 |
Review: 2020 Epiphone Les Paul Special 1 P90 - Worn Cherry
The Epiphone Worn Cherry Les Paul Special 1 with two P90 pickups was discontinued in 2021. It was a success so there's plenty of used ones around in the 100-250 range. You can find a lot of reviews both in print and video and on the whole, it's considered a nice budget guitar that has something for both advanced and beginning players.
So, in my case, I'll simply be adding my two cents to the general opinion and lore of this particular guitar, which I have always liked. It’s a mahogany “slab” guitar and the fact that it has a bolt on neck doesn't bother me since I'm used to Fenders. It's not technically a mahogany guitar in the same way a Gibson SG would be. I think it's more a matter of the wood being in the same family as the mahogany used for the higher grade guitars. Nonetheless it still has the same sound characteristics.
Other plus points are that the lightness and ergonomics are excellent. The Les Paul Special also has an easy to play neck, it's lightweight and the balance is good.
My reason for getting this particular model is that I wanted a low cost version of Bob Marley’s first guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Special that had some modifications but the bottom line was that it was a mahogany Les Paul Special with P-90s. Epiphone came out with a Bob Marley tribute guitar but it was a tribute, not a reproduction of the original. There’s a review of it here on the site which explains the differences.
There are certain configurations that give you a close approximation of a celebrity’s guitar, or more specifically, his or her sound. Another example, reviewed on this site is the Monoprice Offset, which is a jazzmaster body with HSS Strat style pickups. The bridge humbucker combined with the jazzmaster body gives you an economical approximation of the same position on a Curt Cobain jaguar but a whole lot cheaper. Which is good because Cobain didn’t play a jaguar like the tribute version for very long (he preferred modded Fender mustangs and his jagstang offset).
There’s been a lot of hype and praise about P90 pickups lately but one thing I've noticed is that some beginners don’t expect the level of hum that they can be getting. That goes especially if you're in a house or environment where there’s neon or electronic devices that can cause a lot of hum. Even if it’s dealt with at home, going out to another place like a club or rehearsal studio can bring it on. It’s an environmental element.
If you read or watch guitar reviews by Independents who aren't connected to a magazine that depends on ads or aren't doing a paid infomercial (like on YouTube), you'll find that the talk about the P90 pickup is far more candid and many flat out say that the pickups are noisy.
That hum isn't a big deal to an advanced student who knows what they're looking for in a P90 pickup and the fact that this particular guitar is a very budget-friendly way to get a P90 sound. The problem for a beginner is that they might live in a house with a lot of interference. There can be certain rooms where this particular Les Paul Special makes virtually no noise and others you can't get the thing quiet unless it's put through a noise gate.
That's something I'll put up with because I'm used to it and am using the guitar for that P90 sound, but it's something a beginner should know about. If a beginner wants a single coil sound they should also investigate Fender/Squier as those guitars tend to be quieter (in my opinion, I could be wrong).
The P90 has a beautiful clear tonality on clean amp settings and real power under high gain settings that you don't get from a lot of other pickups, it's a classic sound, particularly if you like blues or rockabilly. Also a lot of 60s rock like the middle period Who or early Black Sabbath was basically a P90 sound.
On the other hand, if you buy one of these and it's noisy, you can put in some shielding, get a noise gate or, last resort, just play in the middle position. As a general rule most P90 guitars no matter how cheap, the middle position is almost always quiet. However, any hardware solution adds too much cost for an entry level guitar and the fixes (like shielding pickups) is more of an intermediate skill.
I should add that my judgement of the Les Paul Special being noisy is relative; compared to some of the really inexpensive guitars like you see on Amazon, this Epiphone is quieter by far. There is a lot more quality here.
The P90 pickup, and that's what it comes down to with this guitar, it's about the pickups, is one of the classic sounds of rock and anyone who likes to play it should always consider getting at least one P90 guitar in their collection and this budget-friendly version is a good option.
So, if I were asked to sum up this guitar; it deserves its good reputation and it's an excellent low cost way to get some P90 sounds into your repertoire. Buying off the internet or a Guitar Center can be a better option because you can return the guitar if your playing environment is simply too noisy with too much cycle hum or device noise.
I'm not saying all this to warn people off the guitar; I just think that if it's promoted as a beginner's guitar, it should be with a detailed explanation of what it can mean in terms of potential noise, which if you're a beginner you just may not want.
In my case, I like the guitar and I'm not that interested in having an expensive P90 guitar so this particular Epiphone is, so far, one of the best budget options for a P90 guitar that I've seen. In the end, a P90 guitar can be considered an enthusiast guitar or one that can turn you into one.
Al Handa
July 13, 2026
The Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90
Body & WoodBody Material: Mahogany
Neck Material: Mahogany
Fretboard Material: Rosewood or Indian Laurel (varies by production year)
Body Finish: Gloss polyurethane or worn/satin finish (e.g., Worn TV Yellow, Worn Cherry, Worn Black)
Neck & DimensionsNeck Profile: 1960's SlimTaper "D" shape
Scale Length: 24.75"
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Number of Frets: 22 medium frets
But Width: 1.68" (approx. 42.67 mm)
Hardware & ElectronicsPickups: Epiphone P-90R (Neck) and P-90T (Bridge)
Controls: 1 x Master Volume, 1 x Master Tone
Pickup Switching: 3-way Epiphone toggle
Bridge: Compensated wrap-around fixed bridge
Tuning Machines: Premium Die-cast, vintage-style covered tuners
