Read a lot of positive things (examples HERE and HERE) about these new Epi Les Paul SL's, and for $99 delivered, how can you go wrong? I got some cash for my birthday and figured, "What the heck?!?" I like the looks, and the guitar plays well and sounds remarkably good. The single coil pickups aren't the greatest, but they're not bad at all. I particularly like the neck pickup with some overdrive on it. The neck is a comfortable C profile, and on the thinner side. The pots and switch have a good solid feel and function smoothly. The finish on mine is flawless and the intonation is quite good, too. The neck pocket is nice and tight, and it's probably the lightest electric guitar I own.

Photo (not mine, but same color):



It wasn't all good news, though. The strings that came on it were trash, but I expected that on an inexpensive Chinese-made guitar and immediately installed a set of D'Addario 10's. The fingerboard was very dry, so I oiled it up well with Dunlop 02 conditioner. But the biggest negative by far was the tuners, which are cheap crapola. Lots of slop in them, and the one on my high E was binding badly through part of its rotation. But multiple reviews of the SL that I'd read mentioned how inferior the tuners were, so at least this wasn't a surprise. My solution was to order a set of Grover Deluxe 133N tuners, which I received and installed two days ago--see photo below. HUGE difference!! The guitar now tunes smoothly & precisely. These are the split-shaft variety, which I prefer over solid shaft tuners. I find string changes to be faster, and there's no sharp string end poking out to catch a dust cloth or a finger! They're also the smaller "vintage" shaft diameter, which matches the headstock tuner holes on the Epi LP SL, so no need for any additional drilling/reaming for the larger "modern" style of tuners. So the guitar ended up costing me $135, which is still a real bargain any way you look at it!