Truth be told i havent been updating my guitar acquisitions as often as i should (like everytime i get one!). This breaks that norm, as once in a blue moon you find yourself jumping off a cliff - and diving into the waters and enjoying the cool splash.

The Epiphone Ltd Ed 1954 Les Paul Standard (aka 'Oxblood')

The link from MF here
if thats deleted here is the description:

Its basically the Epi version of the legendary oxblood LP Jeff Beck played (and pictured!) in his highly-acclaimed album Blow By Blow.

Story goes that Jeff Beck was in the middle of a U.S. tour in the mid-70s in Memphis, and in a downtime walked in a music store to browse around.  He spots this guitar on the wall, plays it, buys it, and liked it enough to tour with it, AND record his album with it. Now this was a one-off - an original 1954 production Gold Top with P-90 pickups, stripped and refinished in chocolate with a hint of red in it (oxblood), the neck shimmed to a thinner profile (compared to the 1954 baseball bat necks), the kluson tuners replaced with modern machineheads, and the P-90s removed and rerouted for 1959 humbuckers (there were NO humbuckers in 1954 Les Pauls). The original person who wanted it done that way it didnt like the way it came out, and left it in the store. Even more of a legend (maybe an embellishment) was that this person was John Mayall.
But to set the story straight, it wasnt found in a store - Jeff Beck saw it in a garage, and thats where the deal was done. And it wasnt John Mayall that ordered it and didnt want it. It was someone else, but not John Mayall. This was from the wife of the person who sold it to Jeff Beck. Cant believe the legends sometimes...

At any rate, The GIBSON version is more of a complete replica of the original, aged and relic'd, down to the dings and scratches and even the distance of the bridge humbucker to the wrap-around bridge. This made the Oxblood sound unique as it lends to a thinner bridge sound being so close to the bridge itself. Theres also the difficulty of changing the high E string, again with the bridge sitting real close to the humbucker mounts. The bridge pickup ring mount being so close to the bridge, the pickguard wasnt even flush to it - theres a noticeable gap between them. These are all in the new Gibson Oxblood replica.

People say the intonation is horrible, the reason the tune-o-matic stop bar and tailpiece was invented. To which i point out Jeff beck didnt seem to have a problem with it - just listen to his album, or even SEE him play it:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzDqqxKnW3o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzDqqxKnW3o</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZlFTbvfKPE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZlFTbvfKPE</a>


There were only 50 of these Gibsons made, and each looked over AND played (albeit briefly) by Jeff Beck himself. How much? $25,000. Cant afford it in one shot? They have a 10 payment plan of $2,500 each.
Oxblood played and signed by Jeff Beck



note: there WAS an original run of 100 Jeff Beck Oxbloods before this, but did NOT have the "exclusivity" of having been played personally and signed off by Jeff Beck (hence the sky-high price).
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Custom-Jeff-Beck-1954-Les-Paul-Oxblood-Electric-Guitar-mdash-VOS?sku=580841original VOS run without the Jeff Beck signature

theres even the current run of (non Jeff Beck) Oxblood Sparkle for $3,325.00
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Custom-Les-Paul-Sparkle-Electric-Guitar?sku=527160&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=322342861

Well, THIS epi was sold online for $499, and had a brief (just maybe 4 months) run (as opposed to the GIbson model that's still available - i wonder why... $$$). Apparently the Epi was only available online, and not in retail stores at all, unless its special-ordered directly from the warehouse distributions.

I paid less than half that.  

Granted it was a condition 2 instrument - it was a return and had some very minor scratches (Which personally i couldnt see upon physical inspection), now being sold at a deeply discounted price. Add in the limited time used-gear coupon on top of it, and we have a sale! It took me a bit of browsing online to figure out what this one was about, and when i came to the realization that it WAS a unique les paul, and it for the price it was unheard of, i started on a frantic pace to get the guitar ordered IMMEDIATELY. Ive had several MISSED opportunities before due to being slow to the take - i was hoping someone was passing this up. It helped that there were other desirable deeply-discounted guitars for much much less, which garnered more attention. Personally my magic price is $100 - if a relatively expensive guitar is discounted well within that figure, theres a good chance i will buy it. This was NOWHERE near that, but the discount from the original price was so deep with the coupon code, there was no way i WOULDNT order this. Coupled with the fact that this is a unique les paul to begin with, all made me hit the Go Baby Go (!!!) button.

