Re:which Korean Les Paul copy do you think is best?

No, they're pretty cool looking, at least the amber finish is. But I don't see them as a Les Paul copy, though there is some resemblance.

I looked back on your messages and did a search of the Agile copy.
Unfortunately, I don't live by Rondo music, so I can't try it. It looks like they have a 30 day return policy, if somebody wants to do mail order roulette. The site won't give me shipping charges unless I register and give them an e-mail. But I will admit that the $299 flame model with alnico p'ups looks interesting. The appearance is fairly accurate, but the neck has a flatter radius.

Too bad I can't try it out. I used to go to Rondo when I lived in New Jersey (high school years). I'm not in the market for another LP, but I would like to see what it has to offer.

But, a guitar that looks different from a Les Paul but has attention to the quality of the wood and the thickness of the carved maple top may have a better chance of sounding like a Les Paul than an Epiphone.

Choosing a guitar is complicated if price is a factor.

I'm taking a look at the 1977 Gibson LP that I have and the neck isn't looking so bad today. The twist seems to have untwisted.

I think I am going to look into having it refretted. The original frets are so low that there is no room for leveling.

I wonder how much it would cost to have the entire guitar re-fretted with larger frets?

(My guess is that it will cost as much as buying a new guitar).

Looks like a clear cut case of Meranti. http://www.mtc.com.my/publication/library/drm/drm.htm

There, that should throw the cat amongst the hethans.

Oh pa-leeze....may as well burn the damn thing..

The Epiphone Elite Les Paul Standard and Epiphone Elite Les Paul Standard Plus are two different guitars.

MF has the Plus for $1049.

I'm not sure if the only difference is the bookmatched "flamed" maple.

If I was in the market, I'd probably give it a chance, but I don't need another
LP.

I have some fond memories of the Rondo store. I'd go every chance I got, which was not often. I lived in Martinsville, Bridgewater Township, Somerset County.

I also remember this little music store in Manville, sold mostly accordions at the time, it seemed. I bought a Maestro Fuzz from them with serial number 0007. See pic: http://www.seattle-attorney.com/0007.jpg

Yep, the Starfire Special is the one I was referring to. I didn't realize DA made a doublecut
Starfire as well. That Special really was a killer guitar.

Well, that's the genius of the Epiphone scam right there: the license.

but it looks like mohagany to me!

Appears to be three pieces of flamed maple to me.

MF sells at 949, so I'm betting GC or other chains would meet that price.
I thought that I read that it uses the same wood components as US Gibson, but you should verify this. It does have a bone nut and more detail to the neck.

I haven't found an Elite LP to demo, yet. I looked this week, but only found a fairly decent flametop Epi Std. All prices in general seemed fairly high at my local GC. They're either completely crazy or there's a lot of room on the "vintage" amps. Man, how I wish I would have bought a container full of old amps 20 years ago!

How flexible is it? A maple neck won't flex nearly as much as mahogany.

General feel and sustain: I think it resonates pretty well. Unplugged it blows away the DeArmond M-70s and M-72 that I own. At the moment I don't trust the neck with anything heavier than 9s. I generally prefer
10s. Maybe I can leave the bottoms light and put 10s on the top two or three strings. I think Melvin Taylor strings his guitars something like that.

The pickups *could* use an upgrade. It's not an emergency but it wouldn't hurt. I'm just holding off on that until I decide whether the guitar deserves an investment in fret work.

But on balance I think that I don't like this particular 1977 LP and really would prefer to trade it in and perhaps trade up a little.
Until that day I will probably always wiew it as my problem child.

What I have in mind with regard to "trading up" would be to get an LP closer to the Holy Grail '59 specs. Single piece mahogany body, 50s neck, better bookmatching (or just go ebony finish and not worry about that bookmatching).

Did I mention she has ever so slightly ugly wood on top too? Just enough to remind me that I wasn't selective enough.

I'm a little hesitant to buy a Gibson with all the complaints about
Gibby quality control I read in this forum. (I really need to leave the house more often and surf the internet less).

It's going to come down to economics of seeing how much I can get for it vs. how much I need to put into it vs. how much a Gibby will cost.

I have another DeArmond guitar or two to sell also that might contrubute $200 each to the LP fund. In fact I have a sprawl of
DeArmond guitars that are destined for new homes. I bought them (at blow out prices) with the intent of trying out and comparing different pickups. Which I did. Ultimately I found they were a poor choice for that project because the brdige pickup is located in a different place than on a Gibby. It makes a world of difference to the resulting tone.

(Oh, I do actually love at least one guitar I own. No need to send a social worker in to place them in foster care.)

Your idea of bringing it along to A/B against a guitar in the store is a good one. I hadn't thought of that.

I think I can sum up my feelings about this LP in words that a lawyer can understand:

"It's probably cheaper to keep her."

If I keep her. I may get a Korean girl friend on the side.

Those young ladies that I am considering are:

Tokai, Agile and Epiphone Elite LP

That would be you

Getting bent out of shape over the relative merits of an Epiphone Les
Paul is a concentric circle of hell.

Gibson has brilliantly been able pass down their price premium from the Gibsons to the Epiphones. I'm not saying that Epiphones suck. I'm just saying that they have a line of bullshit preceding them. The bullshit is centered heavily around the Les Paul endorsement. It creates the illusion that they are the same darned guitars with different headstocks.

At one extreme you have to ask yourself why you would pay $500 for an
Epi whe another brands copy would be $300. At the other extreme the
Elite Standard Plus Epiphones go for $1049. Isn't that what a Gibson
Les Paul should really sell for?

A Gibson Les Paul Standard goes for $1900. That's a lot of money but if I am blowing $1049 for a solid body guitar I am going to be asking myself why I am not getting the darned Gibson for $1900.

Paying a premium for the Gibson brand name is one thing, but it really pisses me off to think that I will be paying a premium for the
Epiphone brand name.

I'm not saying it won't ever happen, but when I buy an Epiphone I'll be pissed about that proxy Gibson premium.

Rinse, wash, repeat.