A Little Love for the Les Paul Tribute Plus
After nearly a year, I’m still loving my Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. I‘ve played a number of gigs with it and it has proven itself absolutely reliable and roadworthy. It has really excelled in every situation – loud indoor gigs, scorchin hot outdoor summer gigs, and of course my everyday practice, both unplugged and amplified.
This model seems to be a diamond in the rough at Epiphone- a truly great collection of features, including the awesome Gibson ‘57 Classic pickups, for a very competitive price.
I’ve often wondered why I haven’t seen Epiphone really promoting this model as much as it deserves. Well today, I noticed that it’s currently featured on the front page of Epiphone’s website, as part of their 140 years (1873-2013) anniversary. There’s a nice write up with a few choice quotes from Les Paul, and some gorgeous pictures.
Maybe they’ve finally decided to seriously promote this gem of a guitar!
June 13, 2013 @ 10:05 am
I became interested in the Tribute Plus model a few months ago after reviewing the specs on the Epiphone’s various Les Paul models and noting that the TribPlus is one of the few affordable LPs that actually has a proper maple cap. The Gibson USA Classic 57 humbuckers were appealing too. My local Guitar Center just happened to have a used one in stock, in great condition, in vintage sunburst. I ended up buying it for $299.
I’ve been really happy with the TribPlus; it plays like a dream and has, as you say, been very reliable. The Grover locking tuners work really well, too. But I decided after a while that the Classic 57s weren’t doing it for me. I replaced them with Seymour Duncan APH-2 Slash zebra humbuckers (and replaced the pots with non-push-pull ones, since the Slash pickups don’t offer coil splitting, which I never used anyway). Now I think the guitar just about perfect.
The other model that tempted me was the Epiphone Ace Frehley signature LP, but that one was much more expensive (they didn’t have a used one) and I don’t really like the look of a triple-humbucker LP. It sounded great, though.
My recurrent GAS has been bugging me again, though. I’ve been listening to middle-period Beatles lately and now I want a natural blond Epiphone Casino for that “Taxman” sound…
June 13, 2013 @ 10:20 am
$299 is an outstanding score! That’s about the cost of the 57 Classic pickups alone 🙂
I’ve been happy with these 57’s, and I do occasionally use the series/parallel switching.
As for that Budokan… after my experiences with the Riviera P93, I’m steering clear of 3-pickup designs that rely on a 3-way selector. Too much trouble with the independent volume wiring. IIRC, the middle and neck pickups weren’t even wired up on Ace Frehley’s Budokan!
Yes, those Casino’s are beautiful. GAS is an ongoing problem for all of us 🙂 I’ve been really resisting the urge to add any more guitars. In fact, I’m trying to keep it simple, and stick to just my LP Tribute Plus on stage!
-John
November 8, 2013 @ 2:39 pm
Astounding! The one thing on this guitar that does not need “upgrading” is the pickups! What a shame that a classy and beautiful guitar like a Tribute Plus now has Slash zerbras in it. I guess we are all young once…
December 3, 2015 @ 6:34 am
gileto276 Dude, i have played giobsn, bc rich, robin,godin jackson,ibanez, and hagsrtoms. Gibson les pauls are great guitars, but cost way too much. Epiphone makes great les pauls for a lot less money. Mine is just as good quality wise as the giobsn i’ve played. It has a mellower sound, due to the hallowed body cavity, but it definitley gets a nice raunchy rock tone. Add to it the nano mag and you get a guitar that is more versatile and just as good as a giobsn for a beeter price. That’s good.