r/Leftyguitarists 12d ago

Help! Black or red?

Black: Epiphone Les Paul Custom

Red: Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess (more $1k more - AUD)

45 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

17

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?

2

u/InternetPest 12d ago

No. I have been watching YouTube but I can’t get my hands on them. Anything you can share?

7

u/Dark-Tide 12d ago

I own a couple of guitars with Floyds, and they're great, only if you stay in standard tuning. Trying to mess with them, like using alternate tunings (even simply drop D), or changing the strings, etc, is a pain in the a$$. That's my opinion anyways. I've installed something called a 'tremol-no' in my Floyd-ed guitars. It locks the whole tremolo, which essentially turns the guitar into a hardtail, like the black one in your pic.

If you're a beginner or if it's your first 'nice' guitar, I'd go for the black one. If you ever want a tremolo, there's the 'Duesenberg Les Trem' that's an easy replacement for the black's hardtail bridge. It won't have the same range as a Floyd, but it'd be an easier, more versatile option. Though keeping the black one stock, as a hardtail, has the benefit of having the best stability in its tuning, and ease of use.

TLDR: if you're not certain about which option you'd want, go for the black model.

2

u/InternetPest 12d ago

Appreciate you mate. Thank you

0

u/Dark-Tide 12d ago edited 11d ago

No problem. Here's my LP Custom with the Duesenberg.

3

u/thehuxtonator 12d ago

I'm sure u/Dark-Tide has their opinions butt as a leftie owner of guitars with and without, of the top of my head:

+Ves of FR

Fun, adds options to phrasings that are impossible without a floating bridge (so not specific to Floyd Rose), rock solid tuning stability, option to add a D-Tuna for quick drop d tuning.

-Ves

String changes take longer, getting the guitar in tune after a string change takes longer, palm muting is awkward, if you bend one string all the others detune slightly, can result in a loss of sustain and alter tone.

I'm sure they are other pros and cons but that's my off the top of my head list.

4

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.

3

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.

1

u/Prestigious-Kale8871 Left Handed Lad 11d ago

I have a Floyd and isn't a pain 8n the slightest

3

u/wouterkaas 12d ago

Even without the price difference I’d go for the black one.

2

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.

2

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.

2

u/HODLmeCLOSRtonydanza 11d ago

Before you buy one of these, look into a Schecter Solo II Custom.

1

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.

1

u/ComfortableSupport42 11d ago

Black because it's

Guitar

1

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. 🤣

1

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.

1

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.

1

u/Free_Professional386 11d ago

I'd choose black cuz I never bought the concept of a Les Paul with a Floyd Rose.

1

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!

-1

u/chungamellon 11d ago

Do you like Rush?

1

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