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The Epiphone LP that may as well be a Gibson


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Kind of cool to have one of the first handful of this model available in the US.

Interesting to note these were manufactured in the Samick factory in Indonesia. Mine is number 1011 so there's at least that many made.

Shawn

When I ordered mine at G.C. in Marietta it was the first one ordered by any of the G.C.'s in the USA we were told by the Gibson sales rep.

 

 

 

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I noticed Sam Ash has it in stock again. No other retailers have a stock number yet.

Is it safe to assume the three on this post are the first three in the US?

Shawn

Hmm, probably 9/10 new Lee Malia owners are not running to this Epiphone forum to post about it, they're too busy playing it. In any case that might represent an estimate of only 30-40 guitars sold in the US so far. Even if it's double that, imagine how tiny that is spread about this big country. You're not likely to run into another owner any time soon. But if you did, you probably be surprised how identical these guitars look, mine looks just like yours (will post some pictures soon).

 

 

What I think is working against this guitar selling any huge numbers is 1) it's got a unique look and many folks prefer something more familiar/nostalgic for the finish. 2) Lee Malia is not a big name in the States, and the Bring Up the Horizon band is apparently pretty huge in the UK. If it was unsigned or had a more familiar American guitarist for the signature it would sell in FAR larger quantities on this side of the pond... With all apologies to Lee Malia as I looked him up on the YouTube and he seems like a likeable, reasonably talented young whippersnapper.

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I said in an earlier post that when I ordered mine only Eddy was ahead of me. Shortly after my order there was one placed in Iowa. Now if anyone here that has one is from Iowa that would make the 3 I knew of back in September/October. I am curious as to how many they actually made, and how many of those came over here to the states. I wish that info could be acquired from Epiphone, but I would bet they are not talking......

 

On the note of Lee Malia himself he does seam to be a very nice guy. He does play other music than the heavy metal stuff the band he is in plays. "Bring Me The Horizon" is huge in England. His father played guitar also and played a Gibson Artisan back in the 70's, which is what this guitar is modeled from, except for the unique pickup configuration this one has.

 

The ones for sale on EBAY I would not touch with a 10' pole. The guys selling them are not dealers. I doubt they would be warranted like you would get from a reputable dealer. Where they acquired them is a mystery. They very well could be seconds or returns from Europe dealers.

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I said in an earlier post that when I ordered mine only Eddy was ahead of me. Shortly after my order there was one placed in Iowa. Now if anyone here that has one is from Iowa that would make the 3 I knew of back in September/October. I am curious as to how many they actually made, and how many of those came over here to the states. I wish that info could be acquired from Epiphone, but I would bet they are not talking......

 

On the note of Lee Malia himself he does seam to be a very nice guy. He does play other music than the heavy metal stuff the band he is in plays. "Bring Me The Horizon" is huge in England. His father played guitar also and played a Gibson Artisan back in the 70's, which is what this guitar is modeled from, except for the unique pickup configuration this one has.

 

The ones for sale on EBAY I would not touch with a 10' pole. The guys selling them are not dealers. I doubt they would be warranted like you would get from a reputable dealer. Where they acquired them is a mystery. They very well could be seconds or returns from Europe dealers.

 

 

The Ebay seller now indicates 7 available and 2 sold, which is 4 more Lee Malia guitars in the mix. Buyers are protected with a 14-day return policy (they're on the hook for return postage) and the pictures show the back of the headstock has an Inspected in USA sticker so they are promising to be selling brand-new sealed USA A-stock guitars. There would be little risk to the buyer if there was confirmation that the manufacturer's warranty does in fact apply to these guitars (not sure about that). My personal preference would be an authorized on-line dealer as well. Ken

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Kind of cool to have one of the first handful of this model available in the US.

Interesting to note these were manufactured in the Samick factory in Indonesia. Mine is number 1011 so there's at least that many made.

Shawn

mine is 1035

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Mine is 1012

 

All the same month? My serial is 1408 23 00844, (Aug 2014) so it might predate yours (as if it mattered).

 

23 is the Samick factory code for Epiphone production. AFAIK the serial numbers a NOT sequential, they are often assigned in bunches and randomly reassigned during the month to all models produced.

 

Ken

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about the seller: We are musicians who have access to Many fine lines of guitars.We buy,Sell & trade guitars " We are not a dealer". All of our items are as described..Buy with confidence and save yourself some money!

 

who knows...maybe they worked out a trade with a dealer?

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Well I decided to replace the white toggle switch top on mine with a black one today and guess what ------- a gibson replacement black top will not fit - it is tapped for a larger toggle switch threads- way too big [thumbdn] anybody need a black toggle switch top?????

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Well I decided to replace the white toggle switch top on mine with a black one today and guess what ------- a gibson replacement black top will not fit - it is tapped for a larger toggle switch threads- way too big [thumbdn] anybody need a black toggle switch top?????

 

Try putting a few layers of teflon plumbers tape around the threads. Works for me on two or three of my guitars.

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Well I decided to replace the white toggle switch top on mine with a black one today and guess what ------- a gibson replacement black top will not fit - it is tapped for a larger toggle switch threads- way too big [thumbdn] anybody need a black toggle switch top?????

