Anyone know how thick the Maple cap on the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus top is?

[F4DPhantomII]

Thanks for replies.

[Rx Tone]

I thought they were all fotoflame...Didn't know they used real maple.

[ZMAN]

I have heard from 1/8 to 3/8 thickness kicked around on various forums. I have owned an Epi Custom Plus, that was a MIK. It was a really sweet guitar and if you can get one I would recommend it highly. It had a 5 piece Maple neck and of course the maple cap. I traded it on a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Strat. The only complaint I had was the gold hardware on the pickups came off when I tried to clean them.

[Duff49]

Yo Phontom,

Can you imagine a phantom made out of cardboard?

That would be equivalent to a high class company like Epiphone using contact paper on their Plus top LP's.

It just isn't a serious comment and must have been a joke.

Actually Epiphone LP Standard Plus Tops are awesome. I have a very rare one: it is solid amber, no burst an is awesomely beautiful. I put Seymour Duncan pups in it; a '59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge, both nickel plated. This is one asesome guitar and not to be scoffed at by any means.

Anyway, some of the greatest guitar players of all time played particle board guitars with contact paper tops. It's in the brain, nerves, hands and soul.

I HATE photo finish tops. Must go back to my chemical days and have stayed with me. That is the epitome of plastic-ness. Remember that term? Plastic people and plastic things? It was right on time and it was evident, just like those fake photo finishes. There should be disclosures on all guitars that have photo finishes, because they are doing it so well that you could possibly not even notice it.

Duffy
Winfield, Pa.

[deeaa*]

Thanks for replies.

AFAIK they are not solid maple but layered construction...one of the things that separate gibsons from the low-end versions within the company. Al least mine had a super-thin veneer over another piece and another thicker piece in the middle. i.e. the cap was made of five pieces, all wood, no board or photo finish.

That is not to say Epis are any worse, but the woods are.

On the contrary, for instance when I bought an Explorer, the epi ones had nicer finishes etc. than gibsons. Although they also had multi-piece bodies and veneer tops rather than solid mahogany.

There ARE of course lower-end epis too, my friend has a little older epi LP with a bolt-on neck and what very much appears to be photo finish over a laminate plank.

[guitars1969]

In most cases the maple top is 3\4 inch thick overlaying the mohogany but if you want to see for your self take the bridge pick-up off the guitar and look at the wood separation just below the bridge you'll see it's about 3\4 inch thick this will 100% satisfy your curiosity. This way you' ll know if you have a veneer top or real maple top..