Major buzzing problems on new epiphone les paul standard

maybe it's the nut or bridge?

And I suggest new strings. For no other reason than that it's worth a shot for a cheapo fix.

The neck should never be "over-bowed." It should be either straight or have a very slight relief (forward bow). Assuming you know how and have proper tools, loosen the truss rod about a quarter to one-half turn, rap on the rear center of the neck with your knuckles to help settle the change, then retune and let the guitar settle for a while. Playing it is good. A day later, check out the buzzing. Still there? Repeat the loosening a bit more. Not buzzing. Good -- now adjust the bridge height if strings are too high. Buzzing returns? Then either raise stings (bridge) and/or tighten the truss rod a bit (1/4 turn). Repeat all of the above as necessary until everything is cool or you don't care any more.

Here's a simple guage. Fret the low E string at the 1st fret and at the 14th fret (it's easier if you have a capo). Check the 7th fret - the string should not be touching it. There should be a gap about the thickness of a postcard between string and fret.

It definitely sounds like you need a truss rod adjustment to me. Quarter turns just like gnease said. Also, I find it useful to take a black marker and mark the truss rod nut so I can see exactly how far I've turned it. Be careful with the truss rod, especially if you have to tighten it (you'd be loosening it for this). If you overtighten the truss rod and break it, you can throw that instrument in the garbage.

I've adjusted the truss rod, loosening it by about 2 or 3 full turns, and left it for 24 hours to settle down. The relief of the neck looks 'correct' when you look down the neck of the guitar from the headstock, similar to my other guitar. There is no improvement however, still a lot of buzzing on the bottom 3 strings. On individual strings it is less noticeable, but the buzzing is pretty bad when you start playing power chords with the bottom 3 strings, with the A string in particular buzzing a lot. I could be wrong, but the neck looks slightly twisted, i.e. it looks like it slopes slightly down to the right when you look down the neck from the headstock, although I could be wrong it may just be an optical illusion. As I've mentioned before the action isn't set too low. Only thing I could try now is loosening the truss rod even more, but I'm doubtful this will change anything. I haven't tried changing the strings yet as they were brand new and don't think this will help, and need to check with the retailer first whether or not changing the strings will validate the warranty or anything if I need to return it, which is looking likely but would be a shame. I'm really puzzled by this, does anyone else have any other suggestions? thanks for your help so far.

It may be time to send it back, esp if it's really warped. But a few other things, first:

You've said several times the action isn't too low. How high is it at the 12th? (Distance from top of 12th fret to bottom low E)

Two or three turns is a lot. now make sure the truss rod isn't loose and rattling -- snug it a bit if necessary.

Some Tune-o-Matic bridges buzz due to loose screw retainer springs. Check for it.

How high are your pups, especially the neck pup? If very close to the strings, drop it a little. Not because the strings may be hitting it, but because the magnetic pull makes the strings vibrate in more complex modes and directions, increasing the chance of fret slapping, esp on a lower action guitar.

Finally, what type of frets, e.g., size and shape? Lower, flat-topped frets are intrinsically more likely to buzz ... and have intonation issues. Bad design, but some players love the feel.

Thanks for your reply. I don't have a straight edge ruler to make an actual measurement of the height of the string at the 12th fret, but by making measurements I can tell it's the same if not slightly higher action than my other guitar, an 8 year old strat squire which I don't have buzzing problems with. Also by fretting the 1st and 14th fret the strings are not touching the 7th fret (another measurement people seem to use as a gauge). The action is as high as I can get it. The neck pick up isn't high, factory set up was pretty much as low as it can go. The pick-ups are quite loose though, I've never had a guitar with humbuckers before, should they be loose? The frets look quite high, round topped. The buzzing sound definitely seems to be coming from the area around where it is fretted, but on close inspection the strings aren't rattling against any frets (at least they don't appear to), they just seem to rattle on their own. It is only the bottom 2 strings, and to a lesser extent the 3rd lowest string which buzz, and this only happens significantly when I'm strumming chords i.e. power chords. I haven't changed the strings yet, probably worth a go but I know it won't change anything.

Update: I have been carefully adjusting the truss rod this evening, and I have turned it counter-clockwise i.e. loosened it until the point where I started to get resistance and I couldn't turn it anymore; I didn't want to go past this point as it felt like I might damage something. The neck still looks a bit too straight, i.e. there doesn't seem to be a concave relief to it like my other electric guitar. Having said that, if I fret at the first and 14th frets, the string isn't touching at the 7th fret (there is a small gap), which would indicate the neck is adjusted correctly. There is still major buzzing on the bottom 2 strings, to some extent the 3rd string, but there is no buzzing on the top 3 strings (same as when I received it). The buzzing is mainly at the lower frets. I don't get this; surely if I've loosened the truss rod as much as it allows me, I should be getting no buzzing by now? The action is set as high as it wants to go. The guitar is brand new, and has a QC sticker on it. presumably that doesn't count for too much. Any other ideas/suggestions before I reluctantly send it back? Thanks.