Decent, affordable Les Paul copies?!

[Botch]

Hi, I'm currently on looking for a decent Les Paul copy. So far I've found the PRS Sinlgecut SE and the ESP LTD EC400AT (that should give you the kind of price range I'm looking at) that I like the look of (and can afford!). I was wondering if any of you guys had any other LP style guitars I should try out? Cheers

 

[Platypus]

The japanese copies are great as well as the heritage guitars, they can be had on the cheap on ebay sometimes.

 

[RR]

Here's a Tokai "Lawsuit" LP from a member of another board

This is not no E-Bay in UK Chinese Gibson counterfeit either!

 

[verity38]

i have a les paul bedford copy i got for 200 and its amazing i love it..all it really needs is new pickups which it is getting as we speak.. i will post a pic when i get it back.

-marc

 

[Guitarzan]

Have you guys seen These???????

 

[David.W]

the BFG is like the voodoo, the menace and the gothic, a cheaper studio'equse yet trendy affordable les paul to compete with the likes of ESP's LTD line which is snatching a large portion of emo-goth business.

i read BFG means Big F'ing Gun but you cant believe everything you read.

get a custom!

 

[Botch]

hmm not keen on the BFG i'm afraid! i think with Gibson's UK prices it would be outta my reach too.

 

[disassembled]

Agile has been in the market for a while and they seem to make a decent guitar. Rondomusic.net sells them as well as other cheap brands that get pretty good reviews on HC. Personally, I prefer the older Peavey guitar that are US made and usually are comparable to LP's, Strats, PRS's, or whatever and can be had for a song. Some peavey's to look out are the Generation series, Impact (milano and torino), detonator AX, Destiny, falcon (standard, active, custom), Odyssey (25th anniversary is rare most are regular). That's about it for the major ones. These were discontinued in the 90's but some have been re released as overseas models.

 

[trem]

Hi there,

Why not get an MIJ Epiphone? They can be had from Ebay for about 6-700ish. Resonant, good pickups, open book headstock, lacquer, long tenon, lightweight, no relief holes, all the yada-yada except the "G" word on the headstock. Plus, it's not a "copy". 8)

 

[Red Barchetta]

+100 on the Tokai...I've played a couple, and if you didn't know what was on the headstock, I doubt you could honestly tell the difference.


As far as the MIJ Epiphones, aren't they a little thinner in the bodies?


RB

 

[Guitarzan]

I have to admit that the BFG has my attention right now... Chambered body, BB3 in the bridge, P-90 in the neck, Kill switch, unsanded carved top... Cost to our local dealer was about 950. So I think they'll street at 1.4K.

 

[straitouttahell]

Have you ever seen one of these ?

I have owned one of their PRS lookalikes for a while and found it a very good guitar for the price.

 

[ned]

Tokai's are it.

www.tokairegistry.com

www.tokaiforum.com

Just got (yesterday) a Tokai SG, cheaper than a Faded and about 100% better. Played excellent right out of the box whereas the Faded was going to need a luthier to setup as it had multiple issues (bad nut, etc).

 

[Finnster]

I own 4 Les Pauls and I just bought an ESP/LTD EC1000 Deluxe and it is a really nice piece. Mine has a flamed top in sunburst and has Duncan JB/Jazz pickups. It plays superbly and in much lighter than my HEAVY LP's. I would check them out, I paid $600 with a hard case used, it was only 2 months old.

 

[trem]

=As far as the MIJ Epiphones, aren't they a little thinner in the bodies?RB

Nope. It's strange how people seem to be crazy about Orvilles now and not MIJ Epis. They're the same guitar and made by the same company (Fujigen Gakki, who also make Ibanez and Greco), but with a different brand. This is one of the rare cases where you'd get MORE than what you paid for IMHO.

 

[Botch]

Are Orville guitars still being made? Has anyone got any websites for them? Cheers

 

[Botch]

Tokai's are it.

www.tokairegistry.com

www.tokaiforum.com

Just got (yesterday) a Tokai SG, cheaper than a Faded and about 100% better. Played excellent right out of the box whereas the Faded was going to need a luthier to setup as it had multiple issues (bad nut, etc).

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I've been looking at the Tokai's they look great and I'm definately considering them.

