Best Epiphone Les Paul Electric Guitars (our top picks)

Parent article: Best Cheap Electric Guitars

Epiphone makes the most popular Les Paul copy in the world. In fact, Gibson actually owns Epiphone (it didn't start out that way), and treats the Epiphone Les Paul and SG series as their own economy line. 

Often retailing between $400 and $800, the Epiphone Les Pauls are vastly cheaper than their Gibson counterparts, which routinely run into the $2000-$3000 price range.

What's more, Epiphone Les Pauls look and feel almost identical to a real Gibson Les Paul.

While there are differences in parts and sound quality, the Epiphone Les Paul has long been viewed as a sensible and workable alternative to the full-blown Gibson investment. This has made the Epiphones Les Paul lineup one of the most popular in the history of guitar manufacturing.

If you're interested in Gibson, checkout our list of affordable Gibson Les Pauls.

Finding Your Epiphone Les Paul

In this article we're going to help you pick out the top Epiphone Les Pauls of the bunch. Because there are a lot of different models and not all of them meet the same quality standards.

Ideally, you should be able to pick from a list of high-quality applicants, allowing you to boil your choice entirely down to preference.

In this article, we've done the work and research of finding Les Pauls that all meet a high standard of quality and enjoy a good reputation.

What are we basing these choices off of?

As our site has grown, we've been able to actively try, test, and use more and more of the gear we recommend. If you notice, we're only recommending three guitars, not 10 like a lot of other lists do.

That's because we're thorough about our recommendations and base them on the following factors:

• First-hand use
• Communication with verified owners
• Years of familiarity with the market
• Hours of thorough research

In other words, if we don't have at least an indirect relationship to one of these guitars, we won't list it. The three here are all excellent instruments, which we're happy and confident to recommend to you.

Let's get started by listing our four recommendations.

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Our Top Three Picks 

Most of the Epiphone Les Pauls are modeled after well-known Gibson versions. The Custom and Standard are typically safe bets, with a lot of different color choices.

1. Epiphone Les Paul Custom

Customer reviews from Sweetwater, Musicians Friend, American Musical Supply, Guitar Center, and Amazon

Of 206 total reviews, 12 were negative and 194 were positive.

Epiphone's version of the Custom does a good job of capturing the aesthetics and menacing look of the Gibson version, right down to the gold hardware and split diamond inlay on the headstock.

The primary differences between the Gibson and Epiphone version of the Custom are going to be in the parts used.

Stock Parts

Epiphone uses the following stock parts on the Custom:

• Pickups
• Bridge and tailpiece

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean you're getting cheaper, mass-produced hardware that allows Epiphone to bring down the price of their guitar.

Although one important note about the tuning heads:

Those are not stock. They're actually Grover® Rotomatic® 18:1 tuning machines in the Custom, which gives you some high-end hardware, and an uptick in value.

Potentiometers

Another part of the Custom that isn't stock, but falls more in the electronics category, would be the potentiometers. These are actually built by a third-party called CTS, a fairly large-scale manufacturing company: 

These aren't the strongest potentiometers we've ever seen (most of the time we recommend Stewmac for that kind of stuff), but it's worth noting that the Gibson version of the Les Paul Custom also uses a CTS potentiometer.

The Humbuckers

The Epiphone "ProBucker" pickups are designed to mimic the Gibson Burstbuckers, but don't sound quite as good.

These pickups sound okay, though aren't in the same league as the Gibson's humbucker sets, which are far more expensive.

Here are a few examples from Gibson's shop:

As you can tell, it would be much pricier to put these pickups in any guitar. They're a high-end product that Gibson reserves for their nicer instruments.

Having said that, the tone of the Epiphone Les Paul Custom is still quite good.

Tone Profile

You get the same brassy, kind of high-end chime on the upper register of the fretboard, along with the percussive, chunky rhythms on the lower notes. 

In that respect, even with the cheaper pickups, the Epiphone Les Paul Custom can handle a wide range of sounds and styles without much limitation. It's certainly a guitar that plays faster, with the SlimTaper neck design and 22 jumbo frets.

Weight Distribution

If you're used to other electric guitar designs, it might take you awhile to get used to the weight distribution of a Les Paul. Even in the new lighter models, the body feels much heavier than the neck, like it wants to hang from the strap with the body lower than you might want.

But it's a small problem, and you'll get used to the weight distribution after awhile.

Ideal User

At under $700 retail it's an intermediate-friendly electric guitar that could also be helpful to semi-professionals or those who want a cheap gigging axe. Most modern styles, heavy metal, classic rock, and even blues guitarists are great candidates for the Epiphone Custom.

Read the full review: Epiphone Les Paul Custom

IDEAL FOR: All playing styles (rhythm and/or lead), modern rock, metal, classic rock, blues, and a wide skill level range

2. Epiphone Les Paul Standard '50s

Curation of reviews from Sweetwater, Musicians Friend, American Musical Supply, Guitar Center, and Amazon

Of 112 total reviews, 12 were negative and 100 were positive.

