I bought this guitar as an upgrade to my sons first guitar which is a Squier Affinity strat. What a difference in sound and quality. The Epiphone has great tone and long sustain. With the stop bar bridge , it stays in tune for a long time too. The gold hardware and quilted maple top make it a beautiful looking guitar. The hidden hollow body makes it alot lighter than a LP standard which is great for my 17 year old son. I bought a hardcase for the guitar to protect it when he takes it to guitar class. Its not a 2K Gibson ,but he treats it with the same respect. I hope he keeps it in his slowly growing collection when he makes it on stage. Its definitely a keeper. This is a real nice guitar for the price. If you can't afford the Gibson LP this is the guitar your looking for.

i got this guitar a little over a year and a half ago for christmas. I had been playing a little while, and i needed an upgrade from my brothers old crappy c-1.

As soon as you pull it out of the box it looks amazing, the gold and the paint really shine. I noticed the difference in the neck from my schecter immediatley, it way more comfortable.

this guitar has a neck like other les pauls, but a little thinner, fits ur hand pretty well. i was a beginner and i loved it.

the pickups are great, love the sound, granted i play mostly metal and i like alot of output and alot of gain. These pickups can make most people happy, but i prefer a little more output. great for 60's-80's rock especially. Guns n' roses sounds great on it.

The only turn off about this guitar is the weight relief cavities. They make the guitar VERY VERY light for a les paul, and u still get a thick punchy tone out of it which is great(good choice for beginners and smaller players), but the cavaties cause the body to be lighter than the neck, making it unbalanced. This, for beginner players, is not generally a problem. i didn't notice it until about a year after i bought it(granted i didn't play any other guitars in that time period). because the guitar is unbalanced, when you stand up, if u take you hand off the neck, it will fall and point towards the ground. this means while your playing, your hand has to support the weight of the neck. This causes your hand to move slower while your playing. it doesn't widely affect my playing but it still bothers me. If your a serious musician thats been playing for ahwile, you might suggest looking for another guitar, but the balance issue may not bother you. I require alot of speed when im playing so it tends to be a little bit of a problem. i suggest trying it before you buy it, but that goes along with any guitar.

Overall, this is a great guitar. it didn't come to me with any flaws and had a great setup when i got it. If your a beginner, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this guitar to you. If your a gigging musician, you might look at other options for yourself, but you may love it. The guitar is an AMAZING value for what your paying for it. Definatley consider it if your looking to get a guitar. If you have any questions you can email me.

I just arrived home from Iraq, and I ordered this guitar while I was over there. It was waiting for me when I got home.

I've owned several Epiphone guitars, and they've been mediocre, but for the price, I couldn't complain. I enjoy playing them.

I got the Les Paul bug, but couldn't justify paying the price for a Gibson that would meet my needs, so I've been watching the Ultra reviews for some time. I finally pulled the trigger and bought this thing.

The finish is beautiful, though it's not the "teardrop" shaped sunburst you see in the stock photo. The "cherry" is only painted around the perimeter of the guitar, it doesn't fill the area above and below the neck pickup.

The headstock doesn't read "Les Paul Standard", but rather "Les Paul Ultra".

Yes, I can see the neck joints, but I can't see a problem with that.

Mine has a nice, low action, and no fret buzz anywhere. I can't imagine 100% QC, so I'm sure someone gets a lemon from time to time. Mine is certainly no lemon.

This guitar makes me want to play, and I'm very pleased.

The neck and fretboard are fast. Before I got this guitar, I didn't know the meaning of a fast neck and fretboard. I'm pleasantly surprised.

I am going to replace the pickups with a Gibson '57 Classic at the neck, and a Burstbudker Pro at the bridge. I'm also replacing the nut and saddles with Tusq parts.

I wanted a Gibson, but I can afford to make this Epiphone the closest analog possible.

I'm amazed at this guitar. Chances are that you won't regret your purchase, if you choose this one.

I was actually looking for an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top when I saw this beauty... cherry sunburst, gold hardware, and that beautiful quilted maple top. I played it for a short time, then had the salesman play it for me (since I've only been playing for about a year), then paid and rushed home like a kid at Christmas... and that's where the joy ended.

Once the volume and distortion were turned down, there was an ugly buzz on the low E and a slight buzz on the A... I returned to the store where the salesman raised the action to get rid of the buzz. So I took it home again and started playing and sure enough, no buzz... but the action was so high I couldn't play scales.

So, back to the store again where I had the repairman take a look. He told me the nut had been cut too deep and needed to be repaired. In the process, he discovered one or more frets that were coming up and others that needed to be leveled. He also pointed out that the neck was not one, not two, but three pieces of wood glued together... you could see the seams. Not like plywood either. The first third near the body was one piece, then the next third was another piece, and the headstock was another piece.

He finished the repairs (5 weeks later) and told me to come and pick it up... I played it for about 10 minutes and decided to find another guitar. I ended up buying a Les Paul Standard Plus Top... the one I was originally looking at to begin with. The store was really good about refunding my money and helping me find a guitar I was happy with... even though it was past the 30 days.

Bottom line, Epiphone makes great guitars, but the Ultra I selected was a lemon. The Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top I have now is awesome.

I bought the LP Ultra in May 07. I'm STILL very impressed!

Features - The faded Cherry quilt-top with the gold hardware makes this LP absolutely drop dead gorgeous! It hangs on the wall with my 1963 Gibson ES120 w/ gold sunburst, black VG Strat, and blue Highway One Tele, but all eyes go to the Ultra, instantly. The acoustic chambers make the body lighter and a little out of balance with the neck, but not a problem. With those chambers this baby will cry on a note forever. It’s good, adjustable, Grover tuners hold it’s tuning as well as my other guitars. The neck feels exactly like the thin-line neck on my ES120, FAST. The Alnico Classic and Plus pickups are definitely hotter than the ones in my Gibson and Fenders. This Ultra uses my Line 6 Spider III 150w to growl and scream very nicely. As far as I can tell it’s all Gibson (or better!), except made in Korea.

Quality - The three-way switch needed to be replaced because of intermittent loss of contact when switching. The action needed to be set up by my local Luthier; strings were set too high, and I replaced them for higher quality and different gauge. BUT, almost ANY new guitar needs to be set up. On mine the fret-side corners on the nut were too sharp and needed to be filed down just a titch. Other than these very minor things (because I’m fussy), fit, finish and attention to detail in its construction are fabulous. Other than the nut needing touch-up filing, the Ultra’s quality of craftsmanship is absolutely flawless! To my ears this Ultra sounds just like a Les Paul should, no need to change pickups.

Value – This is a REAL Les Paul, except for the shape of the headstock and the name “Epiphone” on it. If you want a “Gibson” Les Paul, before spending all that money you may wish to try this Epi Ultra first, then put the rest of your money into your retirement fund and pat yourself on the back for making another good decision. Buy it and get it set up. For me, whenever I pick up my Ultra and plug it in, a smile comes right back to my face.