Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1959 Les Paul Standard

Epiphone chases the flame of the world's most coveted electric guitar

- BY DAVE BURRLUCK

EARLIER IN THE year, Epiphone took the wraps off eight new Inspired by Gibson Custom models. These guitars are now called Reissues to differentiate them from the previous models; they also involve various upgrades that include a return to rosewood fingerboards, new Vintage Gloss finishes (which, Epiphone says, “are thin, allowing for more resonance and keeping a vintage lacquer-like look that more closely resembles a Gibson aged nitro finish”) and “vintage era-appropriate capacitors (Black Beauty, Bumblebee) to more accurately capture the Gibson ‘Golden Era’ tone.”

Right off the bat, if you haven't played an Epiphone Les Paul for a while, you're in for a surprise. First of all, it's made in a very similar fashion to, well, a Custom Shop Les Paul. Sure, the back is two-piece — not one — and that subtle tiger-strip figure is a AAA veneer over a plain maple top. The actual top carve might not be quite as deeply dished as the original, but it's very close to our current Gibson USA Les Paul Classic reference. With its long tenon extending under the neck pickup, the neck itself apes the real deal — one-piece mahogany with the correct “open book” headstock and a shallower back angle, something that might help, rather than hinder, the Les Paul's notorious Achilles heel.