The difference between the Epiphone Custom and the Epiphone Standard is primarily one of style.

Tone and Voicing

While the '50s Standard has a lot of the same parts and features as the Custom, it seems to be voiced a little more vintage, without as much aggression as the Custom. You still have the same chimey high-end, but the low-end chords and notes seem to have a little more grunge and edge to them, as opposed to the smoother heaviness of the Custom. 

You can hear in this demo by Arianna Powell that the guitar is really bluesy, and responds almost like a Stratocaster on those higher notes:

A second video demo, this one by Musician's Friend, gives off a similar response:

Overall it just "bites" more than the Custom, which can be a good or bad thing depending on what kind of sound you're looking for.

Similarities Between the Custom and '50s Standard

The profiles of both guitars are very similar, where aesthetics play a bigger role in distinguishing the two.

For example, the '50s Standard uses Epiphone's Vintage Deluxe 18:1 tuning heads, which give the headstock a more "old school" look. You also have the gold or sunburst finishes that we typically see on older Les Paul models.

Pickups

Pickups are the same Epiphone ProBuckers that we see in that Custom, though we would contend that these sound a little more like a classic PAF set. 

If you've ever heard Lindy Fralin's PAF set, they sound and play similarly.

This leads us to assume there are some subtle differences in the construction of these humbuckers, though it's not listed anywhere that we can tell. You still have an Alnico 2 magnet and four-conductor wiring with the vacuum wax potting.

A lot of Epiphone LP Standard owners, like the ones on this thread, plan on swapping the Epiphone ProBuckers for nicer pickups.

Construction and Body Features

While the Standard is made from multiple pieces of Mahogany, the joint lines are only visible on the sides of the guitar. On the top you have a full sheet of Mahogany veneer covering the body, which also makes the guitar a little thicker. 

We like the long tenon join in the neck, which is a rather unique and desirable feature for such a cheap guitar.

The Ideal User

Given the similarity in the pickup design and tonewood profile (Mahogany again), it's fair to say that the Custom and the '50s Standard sound appreciably similar.

This all means that the Standard is going to appeal more to those on the vintage side of the musical style spectrum. It's also a little stronger for lead guitar players. Though we should caution - as is true with any guitar - the style you fit into is going to depend a lot on the gear you put around your electric guitar.

Given the right environment, the '50s Standard could handle just about any style of music. 

Graduating beginners or intermediate players who are looking to get into the classic rock or blues styles will be most satisfied. 

Read the full review: Epiphone Les Paul Standard ' 50s

IDEAL FOR: Classic rock, blues, graduating beginners, and the "now I'm comitted and want to invest in a nice instrument" kind of guitar.

3. Epiphone Les Paul Modern

Curation of reviews from Sweetwater, Musicians Friend, American Musical Supply, Guitar Center, and Amazon

Of 31 total reviews, 2 were negative and 29 were positive.

There are only a handful of technical differences between the Les Paul Modern and the two other Epiphone LPs we've tested.

Differences Between the Modern and Custom

First, the Modern has some additional weight relief in the body, which makes it less cumbersome to play standing up. It feels more like a "typical" guitar in regards to how weight is distributed. Though we noticed that it loses some of the "punchiness" in its tone, which is probably a result of said weight relief.

It also uses the same pickup combination as the Les Paul Custom - the ProBucker 2 and ProBucker 3 - but with coil-tapping enabled, giving you some additional flexibility. We also noticed that the CPS brand is not mentioned in the description of the potentiometers, which leads us to believe they're provided by a different company, perhaps for the push-pull functionality.

Otherwise, the electronics are pretty much the same.

More Vintage Tone?

For the "Modern" title, we actually found this guitar to be fairly vintage in its tonal lean.

If you listen to the Musicians Friend demo below, you'll hear the vintage tone pretty clearly:

It sounds good, but we wouldn't consider it distinctly modern. When we tested it with some heavier sounds and high-gain distortion pedals, it didn't seem quite as punchy as more modernized guitars like PRS or Ibanez.

Other Gear Used to Test

Here's some of the gear we used:

• Amptweaker TightMetal distortion
• Mesa Rectoverb combo amp
• Wampler Dracarys distortion

More Tone Characteristics

With some tweaking this guitar was really similar to the Les Paul Custom, which is what got it on this list. It can definitely sound heavy, but isn't more modern than the Les Paul Custom that we already really like.

The LP Modern has some nice sustain and really bright harmonics, which could be another feature of the lighter body design. We found higher notes to be a little bluesier, with a lot of definition coining out of pick scrapes and right hand movement. For heavier tones, we'd recommend the middle pickup position without coil tapping. That'll give you the full effect of both humbuckers, which sounds really good.

For cleaner tones, this guitar handles well on both pickups, and gives you a lot of different sounds to tinker with when you incorporate the coil-splitting feature.

With coil-splitting engaged, it sounds Stratocaster-esque.

Maybe Consider Renaming the Les Paul Modern

Considering all this, the naming convention of the LP Modern is strange.

