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Edwards E-LP-92SD/P
List: $1,250
The Edwards brand name conjures notoriety simply because it takes pride in being a copy cat. Instead of simply duplicating their wares to ride on others’ distinction, there are sufficient subtleties to win over fans of the original article. Even if there’s a lack of conversion, fans of great guitar craftsmanship & tone purists alike would applaud the high standards of instrument/ tone conception employed by the manufacturer. The E-LP-85SD/P here is a typical Les Paul clone featuring a pair of Seymour Duncan P-90 pickups (S-P90 to be exact) & a gold body finish, mimicking its famous 1968 model which was a re-make of the sumptuous 1952/ 54 counterparts.
Construction/ fit/ finish
This 85 is a mahogany whole with a hard maple top & rosewood fretboard; no deviations from the original as it seems. The only visual differences hare are the truss rod cover which isn’t the typical Gibson bell outline & the scriptures over at the headstock reads ‘Edwards Limited’ but there’s nothing quite limited edition about this model per se as it is a regular Edwards offering listing for the standard retail price. The hardware & non-pickup electronics are the tried & trusted Gotoh units
The 85 neck is the primary deviant from a Gibson LP Std affair. It isn’t a ‘50s make so no chunky register anywhere here. The overall depth of which has more slim-taper (‘60s) inclinations but the manufacturer decided to shave off more wood proximate to the fretboard edges to give the player an illusion of an even slimmer built. If it wasn’t intended to be so, upon handling, the neck definitely feels slimmer than Gibson’s interpretation of ‘slim’ & less flat as well. (Note: This reviewer owns a slim-tapered neck Gibson LP Std)
There is also a deviation in neck width; the 85 has a wider measurement at the nut & 12th fret (0.1cm difference) but the terminal width at the 22nd fret is 5.7cm for both guitars. If anyone here wishes to purchase the Edwards in the hope of a strict Gibson reproduction, you are now privy to the differences in neck feel.
The 85 also displays a variation in weight despite featuring Gibson’s 5cm dimension; there is much desired lightness here to prevent the player from excessive spinal deterioration when s/he plays this guitar strapped on but it isn’t excessively lighter either. This might be attributable to the less beefy neck or the different mahogany grade in use.
I have personally tried several Edwards LP-type models of which none displayed atrocious finishing touches; this 85 is in league with other well done units but the body binding near the tail-end strap button, displays minor alignment issues. The fretboard area near the nut also displays uncharacteristic dryness, certainly an anomaly not shown by the rest of the fretboard register. A quick enquiry with luthier acquaintances revealed an adhesive culprit. Over at the factory, the individual responsible for nut fixtures might have spilled some glue on the fretboard which wasn’t wiped off quickly enough to such an extent that the fretboard experiences chemical dryness, which is manifested much later in its assembly.
Rating: 9/10
Tone/ playability
Equipment used for tone test:
• Marshall MG15CD amp
• Ibanez ValBee amp
• Peavey XXL amp
• CRATE Powerblock amp
• EHX Nano Muff
• Boss BD-2
• Behringer GDI21
• Ibanez Tubescreamer + EHX Pocket Metal Muff
• Pandora PX4D
The prior perturbance to any LP-type guitar fans would be the pickups on board- these arguably make or break the guitar. For those of us accustomed to humbucking units in our guitars, the single coil P-90s here would incite relevant apprehensions but here’s the revelation…
A good guitar through & through, would sound splendid with many amps & that’s what the 85 is all about. Thanks to the spanking Seymour Duncan P-90 units in there, an immaculate clean tone can be dialed up easily. The neck Duncan set to a proper warm setting would readily rival a good jazz box; the warmth is simply applaudable.
Moving on to dirty crunches; that’s quite the specialty of the P-90s, appealing more to blues fanatics than anyone else. On restrained (guitar) volume settings, on accounts of tone per se, it might win over Strat fans in search of added depth to an excessively trebly voicing. The tone on offer here has lots of warmth without threatening to be too prickly with added drive. If you own a cab emulator or anything similar, you’d enjoy the expansive P-90 tone much embraced by the Gibson fanatics before the Seth Lover history took over.
Last but not least, high gain fans & shred proponents would find the 85 pleasureable if not extremely appealing (restricted upper fret access- what else is new?). I for once thought the P-90s here would be relegated to a subtle drive setting (which is what I intended this guitar for) but push them with lots of gain, the bite; pick-sensitive nuances & screaming harmonics are present aplenty for fretboard finger gymnastics. The P-90 fatness here would certainly benefit from an EQ pedal supplement to accentuate the bottom end in order to give the humbucker a serious run for the money. My personal surprise- the bridge unit here can pull off a black metal-type tone quite easily; love it to bits.
Rating: 9/10 (tone)/ 8.5/10 (playability)
Conclusion
What’s there not to like about a good sounding, good playing guitar? No bag/ hard case in the price package, maybe? But that remains to be personal. You’d probably wish there’s less noise with added gain when playing this guitar but for that to happen, you must deviate from the P-90 tread or invest in a suitable noise gate. Copycat dissenters would definitely condemn this one to the bowels of copyright dungeons but if you can live with a fine imitation, the E-LP-92SD/P is one heck of a guitar. The price consideration is attraction itself.
Overall rating: 9/10
Likes
• Tone, fit, finish, feel
• Price
Dislikes
• Small strap buttons
• No hard case/ bag provided
Worthy competitors
• Epiphone LP 1956 Goldtop
• PRS SE Soapbar II
• Schecter C-1 Plus
• Hamer Monaco Elite P-90
• Tokai LS85S
