An 80's Korean Epi Les Paul walks into a bar ..

motorhead

ok, not really.

Fell into my lap, apparently an unclaimed relic in an office clear out.

Sporting 5 filthy rusted strings, one of which snapped when I went to tune it. And glue residue from old stickers.

It's missing a few chunks of paint, and two control knobs. And has a crack around one of the screw holes for the cavity cover. The pickguard is also off, but in the Samick branded gig bag. I prefer the junior look anyway.

Ordinarily, I'd have zero interest, but: it's got a nice setup: low action, big radius for the age, no buzz, is a nice light weight and seems pretty responsive acoustically. It's reasonably intonated and the tuners are crude but ok.

I haven't had a chance to plug it in so no clue if the electrics are working. All four pots are hanging loose but there's no sign of amateur soldering. 

Haven't bothered researching it, may well be several chunks of plywood and glue but if it shows any sign of life plugged in, I may adopt it as a rolling project.

Anyone else got one ?

Am I digging a hole for myself here ?

Funkfingers

Worst case scenario, you should be able to flip the Epiphone for more than it cost to acquire it.

strtdv

We need photos!

Svartmetall

...and its headstock falls off

Pete.R

€pi started making (set-neck) Les Pauls in 1989 at the Samick factory in Korea

http://epiphonewiki.org/index/Les_Paul_Standard.php

motorhead

Well it cost zero to acquire it, and it’s getting recycled strings to start so no risk of negative equity till I see what it sounds like at least.

This is a bolt-on neck so we’re not talking painstaking efforts at authenticity.

From my Googling of the serial number it seems the neck maybe has a join at the 3rd fret so the headstock might be hardier than an actual LP.

It’s red, I’ll see if I can get some pics up.

Funkfingers

If the neck is straight and the frets are not worn away, you could have a fun project on your hands.

It's never going to sound like a vintage Gibson - let alone a customised Harley-Benton! Tart it up with high output pickups. It ought to chug.

Pete.R

motorhead said:

Well it cost zero to acquire it, and it’s getting recycled strings to start so no risk of negative equity till I see what it sounds like at least.

This is a bolt-on neck so we’re not talking painstaking efforts at authenticity.

From my Googling of the serial number it seems the neck maybe has a join at the 3rd fret so the headstock might be hardier than an actual LP.

It’s red, I’ll see if I can get some pics up.

then it's one of those:

http://epiphonewiki.org/index/Les_Paul_1,_2_&_3.php

AK99

^ '85 to '88 you say.That was the good plywood era for those was it not..

Funkfingers

Pete.R said:

Epiphone Les_Paul 1, 2, 3

Uh-oh. Steinberger KB vibrato.

Kittyfrisk

Funkfingers said:

Pete.R said:

Epiphone Les_Paul 1, 2, 3

Uh-oh. Steinberger KB vibrato.

Fixable 

motorhead

No vibrato, thankfully. And the pickups look more traditional than the above.

According to the website below, the 9 digit serial number means it was made by Samick between 1988 and 1990.

For sure it’s most likely 10 offcuts of plywood and a kilo of wood glue but if it can be brought to life for a a small bit of money and effort then let’s see.

http://www.guitarnucleus.net/resources-serial-guitar-epiphone-import.html

Kittyfrisk

Take your time in sorting it out.
Not all 1980's Korean built Epiphones were made from plywood & glue

Pete.R

Kittyfrisk said:

Funkfingers said:

Pete.R said:

Epiphone Les_Paul 1, 2, 3

Uh-oh. Steinberger KB vibrato.

Fixable 

if you can get parts for it......

Kittyfrisk

Pete.R said:

Kittyfrisk said:

Funkfingers said:

Pete.R said:

Epiphone Les_Paul 1, 2, 3

Uh-oh. Steinberger KB vibrato.

Fixable 

if you can get parts for it......

That's why I said 'fixable'.

AK99

You're keeping us all in suspense here MH - c'mon man, this thread needs a pic. or 3.

Funkfingers

Kittyfrisk said:

Not all 1980s Korean built Epiphones were made from plywood & glue

That one has a plastic fingerboard. :-p

Kittyfrisk

^ Yep, just like some Gibson Les Paul Customs 

Funkfingers

Richlite? Firelighters, more like!

Kittyfrisk

Funkfingers said:

Richlite? Firelighters, more like!

Take it up with Mark Agnesi?

AK99

The bar-hopping Epiphone (posting for a friend..)