Sold – Epiphone Les Paul Elite 2002

When Gibson wanted to reprise high-quality versions of their Epiphone range in the early 2000s, they contracted with the highly-regarded FujiGen factory in Japan for the solid body models.  The first production guitars were labelled ‘Elite’ until a complaint from the Ovation company required a change to ‘Elitist’.  So here we have a first-run Elite Les Paul, made to very high specifications -Gibson ‘USA Classic Humbucker’ pickups, Grover tuners etc – and with final set up and quality control done in the USA . On debut, these guitars cost more than twice as much as a standard Epiphone.

This particular Elite Les Paul has a story to tell. The ‘311’ prefix in the serial number  indicates a blemished guitar that Gibson forwarded to the Musical Instrument Reclamation Centre.  Established in 1992, MIRC is the largest wholesaler of guitars in the US, where new  ‘factory seconds’ are restored and resold as used instruments. On very close inspection a few millimetres of the maple cap can be seen sitting smoothly between the top binding and the darker mahogany on the inside curve of the cutaway. No other flaws at all are visible. Overall this Elite ‘Paul looks, plays and sounds ‘as new’.   It comes with its original top-quality Epiphone Elite black/purple lined Les Paul hard case, as shown.