Now ive made statements before where i lambasted and derided "higher end" Epiphone les pauls, whose prices were WAY too expensive in my opinion. Why would i pay for their top of the line les pauls when i can buy a TRUE GIBSON les paul for the same if not cheaper price (Or for not a whole lot more)? I thought that was stupid. Sure the lower-ticketed Gibsons were Studio models, the ones without the carved maple top (an essential ingredient of the les paul sound, not just its looks), just an all-mahogany body with its top carved. Its STILL a gibson - Why even get epis then? So in a way i told myself, im not going to get a les paul unless its gibson.

But something unique and supercheap as this is good enough to make me eat my words, and enjoy it! Granted i did not pay full price (and i still wont. ever!), so i guess im off the hook on this one.

How does it sound? The clean sound is there. But im not fully bowled over by the overdriven sound - its a little mushy (plugged into my prosonic), and needs to be coaxed with a bit of controls tweaking to get a good rockin sound out of it. Its there, just not jumping out of your hands right away. I guess im used to playing my Gibson SG where there is clarity and true grit when the amp is overdriven, with very little futzin around. To me a guitar and amp sound is best when you dont have to tweak much - just plug and play! I want to get up and go as soon as im plugged in - im impatient when it comes to playing.

I thought about replacing the Alnico humbuckers, but decided not to. I could get better sounds with a swap, but it already sounds good as it is. I know that not all guitars will sound great on one amp - it varies from amp to amp, and i have several others i can plug this into and find out. That will be for later!

***UPDATE!
Well, it only took a bit of tweaking, and MAN!!! Still using the Prosonic with the WGS Veteran 30 12" speaker, i was able to find the sweet overdrive spot for this oxblood. I normally turn down my mids, but at a setting of 4, the grit and bite came out - this baby has sharp teeth! I set both the Treble and Bass a bit past 6 or 7, Master Volume starting at 4 (and UP, depending on the level i prefer at the time). Bluesy-edgy breakup? Id set Gain1 at a hair under 2, Gain2 at Zero. Classic British tones? Id turn Gain1 up to 3 or 4, Gain2 still at zero. For that classic american rock bite, Id keep Gain1 at 2, and set Gain2 to 3. Keeping that gain1 setting, Id set Gain2 at 6 or 7 for a brutal thick modern distortion, at which point id turn the mids down for a thrash-y metallic buzzsaw.

Ive decided to keep the guitar stock - mostly. The essence is to get close to the Jeff Beck Oxblood vibe, not necessarily copy it. What did i change? the back plates. Epiphone decided to make the back plates black, instead of the original oxblood (and replica) whih had cream back plates.
NO coil tapping, no phase reversal switches, no tuner replacements, no pots replacement. It will be stock. This is significant as each guitar i own have a "marcus twist" on it. Electronics replaced, pickups swapped, upgraded tuners, etc. Something to suit my taste.
This Epi im keeping as is (just the black back plates!).

***UPDATE***
Cream backplates came in, and now installed. Had to shim off a bit on the control plate with a file, as it was a smidge wider.

I AM curious to know how a true 1956 neck is - as i mentioned earlier the Gibson version even copied the neck profile on the original Oxblood, which was then slimmed down like the original oxblood.
Its easy to recognize a slim neck - to my hands it feels like im holding a deck of cards! I dont have a problem with them at all, i can play them either way. i just have big hands that feel more at home with a thicker neck. Plus i dont shred, i bend and "try" to play more of a blues-y sound when i do any solos, so a thin neck isnt a big priority for me.
Ive played a Gibson Les paul before, and compared to that, this oxblood felt thinner. Not as thin as most shredding machines like an ibanez or some other modern guitar, but definitely, not chunky.

Another small "feature" of the Epi Oxblood is the truss rod cover. Usually you would see the model name engraved on it, but this one is just blank. The headstock itself only has the epiphone name on it, no other engravings or inlays or silkscreened prints to distinguish its model.

The tuners ARE the chrome machineheads similar to the original jeff beck oxblood also, usually all Les pauls have the standard Kluson Tuners.

A nice touch when i opened the back plate to the switch - its not the cheap box-type toggle switch! Its the open type gibson uses on their guitars. Whether epiphone uses these also on all their higher end les pauls or not, im not sure, but im glad to see they didnt scrimp on this switch.