 

Hi, I just put a black switch tip on my LM and it looks awesome [thumbup] .

 

I went to Ebay and did a search for "epiphone toggle switch caps" and found a seller in China that sells 4 different color caps (black, white, cream and amber) for $4 shipped. They are labelled for Epiphone and don't fit Gibson switches. They arrived yesterday. Just a bit too tight, so you can either ream them out with a small drill or heat them up in hot water to soften them up before you try to screw them on. Anyway I used the Black tip on my Lee Malia and I put a proper Cream colored tip on my Slash Rosso Corsa (which comes with the ridiculous amber color!). I guess I must be anal retentive because in my opinion this it the way these guitars should be sold in the first place.

 

The Amber tip on the Rosso Corsa is a holdover from the previous Slash Ltd Ed body colors, namely the yellow flame maple on the AFD models, which it matches quite nicely. The amber tip doesn't match the deep Racing Red of the Rosso Corsa unless you are perhaps blind or something.

 

I will post some "after" pictures later in this thread for all to viddie.

 

Ken

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Ken post a pic of it. I may do the same.

 

On another note do your frets feel a tad blunt on the sides as you would slide up or down the fret board. Mine seam to be dressed good but I can feel them more on this guitar than my others. This is my first Les Paul though and perhaps they are normal for the model.

 

Steve

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Ken post a pic of it. I may do the same.

 

On another note do your frets feel a tad blunt on the sides as you would slide up or down the fret board. Mine seam to be dressed good but I can feel them more on this guitar than my others. This is my first Les Paul though and perhaps they are normal for the model.

 

Steve

 

The frets on my Lee Malia are very good and are about the same as my Gibson Les Paul studio. You might be experiencing some "fret sprout" which you can look up if you're not already aware of. When I run my fingers up and down the side of the fingerboard I can feel the fret ends but just barely. I personally have had good luck with fret ends (so far) on my guitar collection.

 

This can be a Winter problem due to dry heat indoors shrinking the wood of the neck ever so slightly. Ken

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I called Gibson this morning and was told that it is covered under warrantee and that the GC that I bought it from was authorized to dress the ends of the frets under warrantee. So I will bring it to them and let them see what they think next week. Weekends for them are hectic and I would rather they take their time. It all my just be a figment of my imagination, but I feel something blunt as I slide my fingers.

 

Steve

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I called Gibson this morning and was told that it is covered under warrantee and that the GC that I bought it from was authorized to dress the ends of the frets under warrantee. So I will bring it to them and let them see what they think next week. Weekends for them are hectic and I would rather they take their time. It all my just be a figment of my imagination, but I feel something blunt as I slide my fingers.

 

Steve

Well I agree on my L.M. Les Paul the frets are longer than the actual finger board when comparing it to my 339 Ultra and Genesis not that it causes any playing problem but each fret end is longer than normal and extends out farther than normal other than that they seem ok doesn't cause a playing problem so far - I still think my 339 ULTRA blows the doors off the L.M. Les Paul IMO not that I'm not happy with the Les Paul but the 339 ULTRA will do anything you want - love it [thumbup]

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Here are some pictures of the switch caps on my Lee Malia and Slash Rosso Corsa Ltd Ed guitars.

 

I have more pictures but basically they look just like the various pictures posted on the Epiphone site and forums, albeit lower quality.

 

In any case in a previous post I mentioned that I've changed the switch tips on the Lee Malia to Black and the Rosso Corsa to Cream.

 

Here is the Rossa Corso with cream switch tip. It does match the other plastic pieces perfectly.

1Kv2rib.jpg

 

 

This picture of the Rosso Corsa body shows off my Perri's Slash print leather guitar strap and the Epiphone strap locks.

 

rv5chjH.jpg

 

Here is a picture of my Lee Malia with a Perri's suede padded strap (love this one).

 

3rnJAcU.jpg

 

Why oh why would anybody think a white switch cap is what is called for in this lovely design? It's busy enough.

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So Ken do they just un screw? I have never looked at how they are on. New ones just screw in place of the old one. That is cool. I like what you did.

 

Steve

 

 

The existing ones screw right off no problem. The replacements are the correct size but are not pre-threaded so you can't just screw them on. As I mentioned you can ream them out or heat them up and they will go on without too much drama. The new caps are a very tight fit and will never need to come off again. Ken

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So that part is just plastic that screws off??? I wonder if the new ones could be threaded with a tap, and ease the install of them?

 

Steve

 

If you had a screw tap that happened to be the exact dimensions of the Epiphone switch shaft (keeping in mind these are Asian made) this just might be the easiest way. However if you don't have that tool it's still possible to get it on, just make sure the whole switch does not rotate. I think heating the new tip in a teacup with boiling water for 5 minutes would soften it enough that you can tap the threads with the existing switch shaft on your guitar.

 

 

On another note, have you noticed that Lee Malia Les Pauls, at this time aren't generally available? The ebay seller probably moved 6-9 new guitars; the listing is now gone, and Sam Ash is still showing OOS. Is this model Epiphone's wicked stepchild or something? Maybe these new product intro's need more time to launch as it were, thus patience called for. I hope we hear from some new owners in the near future who bought from the Ebay seller. Thoughts? Ken

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