2012 Epiphone Les Paul Special II Jack Daniels Electric Guitar

Ah, marketing. This is simply a cheap Epiphone LP Special II adorned with a big Jack Daniels sticker on its front. Like other bottom-rung Epihpone LP models, my first thought is: "how do they make something like this so cheap?" Once you actually go to the trouble of giving one of these a proper setup, they play well and sound pretty dang good. These are like a $200 guitar new.

Fittings are of course on the low-end -- no fancy plating on any of the hardware, the bridge placement could've been a bit better from the factory, and the tuners are not the best by anyone's measure -- but the neck is comfortable and a respectable imitation of Gibson feel. It's slim-to-medium-D in shape and with something like a 10-12" board radius. Pickups are ceramic-magnet humbuckers that are wound a bit too stiff for my taste -- great for heavier rock but you have to drop them fairly far from the strings or plug into your "low" amp input to get them to clean-up nicely. That's par for the course, though, as most anyone rocking this guitar is probably after some sort of dirty grind and grunt anyhow.

This came to me in trade and while it shows average wear and tear throughout (small scratching and a few tiny bumps here and there), it's in good order and has a fresh setup and strings.

Repairs included: a setup, cleaning, new strings, and a replacement switch tip.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly with low 1/16" action overall at the 12th fret, a straight neck, and a working truss rod. It had barely any playwear to the frets so they're essentially new and good to go. Strings are 46w-10 gauges.

Scale length: 24 3/4"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2"

Body length: 17 1/8"

Lower bout width: 13"

Waist width: 7 1/4"

Upper bout width: 9 1/4"

Side depth at endpin: 1 1/2"

Body wood: unknown

Neck wood: mahogany-like

Fretboard: rosewood family

Bridge: adjustable TOM-style

Neck feel: slim-to-medium D-shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: there are small scratches and usewear throughout but none is stand-out wear. Some of the hardware is beginning to get a little wear to the plating but all is in good order.