As a "Starter"" guitar or as a legit back-up it's hard to beat the LP-100 for the price.  I was a complete newb when I bought this model 5 months ago - took it to a friend who's been playing for 30 years and he was really impressed with everything about it.  As a result of having such a good time learning on this one I upgraded 3 weeks ago to an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Red Royale Model.  I got the LP-100 back out last night for the heck of it and am Still impressed with it. Had thought about selling it when I got the new Epi LP but I think now I will hold on to it awhile!!  I purchased Black with cream colored trim then swapped out some of the trim for black and blue