Epiphone Les Paul Standard Cherry Sunburst (2001) Samick, Korea - 'Scarface'

The Les Paul is an iconic guitar used by countless guitar heroes over the years, and this Epiphone Les Paul Standard in Cherry Sunburst is a proper powerhouse. This one was built in November 2001 at the highly regarded Samick factory in Korea. Early 2000s Korean-made Epiphones are legendary among players. Guitars built during this period in Korea represent the “golden era” of Epiphone production and are widely respected for their skilled construction, quality wood selection, and excellent craftsmanship. Many players praise their consistent build quality, resonance, components, and feel, giving these guitars a fierce reputation as serious value giants. When properly set up, these Korean Epiphones are absolute slayers that can comfortably rival far more expensive modern Gibsons in both playability and tone. This 25-year-old instrument, if it could speak, I am sure has some serious stories to tell.

I would love to know the history of this guitar because it arrived having been badly scratched up in a past life. Was it a bad breakup with an ex-partner gone nuts? Was someone tripping and thinking they’d customize the guitar with a carved design using an old-school pencil case compass? Who knows! Either way, this one is definitely not for the faint-hearted. I’ve affectionately nicknamed this one ‘Scarface’ - it’s like Gary Moore & Tony Montana’s b-stard child... so “say hello to my little friend!” And just like Gary & Tony, it is made of tough stuff, with plenty of battle scars to prove it.

I have worked hard to repair the cosmetically damaged area as best as possible using several techniques, primarily utilising custom-coloured resin epoxy. While it is far from perfect or pristine, my restoration work has made a huge improvement to its overall appearance and feel under the hand. A new scratchplate was re-fashioned and fitted to cleanly cover a portion of it, and all of this is fully documented in the listing with before-and-after pictures for 100% transparency. Outside of that specific area, there is still plenty of other natural wear such as surface marks, scratches, general rubbing, dings, and authentic pitting that gives the guitar its overall authentic player-grade mojo. Please note that all imperfections are purely cosmetic, and a thorough bench inspection confirmed there are zero structural issues.

Under the hood, it comes loaded with the factory Epiphone 57CH humbucker in the neck position and a HOTCH in the bridge. To bring the hardware back up to scratch, I fitted new machine heads as the old ones had reached their sell-by date (worn out and not functioning 100%), installed a new jack socket plate, and fitted fresh gold top-hat knobs. There is genuine natural play-wear across the pickup covers and some real vintage oxidation on the bridge, rounding off its proper 2000s player-grade mojo.

As with all instruments that pass through my hands at Sosbro Guitar Co., this guitar has just undergone a thorough professional refurbishment and setup to ensure it arrives stage and studio ready and plays to its best ability. Full setups in most shops are expensive, and because of the high cost of paying a guitar tech, very few new guitars off the shelf or even second-hand guitars ever get a proper going over before being sold. I have personally already done the hard work for you. During its service, I removed the old strings, cleaned the fretwire, polished the frets, cleaned and tested all the volume/tone pots, and polished the entire guitar. Finally, it was restrung with a fresh set of D’Addario XL Nickel Wound strings (9-42 gauge), tuned, and dialed in with a comfortable medium action that makes it an absolute joy to play.

No gig bag or hard case is included in the price, but as a specialist reseller, I have various suitable options available separately. I stock a number of brand-new big brand name bags and cases, as well as a few quality second-hand options. Just ask for details, and I’ll be happy to offer a discount when a case is purchased together with the guitar.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Condition: Used – Natural relic/road-worn condition (Cosmetic resin epoxy repair, see description)