The Pots are run-of-the-mill ALPHA pots, not CTS. Curiously enough, the Bridge Volume pot is Linear taper (B500K). Usually youd see audio taper pots used for volume (A500K). For those who dont know, Linear taper makes the sound seem to jump from silence to a louder volume, as opposed to Audio taper, which (to human ears) the volume gradually increases from silence to full on. On tone controls this isnt a big deal, but on volume controls, this can be annoying to some people. I havent noticed it enough to bother me when i played and futzed around with it (before i knew about it). I would assume that this isnt whats on the original oxblood copy (unless someone can verify it for me), and id chalk it up to poor quality control. For high-volume production guitars this is expected. Even so, i wont change it. The other 3 pots are audio taper, by the way.

***UPDATE***
Well, that linear taper volume pot for the neck pickup has turned up a nice use- a killswitch! A quick twist back and forth allows the sound to cut in and out abruptly. This affects not just the neck position, but also the neck AND bridge together. The Bridge position, the volume level for it is more gradual in decrease or increase.

I ended up ordering a hardshell case for it - something generic, but sturdy enough to keep it safe. I was tempted to get an epi brand, but again, im cheap! $80 just to show its the same brand, when a no-name brand is less than twice the price. Sure id buy one... if it was real cheap! Besides, i dont want to advertise for any brand, unless im the one getting paid to advertise them. I never understood why people love to display those brands they just paid for... to show off? get approval from others? to see who's got the higher piss on the wall? who knows. thats psychology 101, i guess, but thats a whole different story. Let's stick to something more divine - rock and roll! (divine and rock and roll in the same sentence... the devil is having fits!)

***UPDATE***
That generic hardshell case didnt fit- too damn small! Well, thats what i get for not getting an epiphone case (ha ha! told me so!). So what did i do? use that case for my Electric 12-string Dean Boca. Funny that a guitar with longer headstock fits perfectly for it... What else did i do? I ordered a washburn hardshell case. Did i not learn anything??? Nope and yep! This time i compared the dimensions of a true Epiphone hardshell case to the washburn, and theyre exactly the same. AT half the price, the washburn case is it. If not, hey! i got another case for another guitar in waiting...

***UPDATE UPDATE***
BAH! that washburn case is MUCH smaller...dammit! SO now it begs to be told.. I TOLD YOU SO! if i had gone out and bought a TRUE epi lp case, this would have been over by now, and i wouldnt have wasted time and money, not to mention saving myself the frustration.
BUT! In a couple of days after that, i saw on craigslist a used gibson les paul case - a TRUE gibson les paul case. For $60! Whats even more amazing is that its the 80's brown tolex/fuzzy pink inside lining, the same exact kind as my 1988 Gibson SG Special. When i got it home i put it side by side, and man, theyre like brothers reunited! And yes, this fit the epi oxblood like hand in glove. Like a dream!

***UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE***
So i wrote i was going to keep this thing stocked. NOT ANYMORE! Hey, i can and will change my mind to suit what i like, ok? I guess its the latent perfectionist in me. Or the dormant engineer that always thinks how something can be further improved. Or just plain fickle. Whatever the case may be, i changed my mind. Again.
What i did was to change the stock pickups to Seymour Duncan P-Rails. Admittedly my heart was not set on its tone. As previously outlined, it took a bit of fiddling with the Prosonic to get the Oxblood to shine. As always in my own litmus test of something special, if i have to spend some time finding the tone i like, then it simply isnt THAT special. Ive always loved plug-and-play. Less futzin, more playin'!
Two things made me decide the change. Ive read about the Seymour Duncan P-Rails for about a few months now, and it was intriguing: a pickup with 3 distinct sounds: the humbucker itself, a single coil rail, and a P-90. Ive always loved the clean sound of a single coil, the power of a humbucker, and more lately, the biting grit of a P-90. This pickup is impressive! So i went on ebay and waited for a good price fo one, used or new. I wasnt about to pay FULL retail. NO sir! And wouldnt you know it, i got a set for cheap!
Now i really would not have sprung for the set if i had not come across the OTHER deciding factor: the Seymour Duncan Triple Shot. For those who dont know if it yet, its a humbucker pickup ring with two micro-mini slide switch, which interacts with each other. It does four positions or combinations: one for a regular humbucker wiring (series) , a parallel wiring, a split to one coil, and a split to the other. On a regular humbucker it would only produce 3 distinct sounds, with the splits so close to each other they almost sound the same. But used with a P-Rail, it gets to put out FOUR DISTINCT SOUNDS. Talk about versatility!
The Oxblood now has a set of P-rails in it. While i was at it, i decided to replace the import pots which sounded ok, but didnt feel correct. Instead of using 1Meg pots, or 1Meg push-pull pots for more wiring options, i decided to go with plain 500k Ohms CTS log pots. I used .015uF PIO caps from Russia (K40Y-9's) for each tone pot. The guitar's brand may be of "lower tier", but thats not to say its relegated to cheap parts.
How does it sound? far better than the stock! No fiddling around and futzin for tone - plug and play! Four distinct sounds on each pickup, multiply that by the other -the Triple Shot just made switching a lot more convenient. Im partial to the P-90 Sound on either neck or bridge, but im finding the parallel switch on the neck produces a more pleasant tone than the overpowering default series wiring. But on the bridge, BRING IT ON! whether its the single coil, or P-90, or the default series wiring between the two, the growl just makes for a heavenly fearsome thunder! I probably doodled and riffed around for a good hour and a half just exploring those P-Rail sounds. With the PIO caps, rolling back the tone pot allows for that sweet woman tone that people keep gushing about. Thick as molasses, sweet as golden honey -both rail and P-90 single coil settings ooze so much sweetness!

