Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro Review

This is a reader requested review.

Fredrico writes:

Can you please review the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro (Plus Top)? I would love to know your opinion about that guitar 🙂

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro (shown above in Honey Burst, although you will see from the link it is also available in other colors) is a guitar I give the award for unnecessarily and stupidly long model name, as it is SEVEN WORDS LONG. Not even Squier was dumb enough to do that, although they got real close with six words, Squier Black and Chrome Stratocaster HSS.

I also give Epiphone the award for stupidly made-up word in a model name, "PlusTop". Yes, that is how Epiphone spells it and not as the two separate words "plus" and "top" like it should be.

What does PLUS mean in an Epiphone model?

"Better" wood. Usually a fancy looking veneer for the body top.

What does PRO mean in an Epiphone model?

"Better" electronics. Usually the addition of coil-splitting for Telecaster-like tones on a guitar that features two humbuckers.

How can this be a STANDARD when it's both PLUS and PRO?

Answer: Epiphone logic. This is a Standard yet not a Standard because of the extra stuff in it but called a Standard anyway.

Yes, this means the model name of the guitar directly contradicts itself.

Epiphone, has anyone ever said that you really suck with model names? If not, let me be the first. YOU SUCK WITH MODEL NAMES.

Is this guitar good?

Yes, however, this is really, really close to the price of a Mexico-made Fender Standard Stratocaster, and that's... not good. You're paying a lot of cash here for a Les Paul copy. Yes, it is Epiphone, and Epiphone is fully licensed to copy Gibson Les Paul design by Gibson themselves, but at the end of the day, this is still a copy of a Les Paul.

But is it a good guitar?

Yes. It does have the SlimTaper "fast" neck. It does have the upscale pearloid trapezoid inlays on the fingerboard. The pickups are ProBuckers (Epiphone branded, not Gibson.) The tuners are premium Grovers.

As far as how it looks, yes it hits all the right marks.

As far as how it sounds, yes it also hits all the right marks.

But that price... just sucks. And bear in mind the price doesn't even include a case or a gig bag. Yeah.

If the price of this guitar was in the high $400s, I'd say go for it. But at the price it sells for, sorry, no. I can't recommend buying this.

You simply get way more for the money with an Epiphone G-400 PRO. True, it's an SG and not a Les Paul, but it is priced correct for what it is.

(Would you like to request a review? Email me.)

Published 2016 Jan 25