Beepster

craigb
That Harley Benton looks just like the Hondo guitar I had as a kid (my first pseudo-guitar).  So glad when I dumped that POS for a real '76 Les Paul...

lolololol...
 
My jammin' buddy when I was teen had a Hondo (Explorer copy IIRC).
 
It was the WORST!!!
 
I think the body was made out of particle board and had the crappiest bolt on neck I think I've ever had the displeasure of playing on.
 
Just soooo bad.
 
edit: oh... and it sounded like an old man trying to take a crap.

 
I had a Hondo as well... A Hondo II 'SD Curlee', whatever that was supposed to mean. Nasty guitar. Upgraded to a Gibson Sonex, which I still have, but never play.

What a piece of junk.  I wouldn't pay $99 for that, unless I was buying it for a kid who i expected to throw it away in 3 months...

At least get the one with the humbuckers:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ENSVEBVCH
 
Its $50.00 more...Yes, it too is probably a piece of crap but at least it will sound like a Les Paul & not a Stratocaster...
 
 

That's not a Les Paul - just about everything looks wrong - horrid thing!
I have a number of Les Paul's ranging from a Custom to a Studio as that's what I mainly play - love all my Les Paul's!!
Nigel
 

Hi,
 
Aren't these the cardboard guitars that are made in Mexico?
 
They don't even come with a drink!

guessing it would be a starter guitar for young teenage girls, from the looks of it.
sure is not a top guitar or a real les paul, but for a girly starter guitar not bad imo.
sounds somewhat reasonable too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seICRkGNyUM
 
 

Sheanes
guessing it would be a starter guitar for young teenage girls, from the looks of it.
sure is not a top guitar or a real les paul, but for a girly starter guitar not bad imo.
sounds somewhat reasonable too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seICRkGNyUM
 

When I decided I wanted to get the equivalent of my Gibson EB-0 back, the only option I had was to get me an EB-0 or EB-3 by Epiphone. I got me an EB-3 (still have it) and it has no feel whatsoever, and does not have the great action and spunk that the original EB-0 by Gibson did. It pretty much helped me put the bass to sleep and not play a whole lot.
 
I miss dearly the original EB-0 I had, and if I ever get some extra money, I will get me one ... a real one, instead of a fake, Mexican cheap crapper that does not sound good and can not be made to sound good.
 
It might be good for a starter kit, and such, but in the end, it will also turn off the kids, because they can not make it sound better and more attractive to one's ear ... it's like saying that you have to have the chops to make a shi!!y guitar sound good, and in general that is not the case, and not likely to happen, and this is where learning, and teaching has a serious distance that is losing kids from learning music even more and better. 
 
I can see some kids in my own neighborhood playing and trying to sound good, and playing some fair to better stuff, but when you get up close, you know the difference right away ... it's not the kids or the chops ... it's the cheapness of the guitars and the amps that are the difference ... the quality and fidelity are lost. The better equipment helps you clean up details and get better, and you would not know that until you try it!
 
As they say ... you get what you pay for ... but many will never get that far to know that part ... you can't get the paying gig on crap equipment in general!

If a guitar isn't a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck on the correct scale length it isn't the same thing as a Gibson Les Paul. The maple top is optional, the LP Jrs and Specials are good guitars and sound very similar to the original Les Paul Mark 2 Jrs and Specials (soon renamed the SG)

As for Gibson's pricing policy, that got out of hand a long time ago when it was decided that Gibson="luxury brand with resulting price premium". Fender US have gone down a similar road. A US-built 60s reissue Telecaster is not £1,000 better than a Mexican 60s reissue. Especially if you spend a little on the Mexican one and drop in a better nut if it needs it and Fender US pickups.

Both companies model ranges are increasingly bizarre as well. Want a new Firebird with the distinctive pickups they originally had? Nope, it's high-output ceramic buckers, overwound P90s or nothing. A modern-style US-built Tele without the noiseless pickups and with a steel bridge plate? Sorry... Gibson and Fender have dozens of different models of pretty much the same thing and almost none that are the same as the guitar you bought a few years or a couple of decades ago. I guess there must be a market reason for that - collectors perhaps at the most expensive end of the ranges - but how many models of the Les Paul does the world really need and does the range have to change at least once a year?

And don't get me started on high-priced custom-shop "relics"....

I don't play but I'm tempted to pick one up just for grins.
 
I also find it a bit humorous that a case costs more than the guitar.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ENLPCS

BobF
It's an Epiphone.
 
Single coils are wrong on an LP of any make.  Unless they're P90s, of course.

Yes Bob , P 90's Rock .
 
Even on an low budget Epiphone 
 
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/20138-bottom-feeder-my-81-les-paul-special
 
 
FWIW ,  I'm actually interested in the guitar that this thread was started over ...I love playing around with budget guitars ...
 
 
Kenny