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Epiphone Les Paul Joe Perry copy (circa 1996) ?


Racer*X

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I recently purchased a Epi LP that seems to be a clone of the Gibson Joe Perry Signature Edition sold in the mid 90s. Identical with the translucent black finish/cream binding/pearl pick guard and truss rod cover/black hardware/etc...everything but the autograph behind the tail stop. Can anyone give me any details on this model? It has plain black pickup covers with no screws in them...seller said stock but I have never seen anything like them on a Les Paul..no EpiActive labeling....can anyone shed some light? Thanks!

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  • 2 years later...

I recently purchased a Epi LP that seems to be a clone of the Gibson Joe Perry Signature Edition sold in the mid 90s. Identical with the translucent black finish/cream binding/pearl pick guard and truss rod cover/black hardware/etc...everything but the autograph behind the tail stop. Can anyone give me any details on this model? It has plain black pickup covers with no screws in them...seller said stock but I have never seen anything like them on a Les Paul..no EpiActive labeling....can anyone shed some light? Thanks!

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Hi,

I just purchased what seems to be exactly the guitar you have described. Have you found any more information on this version? I have only just begun but have already gone far, wide and deep but to no avail. Until I saw your post I thought this might be the only one of its kind.

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Thanks. Will post picks ASAP. Even though I have the pictures in my phone I can't seem to post them so I will as soon as I can get to my laptop. (Choose File is not highlighted.)

 

OT: If you have a printer that has Bluetooth (most new ones do), you can upload your pics from your cell phone through your printer to your laptop. You just have to pair your phone to your printer.

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post-41594-081956100 1331751247_thumb.jpgpost-41594-064522200 1331751246_thumb.jpgpost-41594-058145100 1331751245_thumb.jpgpost-41594-042661400 1331751244_thumb.jpg

 

Thank you for your responses and I appreciate any further input. Pics attached.post-41594-029869400 1331751243_thumb.jpg I have seen the Epi Joe Perry version but mine doesn't have the Bill Lawrence pickups as shown; rather, the pickups seem to be the black chrome as seen on the Gibson original. Also, mine has the cream binding. Third, the serial number indicates it was produced in '96 at the Unsung plant.

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Well, I shouldnt have edited my post earlier, because I nalied it without seeing a pic. Then I second-guessed myself and removed what I had written.

 

So, you have a Les Paul Standard OBL. Made in 1997 as a Sam Ash exclusive run. Someone probably replaced the pickups or covers to make it look like a Joe Perry model. I know the guy said it was all original, but I doubt that is the case with the pickups.

 

http://www.epiphonew...ul_Standard_OBL

 

There have been a few other Les Pauls with Ebony finishes and pearloid accents, but this is the only one with black pearloid.

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Thanks, RTH.

Just to be sure, did the OBL have the creme binding? I can't tell from the picture. And the '96 manufacture date on my headstock? Do either of these change anything? If not, then it's settled. The pickups look to me like they could be Burstbuckers but there is no external making to confirm this (as would be the case with Burstbuckers but that doesn't help). Is there any way to tell for sure? Btw, I have since adjusted the neck pickup upward from the depths shown in the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I shouldnt have edited my post earlier, because I nalied it without seeing a pic. Then I second-guessed myself and removed what I had written.

 

So, you have a Les Paul Standard OBL. Made in 1997 as a Sam Ash exclusive run. Someone probably replaced the pickups or covers to make it look like a Joe Perry model. I know the guy said it was all original, but I doubt that is the case with the pickups.

 

http://www.epiphonew...ul_Standard_OBL

 

There have been a few other Les Pauls with Ebony finishes and pearloid accents, but this is the only one with black pearloid.

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Thanks, RTH.

Just to be sure, did the OBL have the creme binding? I can't tell from the picture. And the '96 manufacture date on my headstock? Do either of these change anything? If not, then it's settled. The pickups look to me like they could be Burstbuckers but there is no external making to confirm this (as would be the case with Burstbuckers but that doesn't help). Is there any way to tell for sure? Btw, I have since adjusted the neck pickup upward from the depths shown in the picture.

 

 

Yeah, the LP OBL has cream binding. Body binding doesnt usually show up very well, if at all, on my pictures.

You should think about taking the pickup covers off and seeing if they are actually OBLs underneath. If the guy said it was all original, maybe he just added some pickup covers.

