I recently played the Slash model Epiphone Les Paul Rosso Corsa, because I wanted to see if it’s worth the $900 that it’s selling for. The short answer is no. Why do I say that? Thanks for asking. Here’s a mini-review, based on me sitting down and playing it.
The Good
This guitar looks fantastic. It looks like an expensive Gibson Les Paul. This guitar sounds great, due to the Seymour Duncan Slash pickups in it. Here’s where someone could have a holy war about this guitar vs. the Gibson version, with the exact same pickups, and the differences in the sound between them. I don’t much care, because they’re both overpriced. I will say this – those pickups sound great if you want a classic rock snarl. I loved them. So this guitar looks and sounds great. What else is there?
The Bad
Playability. This guitar plays like an Epiphone Les Paul. I say that because I own an Epiphone Les Paul, and for its day it was a good one – the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus. The Slash model felt pretty much like mine. Meaning it was satisfactory. You can walk into almost any Guitar Center and find a used Epiphone Les Paul for $300. It will play about as well as this one, assuming it’s set up correctly. There’s nothing wrong with the neck on this guitar – it was straight, the frets were leveled, the fretwork was great. But the overall experience of having the neck in your left hand is somewhat lacking. I have studied this – why do Gibson Les Paul necks feel better to me than their Epiphone copies? I am not sure. But they do. It’s not psychological. Actually you can tell a Gibson from an Epiphone by the fret ends. If they’re a little sharp, it’s a Gibson. LOL.
Anyway, as readers know, I mostly judge based on price. I’m telling you right now that this guitar, used and in mint condition, would be a great instrument for $500. If Epiphone put an honest price on it, it would be $699. Because it’s beautiful, and that’s worth something, and the pickups are great, and that’s worth something. So charging another two hundred bucks to put the “Slash” name on it is just an easy way to make cash.
The Ugly
This guitar is not worth $900.
Summary
If you bought one of these because you love how it looks and sounds, I can’t blame you. And you overpaid for it, but that’s not a huge deal. However, if you’re in the market for a great sounding, great playing Les Paul, don’t buy this. Find a good used Gibson Les Paul Studio. You have to search to get one for $900, but it can be done. You will end up with a guitar that sounds just as good and plays considerably better. Won’t look as good. But it’ll be a better instrument.
FOLLOW-UP (May 9, 2015)
Last weekend I went to Guitar Center. They had the guitar marked down $200, so it was $699. At that price, I bet someone buys it. Not me, of course. It looks beautiful, but it plays like an Epiphone, not a Gibson.
