Overview
Epiphone’s long friendship with innovator Les Paul dates back to the late 30s and early 40s when Les and fellow guitarists such as Charlie Christian and George Barnes were at the forefront of jazz guitar. Epi Stathopoulos and Les were good friends and Epi would let Les use the Epiphone factory on 14th Street in New York City at night after hours to experiment on guitar and pickup designs. This also was the era when Les, inspired by the stinging sustain heard in electric steel guitars, began dreaming of making a solidbody guitar. He built his first, the legendary “Log,” at the Epi factory in 1941. Over the years, Les continued to work closely with Epiphone luthiers, reviewing new product ideas and offering suggestions.
Now, the Epiphone Les Paul Tribute Plus honors Epiphone’s friendship with Les by combining his classic design features with legendary Epiphone quality and value with the added power of Gibson USA 57 Classic humbuckers. But this guitar is not just about recreating the “old”, it’s also about looking ahead, just as Les himself continued to do throughout his lifetime. Using 4-conductor pickup wiring, Epiphone has added two push/pull tone pots to allow for series/parallel pickup switching. The result is a Les Paul with all the standard sounds plus a huge palette of tonal possibilities at your fingertips. The Les Paul Tribute Plus also features Epiphone’s famous built-to-last hardware and electronics including a U.S. Switchcraft 3-way toggle, Mallory-150 tone capacitors, Epiphone StrapLocks, 16:1 ratio premium Grover locking tuners, and a premium hardshell case.
Body
The Epiphone Tribute Les Paul features a solid Mahogany back with a solid, carved hard Maple cap to create the ultimate combination of warmth and bite. The solid mahogany neck with a hand-fitted, glued-in joint extends well into the neck pickup cavity, creating maximum neck-to-body contact and acting almost like one continuous piece of wood. Combined with the Mahogany/Maple body, the result is a tribute to Les’ timeless guitar design with the sound that you can only get from a Les Paul. Color finishes include Black Cherry, Faded Cherry, Midnight Ebony, Midnight Sapphire, and Vintage Sunburst.
Electronics
Capturing all the power and nuances of the “Tribute’s” tonewoods is a pair of authentic Gibson USA 57 Classic humbucker pickups. With their “Patent Applied For” decal on the base plate, the 57 Classic and 57 Classic Plus are faithful replicas of the famous PAF Gibson humbuckers created by Seth Lover that helped define the “Les Paul” sound. The 57 Classic gives you a tone that is warm and subtle with full, even response that doesn’t hold back when you need that classic Gibson humbucker crunch! The 57 Classic Plus is the perfect bridge pickup and mimics humbuckers from the late 50s that often received a few extra turns of wire. This treatment gives the pickup a slightly higher output without sacrificing its rich, vintage tone. When combined, these humbuckers overdrive tube preamps to a smooth level of saturation without becoming overpowering. Both 57s Classic humbuckers feature Gibson’s special Alnico II magnets, vintage enamel coated wire, nickel plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers and vintage-style braided wiring.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Body Material | Mahogany |
| Top Material | Carved Hard Maple w/AAA Flame Maple Veneer |
| Neck Material | Mahogany |
| Neck Shape Options | 1960 SlimTaper™, D Profile |
| Neck Joint | Vintage “Deep-Set”, Glued-In |
| Truss Rod | Adjustable |
| Scale Length | 24.75” |
| Fingerboard Material | Rosewood w/Mother-Of-Pearl Trapezoid Inlays |
| Neck Pickup | Gibson USA 57 Classic™ Humbucker (4-Wire) |
| Bridge Pickup | Gibson USA 57 Classic Plus™ Humbucker (4-Wire) |
| Controls | Switchcraft™ 3-Way Pickup Selector, Neck Pickup Volume, Bridge Pickup Volume, Neck Pickup Tone (push/pull - series/parallel), B ridge Pickup Tone (push/pull - series/parallel) |
| Electronics | Mallory-150 Tone Capacitors |
| Binding | Fingerboard-1-Ply (Cream), Body - 1-Ply (Cream) |
| Fingerboard Radius | 12” |
| Frets | 22, Medium-Jumbo |
| Bridge | LockTone™ Tune-o-Matic/Stopbar |
| Nut Width | 1-11/16” |
| Hardware | Nickel |
| Machine Heads | Grover™ Locking |
| Colors | Black Cherry (BC), Faded Cherry Sunburst (FC), Midnight Ebony (ME), Midnight Sapphire (MS), Vintage Sunburst (VS) |