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The "original" comment was in Racer*X's post to which I replied since it was the first description of a guitar that matched mine. While I have not seen the Gibson Joe Perry first hand, the black chrome pickups and surrounds on that model look like (in pictures) what I have. Well, I guess I'll have to go under the hood but I still don't have a clear sense what markings will confirm whether these are Burstbuckers as I have found images but there are no obvious (to me, at least) marking that would confirm or negate.

 

Thanks again for your continued input.

 

 

 

Yeah, the LP OBL has cream binding. Body binding doesnt usually show up very well, if at all, on my pictures.

You should think about taking the pickup covers off and seeing if they are actually OBLs underneath. If the guy said it was all original, maybe he just added some pickup covers.

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The "original" comment was in Racer*X's post to which I replied since it was the first description of a guitar that matched mine. While I have not seen the Gibson Joe Perry first hand, the black chrome pickups and surrounds on that model look like (in pictures) what I have. Well, I guess I'll have to go under the hood but I still don't have a clear sense what markings will confirm whether these are Burstbuckers as I have found images but there are no obvious (to me, at least) marking that would confirm or negate.

 

Thanks again for your continued input.

 

Oops. Sorry, yeah that was the OP that said it was all original.

Looking at the Gibson Joe Perry models on the web, most of them seem to have open-coil pickups. But they all have white pearloid accents, and not black pearloid like yours. Also, your guitar may well have been made in 1996, but they probably didnt hit the stores until 1997, hence, the "1997 Exclusive Run".

 

Rumor has it that Epiphone produced a trans-black/pearloid Joe Perry model for Ishibashi in Japan, but no one has ever been able to produce a picture of one. There was a UK exclusive LP standard in 2010 that looks like the open-coil Joe Perry Les Paul with white pearloid, but it wasnt a JP. Though, the only thing missing is the Joe Perry signature below the stopbar. People seem to think that is an actual Joe Perry model, but I've found several dealer sites and reviews that have it listed as only a Les Paul Standard UK Limited Edition. No mention of Joe Perry.

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RTH,

Maybe postng the link seems odd but the picture is not mine and I don't want to post someone else's pic. It comes up in Google image search in the third row of images when searched as: Gibson Les Paul Joe Perry. There are other photos there as well.

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  • 7 years later...
On 3/15/2012 at 12:48 AM, md1b said:

RTH,

Maybe postng the link seems odd but the picture is not mine and I don't want to post someone else's pic. It comes up in Google image search in the third row of images when searched as: Gibson Les Paul Joe Perry. There are other photos there as well.

I know this is a long shot considering the age of this thread but I have to ask! Did you by chance sell that LP? Because Im trying to find more information on mine, and I feel like it's literally this one. 

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On 6/5/2019 at 12:48 AM, Jbgibboi said:

I know this is a long shot considering the age of this thread but I have to ask! Did you by chance sell that LP? Because Im trying to find more information on mine, and I feel like it's literally this one. 

I never owned the guitar you are referring to. I've only referred to pics I found online. As for the other members in this thread,  I have no idea. Not even sure if they are still around.

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On 6/7/2019 at 2:29 PM, RobinTheHood said:

I never owned the guitar you are referring to. I've only referred to pics I found online. As for the other members in this thread,  I have no idea. Not even sure if they are still around.

Yeah I figured they may be gone. I was asking md1b about his one he posted pics of. I'm looking for info like he was and my LP seems pretty much the same if not the same one. Haven't found much more then was found in this thread.

Edited by Jbgibboi
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  • 1 year later...

Sorry for the bump, but I have been hunting for this guitar as well. I owned one that i bought brand new from Guitar Center. It was a GC exclusive as well. The difference as far as I can see between it and the OBL  which seemed to be the SAM ASH Exclusive is for sure the pickups. The GC model had black covered pickups like this an not the OBL pickups. I don't remmeber what happened to mine, but I wish I still had it! Hard to find info on these and almost all I see is the OBL ones, but GC had an exclusive one almost the same as well.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi, I recently traded for one of these.  I thought it was an OBL.  It's not.  Mine has all of the items described with the black pearloid and black chrome pickups.  On the back of the pickups it says "Sam Sung".  The pickups are hot but sound good.  The fellow I got it from  said it was all original, and it appears that way to me. Gibson couldn't tell me anything about it other than it was a Limited Edition probably for Sam Ash and maybe Guitar Center.  They didn't make many, maybe a 1,000, because they didn't sell well.

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