Burny, Orville, Greco Les Pauls...experiences?

[duesentrieb]

All Epis ( from 1998-2000) with "the real" open book headstock are made in Japan




, like the (later) Elitist (different headstock, MIJ)




before they moved the site completely to Korea and have the headstock which is like the actual.

Earlier Epis made in Korea in the 80s-late 90s have this:

 

[chumbucket]

There were also some Japanese Epiphone Elites that were not for export that also had the open book headstock. For the record, I had three EE LP's that were all very good and one of them was the best LP I've ever played and I've had at least a dozen. The poly finish didn't affect it one bit. It looked great with a cool wide flame top which was real, not photo and not veneer. It sounded great with the stock pickups too. One of biggest regrets was getting rid of it to be able to afford an nice anniversary gift for my wife.

All Epis ( from 1998-2000) with "the real" open book headstock are made in Japan




, like the (later) Elitist (different headstock, MIJ)




before they moved the site completely to Korea and have the headstock which is like the actual.

Earlier Epis made in Korea in the 80s-late 90s have this:

 

[Chris O]

No dice on my deal. It was okay, but needed some fretwork in a bad way, and had some significant cosmetic issues - and was on the high end of the price scale too. I would have probably bought it for about $550-600, but not $800. After getting the work done I would have needed to have done, I'd be pretty close to a real LP by then.

I'll keep looking...

 

[Scumback Speakers]

I've got four Orvilles (LP Junior, Explorer, an LP GT and Custom), and one Burny LP Std. All of mine got their pickups, pots & caps swapped, rewired, new tuners. Two needed a new nut, two needed fret dress/leveling.

For roughly 40% the cost of a new Gibson, if you are willing to put in the upgrades, they're a fine guitar, assuming you try them first to make sure there are on issues, although all of the ones I bought, I bought unplayed. Two of the Orvilles weren't keepers (SG and another LP) so I sold them, but I figured 5 out of 7 was a decent success ratio.

Hope that helps!

 

[Chris O]

You'd be hard pressed to find 5/7 Gibson Les Pauls that are keepers right now...

 

[Loudness250]

All Epis ( from 1998-2000) with "the real" open book headstock are made in Japan




, like the (later) Elitist (different headstock, MIJ)




before they moved the site completely to Korea and have the headstock which is like the actual.

Earlier Epis made in Korea in the 80s-late 90s have this:

Actually my headstock looks like the 3rd pic down, and from my understanding that is the slim taper open book headstock. The Japanese ones have the regular Gibson Headstock.Also the logo on mine is different from the 3rd pic down but the headstock shape is the same. I also was under the impression that this shape "slim taper", headstock was only used from 89' to 90'. Then it became the headstock they use now. You've obviously done your homework so I'm not trying to argue but I had come to these conclusions by doing my own homework about my guitar. In my opinion these korean early models are very good and it's more then just the headstock, Mine really sounds awesome and is a big old chunk of Mahogany, with great action. I'll post a pic of mine when I get it back.

 

[duesentrieb]

Actually my headstock looks like the 3rd pic down, and from my understanding that is the slim taper open book headstock. The Japanese ones have the regular Gibson Headstock.Also the logo on mine is different from the 3rd pic down but the headstock shape is the same. I also was under the impression that this shape "slim taper", headstock was only used from 89' to 90'. Then it became the headstock they use now. You've obviously done your homework so I'm not trying to argue but I had come to these conclusions by doing my own homework about my guitar. In my opinion these korean early models are very good and it's more then just the headstock, Mine really sounds awesome and is a big old chunk of Mahogany, with great action. I'll post a pic of mine when I get it back.

Sure, I just wanted to try to clarify by showing the headstocks, cause it is a bit confusing with Epiphone's history . . .