Ibanez RG5120M Prestige vs Epiphone Les Paul Special
Reasons to Get
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige over Epiphone Les Paul Special
Reasons to Get
Epiphone Les Paul Special over Ibanez RG5120M Prestige
Other Key Differences
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige vs Epiphone Les Paul Special
Shared Features
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige vs Epiphone Les Paul Special
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
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Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige is probably the better product overall with its final score of 78 compared to the Epiphone Les Paul Special's 64 score, which is a significant difference.
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige wins when it comes to sound, build quality. On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Special has the upper hand when it comes to value for the money.
If you got small hands, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
Both meet 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.
New Player Friendliness
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
New Player Friendliness
Epiphone Les Paul Special- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Locking tuners
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige Overview
- From Ibanez's 2019 RG series
- Made in Japan
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 17" Fretboard Radius
- Ash top
- African Mahogany body
- Maple/Wenge neck
- Bound Birdseye Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Fishman Fluence Modern Ceramic (Humbucker/Active)
- Neck pickup: Fishman Fluence Modern Ceramic (Humbucker/Active)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 3-way Switch
- Lo-Pro Edge tremolo bridge
- Super Wizard Bolt-On neck
- 24 Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Gotoh machine heads tuners
- Compare Specs >
Epiphone Les Paul Special Overview
- From Epiphone's 2020 Original Collection series
- Made in China
- 6 strings
- 24.75"'' scale
- 12" Fretboard Radius
- Mahogany body
- Mahogany single neck
- Indian Laurel fretboard
- Bridge pickup: P-90 PRO Soap Bar (P90/Passive)
- 2 volume and 2 tone Bell knobs
- 3-way Switch
- Lightning Bar Wrap Around bridge
- Vintage 50s Set neck
- 22 Medium Jumbo frets
- Vintage style Deluxe Tuners with Ivory Buttons tuners
- Compare Specs >
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Woods Used in the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
This wood has beautiful patterns only found in specific types of maple.
Woods Used in the Epiphone Les Paul Special
There are many types of Laurel, but East Indian is the most common for guitar building. Its color can vary from dark to light brown with black lines. Many people find its tonality similar to Rosewood, which favors the warmer frequencies. Find out more about Laurel.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Pickup Configuration
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has an HH configuration while the Epiphone Les Paul Special has P90P90 pickups.
Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
On the other hand, P90P90 gives you two P90s for a crunchy vintage tone. The tone sits somewhere in the middle between typical single-coils and humbuckers. They also produce less hum than single-coils, but they don't cancel it completely like humbuckers.
Pickups Quality
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Epiphone Les Paul Special. Its pickups should simply give you a better, fuller sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Heavy Metal and similar genres.
You can purchase similar pickups to the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige's and use them on any guitar:
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige's pickups are Active while the Epiphone Les Paul Special's are Passive.
Passive pickups are what most guitars use. These have a normal output that works well for most genres. However, Active pickups are the preferred choice of heavy metal players because they offer extra output thanks to their 9v battery, which results in a heavier, more distorted sound. Bear in mind that achieving a completely clean tone with them won't be easy. So if you want to also use clean tones, you might want to avoid Active pickups.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.
Only the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige comes with some kind of pickup modification: Multi-Voicing.
Multi-Voicing means the pickups come with multiple ''voices'', which means they can change the tone and gain by a simple switch or knob. Piezo, Fishman and similar are considered multi-voicing pickups.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige compares to the Epiphone Les Paul Special.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige is built in Japan while the Epiphone Les Paul Special is made in China.
Japan has a long history of high-quality guitar building. Little has changed in terms of their manufacturing and quality control over the years. Many guitars made in this country can be compared—and even beat—others made in the US.
China has a bad reputation when it comes to building quality. However, times have changed and now respectable brands use China's cheap labor to build good instruments for a lower price. Don't discount a guitar only because it was built in China, but also expect more quality from countries like Korea.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Special comes with a Ivory Tusq nut. Ivory used to be considered the best material for guitar nuts due to its beauty, durability, and the rich harmonics and sustain you could get from a guitar with it. However, the way to obtain it is simply unethical. Enter TUSQ ivory nuts, which are made synthetically to imitate ivory. Technically, it's better than ivory because it is consistent piece-to-piece, while natural materials can vary a lot, even if they're made from the same.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
In this comparison, the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige is the only one that has stainless steel frets. These frets will basically last for the entire life of the guitar. They will never need polishing nor replacement. And not only that, but some people also notice that bending and vibratos are much easier to perform when they upgrade to stainless steel.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige's brige is a Lo-Pro Edge. Similar to the original Edge bridge design by Ibanez, but with a lower profile (more discrete and less likely to interfere with your picking). It comes with the same improvements over Floyd Rose tremolos as the Edge: push-in arm, replaceable knife edges, more sustain, smaller saddles, and more. These bridges offer tons of versatility, but they also require more work than simpler tremolos to set up.
On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Special's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige's are Gotoh machine heads while the Epiphone Les Paul Special's are Vintage style Deluxe Tuners with Ivory Buttons
Winner: Tie.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Special comes with Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.
Winner: Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige
- Stainless Steel Frets
- Made in Japan
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Multi-Voicing Pickups
- Luminescent Inlay
- Tremolo
- Retainer Bar
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Epiphone Les Paul Special
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in China
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 43mm (1.693'').
This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has the longest scale: 25.5". The Epiphone Les Paul Special is only 24.75" long. This is a 0.75'' (19.1mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has a Super Wizard type of neck. Ibanez is famous for this neck shape. They're similar to C-shaped necks, but they're even thinner. Some people like it because it gives them all the free room they need to play fast single notes (shredding). But some people prefer a thicker type of neck they can grab and rest their hands more comfortably.
The Epiphone Les Paul Special, on the other hand, has a V neck. This neck shape was more common during Fender's early years. Some people like it because they use their thumb over the edge of the fretboard to press the lower strings. It's rather thicker than most modern necks, so it's not usually used for playing fast solos.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Epiphone Les Paul Special's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Still, both tend to favor soloing over chords, so if you're looking for a guitar for playing rhythm, you might want something else with a radius closer to a Stratocaster's 9.5''.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Epiphone Les Paul Special favors large hands more than the Ibanez RG5120M Prestige.
Ibanez RG5120M Prestige:
Epiphone Les Paul Special:
Fret Size
The Ibanez RG5120M Prestige has Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Epiphone Les Paul Special's Medium Jumbo frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.