Hmm.
threadstarter - kindly bear in mind that Epiphones (especially those with opaque finishes) may not have the expected mahogany wood that their bigger brothers Gibson utilise. There have been stories of alder or even plywood being used :evil: That is unless you can see the wood grain for yourself, and that does not even count for the 'flame tops' which are just laminates.
There are plenty of such threads regarding Epi LPs on Soft, maybe you'd like to search more, and hopefully you will get the info you need so as to be able to make a decision.
But my take is that maybe it would be wiser to purchase an already good-sounding, well-set up instrument and spend more time playing guitar than worrying about your next pickup / hardware upgrade.
hope this helps.