Swoop Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I've been lusting after a '56 GoldTop for a while now, or any Les Paul really. Recently I saw this one come up for sale online for a reasonable price. I had to put my lust for the P90s aside, this one has humbuckers, but that's ok. A couple of pics Mmm, gold! Nice dark mahogany on the back, with plenty of shine, just the way I like it. Gibson style headstock too. However, it's not a Gibson, as I'm sure many of you can tell just by looking at it. It's not even an Epiphone. It's a cheap Chinese copy. As I said, it was pretty damn cheap, came with a case, and is built like a proper Les Paul, mahogany body, maple top, and set mahogany neck. Unfortunately there are a couple of little issues with it. Firstly, it has a fret buzz. The nut is made of such cheap, brittle plastic, that the strings have made the slots deeper than they should be and the low E and A strings buzz on the fret when they are struck. The bridge was cranked way up high to try and remedy this, but it made absolutely no difference, and of course made for ridiculously high action on the upper frets, so I soon fixed that. Also, the finish. It's constructed well enough. But there are lots of tiny little black marks in the gold paint. They're barely visible to most but, as we all know, guitar players tend to have microscopes for eyes. It also suffers from the same poor earthing problem as my Telecaster, but that can soon be remedied. Aside from these few things, it's actually not completely horrible. It plays well enough, intonates correctly, the pots and what not are even reasonably good. The sound is about on par with my SG with standard humbuckers, and I imagine the pickups on both of them are much the same. Has the same 'meh' tuners as my SG too. Not a bad beater I guess, but a friend of mine is looking for his first electric guitar, so I might flick it off to him if he wants it and can come up with the money. It'll be adequate to learn on for a first electric, even with the buzzy fret, and I'll be sure to fix the earthing problem. Some new strings wouldn't go astray either. Then I think I'll invest in a properly good Epiphone LP. Or I could keep it, fit a new nut, some P90s, and make something out of it. I'm indifferent either way really. What do you guys reckon? I might give it a week or two, play around with it some more and see how I feel then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyushPresley Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Oh Dear lord It looks so damn good !! how cheap was it exactly...Couple of upgrades here and there and your fake companion is ready to roll..BTW you shouldn't have bought a fake..I wouldn't The first pic seems like a real deal !! is that your guitar or just a pic.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoop Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 It was $275NZ, which equates to about $140US. Of course I had to pay $30NZ for shipping but that's still only a shade over $150US all up. Believe me I would have loved to have bought an Epiphone, I discovered a LP Standard finished in Metallic gold, but that was twice the price of this knock off. I figured I'd give this one a go since it's made of the same stuff. It also seems to be quite unique, all other Lps I've seen in this cheap brand have all been bolt necks. The first pic is what I bought! I guess it kind of doesn't look like it because of the background. I took the pic on that black chair because it didn't seem to want to stand up in front of the wardrobe on it's own, but happily obliged when I flipped it 'round to take pics of that nice back! The back looks a lot darker in person, and is almost a really deep maroon/plum kind of colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdy27 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Ya get what you pay for..but..it appears OK. If it plays well then U win. You learned to never buy something without touching it first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoop Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 I never expected it to be perfect, and I bought it knowing that if I didn't like it, my friend could take it off my hands for what I paid for it, should I choose to just sell it on instead of fixing what needs attention to make it a properly decent guitar. I'm not complaining that it has problems, just merely admitting it has faults! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 They are very tempting, but buying these guitars is supporting organised crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 At first glance it doesn't even look too bad. I like the tigerstripe mahogany back. But as said: Ya gets what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy1281734128 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 yeah looks great. new guitar day, ah, what a wonderful time this is. will be my turn soon, getting a tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matiac Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 What brand is it? I notice a few things straight up. Selector button too close to edge of upper bout, lower body has too much of a flair, horn is too sharp, "openbook" pattern on peghead is too exaggerated. Looking at the back, the edges are too rounded, heel of neck is higher than usual. How does it sound? I really like the grain of the body, the pictures you took make it jump out at you, at least with my monitor. Looks like it was built from scratch, but the guy "eyeballed" just about everything. A nut can be replaced pretty cheaply, have someone make one outta Corian, I've heard it works pretty good for that sort of thing. I'd hang onto it just for the unique-ness of it. Oh yeah, I'm not bashing your guitar, just noticing stuff out of the "ordinary". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Maybe it's the pic, but the back of the body looks like it has been routed for binding, and then they figured it a mistake and just rounded it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matiac Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 See that front/back binding a lot on Chinese fake "Standards", I mean, it looks like a pretty nice guitar, just a lot of things that kind of "jumped out" at me. I always love the Chinese "Customs" that say Les Paul Model where the split diamond should be...I always crack up at that. But, they ARE getting better at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoop Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 It's a 'Celebrity' brand guitar. I'd never heard of them until I saw this one for sale, then a quick search revealed they makes Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster, and LP copies, as well as some crappy acoustics. Their LPs all seem to be bolt necks, which is why I happen to think this one is kind of unique, being a set neck. I guess it is one of their 'special' models, being gold too, though thankfully it doesn't have any markings that claim it as anything more than a cheap copy. I always hate when knock of makers do that. I get the impression it is handmade too, it is a tad asymetrical, and as most have picked up a tad bloated at the bottom. Still, at tleast it looks like an LP, unlike some others I have seen which bastardise the shape even further. As I said earlier, it sounds about the same as my G-310, probably has identical pickups. Nothing spectacular but not totally horrible. Sums up the whole guitar really I guess. Not sure whether to keep it or sell it on. Part of me says keep it, just because a lot of people have told me it's ugly, and it would be kind of cool to fit some good pickups nad fix the little issues with it and pound out some riffs to show them up. Another part says it's an ugly duckling and a piece of junk and that I should go get an Epi! Some shots in better light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpfan Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I would sell it and buy the Epi. But thats just me. I do like the picture of the back of the guitar with the reflection of the amp and guitar. I thought that was kinda cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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