Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II Guitar Review

Epiphone, a daughter company of the Gibson guitar corporation, usually sticks to exact copies of Gibson makes of instruments. Although they are generally known to be well made, Epiphone is definitely not considered to be an innovator in the guitar making world. Well, with the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II, they are clearly trying to break that mold. By hybridizing the classic Les Paul with some very unique electronics, Epiphone may have changed their reputation. Let's take a look at what exactly the Les Paul Ultra-II has to offer.

Features: The body of the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II is made of mahogany. As one of its hybrid design features, certain parts of it are "chambered", or hollowed out. The top of the guitar is quilted maple, giving it the look of a genuine Gibson Les Paul. The neck is set into the body, and has a tapered satin finish. The fretboard is made of rosewood, and has 22 medium-jumbo frets with trapezoidal pearl inlays. This is all standard of high quality Les Pauls, but what really sets the Utra-II apart is its electronics. It has an Alnico Classic humbucker at the neck position, another Alnico Classic at the bridge position, and an extremely thin third acoustic pickup called a NanoMAG mounted between the neck pickup and the neck itself. The controls on the LP Ultra-II were adjusted a bit to offer complete control over its extremely wide range of tones. It has three volume knobs, one for each pickup, and one master tone control knob. Also, there is a three way selector switch that controls the two humbuckers. To switch to the third acoustic pickup, there are two input jacks. One connects to the humbuckers, and the other to the NanoMAG. The controls for the third pickup are on the back of the guitar and have bass, treble, and gain options.

Playability: The Epiphone Les Paul Ultra II, despite its many additional features, plays like a typical Les Paul. Its smooth tapered neck allows for fast fingers, and its lighter body weight make it a little less cumbersome to play. The only drawback is that it takes some adjustment to get a handle on the differently designed controls.

Sound: This category is where the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II really shines. Its' two Alnico humbuckers deliver a classic Gibson crunch, and perform well on clean tones. And the NanoMAG acoustic pickup, along with chambered body, creates an extremely wide opportunity for sounds that Les Pauls normally just don't make.

Overall: The Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II is, simply put, a jack of all trades. It plays wonderfully, looks great, and delivers an amazing number of possible tones. So, if you are looking for a high quality instrument that can play virtually every style of music nearly perfectly, this is the instrument for you. You can find the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II in stores for about $800.