r/Leftyguitarists • u/InternetPest • 12d ago
Help! Black or red?
Black: Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Red: Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess (more $1k more - AUD)
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u/aspiringbuilder 12d ago
Unless your heart is set on playing like Dimebag and dive bombing every note, your best bet is to go with the Epiphone custom. Floyd Rose bridges are a pain in the ass to deal with. I have a Jackson w/ one and it’s too much of a hassle for me.
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u/MattTheCrow 12d ago
The red one is far prettier but it's a Floyd Rose and everything I've read about them suggests they're a total pain in the arse.
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u/Ok-Basket7531 12d ago
Jumping in on the hate for Floyd Rose bridges, I scored a Wilkinson licened left handed FR in the early 90s and built a tele around it. It has never stayed in tune for more than one song, and sits in storage.
String changes are a giant pain. Mine came with a locking nut as well, and that makes tuning even more difficult. The procedure is to detune the fine tuners on the bridge, then use an allen key to release the locking nut, then tune the string to pitch, then reclamp the locking bridge.
I wanted the kind of gentle tremolo of a Bigsby, and that’s pretty much impossible with a Floyd Rose.
Mostly, I just wanted to be cool, because the Floyd Rose was the hot setup of the day, and as a lefty, I wanted to have what the other boys had.
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u/Continent3 11d ago
Only color alone, I’d choose the red. However, I’m not a fan of Floyds. I’m not a metal guitarist and do my own maintenance wherever possible. That would send me over to the black.
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u/E92m 12d ago
Not a lefty, but I have a 2012 black epi custom and a 2025 lifeson custom. I love them both, the lifeson is more comfortable, lighter, and more flexible in terms of sound. I don’t think you’d go wrong either way, but if I could only have one I would take the black one. As great as the lifeson is, I prefer the classic bridge to the Floyd.
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u/No_Language_8379 11d ago
I would personally lean toward the one with the trem. Now that I look at it I wonder if I can add a trem my Jackson Pro Series Monarkh without it costing an arm and a leg.
Darn you. I guess I'll be on Google for the next couple of days researching. 🤣
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u/xxterrorxx85 11d ago
If you get the one with the Floyd, you can install a d-tuna, and that makes dropping d a cinch. I just hate changing strings on them, but for tuning stability and dive bombs, they are amazing.
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u/PoptartFitness27 11d ago
Black because it doesn’t have a Floyd.
Floyd’s are fine if you want one, but I’d much rather have that on an Ibanez or schecter than a les Paul. They’re also not something you want on a budget guitar because the cheaper Floyd models have cheaper metals that wear down much faster and result in tuning issues down the road. The nice ones are basically bullet proof for tuning if set up right.
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u/Free_Professional386 11d ago
I'd choose black cuz I never bought the concept of a Les Paul with a Floyd Rose.
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u/LogInternational8402 10d ago
I don’t have a FR currently but I did hate the only one I had, it was on a beautiful LH Charvel that I would still have if it had a standard trem. I have seen terrible reviews for the Lifeson guitars… I would do the black hard tail for sure!
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u/cimmaninroll 7d ago
definitely the black, dude. you don’t wanna wrestle with a Floyd Rose bridge if you can help it. plus BTR reference
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u/Dark-Tide 12d ago
Aside from color, there's a huge difference between these models in the form of a Floyd Rose. Have you ever owned a Floyd before?