Originally Posted by: scotthann

Hello. Can someone tell me the exact model Epiphone used by GT instructor HansPeter Kruesi? Is it the Jay Jay French (Twisted Sister) inspired model? If you own the guitar HansPeter is using what is your unbiased opinon of it? Thanks, Scott

Hey, Scott. I think you discovered that it is the JJ French model. I've never played that one. But I have tried quite a few Epiphone Les Pauls.

Most of them play & sound great. The frets & binding look sharp. The pickups are decent. The tuners and bridge are decent metal quality. Having said that, I've run across a couple of clunkers. But no more than the odd couple of Gibson Les Pauls I've played that were also poor guitars. And I would think that every Gibson LP should play great for that much money!

I think a lot of this is just luck of the draw. This is why it's so important to go to a store & play a few guitars. To put your hands on the actual machine you might buy.

Just about any modern electric guitar can be made perfectly playable with a good setup. Even the budget line models! :)

But there's occasionally the odd guitar that just doesn't feel right or work right no matter what you do. Sometimes the piece of wood they used won't resonate well. Sometimes the neck is set wonky & there's just no fixing it. That's especially a problem on a set neck guitar like an Epi or Gibson.

I have an Epiphone Emperor. I expected to want to change the pickups, electronics or bridge. But it sounds great & works for me as well as the Gibson jazz boxes that cost 4 & 5 times as much.

Hope this helps! Have fun guitar shopping!