Epiphone Les Paul 100

June 29, 2007 by Jo Minor 


For those who are hankering for a Les Paul guitar, but who do not have the cash to get a Gibson, this Epiphone, the Les Paul 100, is a less expensive choice. Available in Ebony, Heritage Cherry (beautiful), and Vintage Sunburst (classic!), the Epiphone Les Paul 100 is certainly a good looking electric guitar. It retails for $415. For a little more, you can get the LP 100 in a left-handed version, as well.

The Les Paul style is legendary as electric guitars go. So who is Les Paul? He is a jazz guitarist who began experimenting with electric guitar design in the 1940’s. He showed his ideas to the Gibson company, but was rejected. The Gibson company, according to Mr. Paul, called his design a “broomstick with a pickup on it.”

A few years later, though, Leo Fender released the Telecaster, which was the first solid body electric guitar on the market. Gibson wanted to keep up, of course, so they got with Les Paul again. This time they developed the Les Paul style of electric guitar. The first LP was released in 1952. Distinguishing characteristics include humbucking pickups, a rounded single-cutaway body, and a tune-o-matic style bridge.

Gibson has produced Les Paul guitars ever since, but Gibsons tend to be expensive. For this reason, they desired to purchase a less expensive brand name under which they could release cheaper versions of the Les Paul and other Gibson guitars. Epiphone is the company they bought. It was a century-old instrument manufacturer that originated in Turkey. The founder, Anastasios Stathopoulos, fathered a son in 1893, who they named Epimanondas.

Epimanondas, who was known as Epi, was the inspiration behind the company name, Epiphone. The company produced a varied assortment of instruments down through the years, including many used by well known artists. In 1986 they were bought out by the owners of Gibson, and began producing lower cost Gibson classics.

The Epiphone Les Paul 100 is not the very least expensive Epi LP, but it is just about the least you can spend to get a real Les Paul, complete with Mr. Paul’s signature on the headstock. In terms of sound, too, the LP 100 delivers that LP sound you expect at a fraction of the cost.

Advantages: The action is good, and the guitar sounds great played clean. It sounds good enough to play for a gig. It is lighter than other more expensive Les Pauls, although it is still somewhat heavy. You can get an amazing array of sounds, from crunching and growling to soft and acoustic sounding with just the flip of a switch. In other words, it is just as versatile as you are. The playability is good and the neck is fast.

Disadvantages: It has been suggested that the bridge pickup is not the best for playing with distortion. Like other LP style guitars, it is heavy. That might be a disadvantage for some, especially someone just starting out. The sustain is not real good. And the truth is, you might get the occasional lemon. A few buyers report jacks being lose, knobs breaking, strap buttons letting go, and other stuff like that. The bolt-on neck could come loose with a lot of play, but this is just part of a less expensive guitar.

The Epiphone Les Paul 100 is a nice looking guitar, but it is pretty plain up next to the higher dollar variety. For instance, it only has the dot inlays, instead of cool looking blocks or trapezoids, or something. Also it does not have a whammy bar, if that is something you want.

Specs:

  • Ebony, red, or white body made of Alder
  • Heritage Cherry and Vintage Sunburst bodies made of Mahogany
  • Cream colored pick guard
  • Bolt-on mahogany slim tapered neck
  • 24.75 inch scale
  • 22 frets
  • 1.68 inches wide at the nut
  • Rosewood fingerboard
  • Dot inlays
  • Grover tuners
  • Chrome hardware
  • Gold top hat control knobs
  • Two tone control knobs
  • Two volume control knobs
  • Two open coil humbucker pickups
  • Three way switch
  • Tune-o-matic bridge
  • Stop bar tailpiece

If you are interested in learning more about the development of the Les Paul style guitars, here is a very informative article. You’ll see that there is some confusion as to the exact details, but however it happened, the LP is an enduring design.

If you are a fan of classic rocker, Eric Clapton, you can read his history here, including his choices of guitars, which include Les Pauls.

Epiphone has its share of famous name guitarists to its credit, including Al Caiola, country legend Ernest Tubb, and even the Beatles. Read the history of Epiphone here.

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