Well, they're EMG pickups so if you don't know what to expect you're getting ACTIVE pickups that are the closest thing to making your guitar into a flamethrower that you can get and still be legal! There's a reason that so many metalheads choose EMG's. They have a very tight focused mid-range and a pristine clear sound. When you add the gain it makes the sound very tight and articulate with plenty of upper harmonics coming through. Some folks claim that you can't get a good clean sound from them. Well, you can IF you roll off the volume a bit. It may not be a glassy rich Strat sound but it's more than adequate for those occassional clean passages. The HEAVY body weight of this guitar (all mahogany wit a maple top) certainly adds to the sustain. The maple top and ebony fretboard (both very dense tone woods)add to the crispness of the sound.

Features? Let's see...EMG's, hand stained quilted maple top, ebony fretboard, graphite nut, strap locks, speed taper neck with satin finish, and binding on EVERYTHING! Some people lament the single volume and tone pots, but that's no biggie for me. It's been my experience that 90% of players just dime everything anyways, so what's the point of having two extra knobs to get in the way of things? Unless, of course, you suffer from knob envy.

It's pretty easy to get a good sound out of this guitar. Of course an awful lot depends on your amp and pedals too. Don't expect to plug this into a five watt no-name amp with a six inch speaker and hear the gates of doom. The graphite nut and Grover tuners keep tuning incredibly stable. Access to the full 24 frets is somewhat limited due to the inherent Les Paul body design. The speed taper neck is a thing of beauty. Not quite as thin as an Ibanez Wizard II neck, but certainly thinner than any other Les Paul neck. And the satin finish on the back makes getting around very easy.

It's not a Gibson! A Gibson LP is all hand made and finished in lacquer, a process that takes up to two weeks (thus the very high price tag). So making that comparison is like comparing apples and oranges. This one's made in China in Epiphone's new state-of-the-art facility. Probably CNC'ed for the most part. That's not a bad thing! Consistency in quality is worth it. At one time Epiphone was contracting out their guitars to over thirty different manufacturers in Korea and it showed. Quality ran from above average to pitiful. Now it's well above average. Mine had no flaws whatsoever.

As far as value goes there are other guitars out there with similar specs for less money (Schecter, ESP, Ibanez), but none have ALL of the features that this one does for this price. After all this is a fairly unique guitar. It's closer to a Zakk Wylde LP than the actual EPI Zakk Wylde LP, and for the same price!

I've emailed Epiphone on several occassions with questions about cases ans such and they've always responded within 24 hours.

While this guitar certainly doesn't break any new ground with it's traditional Les Paul shape it's the features that make this guitar so appealing to me. It certainly is a looker with it's ominous dark finish offset by the white binding. And the inlays on the fretboard and headstock say "This ain't your Grandpa's Les Paul". The pickups are outstanding. The 24 fret ebony fretboard with the slim neck make it a dream to play.

Hobbyist

Metal

The sound is just perfect, for me anyway. I play lots of fast, heavy, low-end metal and this guitar by Epiphone is amazing for what I do.

What is there not to like about the looks on this thing. Its just beautiful. Excellent paint job and awesome one-of-a-kind inlays, Epiphone really did it right with this one.

Usually a Gibson/Epiphone product is a little bit tougher to play as fast as you would like to. With the Prophecy it almost feels like your scaling the neck on a ESP, which are known for their incredibly fast playabilty.

Its close to perfect, but its not a Gibson and the balance is slightly off. Still very good and I have no complaints.

The value is really what makes this guitar so great. You get the EMG 81/85 set, grover locking tuners, extra jumbo frets, and one sexy looking guitar. For what i paid for this guitar i could have bought something much worse and i'm very happy with this guitar and would recommend it to anyone, from beginner to experienced.

I haven't dealt with Gibson for any work. The only problem I had with the guitar when I bought it was when I went to put better strap locks on I was able to pull the screw right out without even turning a screw driver. Needless to say it upset me but I went back to Guitar Center where I purchased it and they fixed it right up.

Its very eye-catching. It cought me and im glad it did. The beauty of it is that when you play it after gazing at it for awhile, it plays just as good as it looks.

