Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

[atdguitars]

I actually see 100-150 guitars a month through my shop for repairs, setups and whatever else they want done. The majority are Fender, Gibson, Alvarez, Martin and Taylor. Most of the Fenders are Strats USA, MIM, and a few MIJ's. The Gibsons are LP's and SG's and a few hollows.
The rest are Epi's, Squiers, and a few Jackson's and Ibanez.
I get alot of vintage stuff in but thats neither here nor there.

The majority of the ones with QC issues involve shoddy fretwork and those are the Fenders. The biggest problem I see with Gibsons are nuts that aren't cut right ,bridge issues and slipping tuners. I see a few with cosmetic issues but those seem to be the ones that come from small time online dealers and the Mega online stores. I've had a few new Gibsons that simply weren't wired correctly or the guy on the assembly line forgot what his soldering iron was for.
I'm not saying that Gibsons quality is crap by any means, its much higher than most new Fenders I see but what I am saying is that as far as QC is concerned the EPI and the Gibsons run neck and neck as far as fit and finish. I'll agree that the hardware and pickups from Gibson are better than the EPI's but I get alot of requests for installs of Tone Pro's and pickup changes on both.
There is a vast difference in the fit of Fenders varying by where they are made. The old (80's) Squiers are usually pretty well put together overall. I see alot of sloppy neck pockets on the new ones along with frets that look like they were cut and pressed but never dressed.

The guitars I see the least are USA PRS and USA Jacksons and the ones I do see are only in for minor setups or wiring repairs or mods.

A good setup can make even the low dollar guitars very playable and with some decent upgrades a decent guitar.

With the economy being what it is I see more and more old ones coming out of the closet for repairs,maintenance, and upgrades rather than throwing alot of money at something new.

[zeegler]

Up until just recently, I owned fourteen Gibsons and most of them were Les Pauls. Only one guitar had a QC issue. I'll take those odds any day of the week. Be careful accepting what you hear versus what you actually see.

In my own experience with Les Pauls, it seems many of the new ones are set up poorly, the nut slots aren't cut properly, just minor things like that. However, I have seen pics of brand new LPs with gouges in the fretboard, badly finished binding nibs, basically stuff that you should not find on a $3,000 guitar.

The bottom line is, Gibsons are fantastic, except for the ones that aren't, and there seem to be too many that fall into that category. There are plenty of decent lower priced guitars that come much closer to Gibson quality than you would expect due to the EXTREME price difference. You can argue all day that a Gibson is far superior, but there are enough folks who have played/owned/currently own both, that know different. It's a fact that a large part of the price you pay for a Gibson, is for the name. You simply cannot deny that. That coupled with the fact that American workers are paid far more than Chinese or Korean workers, and you've got the huge price difference. That's okay though, because there's obviously more than enough people willing to shell out for a Gibson. That way you can go on internet forums and tell everyone how their guitars are cheap junk because they aren't Gibsons. :ROTF:

[Newc]

For the price of a USA Gibson, none of them should have any of the issues described. That's simply too much money for something that has an incorrectly-cut nut or bad wiring. It's too much money for an "assembly-line" guitar. Anything over $1500 these days better have been triple-checked by at least three different people (yes, that's 3 people checking it 3 times each) according to a checklist before it's put in the "OK to ship" section, and a copy of that sheet should be stapled to the hangtag and removed by the customer - just like those mattress tags that say DO NOT REMOVE.

If you're charging for the name you better have the quality that name is known for on 100% of them, not 99%.

[atdguitars]

If you're charging for the name you better have the quality that name is known for on 100% of them, not 99%.

Exactly !!!

[Flatpicker]

Up until just recently, I owned fourteen Gibsons and most of them were Les Pauls. Only one guitar had a QC issue. I'll take those odds any day of the week. Be careful accepting what you hear versus what you actually see.

I haven't owned 14 of them, only about 8, but I did have 2 problems.

1. A 1989 LPC w/o a truss rod. Bought new, had to be replaced under warranty. The replacement was flawless, but took about a year.

2. 2006 Faded DC. Bad fretboard and neck twist. Bought new and replaced under warranty. New one had fret sprout, but I don't hold setup issues against the manufacturer.

Never had an Epi to compare, but wanted to show that my experiences weren't "second hand info".

[broken_fusion]

I actually see 100-150 guitars a month through my shop for repairs, setups and whatever else they want done. The majority are Fender, Gibson, Alvarez, Martin and Taylor. Most of the Fenders are Strats USA, MIM, and a few MIJ's. The Gibsons are LP's and SG's and a few hollows.
The rest are Epi's, Squiers, and a few Jackson's and Ibanez.
I get alot of vintage stuff in but thats neither here nor there.