 

[trem]

Are Orville guitars still being made? Has anyone got any websites for them? Cheers

The use of the "Orville" brand is stopped in 97 or 98. The guitars are still being made though, albeit with different brand. Cheers to you too.

 

[Russ]

A friend of mine just got an Orville Goldtop this last spring. He got it on E-bay from some guy in Japan that was selling his Orvilles. I haven't heard from him since. It is either that good or that bad. I got to play touchy feely and it seemed to resonate pretty well not even plugged in. The finish rivaled anything from Gibson and I thought it was a real Goldtop until he uncovered the headstock.

I have played a couple Agiles and they are ok. Nice guitar but not a Gibson for sure.

There was one of the luthiers that left Gibson that makes guitars in the UK. They are perfect knockoffs but have nothing on the headstock. You could go get one of the headstock replacement laminates that even have the inlays and no one would ever know the difference.

As far as BFGs go, I would rather the only BFGs I own are 35s and rolling under my truck preferably offroad.

Tokai made guitars are nice but I still think that for a LP clone they are expensive.

You might checkout Edwards. They are made by the same people as ESP and play well.

For that matter depending upon if you like lawsuit guitars you might check out an old Ibanez. Some came with bolton necks (I know that sounds lame) but they played like butter. Univox made some too though the ones I tried were not that player friendly and the electronics sucked.

Why not just buy a used Gibson? You can find them cheap from time to time. A lot of times people don't know what they have because they didn't buy it themselves or even play guitar. I remember a friend getting a Custom Artist for next to nothing due to ignorance of the seller. E-bay kind of sucks for deals now though sometimes you can still get a bargain. It is full of copies though especially since they started selling the repair decals and laminates. Just remember that a played Gibson with some dings and what not will still outplay most other guitars. I like to refer to the finish as used as "mojo". An old guitar without "mojo" is like a wallflower. The guitars that sound good get played... a lot. Usually even if the guitar is worn some it plays even better. I know that the tone gets better as the woods age provided that they are played and not left in a closet or under a bed.

I would advise you to try to steer clear of Epiphone. I have had numerous friends go that route trying not to spend $ they didn't want to. They all ended up with having to replace electronics and have shielding done or wax potting. Needless to say they could have still gotten a Gibson for what they ended up spending. I guess it comes down to whether or not you are into offbranding and the quirks that come with it.

"the BFG is like the voodoo, the menace and the gothic, a cheaper studio'equse yet trendy affordable les paul to compete with the likes of ESP's LTD line which is snatching a large portion of emo-goth business. "

The BFG is just weird. Ok, different, weird might be a little pejorative.
The voodoo to me was a lame finish. It was like you took an open grain guitar and smeared wax into it then painted it like a kindergartener.
The menace was strange with its brass.
The gothic was interesting because it was satin and lacked trapezoids but had the moon and star that later appeared on the faded v.
The new gothic is just trying to grab those that didn't bite at the original or weren't around the first time.
The other trendy lines are just that to me. Trendy.
I think that they should take the time to reintroduce some things like the 58 V without it having to be an Epiphone thing. I also think that they should get back together with Kahler and reissue some of those trem loaded guitars again. They should not reintroduce the V2 or the E2. Those were heinous. Another run at a Strat body would be cool though.
I think that the signature series guitars should be classier and not have a little devil horned guy on it. Angus didn't have that on his guitar. The crosses on the Iommi are cool but why not in the old brownburst like his? I think that the Zakk was ok in the bulleye but it was basically already done in the 70s with exception of the EMGs and the little guy on the back of the headstock. I think the buzzsaw was lame and so was the camo bulleye. I think that the camo looks better on the Dean Razorback myself.

Anyone who would play an LTD has got issues. Why not just play an Epiphone? Then again having known quite a few goths and emos that is par.

Why not just build one? Companies like Warmouth have everything that you would need. I thought about getting one of their Strat necks with a Gibson scale to avoid having to play the 25 1/2 scale. I have been playing Gibsons so long now it is work to play my Strat though I love the sounds it makes. A custom Strat with a Gibson scale neck would be killer... Hmmm... I think I might just do that after the holidays. I wonder if they have neckthrough kits yet...

 

[trem]

Just to clear something up, MIJ Epis are nothing like the MIK ones. The MIJs are rebranded Orvilles. Cheers.