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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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Similarly impressive is the fingerboard; we've had Gibsons through these offices in recent times that need work from new, but not this more lowly Epi. This attractive rosewood slab is super smooth and lovely to play, helped no end by a commendable fret job.

The acrylic trapezoid inlays are neat too, if not as attractive as those on many a USA and especially Custom Shop Les Paul. Less impressive is the nut; it's cut a touch high (better that way than too low, granted) and it's sticky. This is relatively easy to sort, but it'll be a source of much tuning-related grimacing if you're not familiar with guitar maintenance.

Finally the peghead and tuners: overly green keys and slightly wonky fitment of the low E peg notwithstanding, it all functions as it should. Epiphone's standard headstock pitch is 14 degrees, while the 'correct' Gibson angle is 17 degrees (the shallower pitch means less down pressure over the nut).

What do we have here? Well, comparing directly with three Gibson Custom Les Pauls we'd say it's somewhere between! Closer to 17 than 14 in truth, but you'd be a brave gambler to bet that it makes a discernible tonal difference.

Sounds

Hear the Epiphone Slash Les Paul in action:

Despite the similarity in materials and build, the tonal range of new Gibson and Epiphone Les Pauls is massive. A lot of that is down to the quality of the woods and hardware, but the biggest single immediate factor is the pickups.

Slash has been a long time fan of Seymour Duncan's Alnico Pro-II - a relatively vintage-sounding, low-output humbucker (7.6k neck, 7.85k bridge) - and that's what you get here.

If you're used to Gibson's 498 and 500T stalwarts, you'll be struck with how open and breathy the Alnico Pro-II sounds. They clean up better when you knock the volume down and retain sweeter highs with less dominant mid-range bark right across the board.

Classic rock and blues is what it's all about - enough grunt to push an old-school valve amp to clip, but not the kind of clinical power and ultimate articulation of aggressive ceramic-magnet or active humbuckers.

Medium-gain players with an eye on the past will find that makes for a far more musical, engaging experience. Does it sound more musical and refined than an Epiphone Les Paul Standard? Without doubt. Does it outshine a new Les Paul Standard with Burstbucker Pros? Well, there's a little more softness around the edges, and marginally less depth and maturity to the overall tone, but there really isn't that much in it.