This is the Epiphone Les Paul Custom, with gold hardware, and it’s my current “dream” guitar. You might think that I’d set my sights higher – at $799, I already own several more expensive guitars, including two lower end Gibson Les Pauls (from the Tribute series.) But no… this is the guitar I am currently saving up for… about $125 per month at a time.
When I mentioned this in a few comment threads online, people immediately chimed in to tell me that there were better guitars for just a little more money. This is one of the amusing things about the Internet – if you express your opinion, or your desires, someone will be there to assure you that you’re wrong. And in most cases, you didn’t actually “ask” for anyone’s opinions. I’ve maybe done this to people myself, and if I have, I need to stop.
You might be thinking that I’m wrong to want this guitar. But this isn’t based on logic. Let me tell you what it’s based on. One, there was a black Les Paul copy in a local music store when I was a teenager and I couldn’t afford it. Two, I saw a picture of Elliot Easton of The Cars playing a black Gibson Les Paul and it looked so cool. And three, I saw a picture of Al Di Meola playing a black Gibson Les Paul Custom and he looked incredibly cool.
The black Les Paul represented what I wanted but couldn’t afford. To be fair, I also wanted a tobacco burst Les Paul and a regular “orange to yellow” Les Paul, because those are the two Les Pauls that Ace Frehley played when I was 13 and loved KISS. I have two Epiphone Les Pauls now – a tobacco burst, and an “orange to yellow” burst. Just like Ace Frehley, only I paid a hell of a lot less.
But I’m pushing 60, and I have like 20 guitars, and the black Les Paul Custom is the one guitar I wish I had in my collection. It’s an iconic work of art to me. Would I rather have the Gibson version? No. I’m not just saying that – the Gibson version is $6,000. If you gave me $6,000, I’d buy the Epiphone, and then I’d spend the rest on a cool amp and a few synths. The Gibson is a better guitar, but I’m not convinced that it’s even twice as good, let alone 10 times as good. My math is a bit off, but you get the point.
Why not just get a cheaper black Epiphone Les Paul? Because of the headstock. Those iconic diamond like inlays. It doesn’t bother me that it says Epiphone instead of Gibson. But it’s got to have those iconic inlays. Why not get a Chibson, then?
I will tell you why – I have some class. I don’t need fake friends, and I don’t need a fake Gibson Les Paul. I have two real ones. I want the look and the sound, and the Epiphone is pretty close to both. Especially the look. The white binding on black, the ebony fretboard, the gold hardware, iconic inlays… it’s all there. And it’ll hang on my wall like the piece of art that it is when I’m not playing it.