It can do a modern tone, but it's almost more versatile than the Custom and Standard, able to mimic a lighter Stratocaster sound with the coil-splitting.

And that brings us to this guitar's most ideal user:

The Ideal Les Paul Modern User

If you want an Epiphone Les Paul that can sound heavy, but can also give you that wailing, bluesy sound that you get from a Fender Stratocaster, the LP Modern can handle it. You'll be able to run the table from extremely light, nuanced picking, to heavier power chords and saturated distortion levels.

IDEAL FOR: Those who want a Les Paul with a lot of versatility and tonal capabilities at the guitar level (coil-splitting is a major selling point)

Honorable Mentions

One of the reasons economy guitars - like Epiphone Les Pauls - are cheaper is because a lot of the variety you get between more expensive models goes away. For example, most Epiphone Les Pauls use the following:

• Mahogany tonewood
• Epiphone ProBucker pickups
• Maple veneer 
• Stock bridge hardware

The variation from guitar to guitar just gets a lot smaller, outside of basic aesthetics like colors and finish types. That means there are some other Epiphone Les Pauls that we should at least mention in passing, as good options if you've narrowed it down this far.

They include the following:

1. Epiphone Les Paul Junior
2. Epiphone Les Paul Studio LT
3. Epiphone Les Paul Studio regular version
4. Epiphone Les Paul Standard '60s version
5. Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro KOA version

As mentioned earlier, we've chosen the guitars in this list based on personal experience and use. These honorable mentions are all quite good, though we have less experience with them, which means we'll avoid including them in a formal recommendation list until we can get more information.

Consistent Features

Within the Epiphone brand and their Les Paul lineup, there are a few features that show up really consistently. Knowing those features will help you pick out where others might change that could help you decide which one is right for you. For example, Mahogany tonewood is common, while tuning machines tend to change between guitars.

Let's go over the features that are more consistent.

Mahogany Tonewood

Epiphone ProBucker Humbuckers

There are three different versions of the Epiphone ProBucker, all of which use an Alnico II magnet.

• ProBucker 1
• ProBucker 2
• ProBucker 2

We aren't just listing them. They're actually numbered that way.

The difference between each one isn't particularly clear. In the Epiphone Les Paul Standard, you have ProBucker 1 at the neck and ProBucker 2 at the bridge. Yet, in the Custom, it's a ProBucker 2 at the neck and ProBucker 3 at the bridge.

There's also the coil-tapping version we get in the Les Paul Modern.

Whatever the distinction is between each set (my guess is precious little), you're usually going to have them on Epiphone Les Pauls.

In rare cases, we've seen Epiphone throw a set of Gibson humbuckers onto their Les Paul Electrics.

Rare cases.

Maple Veneer Top Wood

Epiphone Les Paul bodies are put together in three pieces. To cover up the joints, and to add some natural resonance to the body, luthiers put a top piece of wood called a "veneer" over that body. 

In most of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard models, this veneer is a piece of Maple.

The same is true of the Epiphone Les Paul Modern series.

You'll sometimes see the Customs use a more ambiguous "Multi-Ply Custom"  which we're assuming is some kind of laminate covering.

Best Places to Buy an Epiphone Les Paul

We typically break down our retail recommendations based on whether you're buying new or used. For those looking to get a new Epiphone Les Paul, we'd recommend going through Sweetwater, who we've partnered with and link to in this article (at no extra cost to you, of course).

If you plan to buy used, we'd recommend going with Reverb.com and browsing through their various stores and sellers.

We don't partner with them, but they're a great place for used gear because they curate a bunch of little local shops and stores that have used music gear they're willing to ship to you.

Reverb basically functions as the online broker of all those deals.

How much should I spend?

Epiphone keeps their Les Pauls under a $1000 price tag, though within that price there's still some significant fluctuation.

For example, the Epiphone Les Paul Special and Slash AFD signature model are between $180 and $250, which is fairly cheap by most electric guitar pricing standards.

I would anticipate spending between $450 and $650. That's the average price you'll pay for a decent Epiphone Les Paul.

If you go on the higher end, the Custom and Thommy Thayer models are between $700 and $850.

Which side of that track should you lean towards?

The cheaper Epiphone Les Pauls make great beginner guitars, but not much else. For most people, I would anticipate spending between $450 and $650. That's the average price you'll pay for a decent Epiphone Les Paul. Any less than that and you're getting firmly into beginner guitar territory. If you end up paying too much more, you might as well take the leap to a real-deal Gibson.

All three of the recommendations we've made in this article are in keeping with that price range.

Conclusion

Epiphone's Les Paul line truly has something for everyone.

Over our years of playing guitar and being in communication with other musicians, we've found the Epiphone brand to be one of the most consistently well-liked and favorably-reviewed brands available.

If you've already narrowed your choice down that far, there aren't too many "bad" options.

Buy confidently.

Your Questions

Do you have questions about our Epiphone Les Paul recommendations or something else mentioned in this article? If so, feel free to leave a note in the comments section below and I'll help out as much as possible.

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