Elias Graves
Common misfit
Picked this up on Father's Day on sale and had to order it in to get the color I wanted. Normally, I avoid buying without playing but GC's policy allows me to return it to the local store and avoid shipping charges. I played several others, both P90 and humbucker, and found them to be pretty consistent so I took a chance.
This is part of Epi's new-ish "pro" line which has several upgrades over standard line models.
The finish is thinner and doesn't have the "dipped in plastic" look and feel.
Upgraded tuners, hardware and electronics. Especially the pickups.
They spent some time on these pickups and made a very cool design. They used the correct materials for the base plate, coil wire, magnets, keeper and pole screws. Those are the components that matter most in a pickup. The bobbin, however, and covers are modern ABS. The output wire, likewise, is a modern insulated wire and not a vintage braided shield job.
So they sound like good P90s. The other interesting thing they did on these is to wind them a little on the mild side. They are not the most raucous P90s you ever heard but they sound terrific. The bridge pickup has a good strong midrange push without a lot of honky nasal overtones. The neck pickup is the proverbial piano tone. It's deep, rich, resonant and complex. It's the standout between the two.
Weight is 5 pounds and 5 ounces. (About 2.4 kg) It balances very well on a strap without neck dive. I use a 2" wide smooth leather strap that's pretty slick, too. It will always reveal neck dive
The pots are real CTS full size, though they do have the cheaper pot metal shaft and such. They work just fine, however, and the taper is smooth. No complaints.
I haven't inspected the switch closely yet but I can see it is an all metal frame switch. The cheap plastic box switch is no more. From the looks of the switch, it's a Panasonic, which is what you get if you buy from Gotoh. It's a good switch.
The output jack, also is a switchcraft style, but the Jack plate is black plastic. That's what Gibson also uses and I think it's cheap. They get broken quickly and I'll replace it with a good nickel one.
The tuners are labeled "Epiphone" and "Deluxe" and they are good copies of the originals. In fact, I'd wager the ratio is like 12:1 like the old 50s models. I don't care much for that, as it makes fine tuning difficult. But they seem to hold time just fine.
The nut has actually had some hand filing work done to it, though they did not clean up the file marks all that well. But there's no binding and the height of the slots is right on.
The frets were leveled. And you can see the file marks on them to prove it. Same with the feet ends. They were filed flush so there's no overhang but the appearance was a little rough. I've taken care of that. They look fine now. On a cheap guitar, attention to the picky details isn't really a factor. But I give them credit for at least doing the hard work, which has traditionally been a weak spot for Epiphone. All I had to do was clean them up with some abrasives and give them a polish.
The finish is 9/10. Very good, actually. The only flaws I've found have been some rough paint inside the F holes and one microscopically tiny misalignment on a taped joint on the binding. It's thin and the gloss is good. It has actually been buffed, too. I can tell because they didn't get all the buffing compound cleaned out of the nooks and crannies. The Pelham blue is very good. It's a tough color to get even and it's highly consistent on this guitar. It even has the right green sub-hues in the right light.
The sound is pure ES. Through the tweed side of my VHT, it's BB King through the neck pickup right away. Everyone who has heard it has just gone nuts over it.
This is part of Epi's new-ish "pro" line which has several upgrades over standard line models.
The finish is thinner and doesn't have the "dipped in plastic" look and feel.
Upgraded tuners, hardware and electronics. Especially the pickups.
They spent some time on these pickups and made a very cool design. They used the correct materials for the base plate, coil wire, magnets, keeper and pole screws. Those are the components that matter most in a pickup. The bobbin, however, and covers are modern ABS. The output wire, likewise, is a modern insulated wire and not a vintage braided shield job.
So they sound like good P90s. The other interesting thing they did on these is to wind them a little on the mild side. They are not the most raucous P90s you ever heard but they sound terrific. The bridge pickup has a good strong midrange push without a lot of honky nasal overtones. The neck pickup is the proverbial piano tone. It's deep, rich, resonant and complex. It's the standout between the two.
Weight is 5 pounds and 5 ounces. (About 2.4 kg) It balances very well on a strap without neck dive. I use a 2" wide smooth leather strap that's pretty slick, too. It will always reveal neck dive
The pots are real CTS full size, though they do have the cheaper pot metal shaft and such. They work just fine, however, and the taper is smooth. No complaints.
I haven't inspected the switch closely yet but I can see it is an all metal frame switch. The cheap plastic box switch is no more. From the looks of the switch, it's a Panasonic, which is what you get if you buy from Gotoh. It's a good switch.
The output jack, also is a switchcraft style, but the Jack plate is black plastic. That's what Gibson also uses and I think it's cheap. They get broken quickly and I'll replace it with a good nickel one.
The tuners are labeled "Epiphone" and "Deluxe" and they are good copies of the originals. In fact, I'd wager the ratio is like 12:1 like the old 50s models. I don't care much for that, as it makes fine tuning difficult. But they seem to hold time just fine.
The nut has actually had some hand filing work done to it, though they did not clean up the file marks all that well. But there's no binding and the height of the slots is right on.
The frets were leveled. And you can see the file marks on them to prove it. Same with the feet ends. They were filed flush so there's no overhang but the appearance was a little rough. I've taken care of that. They look fine now. On a cheap guitar, attention to the picky details isn't really a factor. But I give them credit for at least doing the hard work, which has traditionally been a weak spot for Epiphone. All I had to do was clean them up with some abrasives and give them a polish.
The finish is 9/10. Very good, actually. The only flaws I've found have been some rough paint inside the F holes and one microscopically tiny misalignment on a taped joint on the binding. It's thin and the gloss is good. It has actually been buffed, too. I can tell because they didn't get all the buffing compound cleaned out of the nooks and crannies. The Pelham blue is very good. It's a tough color to get even and it's highly consistent on this guitar. It even has the right green sub-hues in the right light.
The sound is pure ES. Through the tweed side of my VHT, it's BB King through the neck pickup right away. Everyone who has heard it has just gone nuts over it.
Wow, that's nice! 
