I didn't get the guitar today, I picked it up last weekend, but decided to post pics anyway. It's an Epiphone LP Traditional Pro and I love it. It is replacing my Epi LP special II and the difference is night and day. The tone alone is light years better. Warmer, cleaner, richer. Everything is higher quality.

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The amp I just picked up today used from the local GC. I had been eyeballing a local used Bugera TriRec, and while I slightly regret not getting it, it would be so utterly overkill for me its not even funny. So, I ended up with a Mesa Boogie Express 5:50. Really enjoying it so far, can get a huge range of tones. While it doesn't quite get to full on metal, it does a really decent Adam Jones'esque tone and if I need harder, I'll get a pedal.

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That thing is beautiful. Hope you have a heck of a lot of fun with it.

I actually am not a huge fan of the color of the knobs. The pics don't quite capture it, but they really clash with the color of the guitar. And I have to say, I've been drawn to mostly black guitars so far, but this wine red is really growing on me. Just need to get a real setup done. Didn't realize how high the action was until I was playing the one at GC today and it was about 1/4" lower and so much easier to play.

Congrats!

I agree, that particular shade of gold looks a little wonky on that wine red. A set of black speed knobs would look good. And you can adjust the action. Just read up on the subject and take baby steps. Pretty soon, you'll have it all dialed in.

And I think you did right by getting the Mesa instead of the Bugera. You have a much more reliable and well built amp. And yeah, don't sweat the gain. Get a couple good ODs and you'll be in heaven.

Where would I look for knobs?  I'm assuming those are stupid easy to change.

Played with the height of the action this evening following this guide. Got the high string side agoobit lower, but wasn't able to lower the low string side much before fret buzz became very noticeable. Also took a few minutes and adjusted intonation, which was shockingly easy. Can't believe GC charges $50 for this stuff. Still need to check neck straightness, don't have a good straightedge.

StewMac

Check the number of splines and make sure the knobs and shaft on the potentiometer have the same number. They are a friction fit, and can be pretty tight so don't force them.  When you go to put the new ones on, remove the cover plate on the back side of the guitar, and support the potentiometers from the back with your thumb while pressing the new knob on.

Watch this video, starting around the 5:00 mark.




You can also get the genuine Gibson knobs at Musicians Friend and Guitar Center.


BTW.......nice guitar!!

Thanks man, I'm really enjoying playing it. Spent the evening just playing with the new amp, it's a bit overwhelming to say the least. Trying to dial in something resembling Adam Jones' tone on Undertow/Aenima.

I'm also trying to follow the Absolute Fretboard mastery series, and learning the pentatonic shapes. Have shape 1 down and shape 2 mostly down, just working on speeding them up a bit. There sjust so much to learn with this instrument. I played alto and tenor sax and clarinet and flute from 4th grade through the end of high school, but didn't do anything musical again until now (I'm 32). Goddamn did I lose a lot of knowledge. I can't even read basic sheet music anymore. I'm having to relearn the notes on the staff FFS.  Ugh. I can finally get a reasonably clean F barre chord out about 90% of the time now, but changing to it from an open chord, pft, lol.

I know the feeling.  I took guitar lessons at age 11.  They were very formal lessons, and everything we played was off of sheet music.  I never was much good at the guitar and give up after a few months.  Took up the trumpet about a year later, and actually got to where I could play some.  I honestly felt like I could read music better than I could read a book.  A couple of years later, I give up music altogether.  When I finally picked up the guitar again (10 years later), I had lost everything,  Couldn't read music anymore, and my natural timing seemed to have gone away, too.  I really regret not keeping up with the trumpet.  Sometimes I get the urge to try it again, and maybe some day join one of those community bands.  But I don't know.  I'm damn near 60 now, and have plenty of hobbies to keep me busy.

I've never used a straightedge to check a neck. If you look down the neck length way, you can easily see if there's a twist and see the neck relief (some call it the bow in the neck).

And the thing about neck releif is, it's mainly up to personal preference. Some like a little bit of an arc, some like the neck to be absolutely flat. With me, I prefer my shreddy guitars flat, or close to flat, but my other guitars have some arc in the neck relief.

Another trick for checking a neck is to hold down the high E and low E (one at a time) at the 5th fret and the fret nearest to where the neck meets the body. This will reveal how flat a neck is. You have 6 straightedges built in.

As far as getting the strings lower. You generally do want to keep the bridge level. And you can also swap out the nut for one slightly taller, or shim your existing one with some paper. This will let you lower the bridge a little more before the strings buzz on the lower frets. This is also where neck relief can come into play. It's all simple geometry.

Good info!

I'll add that Gibson and Epiphone knobs interchange without troubles. I've got an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and a Gibson Explorer, and I looked the knobs over when I was in one of my pickup swapping frenzies. Both came from the factory with black speed knobs like the ones below. They were all identical.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PRSK010?adpos=1o1&creative=55397627521&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&product_id=PRSK010&gclid=CjwKEAiA8dDEBRDf19yI97eO0UsSJAAY_yCSmZyviU2rWrrXnUwEAnOVgNNkaZKAgy254Dauy6YcyxoCj23w_wcB

Yeah, Sweetwater is a great place to shop.  When I bought my amp, they called before they shipped it, to make sure the order was correct.  And they called again after it was delivered, to make sure everything was working and that I was satisfied with the purchase.  Great customer service!

Congrats!

Cool amp

Very nice.