Blood Red: Finally, a Heavyweight in the Family

Dude,

I believe you know what I will be talking about: My Epiphone Les Paul Classic.

There was a new shop in the suburb I was staying. It didn’t last for a year, but it did have some interesting guitars.

One of the guitar that is close to my heart is a Les Paul. Clapton used it during his John Mayall days, Gary Moore used it, Randy Rhoads used a nice goldtop, Slash uses nothing else but Les Paul, Gary Rossington uses one, Zakk Wylde is an endorsee and of course, Eric Johnson used one during his Electromagnetic days.

Primarily, I am a blues player – with split personalities of jazz and metal – naturally, Les Paul is a must-have.

During that period, between 2006-2007, I was down in Singapore quite often for gigs. The Epiphone Les Paul Standard was retailed at quite a competitive price but once again, I have to be prudent in my spending (I didn’t earn a lot then, still don’t do today though…sigh…)

So, it was very welcoming having a new shop opened here. In my currency, the Les Paul Classic was quite affordable.

I believe this particular model was a replica of some 50s Les Paul, and it’s one of the model that was authorized by Gibson. Now, the guitar is very different from its Standard counterparts. One thing is that the Classic is chunky (big, huge, big boned, fat, etc). No joke, compared to the Standard, this is the Eric Cartman of the gang. The fingerboard is wide as well.

I eventually settled for it because of affordability. It’s a Les Paul and it’s a classic “reissue” of the real thing from the 1950s. Once again, no complain.

You know why I call it blood red. Bad accident when I took the case back to exchange for a bag because the headstock is longer than a Gibson. I will gladly leave that part out. Pretty dumb incident though. Point to note, part of the fingerboard has my blood smeared on it…..

I will also gladly forget the incident on the night before GBOB. The LP dropped and the neck snapped almost into two. Got it repaired obviously, and I thought it sounded better after that incident. Maybe I am just consoling myself…..

How did the guitar fared then?

The most noticeable feature of this guitar is its weight. It is heavy. But the wood resonates well. So, this guitar is best played sitting down (although I remember the solo to My Time was done staying up…..). Maybe that is what made the guitar sound so full.

With the name Les Paul Classic, it has indeed, a classic tone. The original tone was (fortunately) captured on your song My Time. The tone with stock pickups was rather subtle and responded well to mild overdrive. Unfortunately, it starts to break if pushed to higher gain distortion. I eventually replaced the pickups with a pair of Seymour Duncans – ‘59 for the neck and JB of the bridge.

This “improved” version was used to record solo to Lifeline (is that the right title?). I was quite happy with the tone and at this moment, I have one blues/southern rock instrumental ready for it to unleash its full potential.

The guitar has a rebellious and ballsy vibe in it. When you hold it you feel powerful. There is some appealing about a Les Paul that makes you want a second one. I want a black Les Paul custom next. An Epiphone will do just fine.

I am currently using this guitar for slow blues, blues rock and metal (although I still can’t play a proper metal style….). It is responsive to playing dynamics and with the wide fingerboard, you can bend strings all up to the gates of heaven.

Every guitarist should have one (God should have 3 or more) Les Paul in their arsenal.

All you folks with Les Paul, select which pickup you want to play on and turn the volume of the other one to zero. Pick a note and switch your toggle switch back and forth. You can do that with a Strat as well. Thanks to Randy Rhoads and Jimi Hendrix for this technique.

Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads Tribute, Crazy Train, 0:20 – 0:22

Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland, ,Voodoo Child (Slight Return), 0:43 – 0:46 (he used the above technique to emulate this part live)