Epiphone Billie Joe Armstrong LP Junior

I was really worried about the quality of the guitar since some people have complained about scratches and other quality issues with this particular guitar.

However I inspected the whole guitar thoroughly, and there was absolutely nothing I could complain about, no sharp fret edges, no scratch or dents in the lacquer. The action was however a bit high, so I had to loosen the strings and lower the bridge posts.

In terms of sound, it didn’t sound very good with the stock strings, they sounded really dull. So I changed the strings to ErnieBall 10, same as my Gibson LP Junior in order to compare them both unplugged and through different amps.

Here is the result: The Epiphone Pro P90 lacks some mid frequency, and does not sound as rich as the Gibson P90, it still sounds like a P90 but just not as rich as the Gibson P90. On the other hand they both play, feel and look like a dream.

Finally, do I think it was worth the money? Yes. Is it a good guitar for the price? Yes. Am I satisfied? Yes

I purchased this as I really wanted something with a P90 in my collection and, having owned a P93 Riviera Custom that really didn't do it for me, I figured one P90 Pro is probably a better option than 3 regular P90's in the same body (and boy, was I right?!!).

The custom case is to die for and is a great bonus but the simplicity and sound of this guitar when thrashed is exactly what I was looking for. The P90 is gnarly and harsh when you dig in and dial up the gain but cleans up nicely with a lovely chime if you want to mellow out. It seems to be very hot for a single coil but that's what you get in a P90 I guess.

There's something really liberating about having limited options on a guitar - one pickup, one volume, one tone - that's it. It means I get less distracted by searching for sounds and just play it. I love Green Day and so that helps too - the first song out of the box had to be Basket Case and it sounded great through a Marshall 50W valve amp with a Thorpy FX drive pedal in the front end (The Dane).

I love the way that it looks too but that's purely a subjective thing and may not be to everyone's taste - this 50 year old punk rocker loves it!

I don't fuss too much about setups (unless it's way off) and this played great straight out of the box - I doubt I will have to do anything with it at all to be honest.

I have around 20 or so guitars and this has just gone to the top of the tree as my new favourite. It's giving me the P90 sound in my head that I was craving and looks good doing it - all for less than £500 with one of the coolest hard cases I've ever seen (if Bet Lynch from Coronation Street made guitar cases, this would be her flagship model!).

In short - delighted with my purchase and this one is a keeper. The usual outstanding customer service and delivery from Thomann is somewhat a given at this stage and I never have any worries when I buy from them.

A super new axe that I just can't put down - love, love, love it!