Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro Trans Purple Faded Burst (2012)

The Les Paul is an iconic guitar used by countless guitar heroes over the years, and this Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro in a truly unique Trans Purple Faded Burst is a solid rock machine. Built in November 2012 at the highly regarded Qingdao factory in China, this has clearly been someone’s go-to instrument.

It looks to me like this guitar started off life as a Trans Blue Burst, but after some serious sun exposure over the years, it has naturally faded into an incredible Trans Purple Faded Burst. Between that unique aging and the particularly nice flame maple top, this guitar feels like a bit of a unicorn. Maybe you don’t see many like these, or maybe it’s something to do with the colour, but I could easily see an artist like Prince rocking this one out on stage! Unsurprisingly, not only does it look and feel great, but thanks to the Epiphone Pro features, it delivers above and beyond in the sound department.

Under the hood, this "Pro" model is packed with top-tier factory features. It comes equipped with Epiphone’s USA-designed ProBucker pickups, featuring a vintage PAF-voiced ProBucker-2 in the neck and a slightly hotter ProBucker-3 in the bridge, both loaded with Alnico II magnets for that warm, rich, and articulate classic rock bite. For ultimate tonal versatility, the electronics feature a standard 3-way toggle switch paired with full-size controls, including two volume knobs equipped with push/pull coil-splitting. This allows you to instantly drop each humbucker into a single-coil sound on the fly, giving you everything from thick, heavy humbucker crunch to snappy, Strat-like clarity.

Condition-wise, this is a guitar that has been really enjoyed over the last 14 years, and it has stood up well while picking up the usual bumps, scratches, and bruises to prove it. If you are looking for a pristine "case queen," then step aside, because this one isn't for you. However, if you appreciate a worn-in guitar that feels, sounds, and looks like a proper thing of beauty, this is the one for you. Some areas have been sympathetically filled and made smooth to the touch to avoid further chipping or paintwork loss, but there is still plenty of other natural wear, such as surface marks, scratches, general rubbing, and authentic play wear on the pickups that gives it that overall authentic mojo. Full disclosure: there is one area in particular (by the bridge tone pot) where I got a bit overexcited when sanding and finishing; as a result, the area now shows the natural grain. It still retains the polyurethane finish, so it is NOT sanded down to the bare wood. Please also note that two of the four speed knobs have internal cracks, though they remain fully functional. All of this is clearly shown in the pictures and video for complete transparency.

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 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 the pickup switch, 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/low action that makes it an absolute joy to play.

Due to the extensive workshop setup, this guitar genuinely plays better than when it was sold brand new.

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 with custom UV fading, filled dents, and a sanded finish spot (see description)