Get Zakk's Guitar at a Bargain Price--With Bargain Construction
Written: Aug 19 '04 (Updated May 26 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice chunky sound, good action, great looks
Cons: Construction is a little sloppy and this won't hold its value.
The Bottom Line: The Zakk Wylde model delivers a heavy Zakk-like metalhead sound and looks extremely cool. There are construction issues and this is NOT a collector's item.
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| buffoonery's Full Review: Epiphone Les Paul Zakk Wylde Sig LP Electric Guita... |
Epiphone’s Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom is a moderately-priced, made in Korea substitute for the more-expensive Gibson model that delivers good value for the money with some caveats about construction quality. If you’re looking for a LP that delivers major low end chunk with enough screaming highs to melt the audience’s face and won’t force you to sell your car to pay for it, look no farther. Do NOT buy this if you are looking for a high quality Les Paul. You won’t get it.
Note: this review was moved from the Epiphone Les Paul Custom now that category lead Sparkospunky was able to get this category open. Thanks, Sparky!.
When I test drove my pal’s Zakk model, the most obvious thing about it is, not surprisingly, the bullseye finish, which combines a an antique white with a nice black contrast. The circles are very well done. The bullseye is centered on the neck pick up and, if you like this sort of thing, looks pretty cool. (The story behind the bullseye is this: when Zakk first started playing for Ozzy, he was playing an alpine white Les Paul, just like the late Randy Rhoads. Bad idea. Fans started throwing beer bottles at him, thinking he was ripping Randy’s image off. So Zakk had the bullseye painted on, with the result—as he put it—that it made it easier for the kids to hit him.)
Info:
Scale: 24.75”
Hardware: Gold
Tuners: Grover
Nut width: 1.68”
Neck: Hard maple, set
Inlays: Pearl block
Body: Mahogany
Bridge: Tune-o-Matic
Tailpiece: Stop bar
Pickups: 2 EMG HZ H4 humbuckers (the Gibsons are and EMG-81 and EMG-85)
Three-way switch
Controls: two volume, two tone
The reverse of the headstock has a little silhouette of Zakk and his guitar. The front has a little plate saying “Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom”. The body underside has two screw-off plates for access to the volume controls and three-way switch.
As befitting a moderately priced Korean guitar, the construction on this guitar isn’t perfect. The nut was not flawlessly set. The headstock finish wasn’t symmetrical. The connection between the neck and body showed a small but visible gap. There are very small (you have to look for them) paint imperfections where the neck and body meet as well. No deal killers, and for the price, it’s what you would expect. But I wouldn’t buy it as a collector’s item or expect it to appreciate substantially in value, not with the real think lurking around at three times the price.
My friend has this detuned two half steps and reports that it holds a tuning very well.
One interesting thing about the ax is that the neck is unfinished, except for some sort of polyurethane coating. The result—besides the slightly “naked” feel—is a bit more speed up and down the neck.
Except for the sound, the guitar feels and plays like, well, a Les Paul. It feels slightly lighter than my own 1990 Custom (which is in storage right now, so I couldn’t directly compare the weights). The neck also feels a tad narrower and I found it a little easier to get my thumb over the top of the neck. It’s a typical LP for the most part, though, which means it’s heavy and hard to play high on the neck. (I have to admit that I still prefer Stratocasters).
Thanks to the EMG pickups, the sound is considerably chunkier than an LP with the standard Gibson humbuckers. The low-end is considerably pronounced with very nice overtones. Using only the neck pick up, you can also get a nice bluesy sound, while the neck pick up solo delivers some quality higher ends. But, in all, this a much heavier sound than the straight-ahead AC/DC “let’s crank up the Marshalls” noise you’re used to getting.
So play the thing a lot before you shell out the dough. Make sure that the unfinished neck is to your liking. And make sure that you like the tone. This guitar is really suitable for Zakk-type music, fuzzy and chunky. Don’t play “Stairway” on it. As a matter of fact, don’t play “Stairway” at all, it’s elevator music now.
In summary, the Epiphone Zakk Wylde is a very nicely priced, heavy sounding Les. You should be able to pick this up for something between $600 and $800 at the big box stores or on the Internet, if you look hard enough. Minor construction quibbles aside, it’s a well-made guitar and a bargain compared to its much more expensive Gibson big brother.
Please note: The Epi Les Pauls are instruments that has come in for some heavy criticism from some other epinionators who know what they are talking about. So let me make one more caution: if you are concerned about the construction quality of this guitar, and many people are, save up your dough and buy a more expensive model.
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Michael Ross – Getting Great Guitar Sounds: A Non-Technical Approach to Shaping Your Personal Sound
Nick Freeth – Classic Guitars: Identification and Price Guide
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