Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess

The Gibson Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess is the envy of many players. But let’s face it, prices on those creep up to over $5,000. Still, the Axcess Les Paul is an alluring option. The notorious Les Paul heel is gone and a nice, new slick contour taper is in it’s place. And of course, a Floyd Rose.

If you like to see people spill the tea, go look up Neal Schon and his history with his Gibson artist model. There are those that assert some of the most appealing features of the Axcess are from Schon’s preferences. Maybe that are. Maybe they are not. I can say that I remember many years ago when Schon had a model. It’s also a hefty price tag. LOL! Then it was gone. Neal goes with another company. And then the Axcess line shows up.

Pretty close to the time that the Alex LIfeson Axcess arrives. I did play Gibson Lifeson LP Axcess in a store and it’s a sweet ride. Years later, an Epiphone LP Standard version is on the market. Straight up, I’m not a fan of the piezo element in the saddles. Some are cool with it, and that’s groovy. And then they strip that away and cut to the chase with the current Lifeson model

Unboxing

This guitar is from a online retailer that does not touch the product. No billion-point inspection or any of that noise. It is showing up as it comes from Epiphone, with not a finger on it since put in the box by the manufacturer.

Opening the shipping box reveals the hard case with the guitar safely inside. All the case candy is packaged up to avoid slipping and sliding all over the place. Even via FedEx, things arrive snug as a bug in a rug. HaHa!

Body

At a touch above 9 lbs, this is a slightly substantial instrument. There is a solid feel to things. It’s hard to say what you don’t already know if you are familiar with a Les Paul or a singlecut style guitar.

I can say that the pickup cavities reveal a respectable slab of maple between the mahogany back the the Quilt Maple Veneer. While in those cavities, I am also seeing a much higher attention to detail and to quality than with the Epiphone Les Paul Plus Top Pro/FX.

The obvious things about the body are the belly scarf and the heel access. Both are seamless and natural. They do not bring attention to themselves in any distractive manner. It’s as if it’s always been there and meant to be.

Electronics

This is an interesting area of this guitar to consider. I do see people online that complain about the knobs on the Push/Pull pots. The knobs have lips that give a drip when pulling up. I caught that immediately and cannot figure out where the gripe is. They work fine.

The harness is a different story. It has the infamous (dare I say notorious) quick-connect system. Yes, there are purists that deride it to no end. And I get their point. I feel ya. Now look at the wiring features: splitting options for 2 humbuckers and an option to go out-of-phase. That’s pretty labor intensive to wire the old-fashioned way. And it can be prone to errors if there is a rush. So the quick-connect can make it fool-proof and can get it out the door a little faster.

In my situation, I am finding the bridge Probucker 3 to not be in my wheelhouse for this guitar. At all. I found an connector to buy online that allows you to splice in your favorite brand of pickup to the same connector. That was a lifesaver when testing other pickup options. Having to wire up over a dozen pickups in this guitar without that quick-connect feature would be a deal-breaker. By the way, the winner is a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge.

I can say that I put a meter to all the pots and the ones on mine are at a less than 5% tolerance.

Switching

This is one of the cooler features about this model.

There are 2 P/P Volume pots, 1 each to put the respective humbucker in to split mode. That’s super fun and versatile. While I do like an excellent set of classic-sounding PAFs in a Les Paul, it’s nice to have an option with some extra push. So being able to split the stronger humbuckers to still be able to get a cleaner and snappier character is handy.

And you also have 1 P/P Tone pot to take the humbuckers out-of-phase with each other. What a fun option. This really allows so much more tonal capacity. It’s stops just short of the venerable all-out Jimmy Page configuration. But I think that this setup is giving the most usable scenarios.

Hardware

Sure, you have your Grover tuners. What you’re really here for is the double-locking Floyd Rose tremolo system!

This is the Floyd Rose 1000 version from Korea. The body has a recess to allow for a lower mounting profile and more comfortable playing. It has a 37mm sustain block, and I’m thinking that’s a good call. Any longer would risk hitting the cavity wall before reaching the bottom of your dive-bomb range.

A small touch is that the trem spring claw and screws are actually of a substantial mass. Which is to say that it’s normal. You probably see some of the more affordable guitar models out there that try to use a trem spring claw that’s hardly thicker than aluminum foil LOL!

Pickups

Going to shoot straight on this. The ProBucker 3 sounds to my ears like a burnt butthole after a 3-day Taco Bell bender. Worn out and weak. You know how people say that something sounds like a blanket is covering the amp cabinet? This is like a wet blanket is covering each speaker and then a moving blanket is covering the cab. It’s as if they got halfway through coming up with it, went out to lunch to have too many beers, then came back to only forget what they were doing. The original Gibson AL Axcess models appear to have the 498T, so maybe that’s something to consider down the road.

The Ceramic Pro in the neck is a different story. It’s pleasingly ideal for that position in this guitar. The right amount of output, grit, and balance. Clear in the low end and transparent in the mids. I do think that a pair of the Ceramic Pro humbucker would be a great set in this guitar. Of course, Gibson is being their usual horses asses and don’t sell this model. I did try many neck options for this guitar. Even high-end boutique models that go for hundreds of dollars. The ‘Designed by Epiphone” Ceramic Pro in the neck comes to the game ready to play.

An interesting twist is that they do sell a ProBucker set for about $90. That’s the ProBucker 2 neck and the ProBucker 3 bridge. If they are selling them for about $45 each, imagine how little they have in to them and consider the R&D that might go in to a product they spend less on that you spend on lunch each day.

Neck

The 24-3/4″ fretboard arrives relatively straight. Allowing for a day or so of acclimation, there is only a slight tweak this way and that. Once in that sweet spot, it’s been holding steady.

This is a guitar that I would have gotten sooner, if not for some of the online comments by people with issues claiming that the E strings are too lose to the edge. Happy to say that’s not the case in this one. And I put it up against the other 2 Epi Lesters that I have. Same clearance.

Several of the frets are not as level as I’m seeing from other guitars in the same price range. I can say that a few passes with the full range of micro-mesh finishing abrasives takes them down to a much more acceptable state. The micro-mesh treatment also gives the frets a nice polish and takes out residual marks left from installation.

Demo

Areas Of Opportunity

The only thing I can throw at it are the electronics.

It is understandable that some players don’t swap or upgrade parts. Those that do clearly have reason to not care for the quick-connect system. The Gibson and the Epiphone quick-connectors are not the same, so you’re pretty much stuck with the same pickups it comes with. Unless you want to get industrious. At which point, just gut the thing and install all new, much better parts.

Sidenote from left field. While auditioning different sets of pickups, something caught me as alarming. The routes are only friendly to short mounting legs. The overall route is deep enough, but there is a bit of a step that does not allow long legs to go all the way down. That is a bit of a disappointment when I’m wanting to check out the Gibson 496R & 500T humbucker set. Get with it guys. LOL!

Specs

Conclusion

Literally interested in a Les Paul Axcess since first playing one in that store that first time. First it was pricing. Then all the changes going on with Gibson. Then the QC issues coming out of the Asian factories that Gibson is using. When I did find an Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess in a local store, it was literally the worst setup I have ever come across. A few of the online reviews do this model no favors.

However, I’m finding this guitar to be working out fine. Aside from my own personal preference about the bridge humbucker, I can see that many players will be OK with it as-is.

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