1997 Epiphone (Korea) Les Paul Special Rubber-Bridge Electric Guitar

UPDATE: December 2025: This is back in the shack and ready to go! I just used this on almost every track of a new album and have a couple more hanging around for my own use, so it deserves a new home.

Overview: This is a completely unremarkable, mass-market, student-grade Epiphone electric from the '90s (I used to see these everywhere but they're superseded by the Indonesian and now Chinese versions of the same) save for the fact that I stuck a new bridge with a rubber saddle on it. It's transformed a boring but practical guitar into a nice studio/recording tool. I even like the color, cheeseball though it may be. The neck is also nice, if you like a '50s Gibson-ish sort-of profile and the fuller "shoulders" that go into that feel.

Repairs included: I swapped the tuners to better ones and made and installed the rubber-bridge baseplate and rubber topper. I then just needed to set it up. The frets are in good order so I left them as-is. It's playing spot-on and has not drifted at all since I originally worked on this back in July.

• Weight: 7 lbs 5 oz
• Scale length: 24 3/4"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: medium C-D fuller shoulders
• Board radius: 12"
• Depth at first fret: 55/64"
• Depth at seventh fret: 29/32"
• Body width: 13"
• Body depth: 1 1/2"
• Body wood: unknown
• Bridge: aluminum-base/rubber saddle
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: likely mahogany or similar
• Pickups: 2x humbucker
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 46w-10
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-wider

Condition notes: It shows a bit of light to medium use (light scratching/scuffs) here and there throughout the finish. When it arrived, it looked good except for a completely filthy fretboard. That took a good 30 minutes to scrub off! The tuners are replacements and the bridge is modified. Suffice to say, it looks ship-shape now, has a good feel, and a relaxed look about it.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: JW