I've owned my Gibson Les Paul Modern Figured for about a year now. Here's my honest take on the specs, tone, pros and cons, and whether this modern Les Paul is worth buying new or used.
Read More about Gibson Les Paul Modern Figured Review: One Year LaterEpiphone Les Paul quality has changed a lot since 2020. Here's what's actually different from a Gibson, and where the price gap stops making sense.
Read More about Buy an Epiphone Les Paul, Not a GibsonThis is a Gibson.com exclusive, meaning you're not going to find this one sitting in a store. It's only sold direct through Gibson's website, so a lot of people probably haven't even heard of it. Here is my Epiphone Les Paul Modern Custom review. Stainless frets, a 4A flame top, and T-Type PRO pickups for $799. Read about what is great and the couple catches.
Read More about Epiphone Les Paul Modern Custom Review: The Almost Perfect Les PaulNickel silver has been the standard fret material for decades. It is relatively soft, which makes it easy for techs to work on and gives it a traditional feel that generations of players grew up with. Stainless steel frets are much harder. That hardness is the source of basically every difference between the two, the tone, the feel, the durability, and the cost. Once you understand that stainless is simply a harder metal, the rest of the debate makes a lot more sense.
Read More about Stainless Steel Frets vs Nickel Silver: Which Should You Actually Buy?I've bought a lot of Epiphones at this point. Some have been great, some have needed to go straight back in the box they came in. So when I ordered the new Les Paul Futura Custom in Firestorm Shift, I wasn't expecting much beyond "hopefully this one doesn't have issues." What showed up genuinely surprised me, and I think it might be the best out of the box experience I've had from Epiphone yet.
Read More about Epiphone Finally Nailed It: Les Paul Futura Custom ReviewBuying new isn't a bad thing at all. No wear, no mystery history, no wondering how the previous owner treated it. This isn't about saying new is wrong. It's about going in with your eyes open so you can make the smartest decision for where you're at.
Read More about Stop Buying New Guitars Until You Read and Watch This
