Rica23 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Hello, I'm thinking in buy a guitar. I saw the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Ultra-II, and the Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul Custom EX. Someone can help me chosing thhe guitar. Thank you for your time=d> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagg11 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Welcome to the forum, first off everything depends on your style how the guitar plays when you play it and what your looking to get out of the guitar. the prophecy has some pretty aggressive sound and has a different set up than the traditional Lp. the ultra II I believe is the one with the acoustic pick up built in but has more traditional Lp sound when it comes to that respect. The bottom line if price isn't really an option and you know what type of amp you want to play through play both guitars whichever sounds the best and plays the way you like buy it, you can always get the other one later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midiman56 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 I'll expand just a tiny bit Jagg's great observations: The LP Prophecy EX is a custom line guitar. As such, it has all of the appointments of that line: full binding on the body (front and rear), bound neck and headstock, black hardware, and a midnight ebony flamed top. It only has a single volume and tone control, but they are deluxe metal knobs with pearl tops. It is a serious looker for sure. The big difference sound-wise are the two battery powered EMG pickups. These pups are screamers and designed for a player looking to produce a harsh "metal" sound and high ourput. Lot's of folks love 'em, I find them to be a bit too harsh for my style of playing ... I went for the Prophecy GX with the Gibson "Dirty Fingers" pups. Still high output, but a bit warmer and more versatile IMHO. I will say that the ebony necks on the Prophecies are works of art ... just fantastic players! The Ultra II is much more traditional in both looks and sound. There are a couple of guys on the forum that have them and love them. It is basically an Epi Les Paul Standard save for the fact that it is chambered (partially hollowed out), making it substantially lighter, carved across the top rear of the body (this "belly cut" is intended to enhance playing confort), and has the gold hardware usually found on the customs. The binding is typical LP Standard ; front edge of body and neck only. It comes in two finished, midnight ebony and (my fave) Cherryburst. Sound-wise the big innovation on this guitar is the battery powered NamoMag pickup at the base of the fretboard. This pup allows the guitar to produce a pretty believeable acoustic sound ... or it can be blended with the standard pups to produce a variety of sounds through the stereo outputs ... or monaurally if you are using a single amp. These are both top-rate guitars, Rica! Your only question is the type of sound(s) you wish to produce and what they feel like in your hands. Quality-wise it's a wash. Have fun making your decision ... and post pics when you do! Welcome to the forum! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy01 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I vote for the Ultra 2. :-) The variety of sounds you are able to produce is a lot greater. The aforementioned "Belly Cut" is a very nice feature. Really comfortable. You are still able, for the most part, to get the traditional Les Paul sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskank Sally Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 EX = EXTREME Custom Epiphone Ultra II? You can dance with Nancy Wilson...she's cool. I dig the EX. The GX with Dirty Fingers is a favorite as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjael Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 It all depends on what kind of music you prefer. I was facing the same decision a year ago, but I'm a more hard rock/metal kind of guy so the Prophecy with the EMGs were the logical choice. They're both amazing guitars in their own right though, I recommend playing both and seeing which really speaks to you. And yes, while the Ultra-2's passive humbuckers and nanomag may offer quite a bit more diversity than the EMGs, that's not to say that the Prophecy isn't also incredibly versatile. The EMG 85 provides some quite stunning cleans, to the point it replaced my acoustic for clean riffs, and well sometimes you dig the paper-thin, hollow cleans from the 81 too. While the EMGs do differ substantially in tone from the normal p'ups used in Les Pauls, the classic Les Paul thunderous low-end is still there. If you have a bad back however you're probably better off with the Ultra 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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