Back in issue 373 we took a look at the rather fine Gibson USA Kirk Hammett ‘Greeny’. Easily one of the most debated and discussed guitars of 2023, it’s quite a piece, except it costs just shy of three grand. But just as we were writing that review, Kirk Hammett let slip that there was going to be an Epiphone version and here it is! It might not be a cheap date but at half the price of that Gibson USA guitar, is it only half as good? No. It’s much better than that.
Classed as an ‘Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop’ model –like the current ’58 Vand Explorer, the ’59 Les Paul Standard and ’61 SG Standard –the new Epi Greeny lacks the battle scars of the real thing, or the cost-a-lot Gibson Custom versions, but headstock logo aside, it does a pretty good impersonation of the USA model.
Our sample is actually lighter: a very good weight at 8.6lbs if such things bother you and all the key details are here: the same Greenybucker covered humbuckers –the neck reverse mounted with its flipped magnet polarity –and those mis-matched control knobs, added originally by post Peter Green owner, Gary Moore. We don’t get the rosewood fingerboard of the USA model. Here it’s Indian laurel, but quite striped and reasonably deep in colour nonetheless. The neck shape is spec’d as ‘custom Greeny profile’ and dimensionally it’s bigger in depth than the USA model with a full-feeling deep Cshape. Nice.
As we’ve seen with quite a few of Epiphone’s recent flagship models we get a smattering of other USA-style features too. Along with that pukka pickup set the control circuit uses CTS pots, wired ’50s-style, with a pair of Mallory capacitors rated at .022 microfarads.
ONE OF THE BEST SOUNDING EPIPHONE LES PAULS EVER
Okay, the lightly flamed maple top is aAAA veneer over the maple cap but we do get a satin finish –presumably a polyester or urethane, rather than the satin nitro finish of the USA models –that’s a little matt over the light golden maple top but smoother and slightly burnished over the two-piece centre-joined, brow-stained mahogany back and one-piece neck. It’s nothing like the thick, over-glossed finishes of so many Eastern builds.
Even if you have zero interest in Peter Green, Gary Moore or Kirk Hammett, there’s plenty here to enjoy. Yes, it’s another Burstinspired repro, but it’s the girthsome pickups that, in the world of original PAFs, are pretty pokey and, seriously, if you can’t coax some archetypal classic rock Les Paul tones out of this thing you might need to question your other gear and your technique. But it’s also far from a one-trick pony: use the volumes to pull back the bluster and things clean up beautifully while the interactive tone controls –which, wired like this, take a bit of getting used to –do a lot more than just round off your sound.