Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

[Robert Burns]

IMO...the Zakk Epi's...are at least 2/3rds the quality of a $2.5K midpriced
USA LP. SO then either the Epi's should cost $1400.00 or the USA LP
should cost $1400.00! :-))

[SEEGERMANY]

There's a whole bunch of bullshit being spread in this thread.

[Soap]

Doesn't R Kelly play an Epiphone?

I agree seegermany.

[Mr.Shreddy]

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

Bullshit. My Gibson SG Standard will BLOW AWAY any Epiphone version. I've done so multiple times.

[Axewielder]

There's a whole bunch of bullshit being spread in this thread.

These brand comparison threads always end in "My [Brand X guitar] rulez and your [Brand Y guitar] droolz"!!!

[PowerTube]

Now let's make it even more combativ....um....interesting. Take a top of the line Epi, like the Zakk Wylde Les Paul, and compare it to a Les Paul Studio Series. Is the LP Studio worth $500-$600 more than the Wylde?

I suspect not. Again, I'm not trashing Gibson, but in playing them both on quite a few occasions I'm just not seeing what would justify such a price inequity.

[hippietim]

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

I hear this sort of thing a lot so every so often I go give Epiphones another shot and they always suck donkey balls. So if you would, please name the models you've compared so I can try a good Epiphone (and don't say "Les Paul", be specific).

I've owned several Epiphones and at least a dozen Gibsons and the Epiphones were a joke by comparison. Not even close.

I've played a ton of Epiphones at various stores and they aren't even "good for the money" - other than the $299 ES-335 copy which they have at GC, a couple of those have actually been worth the asking price but they still don't hold a candle to a Gibson.

This reminds me of the guys on the Telecaster board talking about how their Chinese Squiers smoke a Fender USA Custom Shop.

Having said that, the other guitar player in our band has a very cool Epiphone LP double cut. It has a great neck, resonates well, and has a nice thick tone. Oh, it's made in the USA too. They did a bunch of USA Epiphones in the 80's - very cool stuff.

[Model1VH2]

Epiphone LP's have "multi-piece" bodys, cheaper wiring and electronics, cheaper hardware, and they're built overseas which significantly cuts the cost of labor.

IMO, a Gibson is a wiser investment, but with decent electronics and a decent setup, the Epiphones have the potential to be really nice players.

[hippietim]

Now let's make it even more combativ....um....interesting. Take a top of the line Epi, like the Zakk Wylde Les Paul, and compare it to a Les Paul Studio Series. Is the LP Studio worth $500-$600 more than the Wylde?

I suspect not. Again, I'm not trashing Gibson, but in playing them both on quite a few occasions I'm just not seeing what would justify such a price inequity.

Ha! Perfect! I owned both at exactly the same time a couple years ago.





At the time I bought these, I believe an Epi Zakk was about $749 and the Studio was $999.

The Zakk wasn't even close to being as good a guitar. Every bit of hardware and electronics was cheap as shit. The neck was uncomfortably sharp on the fingerboard edges. The guitar felt cheap. It sounded terrible. The Les Paul Studio was fantastic - great neck, nice thick tone, very solid feel, much better fit and finish.

No contest.

Next...

[MetalHeadMat]

Bullshit. My Gibson SG Standard will BLOW AWAY any Epiphone version. I've done so multiple times.

I've only found 2 Gibson's I've actually liked, and were modded.
The Gibson's I've played have felt fairly bad, and didn't sound as well as everyone puts them up to be. For the price the Epiphone's felt and sounded a lot better. But that's just my opinion. I'm also the guy who dislikes neck through guitars, so I dunno.

These brand comparison threads always end in "My [Brand X guitar] rulez and your [Brand Y guitar] droolz"!!!

Which is why only posts with proof should be taken seriously.

