind if there was a single coil Les Paul with better hardware. It's a cool idea, but I guess what's the point when a coil splitting Epiphone Les Paul is the next guitar I want.
very reminiscent of those 60's-70's Japanese copies
I think it actually sounds pretty decent!
This guy is the color of a ghost.
I like the look of that. Might be my next guitar purchase
99$ guitar and a 9$ guitar player
i’m getting the squire stratocast player pack to start off, and as i keep getting better and making money i’ll upgrade on the amp/guitar
What Squier pack? The one that comes with the 10 watt amp or the 15 watt amp?
99$ guitar 0$ guitar player
Fender Struck ha, good one
It's a shame that the left handed options are sooo much more expensive, as I'd love to add one to my collection.
I uh... think you may have those pickups backwards. On most Gibson/Les Paul/Epiphones, the low position on the pickup switch is the neck, and the high position is the bridge. That's why they sounded opposite... because they were
Les Paul Melody Maker E1 Electric Guitar - Turquoise
Solidbody Electric Guitar with Poplar Body, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, and 2 Single-coil Pickups - Turquoise
$159.00 Sweetwater price
I have that same model guitar and I like it. I kept it the way it is.