i have some spare money and was thinking of buying an epiphone les paul and not that much money to buy a gibson les paul are they any good do they sound nice

Epiphones are overpriced for the quality of their instruments, which has declined in the past 10-15 years as price rose. Older Epiphones can be very good, but they vary as they were built by a variety of manufacturers - some of the best Epiphone Les Pauls were manufactured by Unsung, who now manufacture Agile's Les Pauls. I'm not sure if Unsung builds all of the Agile LPs, but Agile and other brands sold by rondomusic tend to have fairly good quality control, although they aren't always set up perfectly from the factory. I own a 1998 Epiphone Les Paul that was manufactured by Unsung (serial number begins with 'U') and it's better than a more recent Gibson SG in terms of quality, workmanship, and overall playability+sound.

Agile is your best bet for a LP-style guitar around $200-300
ESP's LTD EC-400/1000 is the best for a $500-800 LP-style guitar.

no just wanted to know i started playing not to long ago and just started taking lessons and my friend wants to play and he was looking at some at guitarcenter

If you are willing to spend upto $500, look at PRS Single Cuts. If you like the Les Paul look and feel, and want the quality too, PRS SC's are badassary. Look at this for instance



http://www.sheltonsguitars.com/2009/1-20-09/prs-singlecut-10-top-1-20-09.html

Beastly instruments, endorsed by people like Carlos Santana and Mark Tremonti. Stylish, excellent playability and feel.



ESP and LTD are also awesome - but I would NEVER recommend any of the Viper series. They just look like Spastic SG's xDD

This post was edited by bob(Cs2) on Jul 19 2012 02:50am

Up to $500? I thought the PRS SE series started above $500, and those have cheap hardware on them like most entry-level guitars. They don't use the same hardware when you go a step or two up from there. The PRS guitars that are around $600 have similar hardware to the Agile LPs that are around $250, and they're similar to the LTDs that are half their price. In my experience with PRS guitars, they are really overpriced and their mass produced stuff (especially the last 10-15 years) is not very nice.

I disagree on the quality side of it, PRS feels great to play, but not at entry level. I want one with the Dove inlays, but as you pointed out, they start at $500 and go for higher.

Regarding the prices of PRS, GAK.com for instance keep having sales and reducing stuff to what I consider dirt cheap (compared to the prices 5 years ago). The most impressive deals are for Fender though. Genuine USA Made Fender Strats for £350 inc Gigbag?? Insanity I tell you.

OP - In summary, there is nothing wrong with Epiphones - but there is better out there.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/prs-se-singlecut-vintage-natural/40123 <--- There's a standard PRS Single Cut @ £450

This post was edited by bob(Cs2) on Jul 20 2012 02:24am