One thing i love about single coil sound is when its set closest to the neck. That reed-y tone simply gives me goosebumps.  One thing about the P-Rail set is that the neck pickup is supposed to be set where the seymour duncan name/logo is readable when you prop thw guitar up. The problem is that the sweet rail side is further away from the neck. SO i switched it around, again to suit my taste.  The P-90 side is fat/wide enough that it made little tonal difference.
The bridge pickup, i initially did the same thing -the Rail side was set closer to the bridge. This gave a real high piercing tone, which at first wasnt very appealing to me. When i turned it the "right way" around though, the pickup immediately shone. The sound was so much crisper, less shrieky, so i decided to keep it in the right position. In hindsight, if i was to follow the spirit of the original oxblood, i should have kept it the "wrong" way around, to have that piercing tone its known for. BUt then again im not jeff beck, im not making Blow By Blow, and its not a gibson! so ill go with what best suits ME.

*** UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!!***
Probably the last thing i did was to change the wraparound bridge itself. With the thicker gauge strings, and the full-step detuning, the intonation would suffer greatly if it isnt adjusted. Unfortunately for the stock wraparound bridge, you cant do ANY adjustments. So i looked around and found several choices, of which Tone Pros was the best looking of them all. Unfortunately again, this will set me back a good $100+. Another brand that was within reasonable cost was the Leo Quan bridge. I set about to find a decent deal until i stumbled on cheaper alternative - a Tone Pros copy! This was a third of its price too, MUCH more reasonable. People find that buying the best means buying the most expensive. I say there is always a choice, and it doesnt necessarily, and doesnt ALWAYS mean its of lesser quality. The tone pros copy i got was certainly no slouch, and looked well made, not just badly put together.
Installation went without a hitch, and finally, i can intonate the strings far more accurately than the stock bridge. And it looks Badass on the oxblood!

SO! to recap what i did:
1) changed tuners to kluson.
2) Changed pots to CTS.
3) changed stock pickups to Seymour-Duncan P-Rails, with matching cream Triple Shot h/b rings.
4) changed the control back plates from black to cream.
5) changed the bridge to an adjustable tone-Pros copy.
6) got an authentic 80s brown Les Paul hardcase (with the fuzzy hot pink interior! ha ha)

These other photos are of the stock oxblood:

The pic below is shot with the guitar on a blue background. Its not easy to spot the oxblood color in standard lighting, and have to be shot with a flash at an angle. The other pics below show the color better.


The wraparound bridge. Notice the gap between the pickguard and the bridge mounting ring. This can be found on the Gibson replica also. Les pauls usually have this flush. no gaps. Also this was taken without any flash at room ambient light. The color looks like its black.


Turned over, and shot with a flash. Shows the red tint, along the neck, the non-kluson tuners, and the black backplates (which have been replaced with a cream set).


The back wit the control cavity plate off. Taken with a flash at an angle, the see-thru oxblood color can be better seen here. Its NOT wine-red at all, since wine red can still give you a hint of its color even in poor lighting and even at first sighting. The oxblood looks black at first sight.


The front, with an almost direct flash on the top. The color isnt as apparent, but hints at it only.


What made it so cheap? a broken top of the bridge tone knob! Noticeable only upon closer inspection. Not broken or scratchy, smooth and  works fine. Id say it gives it character! Again, you can notice the red tint.