OK, bare with me on this review. I was so impressed with the 2 Epiphone IBG Custom Les Paul Customs I received, I contemplated getting this Custom Shop Epiphone '63 Custom as well. Put it in my cart at least 4 times over a month before finally placing the order. Couldn't wait for it to arrive. The day came when it got here, I opened the case and the first thing that struck me was how 'orange peeled' the dull finish looked. But I could live with that. It's going to be a workhorse in the dive bars I play so its going to get battle scarred. Everything else was stunning. The gold plating on the pickups and vibrato, etc... Took the guitar out of the case, took the factory paper off wherever it was and started to tune it up. Thought this guitar felt very light, even for an SG. Could not get it to tune at all. Then I noticed it: The first thing that came to mind was 'Hey Epiphone is really making them like Gibson'...the headstock was cracked at the nut. Just like a Gibson :-) It wasn't something that happened in transport, it had a feeble attempt at a repair because there was excessive glue at the cracked area and a piece of the wood was missing, not in the case. Yet the factory let it go out like that, AND a sticker on it claimed it was set up and inspected in the US. Must have been inspected on a Friday afternoon at 4:59pm...haha. Anyway, I called zZounds and got a really nice gentleman named Alex. Explained what was going on, and within 2 minutes I had a return label, RMA authorization… read more number and a FedEx tracking number to return it. Took it to a FedEx office only 2 minutes from me, and then called Alex to let him know it was on its way back. ( Alex was the greatest, by the way,) and within minutes a replacement guitar was shipped and on the way. It was here within 36 hours and again, I was leary based on the first guitar. Opening it, I saw a MUCH nicer finish, satin but smooth, well applied, and flawless...and NO CRACKED HEADSTOCK. It looked perfect. But how did it feel? First impression was that it was the heaviest SG style guitar I ever picked up. Plugged in, those Custombucker pickups sounded like what my dream guitar would sound like. Balance was perfect, no neck dive, the fit and finish were perfect. Intonation was spot on. Everything worked as it should and sounded fantastic. I can get an amazing array of tones from almost acoustic, to downright heavy crunch and everything in-between. I only needed to change the strings and set the action to where I like it, oil the fretboard and off we went. Played it for hours the first 2 days. I am impressed, and it's most definitely keeper. Glad I didn't 'sour' on it based on the first one. I want to add that it was NOT zZounds fault whatsoever. The box still had the factory seal on it when it arrived. Just a clunker that slipped through QC. Never had any Epiphone (or any other for that matter) arrive like the first one I described. But zZounds took care of it immediately, and Alex was just a fantastic guy to work with. He deserves a raise... Anyway, would I buy this guitar again? Most likely, if it was stolen or broken, but would I buy from zZounds again? Well, I purchased dozens and dozens of guitars, amps and gear from them over the years, and they know how to take care of their customers, so I'm a zZounds customer for life.

Musical Background:
Pro Musician ( How I make a living over the past 50 plus years)

Musical Style:
Blues, Funk, Classic Rock, Country, Oldies, yes, even disco. read less