Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

[tanpsi]

Just talking about new guitars, you can definititly find a particular Epiphone that is finished nicer than a particular Gibson equivilent. Gibsons had alot of quality control issues

I'm thinking of getting one of the Sheratons, it's got a little thinner neck too, compared to the es335

[RacerX]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphone

Pretty interesting history

[85 San Dimas]

I think that's probably debatable - they were a 2nd tier company. If they made classic stuff - where is it? Where are the reissues? Why are they just low end Gibsons now?

Dude those big Epi Hollowbodies are highly valued. You can't compare them to 59 LPs because of the pop culture angle. A ton of the jazz and blues guys used them, and anf there are guys that have been playing them for well over 40 years..like the old gretsch guitars. But they were never going to be able to continuously compete with Gibson. You don't need 3 companies building vettes. Epi wasn't different enough...

[Accept2]

Aw, man. ANOTHER one of these bullshit threads? Then, all the snobs come out. If it feels good, plays good and sounds good in your hands, then who the flying fuck CARES about what name is on the headstock?! Listen to Paul Gilbert on the first Racer X album, playing a fuckin' Squier (yes, a Squier!), then listen to that fuckin' guitar snob we all know, and how he mangles the fretboard (cause everybody know one of these douchebags!), then tell me which was better. An expensive guitar in the hands of a shitty player is still shit, and a great guitarist can make even a mediocre guitar sound great.

I completely agree, so all of you who can play like Pauly, stick with Epis. The rest of us need the Gibson..........

[iced_earth]

and I thought ALL guitars were the same, being that they are mostly wood, metal, glue, and plastic... :think:

[85 San Dimas]

There are lower grades of mahogany. You don't think Epiphone really uses the "good" stuff; do you?

Next time you are in a GC (because they always have plenty of trashed POS stuff around) or take a look on Ebay and find an EPI with a broken headstock and take a good look at that break for the wood. That'll answer your question. A broken epi looks like termites ate interstatee highways into the wood. Hell, you can get a used LP studio any day of the week for 650 or 7. They aren't the greatest but at least not made in TaeKwondo or whatever. Slapped together over here.

People ask these questions because of the way the guitars are marketed. They're just looking for truth and info. The ability of Chapman to play proves nothing about the quality of a guitar, only the quality of the player. Geez. A guitar is what it is. Wood, metal, strings, and maybe wire. People ask what kind of wood, metal, strings, and wire. That's all.
Most bolt-ons are pretty good parts put together haphazardly and can be made "pretty good" with some work. Set-necks are a bigger problem to "fix" and why I think this is actually a positive thread all around.

Signed,
Guitarsnob

[Flatpicker]

I wonder if Zack Wild has an Epi?

I think he has a bunch to go with those Die-Cast Motorcycles he's been collecting.

[john.w.lawson]

Aw, man. ANOTHER one of these bullshit threads? Then, all the snobs come out. If it feels good, plays good and sounds good in your hands, then who the flying fuck CARES about what name is on the headstock?! Listen to Paul Gilbert on the first Racer X album, playing a fuckin' Squier (yes, a Squier!), then listen to that fuckin' guitar snob we all know, and how he mangles the fretboard (cause everybody know one of these douchebags!), then tell me which was better. An expensive guitar in the hands of a shitty player is still shit, and a great guitarist can make even a mediocre guitar sound great.

I agree. A well-designed, exquisitely made guitar cannot give you the chops of a Gilbert. You have to go to the woodshed for that, my friend. That was NOT the topic of the thread, though. I wonder if Zakk Wydle has an Epi? Sorry for the misspell

[Seventh Avenged]

the funny thing is, with that Gilbert reference, he was probably playing one of the Squiers of the time, which was probably what some would consider to be "one of the great Squier's of that era (korean made/japanese made)".

Which can open another can of worms, hahaha.

Take that one on! With Fender's new pricing, keeping them alongside Gibson's prices!

[joshulator]

My take on it would be, if you have to ask, don't pay the difference.

I never thought of it that way before, but that makes a lot of sense to me. Unfortunately I don't have to ask, so I'm stuck paying the difference.

[tooslowhand]

My take on it would be, if you have to ask, don't pay the difference.

[Racerx2k]

Aw, man. ANOTHER one of these bullshit threads? Then, all the snobs come out. If it feels good, plays good and sounds good in your hands, then who the flying fuck CARES about what name is on the headstock?! Listen to Paul Gilbert on the first Racer X album, playing a fuckin' Squier (yes, a Squier!), then listen to that fuckin' guitar snob we all know, and how he mangles the fretboard (cause everybody know one of these douchebags!), then tell me which was better. An expensive guitar in the hands of a shitty player is still shit, and a great guitarist can make even a mediocre guitar sound great.

[Bengal65]

Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

You gotta be kidding me! Huge differences in materials (woods, electronics, hardware, etc.) The only way to be certain a guitar is for you, is play it.

[john.w.lawson]

Well, this is just crazy! An Ibby Les Paul copy is better than an Epi Les Paul copy. Neither one is as good as a 70's or earlier Les Paul. I don't even think that the NEW Les Paul's are as good as the 70's or earlier Les Paul's. Anyone that cannot tell the difference between a Gibson Les Paul and an Epi Les Paul has been spending more time stroking themselves than playing guitars, which would lead to desensitized feeling in the hand and lack of blood flow to the head which would explain the slight hearing impairment.

[SEEGERMANY]

Wrong. With Gibson you pay for a guitar. With Epiphone you pay to become a member of a cult that brain washes you into posting useless messages on forums about how Gibson is the devil.............

What he's trying to say is "you're the fett of the Epiphone world!"