a year ago, I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Zakk Wylde for 285 USD.
I picked it up for 2 reasons: 1 Jumbo Frets and longer than usual neck and 2 the so called maple unfinished neck.
Before to buy this guitar I tried 5 different Zakk Wylde Les Pauls, among which one Zakk Wylde plus. Finally I bought a Zakk Wylde with passive pickups and what the advertising says should be a rosewood fretboard.
When the guitar got to me the neck setting was very bad and the wood was still smelling of paint and glue. I played the guitar for almost a year and kept it with me inside and outside the house for some jamming.
I spent several hours trying to set the neck properly and to give her a nice playable action. Finally I did it and it started to play fine.
Anyway I was unsatisfied by the pickups sound and as I did not want to pay much money on a guitar that I bought just for practicing and that I thought should remain a low cost guitar, I bought a couple of Tesla Opus 1 pickups for 98 USD.
Finally I installed the pickups, I changed the caps with 2 Kemet .47UF polycaps and I rewired it using a couple of pots I asked as samples to one of mu chinese suppliers.
What came out I can definitively say, is a very nice playing guitar that I can ensure stands up to be compared to 1, 1.5K USD fine instruments.
I spent just more than 300 bucks.
Apart sharing my experience, I want to suggest to anyone who wants to get a good instruments without spending so much money, to get an Epiphone Zakk Wylde, perhaps trying few of them and to install in it a couple of Tesla Opus 1 pickups.
If You can bear the very ugly finishing and You do not care about the made in America made in China thing, for example if You already have one or more Gibson, so if You are already OK, go for an Epiphone Zakk Wylde with Tesla Opus 1 and You will get a very good instruments if You pay attention to what You do.
Bye
I picked it up for 2 reasons: 1 Jumbo Frets and longer than usual neck and 2 the so called maple unfinished neck.
Before to buy this guitar I tried 5 different Zakk Wylde Les Pauls, among which one Zakk Wylde plus. Finally I bought a Zakk Wylde with passive pickups and what the advertising says should be a rosewood fretboard.
When the guitar got to me the neck setting was very bad and the wood was still smelling of paint and glue. I played the guitar for almost a year and kept it with me inside and outside the house for some jamming.
I spent several hours trying to set the neck properly and to give her a nice playable action. Finally I did it and it started to play fine.
Anyway I was unsatisfied by the pickups sound and as I did not want to pay much money on a guitar that I bought just for practicing and that I thought should remain a low cost guitar, I bought a couple of Tesla Opus 1 pickups for 98 USD.
Finally I installed the pickups, I changed the caps with 2 Kemet .47UF polycaps and I rewired it using a couple of pots I asked as samples to one of mu chinese suppliers.
What came out I can definitively say, is a very nice playing guitar that I can ensure stands up to be compared to 1, 1.5K USD fine instruments.
I spent just more than 300 bucks.
Apart sharing my experience, I want to suggest to anyone who wants to get a good instruments without spending so much money, to get an Epiphone Zakk Wylde, perhaps trying few of them and to install in it a couple of Tesla Opus 1 pickups.
If You can bear the very ugly finishing and You do not care about the made in America made in China thing, for example if You already have one or more Gibson, so if You are already OK, go for an Epiphone Zakk Wylde with Tesla Opus 1 and You will get a very good instruments if You pay attention to what You do.
Bye
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