New Guitar Day: Replacement Les Paul

Back in 1998 I bought a Limited Edition Epiphone Les Paul in Quilt Blue.  It was only offered through Mars Music.  I think it was the second guitar I ever bought.  Unfortunately, I don't have that guitar anymore.  I always wanted to replace that guitar, but never really had a chance until now. 

It seems that Guitar Center and Musician's Friend commissioned a limited run of Blue Quilt Les Pauls.  I knew I had to have one, but a lot of things would have to happen at once.  The good news, is that, a bunch of things did happen for me to be able to acquire one.

The first thing was that particular model went on sale.  They knocked $80 right off the top.  I ended up trading a guitar and an amp to Guitar Center, along with a bit of cash to even it up.  The salesman, Al, who I've known since our Mars Music days together, was able to knock 10% off to even up the trade. 

Since they didn't have any of that model in the store, they ordered it straight from Epiphone HQ in Nashville, TN.  They had it shipped to Guitar Center pretty quickly, and I was able to pick it up just minutes after it was delivered.  Here's what it looks like:

I have to say, this guitar is much better than the one I bought in 1998.  Here's some of the improvements they made.

1.  They put Grover tuners on this guitar.  My old one had terrible overseas Kluson copies.  They couldn't hold tune worth a dang.

2.  The neck profile is very close to a 1960 Gibson Les Paul.  It's a bit flatter, and not bulky at all.  This may be one of the best neck profiles I've ever played.

3.  The hardware has been greatly improved.

4.  This new model has Epiphone's Probuckers.  My old guitar had generic Epiphone pickups.  They were actually pretty good for the time period, but nothing close to the Probuckers.  On my old guitar I replaced the pickups.  I don't think I will be replacing the Probuckers on this new one.

5.  The frets in the old one were made of some of the softest metal I've ever seen on a guitar.  It also needed a fret-dress in the worst way.  This new one doesn't have a dead spot on it.  I was able to set it up nice and low so it plays great. 

6.  This new one has coil splitting.  I don't use splitting that much, but it's there if I want to.

The only change I've made to this guitar, is that, I have added strap-locks.  I already had an awesome strap to match up with the blue color.  I feel I am going to have this guitar until I die.  It's like it was built just for me.