Open Box Epiphone Les Paul Special Electric Guitar Level 1 TV Yellow

I held off buying this until June 2025, because I was unsure about the P-90s sound, and the potential noise they might produce. The pickups are no noisier than my Strat or Tele. It's a REALLY good guitar, played great right out of the box, and really doesn't need any mods. The only change I made was a personal preference — I lowered the bridge a bit. Considering that it has that less adjustable compensated bridge, I was pleasantly surprised how spot-on the intonation is, all the way up and down the neck, even after adjusting the bridge height and replacing the stock strings with a slightly lower gauge set (9.5 to .44 D'Addadrio XLs). The fit and finish is flawless on mine. I did find the neck a little chunky; it's not my preferred neck profile, but it's still comfortable to play. And the fact that I got this NEW for under $500 at Guitar Center in Brooklyn is quite astounding for a guitar of this quality.

Obviously needed a professional setup straight out of the box, the action was quite high and the electronics were a bit dirty. Other than that, I love the sound, it's an amazing guitar that i'll be holding onto forever and probably passing on to my son.

The neck is a little chunky, but that's fine if you have big hands

I just picked up a used one of these yesterday. The reason I'm writing a review on the new ones is simple, any of the little issues you may run into can be corrected. My example is easily the best Epiphone I have ever played. It's resonant, stays in tune, plays exceptionally and sounds rad through my rig. I play Gibson's and have a couple custom made guitars and this Epiphone holds up against them. I typically hate poly finishes but they figured out how to apply it thin and allow the guitar to breathe. The color is almost Gibson correct as well. I don't get it. I didn't want to like this thing. I was just noodling around at my local GC to kill time while the staff were getting my order together and it walked out with me. I didn't want to play a "nice" guitar because I didn't want to like what I was playing enough to think about buying it. Well, guess what? Not all wood is created equal so there may be duds, but go buy one. Spend a little time setting it up and you'll thank me.

I love this guitar, it plays like a champ! Played great right out of the box. Nice fat neck and good electronics. The hardware holds up well and the tuners keep tune. It sounds good through my Vox AC30, Marshall Origin 50 and my Orange OR15. The only con (and it's not even that big a deal) is the color. It's more of a mustard than TV yellow. At one point I had thought about replacing the pickups with something different, but every time I play it, I never see the need. Epiphone did a good job on this model.

The folks at GC San Mateo set it up out of the box Thank you Plays great sounds clear and full