Looking for that Les Paul vibe, but you don’t have much of a budget? Epiphone’s Les Paul Special II may be just what you’re looking for. It’s a great combination of many of the features that have made the Les Paul an iconic guitar, all while providing exceptional bang for the buck.
All it takes is a single look at the Les Paul Special II to know that you’re dealing with one of the most classic guitar designs of all time. The single cutaway body is made out of mahogany, and it features a flamed maple top which gives a striking look. It may not be carved like some of the more expensive Les Paul models on the market, but some concessions do have to be made to get things down to this price point. Bonus points for the three attractive finish options, though…
The slim profile neck (also made from mahogany) feels silky smooth, and it’s topped off with a true rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. Fret markers are single dot inlays as compared to other models, but that’s really a very minor detail.
Admittedly, the hardware on the Les Paul Special II is a bit of departure from tradition, but that’s really not a bad thing. You still have two humbucking pickups with a three way pickup selector, but the difference is with the control knobs. Instead of individual volume and tone knobs for each pickup, there are single master knobs for each.
A Tune-O-Matic bridge is a staple of the Les Paul line (along with a stopbar tailpiece), and the Special II is no exception. Tuning machines are chrome plated, sealed, and smooth, but it may be inaccurate to say that they always stay in tune.
Budget guitar models have evolved greatly over the years, and the Les Paul Special II is really an impressive instrument for being at this range within the market. Playbility can be tweaked to be spot on; you may have to get a professional setup done, but the same could be said with many models that cost much more.
And the sound? For a guitar that has a street price under $300, you’d think that you were hearing a much higher end model if you didn’t know any better. The stock pickups can easily get you from warm clean tones to outright nastiness with ease. The Special II is definitely versatile enough to pull off almost any genre that floats your boat.
Looking at the overall package, the Epiphone Les Paul Special II is simply an excellent guitar at a price that would be hard to complain about. Solid construction, combined with an easy to play design with some potentially monster tones, make it a guitar that’s worthy to be in just about any guitar player’s collection.
