This past Christmas (2013), @ Guitar Center, I purchased for my Son, an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro for About $460 total, with the standard Epiphone hard case. That is a new Guitar with the full Gibson/Epiphone warranty! This LP Custom Pro, all black with gold hardware, came with the push/pull knobs for coil tapping the PAF Humbuckers, as well a a push pull knob for the out of phase coils "Peter Green Mod" that came installed stock (think Gary Moore's guitar sound)! A very sweet and fully loaded guitar to be sure! In talking to a lot of LP players before buying this guitar, almost universally, I received the same tips; 1. Buy a Les Paul "Standard" or "Custom" model. They start out with a better quality of wood than the "Studio" or "100" models. 2. Buy from a local source where you can play and carefully inspect the guitar before you buy. If this is not possible, then only buy from major reputable online retailers who offer complete refunds! 3. If you cannot afford a good/great LP guitar now, then buy one that has the best body/neck (wood quality) as upgrading everything else can be relatively easy later on! Another good tip that I received was that if we found a LP we liked from someone or somewhere that we didn't want to buy from, ask our local store to order that guitar for you or if its a large music store chain, find out if another branch has it in stock. Also ask the store about upcoming sales. often times, stores will have price wars and you can be the winner! Hope it helps, Good luck!