This is one of the best value guitars on the market. When it was for sale, this model of the Epiphone Les Paul Special was one of the highest-rated guitars on Sweetwater. This one is no exception, and the weak points of the stock version have been upgraded:

• The neck pickup has been upgraded to a Seymour Duncan SP90-1n Vintage P90.
• The bridge pickup has been upgraded to a Seymour Duncan SP90-1b Vintage P90.
• The tuners have been upgraded to locking Hipshot open-back tuners

This makes for a guitar that sounds and feels like it's way more expensive than it is.

The reasons I chose "very good" and not "excellent":

• The frets. It looks like the previous owner had the frets dressed and there are just some super minor indentations in the binding. See pics, particularly look at the one around the 13th/14th/15th frets. It's hardly noticeable but still worth mentioning
• Look at the bass side of the 21st fret. There's a spot where it looks like the grain tore out or something - it's not the same color as the fretboard. Again, hardly noticeable, but worth mentioning.
• The gig bag zippers. I've replaced two (the ones on the pockets). The actual guitar enclosure has a double zipper and one of them is broken off (see picture). The pockets/guitar enclosure can all be opened/closed just fine.