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Although the flamed maple is a veneer, features such as the long neck tenon are vintage-accurate

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If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Slash fan, and the budget doesn't stretch to the USA version, stop reading this now and just buy this guitar. Seriously. However, if like the majority of people you're trying to work out exactly where it sits between the Epiphone LP Standard Plus Top and the USA Gibson Les Paul Standard, there are a few things worth considering.

First and most important, Epiphone has chosen the right woods for this guitar (bearing in mind that some Epi LPs have used an alder body). You get a one-piece solid mahogany back with a maple cap that measures around 5/8ths-inch thick at the back of the bridge pickup cavity. The set mahogany neck comes complete with the very important long-tenon joint that extends beneath the neck pickup cavity.

To help in the aesthetic department the lovely flamed maple is in fact a thin veneer mated to the plain maple top, before the whole thing is finished in high-gloss polyurethane. This will stay bright and shiny for decades, unlike a nitro-cellulose-finished USA Les Paul Standard which will take on the patina of age relatively quickly if used and abused enough.

Hardware

The bridge and tailpiece are nickel-plated, which will tarnish much more quickly than chrome, much to the chagrin of owners who like to keep it all looking A1. Staying with aesthetics, while the body binding is very tidy, there's less than 1mm of it visible from the front. On a Gibson Les Paul, it's closer to 2mm; a subtle point but it does jar if you're used to looking at those lovely '59-style LPs.

And, should you, or shouldn't you? Fit the pickguard, that is. There's one included in the case - Slash prefers his Les Pauls without - and your dealer should fit it if you want it there. Compared with a Gibson example, it's a thicker, more rudimentary affair.

There are practical benefits to Epiphone's LockTone bridge and tailpiece. As any long-suffering tune-o-matic/stop tailpiece users will know, the parts are free to fall off when restringing, but here Epiphone has developed a spring-loaded clip system that holds them on.

This arrangement is not as secure as the TonePros type, but much better than standard fare. Epiphone is also claiming tonal benefits, drawing on the theory that anything that's physically locked down will transfer vibration better.

There's some sense in that, but the parts are more sprung in place than physically locked down. We could be splitting hairs here - we don't hear too many complaints about the tone of a great Les Paul with standard hardware. The biggest issue is loose or rattling saddles: no such worries with the Epiphone Slash.