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I’m not the greatest player but I do have some years under my belt. Originally I thought I had order the Les Paul custom pro with coil tapping, but through a very happy mistake I got the 2021 inspired by Gibson Les Paul custom Koa. It was amazingly beautiful when I first pulled it out the box, and it still is. The sound is great. I play it out of a vox amp which sounds awesome and gives me a bit of a Joe Walsh vibe when I want it. I also had the chance to bring it into work where I was working as a guitar tech and let me tell you…. This was a head turner. Even my lead was surprised at the sound and look of the guitar. When I bought this guitar I decided to give it a chance even though it wasn’t what I initially thought I had ordered. 2 months later I traded a Les Paul standard for a tele and a strat so I could get my single coil sound on and you know what? I’m happy it worked out that way. My Les Paul Koa doesn’t need coil tapping to sound great. Besides a Les Paul will never sound like strat or a tele no matter what pick ups you use. It’s all about the scale length and placement of your pick ups. That’s what the strat and tele sound are. If you want that sound those are the guitars to get. If you want something warm, rich and a lot of power go with this. It’s got a traditional feel and sound that doesn’t need anything else but just a good pair hands to play it. The only thing wrong with this guitar is the price point. It’s worth way more than what it’s priced. Definitely my favorite guitar in my collection and am so happy to have mistakenly purchased this. Hope everyone is as happy with their Epiphone Les Paul Koa’s as I am!!!

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This 2021 Epiphone Les Paul Custom Koa is a high end Les Paul just look at the Specs the quality of craftsmanship simply flawless! The feel of the Ebony fretboard is wonderful and everything is Era correct

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This guitar REALLY resonates! You can feel it vibrate as you play it. The craftsmanship is above and beyond my other “real” Gibsons. Epiphone is really building great guitars! I had to set this up, the truss rod had zero tention on it. Once I adjusted it, I have a hard time putting it down. I give this 5 stars all the way!

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This is the nicest appointed guitar I own, the top is amazingly beautiful, and the mahogany body is stunning as well, it has binding everywhere. The ebony fretboard is perfect with nice inlays. Grover tuners, and Graphtech nut, all work in unison to keep it in tune for days of hard playing. An added bonus was the gold hardware, which is a standard for customs. If you are looking for a solid playing guitar that is a bit fancy, this could very well be for you.

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Bought this guitar yesterday,oiled the fretboard,ran it thru a Fender GTX 50....and it blew me away.Intonation is pitch perfect.5 layer binding on body is a blessing,to protect it from inevitable dings.Finish is superb.Grover tuners have zero play and hold tune seemingly forever.Pickups are solid performing. Seriously,this is one of the best built guitars I've ever handled in the past 35 years. Epiphone is a quality brand ,and they hit a home run with this one!

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Received in two days...let her acclimate for two more...unpackaged, changed strings, intonation set up...then...Plugged this into a Fender Tube amp...turned it up loud...nothing short of sonic bliss. Epiphone has done it again. I also have a Casino, the best sounding guitar in my collection, and an SG, which has become one of my favorite guitars. Until...the KOA showed up. I love when I find a guitar that inspires me. This KOA Les Paul is quite an instrument. I could not be happier. So much so I am considering buying another Epiphone Les Paul...perhaps a modern, that cutaway heel is very attractive to me, but, another KOA is at the front of the line. Very Happy with this guitar.

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Well I received my 2022 Epiphone Les Paul Custom Koa three hours ago. After a short inspection of the fit and finish, the setup and playability and then the tones it's everything I was hoping for. It can use a little fret polishing but other than that this guitar is flawless. The Koa top is simply Beautiful with a little bit of flame peeking through. The neck is nice and slim and the Ebony fingerboard with the block inlays adds to the overall Beauty that Les Paul Custom's are known for. This guitar is a keeper.

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So, I wanted to wait a day or two to make this review, but, I love this guitar. It has a warm and fat resonance and playability that's impossible to describe. It handily passed my go to test for electric guitars: playing unplugged. Lots of energy and tone unplugged. If a guitar isn't loud and resonant unplugged it won't sound great plugged in. The finish is flawless. The koa top is beautiful and well figured. The frets are all neatly filed with no high or sharp frets. No blemishes or scratches under the finish. No buzzes in the frets. The gold hardware with black knobs and pickguard looks incredible.The Probuckers sound amazing, which is kinda surprising to me. I'm not a huge fan of Probuckers or Burstbuckers. Could this be the first guitar I own to not get Duncans? Possibly. I will be replacing the neck pickup tone control with a push/pull type for coil splitting. The neck is very narrow side to side and that's really my only complaint about this guitar. Not a deal breaker by any means. Just different from what I'm used to. The setup is a little high out of the box, but still low enough for quick scales, and is simple to change.With high end features, great sound and playability and top notch build quality, this guitar is an amazing value and could easily wear a higher price tag.