Hobbyist, Inspiring Musician

Hard rock, Metal, Hardcore

I love the EMG 81 & 85 pickup combination. They sound slightly compressed so you lose some of the expressiveness/picking dynamics you get with passive pickups, but overall they sound fantastic and are very versatile. They are active pickups so they are loud. You may want to back off on the volume control a bit if you want a clean mellow sound. Combined with the mahogany body and maple cap you get a really sweet Les Paul sound. The ebony fingerboard gives the notes a snappy percussive sound which I love. The notes are clear and defined even when put through a lot of effect pedals.

Features I like: EMG pickups, a beautiful "midnight ebony" finish with a white binding, gray abalone volume and tone knobs, 24 frets, an ebony fingerboard, cool looking fingerboard inlays, the satin finish on the back of the neck and a graphite nut. Features I didn't like: Didn't care for the straplocks. Switched them out for Schallers. I wish it came with locking tuners. And they could have thrown in a case of some sort.

I love Epiphone guitars but their quality control sucks. This is my fourth Epiphone and it's the third that I had to send back due to major scratches, blemishes or broken hardware. This one was the worst so far. The toggle switch was broken which caused the bridge pickup not to function. This could have happened during shipping, but I turn the guitar over and back of the body looked like it had been wiped down with an oily rag and the finish had been applied over it. On the neck hangs a signed inspection tag from the Epiphone factory, and I'm thinking "How in the world did this pass an inspection?" I was looking for a time stamp that said "4:59 - Friday afternoon."

Epiphone is discontinuing this guitar so I was eager to get one before they are sold out. They were able to match a cheaper price of another online retailer so I got a good price on it. It's a well made guitar so I would say it's a good value.

They were apologetic and courteous about sending a replacement but it wasn't as quick as their return policy states.

I usually steer away from black guitars because they show every smudge and fingerprint, but as for "sex appeal" this guitar is just bad to the bone. From a distance the body looks black, get up closer and it looks like a cloudy sky at midnight. The white binding is the perfect touch. Much nicer than the ugly "classic cream" colored binding you find on other Les Pauls.

active musician

rock

I love sound of this guitar, after it was set up. The bridge pickup is not quite what it should be though, regardless of what I do to it. I play everything from Skynard to Slayer and this guitar through my Hughes and Kettner will do it all very well. Could do the heavy stuff a bit better but cant b!tch since I am using no pedals/effects.

Cant get more for an $800 guitar, or even a $2000 guitar.

The set up from the factory sucks a$$! String buzz like crazy. This guitar is awsome but KNOW that it will need to be set up. After its done the action will be a little higher than you want fro shred, but it will just make better since you HAVE to BE better. 1 tone and 1 volume, dont need more than that.

For an Epi made in China, its great. The back side (who cares right) the laquer looks like it dried as soon as it was applied with a brush, on half of it, but not a hug deal. Mine also has 2 little dings in the headstock binding. Again not a huge deal but dang it, $800 is real money for me.

Yep, for 800 you are getting the equivlent to a 2000 guitar. Differences being where its made and thats it....

No idea, havent contacted em.

Oozes sex! Left the wife alone the day it showed up. She says Thank you Epi!

Picky hobbyist

all the above?

I have played many les pauls by epiphone and gibson. I have owned several actual sg's and an explorer,strats,kramers,ibanez's. I am completely excited about this guitar. I have always liked the action and look of the les pauls by epiphone. Every one that I have played however, had some pickup surgery, which is really from the style of music we play. This guitar is what I have been waiting for. It has the look,feel,sound and accessories I want.

If I purchased an actual les paul from Gibson, it would eventually be operated on to the specs this one comes with from factory.

It has sex appeal from looking bad azz!

active musician

Hard Rock,metal,blues

The sound this guiatr makes on distortion is awesome. The distortion insn't fantastic but is still good. its not crystel clean you get a few buzzes but if you play around with your amp for a while you can get a good sound

Emgs, 24frets, tone/volume control, strap locks. what else would you want, besides a floyd rose but thats not the point of a les paul

awsome quick neck very comfortable for sitting down, emgs take a bit of getting used to if you haven't used them b4

Perfect

Well worth the money awsome for any kind metal

?

just look at it its insane

In a band.

Metal