The majority of the ones with QC issues involve shoddy fretwork and those are the Fenders. The biggest problem I see with Gibsons are nuts that aren't cut right ,bridge issues and slipping tuners. I see a few with cosmetic issues but those seem to be the ones that come from small time online dealers and the Mega online stores. I've had a few new Gibsons that simply weren't wired correctly or the guy on the assembly line forgot what his soldering iron was for.
I'm not saying that Gibsons quality is crap by any means, its much higher than most new Fenders I see but what I am saying is that as far as QC is concerned the EPI and the Gibsons run neck and neck as far as fit and finish. I'll agree that the hardware and pickups from Gibson are better than the EPI's but I get alot of requests for installs of Tone Pro's and pickup changes on both.
There is a vast difference in the fit of Fenders varying by where they are made. The old (80's) Squiers are usually pretty well put together overall. I see alot of sloppy neck pockets on the new ones along with frets that look like they were cut and pressed but never dressed.

The guitars I see the least are USA PRS and USA Jacksons and the ones I do see are only in for minor setups or wiring repairs or mods.

A good setup can make even the low dollar guitars very playable and with some decent upgrades a decent guitar.

With the economy being what it is I see more and more old ones coming out of the closet for repairs,maintenance, and upgrades rather than throwing alot of money at something new.

This is kind of pulling Fender into the same Gibson/Epi argument but I'm prepared to pull the trigger on an American Strat and can't help but wonder if the Highway 1 models or the Mexi stats are a better buy. Since you see a lot of guitars what are your thoughts on the quality of the different levels of Fender Strats. Thanks.

[skintaster]

In the past I always considered myself a "Gibson Guy", but that's changed somewhat recently. I've owned quite a few Les Pauls over the years, and currently have two. I had to look through a bunch before purchasing them though, the qc at Gibson really has suffered in recent years... I found all sorts of sloppy workmanship on some I tried out.

I've also owned a couple of Epiphones, and both of them were pretty decent mid level guitars. After upgrading the hardware on one of them, my Epiphone Les Paul sounded and played great.

Given the choice (And the budget) would I prefer a Gibson to an Epiphone? All day long. Considering some of the recent qc issues at Gibson, I don't have the blind trust in the brand that I used to though.

I'm not going to go throw my gold top in the garbage or anything, but next time I have enough $$$ to buy a Gibson, I'll be looking at other options.

[goodwood]

As soon as someone hands me a decent Epiphone guitar it becomes a worthy comparison.

The majority of Epi's I've played have blown the Gibby's of the same model out of the water.

When I first went shopping for a Les Paul a few years ago I was looking around for something that really grabbed me. I had a budget of $2200 and when I saw the Epiphones I thought "Wow! I'll get 2 or 3 of these instead of one Gibson!". After I played about 8-10 Epiphones and the same number of Gibsons...NOT ONE EPIPHONE WAS EVEN CLOSE TO ANY OF THE GIBSONS.

NOT EVEN CLOSE.

So...I'm with hippietim on that one.

As to the thread starter's question regarding the difference between Epiphone and Gibson:

1. feel
2. tone
3. headstock

As to the technical differences...I am sure that there are many.

[Flatpicker]

When I first went shopping for a Les Paul a few years ago I was looking around for something that really grabbed me. I had a budget of $2200 and when I saw the Epiphones I thought "Wow! I'll get 2 or 3 of these instead of one Gibson!". After I played about 8-10 Epiphones and the same number of Gibsons...NOT ONE EPIPHONE WAS EVEN CLOSE TO ANY OF THE GIBSONS.

NOT EVEN CLOSE.

So...I'm with hippietim on that one.

As to the thread starter's question regarding the difference between Epiphone and Gibson:

1. feel
2. tone
3. headstock

As to the technical differences...I am sure that there are many.

Yet,1 and 2 are purely subjective.

As to the technical differences, how many are there really?
Were not talking about a difficult piece of machinery to produce.
The basic manufacturing steps are the same.

[Accept2]

This thread makes me wonder if JCF = Harmony Central, only replace Agile with Epiphone..............

[Seventh Avenged]

I haven't owned 14 of them, only about 8, but I did have 2 problems.

1. A 1989 LPC w/o a truss rod. Bought new, had to be replaced under warranty. The replacement was flawless, but took about a year.

They sent out a guitar without a truss rod?!

that's crazy!

[Flatpicker]

They sent out a guitar without a truss rod?!

that's crazy!

Yeah,
I liked that one too. Had a nice top. Nice Ace looks and I was going thru a Kiss thing. My Grandma bought it for me for taking lessons for a year and doing well at school.

I was like 16 and didn't know squat about technical details. Was floored when the tech explained it to me.

[Flatpicker]

This thread makes me wonder if JCF = Harmony Central, only replace Agile with Epiphone..............

Nah, though I have an Agile.
I just think it's time to debunk the Gibson greatness thing.

Not that I don't enjoy good guitars, but think Gibson gets too easy a pass based on tradition.

I'd take a Hamer over a Gibson if you had to compare fit and finish.

[Grandturk]

I believe a broken truss rod, but missing completely?

[Flatpicker]

They told me missing. I didn't go looking.
Like I said, I was a young idiot back then.

Now, I'm an older idiot.

But that's besides the point.