Playability

This Grassroots G-LP-50S plays very nice. The more I play it the more I like it. The only adjustment that I will make is a slight more relief in the neck.

This is truly a more bang for the buck guitar, even if you upgrade some of the components, you end up with an excellent playing, and sounding, guitar. The only real problem is finding them here in the U.S.

I checked the cavities for conductive paint, and it does indeed have it.

Parts Ordered

(1) Gotoh aluminum tailpiece, (2) Wilkinson roller bridge, (3) Locking tailpiece studs, (4) Gotoh vintage locking tuners, (5) Rockfield SWC (Select Wound Custom) neck/bridge pickups, (6) 500k Alpha push-pull pots for the Jimmy Page mod.

Image of the locking tailpiece studs I picked up on eBay. These are similar to the expensive Tone-Pros, but much much cheaper. Concept is the same - connect the tailpiece to the body for increased reesonance, plus the tailpiece won't fall off when changing strings. They appear to be made of brass just like the Tone-Pros.

Grassroots Quality

So far the quality seems very good, better than most Chinese Epi's I've had. Most likely on par with the Korean made Epi's. Fit and finish are excellent. I plan on modding this guitar with some better components/pickups - although it's speculated by some that Gotoh hardware is used. That remains to be seen.

I pulled both covers off the back and full aluminum shielding is present. Pots are full size Alpha's and wiring looks decent. It looks like the cavity has conductive paint - I haven't confirmed this though.

I was surprised to find that the body is a one piece mahogany back, not a veneered back. And the neck appears to be one piece mahogany. Also, I measured the headstock angle and it is at 13˚.

When I get to the pickup swap, I'll check the top cap for wood type and tenon.

ESP Grassroots Les Paul

I just received my new ESP Grassroots G-LP-50S Les Paul honeyburst. This is ESP's lower line of guitars. Made in Korea for ESP, these are intended for the Japanese market only. Which is why it has the Gibson "open book" headstock - you won't find Gibson style headstocks sold to the U.S. market, except through eBay and a few Japanese dealers willing to sell to the U.S.