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Since the emergence in recent years of hybrid electrics such as the Taylor T5 and Ovation VXT, so-called 'super guitars' have become a major industry trend, alongside artificial ageing and chambering.

The genre was kick-started by the Parker Fly and Hamer DuoTone back in the early nineties, the goal being to make guitars that can deliver both traditional electric, and plugged-in acoustic tones. Indeed, it makes perfect sense for any 'normal' gigging guitarist to want a single guitar that delivers something sonically more flexible than what was cutting-edge technology back in 1957.

Given that the majority of Gibson's best and highest-profile new instruments are resolutely backward-looking – the jury is most definitely still out with regard to the Robot Guitar – it's interesting that the stable's new model most in-tune with the zeitgeist arrives with an Epiphone logo atop its headstock.

The Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-II preserves all the features of the previous Les Paul Ultra model – principally chambered construction, a ribcage contour and satin neck finish – and throws a Shadow Electronics NanoMag pickup into the mix.

The onboard NanoMag

The NanoMag, mounted after the 22nd fret on the fingerboard, is hooked up to a simple three-control active preamp integrated into the control cavity plate around the back of the guitar.

According to Shadow: "The NanoMag is a magnetic pickup with an air-coil and a composition of different samarium cobalt magnets incorporating active electronics in a minimum of space. The pickup is protected by an epoxy layer, and the silver-platinum shielding will provide, together with the active electronics, a low-impedance hum-free output signal."

Alongside the NanoMag, the Les Paul Ultra-II has a pair of Epiphone's Alnico Classic Plus humbuckers with twin volume controls and a master tone. Where you'd usually find a Les Paul's neck pickup tone pot you instead find the NanoMag's volume control. This is augmented by treble, bass and gain preamp controls around the back on the rear electronics cavity coverplate.

In practice, the preamp control placement is fine in a studio environment, but a little awkward when the guitar is strapped on in the heat of battle. We can only imagine that most players will tweak the preamp pots to taste at soundcheck or in rehearsal, then possibly apply some gaffer tape over the top of them to avoid disturbing them while playing.

They don't sit much more than a millimetre proud of the control plate, but it would be easy for someone who rocks out with their Les Paul slung low to disturb the settings with a knee mid-flail.

A pair of outputs facilitates a twin-amp or amp-and-DI set-up for gigging or recording, which we'd always give the nod to in terms of sound quality and flexibility when compared to a blended acoustic and electric signal via a mono output, but more on that later.

Forgetting the electronic side of things for a moment, the overall finishing and assembly standard is consistent with other Chinese Epiphones we've seen recently. It's perfectly acceptable given the price range, but close inspection reveals a little scruffiness.