Up for sale, a 2001 Epiphone Les Paul Standard featuring a vibrant Cherry gloss finish and Gibson-style open-book headstock shape, complete with a hardshell case. Crafted in Japan at the Fujigen factory, this Epiphone was a result of a longstanding partnership between Gibson USA and their Japanese distributor, Yamano-Gakki.
Designed only to be sold within the Japanese domestic market, this uncommon Epiphone iteration of the classic Les Paul Standard platform features a solid maple top, mahogany body and neck with a long tenon joint, and a rosewood fretboard. Tonally, the low wind PAF-style humbuckers provide plenty of detail and clarity, with the sweet, singing sustain of the Les Paul design. The guitar is notably lightweight 8lbs 5oz with a clear, acoustic voice with good natural sustain. Professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar, this Epiphone is strung with 10-46 strings and dialed in for low action and accurate intonation.
The mahogany neck has a medium C-shaped profile carve, bordering on the slender side of things with moderate shoulder and an easy-playing feel, measuring .830" deep at the 1st fret and .940” at the 12th. The bound rosewood fretboard features pearloid block inlay and original medium jumbo fretwire. The frets have good meat, showing moderate, uniform wear beneath all strings on the crowns of frets 1-7, with fainter wear extending beneath the plain strings until fret 9, and virtually no wear further up the fretboard. The guitar plays cleanly in every register, and the neck is straight with a responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The guitar conforms to traditional Gibson spec with a 24 3/4" scale length and 1 11/16" wide nut. The headstock features Gibson's distinctive "open book" shape, something only offered on Japanese-made Epiphone instruments. Additionally, the original Gibson-branded truss rod cover is present, along with a set of Kluson-style tuners with lightly greened keystone buttons. There are very faint halos of larger washers for a different tuner set on the headstock face.
The electronics function as intended, with original humbuckers and untouched solder joints, and the long tenon neck joint is visible in the neck pickup cavity. Hardware includes the original nickel-plated ABR-1 bridge and stoptail which show just a dusting of surface patina, and plastics include cream pickup rings and a quartet of gold speed knobs. Cosmetic wear includes a few small finish chips adjacent to the strap button positions and on the top headstock edge, with some scattered minor nicks and light finish scratches on the body as a whole. The neck profile has a smooth gloss finish, with one ding on the bass side of the carve behind fret 7.
A black tolex hardshell case with gold plush interior is included.