A Really Great Guitar for the Price

This is a really impressive guitar on many levels. It really sounds "as good as" a Custom Gibson Les Paul costing 4 or 5 times as much. Having said that, there is a little wood tone difference (probably because of the "plastic like" finish) and the pickups are not as hot as the Gibsons. The thing that I love about this guitar is the center 3rd pick up has its own sound. It has almost a strat/tele "punka" attack but with a Gibson sustained finish. Very cool.
I was hesitant to buy it just because it was a Epiphone and that meant "junk" in my 1980s thinking. My Sweetwater sales person assured me that they are much higher quality instruments now and that Sweetwater will refuse to send me a lemon.
I took it down to a local luthier for a set-up and he freaked out. When I told him I bought it from the internet he was going to simply show me why I should send it back. After inspecting it and adjusting it he said that it was "perfect." He said the neck was "exact" and he measured each fret and could only find 1 slight discrepency (a slight rocking with his tool) between 2 frets. He set the action very low and explained that only really fine guitars can get this kind of action. He pointed out that one of the pickups had a awkward angle - not a problem for me.
I replaced the low quality "Quacky" sounding Epiphone strings with Elixer strings and then I knew I had a great guitar. It has a heavy/solid Les Paul feel. The neck is solid and tight. It is both bright and warm. I have been complimented on its looks as well.
This has really become my go to guitar for my studio recordings. I play it through a Fender NOS Blues Jr. Tweed/Jenson and it is amazing. My recordings are noticably better because of this guitar.
On the negative side, the finish is almost a little too plastic/shiny which is one place Epi saves $. Don't get the Epiphone case unless you want to pick carpet strands off of the black finish (I sent mine back and got a Gator Case). I really love this guitar and am extremely happy with it!