Epiphone Les Paul STD vs Vintage Icon V100 vs Vintage V100 (Goldtop P90's)

[C.Daniels]

Hi I play in two tunings. Half a step down (Eb) and standard. I got sick and tired of having to retune my Epiphone all the time so I want to buy another guitar that can be used in standard tuning.

My choices (the vintage guides are like les paul copies)

Another Epiphone Les Paul Standard $1299
Vintage Icon V100 $899 (humbuckers)
Vintage V100 $699 (is a goldtop and had p90s)

I wanna know has anyone played or owned a JHS Vintage Les Paul copy guitar? How are these guitars in terms of sound, playability and build quality compared to a Epiphone? Can anyone possibly make a YouTube video to show the differences? Tell me about your experiences with the vintage les paul guitars.

And if I decide to get a Vintage Les Paul which one should I get the one with humbuckers or P90s?

 

[JamesT]

What currency are those prices you are quoting? I can point you to some way better deals in US dollars which (looks like you are in New Zealand?) would still be cheaper than those numbers.

As for the comparison, I've never owned a Vintage so I can't comment on those but I have researched them quite a bit. They look like pretty decent little budget axes with some better than average appointments for the price range. I've also seen threads that the Quality Control is hit and miss. If you get a good one, you are set. If not, be prepared to do a little work to make it playable. There are a few Vintage clips on Youtube if you search for "Vintage V100". The JHS website has a few clips as well too. Just so you know, the "P90s" in the V100 aren't really accurate P90 replicas, they are a stacked coil. If you want authentic P90 tone, you might want to drop some new pickups in.

As for the P90 versus Humbucker discussion, it's really hard to say definitively which one to get without knowing what you want to sound like or what you play. I think the best features of the P90 (besides looks) are the ability to bridge that single coil to humbucker gap. You get a little bit of the best of both worlds in my opinion. If I could only own one guitar, I wouldn't mind the flexibility that a P90 affords.

I have an Epiphone and seriously, unless you are buying an MIJ Elitist, Epiphone pickups and electronics suck. The finish will be nicer than the V100 but for the price, you don't get the actual features you would expect IMHO.

Good luck with your decision! Let us know what you pick.

 

[C.Daniels]

Yea I'm in New Zealand. I've tried doing that before but you know I'd rather play the one at the shop than buying one offline. That way if something goes wrong I can take it back and refund it.

 

[melt]

I had a Epiphone Les Paul Standard (2008) and didn't like the muddy neck pickup and the dry rosewood fretboard.
I had a Vintage VR100 with the same pickups as the V100 Goldtop. I really liked those. The neck pickup is creamy but more open sounding than any humbucker I've had. The bridge pickup is thinner sounding than a humbucker and has lower output compared to the neck. It took some time to get used to that. But after a while I loved the sounds I could get out of that guitar. Very versatile.
I've never played the Goldtop version though. The VR100 has a poplar body, where's the V100GT is mahogany. Probably a slight difference in sound there.

The V100 sounds good too. The neck humbucker is a bit muddier than the soapbar p'up (W90) on the GT but not as muddy as on the Epiphone I had. The bridge is more powerful than the W90 and on this guitar the bridge have slightly more output than the neck.

I've had four different Vintage guitars (two LP's, one SG, one Strat) and all of them had nice fretboards (can't stand the dry ones)
The finish on them were just as good as on the Epiphone.

 

[C.Daniels]

Bump

 

[Fender92]

I prefer a good stock vintage v100 over a good stock epiphone les paul custom.
Been A/B testing the v100 and the Epi les paul custom for over 2 hours in the guitar shop.
Now i've got my v100 setup good with gibson 57 classics. I even prefer it over the cheaper gibsons, more definition and clarity in the sound.
Edit: plus 50s wiring:CTS 500k with TAD Pio caps

 

[Rev 48]

The Vintage Gold Top and Lemon Drop have different pups to the V100 abeit the Lemon Drop has the out of phase middle position
They are fantastic they beat my Gibson Classic Antiques......
They are so full, rich and bright.......
I'd buy the Icon in a heartbeat