Epiphone GTPROLBK1 Solid-Body Electric Guitar, Left Handed, Black

I bought this as a travel guitar and I always wondered how these would play since they came out it the '80s. I know this isn't the kind Eddie Van Halen blew our minds with but still I kinda wanted to try one. I read a lot of mixed reviews and came to the conclusion that when getting a guitar from the other side of the world at a cheap price, you might get a lemon occasionally. At very least you are gonna have to do a complete setup on it. Mine arrived packaged very well. Beautiful guitar. Frets are finished very nicely. Works great. The Volume and Tone knobs were not all the way down but they are push on, so easily fixed.I did a complete setup on it. Relief, Action, Intonation, Tremolo. And I really like this little thing. Pickups are very decent. I'll probably upgrade eventually, but I'm able to pretty much get the tones I want with adjustments on the eq of my pedalboard. I'm definitely gonna do an upgrade on the tuners. These are a challenge to operate. I found an upgrade that I'm gonna do for about $40 that has great reviews. Looks like an easy adaptation and makes a lot of sense. I did change the strap knob from behind the neck at the body to a better location so it hangs better. I gave the tremolo a rough workout and it stays in tune very nicely in dive only. I rarely use full float anyway. I haven't tried it in fully floating yet.So far I'm very satisfied. The volume knob gets in my way so I'm adjusting my picking to accommodate.I will probably get rid of the Volume and Tone pots and install a double pot double knob at the Tone knob position for both. But for the price, I'm stoked! Great bang for the buck.

awesome

Made in China, no quality control, the guitar was covered in dirt and several scratches,a big Crack on the left side of the neck where it meets the body of the guitar,tuners sticking and binding.This actually comes from Gibson,they purchased Steinberger years ago,I called Gibson and the customer service representative was flippant and could care less. Like many other companies, Gibson has bought up many smaller companies and is focused on money only,not making quality products. Another customer lost.

This will sound mostly negative, but the instrument is actually really great. Hence the 4 stars. I just think there are some aspects about the instrument that aren't in the product description, or that are only talked about by separate reviewers. Overall, it’s a great instrument, perfect for traveling. The lap bar is great, though I would recommend using a right-angle cable since it’s so close to the input jack. The bridge is really well engineered, though I haven’t tested the tremolo function very much. My main gripe is the body shape doesn’t provide the best access to the 24th fret (which should have an inlay). Playing standing isnt that great because it wants to rotate forward. One thing that should be made clear in the product description is that the nut (behind the zero fret) is designed to only take double ball-end strings, which are expensive and not made by very many companies. There are 3rd party adapters to allow you to use single ball-end strings, but it would be nice if something like that was included, or if the design simply allowed single ball-ends. Also, be sure to read the manual before trying to adjust the string height or intonation - those parts of the bridge are actually locked and you need to use a small Allen wrench to unlock them.Main advantages: 24 frets (the only other 24 fret travel guitar I know of doesn’t even have a volume knob). The bridge can either be a tremolo or fixed bridge. Lots of beautiful finish options. Comfortable to play sitting down in classical position, and perfectly fine on the right hip if you’re using a right angle cable. Highly compact for travel, including on airplanes. Truss rod is easily accessible (uncovered at the end of the neck).For shortcomings based on my personal taste: the neck is a little thick, I’d like it if the profile was a little thinner. The volume knob is very much in the way of my picking hand, similar to a strat if not worse. I personally plan to get rid of the tone knob and move the volume knob to its spot. I also lowered the middle pickup as it was in the way of my picking hand.

Great quality for the money!

If this is your first guitar, there are better guitars in this price range. If you need a travel guitar, the Steinberger Spirit Pro is a decent choice.

I bought this as a travel practice guitar, so that I could easily take it with me on flights when travelling, it comes with a padded gig bag. It has exceeded my expectation in several regards.The finish is fantastic for a $399 guitar. The overall playability and feel of the guitar is as good as any I have played before. OK, so its not the original GL series from Ned Steinberger, this one was made in China. Considering the price the build quality is up there with the best for the price. The Steinberger pick ups (EMG supposedly, I am guessing Hz series as they are not the active 85's) sound good enough. They sound "reasonable" enough through an amp as well.The action was a little high for my tastes, so I had it adjusted, and now it plays well.I think that for the price, (whilst not an original), it is as good as you will find in a compact guitar to travel with. If you are not concerned with all the palaver about Chinese made, not EMG actives etc, then you will enjoy this version of the Steinberger.

Initially, I did have a bit of fret buzz and the output jack was a bit loose. Took it to my local shop for a setup and it’s great. Stays in tune really well.