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This is not a negative review... but anyone considering the purchase of this guitar, take note. This is why I did not give it 5 stars. I've paid less and gotten more, in terms of attention to detail, that's for sure. I expected to have to do a setup and intonation but what I was not expecting was the sloppy fret edges and dry fret board. It will also be getting new strings because I don't like the Gibson strings that came on it. I'll be taking it to my tech today to get the flaws corrected... because other than that it's an AWESOME guitar!Visually, it's stunning. Despite the fact that there were some inconsistencies in the finished product, I'm very pleased with this and plan to keep it for the duration. The pickups are exceptional... I like them better than the EMG's in my Nighfall (which is a pristine Les Paul by Epiphone). They even sounded good through my little First Act portable.Overall, it's a great guitar but don't be surprised if you have to put a little extra into it when you get it.

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This is a beautiful guitar. That's a fact. But there were definitely some QC issues I wasn't expecting when I opened the box. The first thing I noticed right away, was that the nut was cut too wide for the neck, poking out about a millimeter on each side of the neck, right below the headstock. There was also a quarter inch crack in the clearcoat right below the nut. These two things were forgivable (especially considering it's affordability) But then I played it. The first three frets were fine, but every fret thereafter, all the way up to the 22nd fret were incredibly rough and literally made a scratching sound each & every time I bent the strings. I am not exaggerating, and it caught me completely off guard. I've never had a guitar do that before. Like I said, I was surprised by these glaring problems, because I had read wonderful reviews for this guitar. In fact, it was the stellar feedback that prompted me to purchase this Les Paul. If the frets had been even decently polished, and the nut properly cut & set, I would have definitely kept it.

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First things first, this low rating is not zZounds fault. They were very helpful in my ordering/returning process. The problem lays directly on the shoulders of Epiphone. Their quality control is highly erratic. I have three other very affordable and surprisingly amazing Epiphone guitars, and after reading multiple good reviews for this KOA model, I ordered it with great anticipation.The first one I received, had such a rough frets, that you could literally hear the strings scratching the fretwire as you bent them. Then there were several spots of fret buzz along the neck. Plus it had nut that was 1/8 inch wider on each side than the neck/headstock joint. I was really shocked that this got sold as a "Custom". I returned it, and then I received the second one which had a very similar problem with the fret wire. Very rough & scratchy. Totally unpolished & essentially impossible to play smoothly without at least $100 worth of fret polishing and end filing. That would turn this into a $900 guitar, and that's before I get into the improperly filed nut, damaged bridge screw, & a crack in the finish at the headstock neck joint. I have $1000 Gibson, Les Paul tribute that is vastly superior in quality and tone. It even came with a nice Gibson case. Of course, some of this may be based on personal preference, so I think a fair comparison would be: Do you buy a fully loaded Kia that will never hold its value, or a more stripped down Toyota, which will drive forever, and it will still maintain most of its resale. That's a personal choice as well. Anyways… Needless to say, I returned to the second KOA as well. And now I am going to be much more cautious about trusting the Epiphone brand, and the people who "rave" about the quality/price ratio.

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I purchased one of these recently, and it's the best Guitar I've ever owned. I once had a Gibson Les Paul custom, tobacco sunburst guitar, almost identical to one that Jimmy Page played. Same guitar and I'll forget it's quality, sound, action, and feel. That being said; if given a choice between the two guitars, I would most certainly choose the Epiphone Koa Paul over the Gibson Paul. You have to see it and play it to believe it. It's tonal capabilities are enormous, and it's quality fit and finish are immaculate. There isn't a single flaw on the Koa! Kudos to the person/s who crafted this perfect guitar. It is my prize possession! I seriously recommend this guitar!!

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Mine came unplayable. Took it in, and luthiere said send it back. Frets were pretty much unfinished witch would have cost 300$ plus set up. Maybe they use green wood as well because frets were bulging out of sides, and the neck was cranked all the way on truss rod. Maybe I got a lemon. I have played nice epiphones before.