[roodyrocker]

The Epi's do not compare to the Gibsons. I'm not bashing Epi but seriously, just go into your local GC and play a Les Paul then pull an Epi version of the same thing off the shelf and play that. If you think it doesn't warrant the price difference then buy the Epi. Something tells me you'll hang the Epi back on the wall. As for the mahogany lower end guitars are made of, have you ever picked up one of those fake made in China Les Pauls? Well, they're mahogany too but they feel as light as an acoustic guitar practically.
BTW, I was at a local gun show this past weekend when a friend and I spotted what at first appeared to be an Ace Frehley Les Paul. Yes, it even said made in USA on the back of the headstock and on the case, had Ace's face on the headstock, 3 cream pickups, lightning bolt inlays. Asking price was $1500. Only problem was it was a made in China fake! Don't know if the seller knew this or not but others heard me point out the differences from a real Les Paul to my friend. That thing was as light as a feather! Anyway, pick them up and play them and you'll be able to tell the diff

[MetalHeadMat]

I hear this sort of thing a lot so every so often I go give Epiphones another shot and they always suck donkey balls. So if you would, please name the models you've compared so I can try a good Epiphone (and don't say "Les Paul", be specific).

I've owned several Epiphones and at least a dozen Gibsons and the Epiphones were a joke by comparison. Not even close.

I've played a ton of Epiphones at various stores and they aren't even "good for the money" - other than the $299 ES-335 copy which they have at GC, a couple of those have actually been worth the asking price but they still don't hold a candle to a Gibson.

This reminds me of the guys on the Telecaster board talking about how their Chinese Squiers smoke a Fender USA Custom Shop.

Having said that, the other guitar player in our band has a very cool Epiphone LP double cut. It has a great neck, resonates well, and has a nice thick tone. Oh, it's made in the USA too. They did a bunch of USA Epiphones in the 80's - very cool stuff.

One example is my friend buying a Goth Epiphone Explorer, and I found a Gibson Explorer at my local music store. The Gibson did feel preetty nice, but nothing compared to the Goth. The Goth's neck was painted flat black like the paint, so I wont really compare that. The sound was amazing, yet very... Airy. The Gibson sounded better, but for $1200 more, not worth it.

Ha! Perfect! I owned both at exactly the same time a couple years ago.
...
At the time I bought these, I believe an Epi Zakk was about $749 and the Studio was $999.

The Zakk wasn't even close to being as good a guitar. Every bit of hardware and electronics was cheap as shit. The neck was uncomfortably sharp on the fingerboard edges. The guitar felt cheap. It sounded terrible. The Les Paul Studio was fantastic - great neck, nice thick tone, very solid feel, much better fit and finish.

No contest.

Next...

You're kidding right? I compared the exact same two guitars and found different results. The neck on the Wylde felt really nice and not sharp on my fingers at all, the Gibson Studio I played a while ago had a very thick neck, the sound was flat, and over all just sucked compared to the Epiphone.

[hippietim]

the Gibson Studio I played a while ago had a very thick neck

What does neck thickness have to do with anything? That's a preference thing and no measure of quality at all.

And if you think an Epi Zakk is a good guitar than you and I clearly have different ideas of what a good guitar is. I couldn't get rid of that thing fast enough.

[eakinj]

Ha! Perfect! I owned both at exactly the same time a couple years ago.





At the time I bought these, I believe an Epi Zakk was about $749 and the Studio was $999.

The Zakk wasn't even close to being as good a guitar. Every bit of hardware and electronics was cheap as shit. The neck was uncomfortably sharp on the fingerboard edges. The guitar felt cheap. It sounded terrible. The Les Paul Studio was fantastic - great neck, nice thick tone, very solid feel, much better fit and finish.

No contest.

Next...

If I lived anywhere near you, I'd bring mine by and let you play it. I may have just gotten extremely lucky because it was one of the "guitar of the month" things and they may have paid some extra attention to it. I like mine more then the standard I have plaid in recent years, but that might not mean anything to the quality of the Epi more so the lack of quality in the standard i played.

[MetalHeadMat]

What does neck thickness have to do with anything? That's a preference thing and no measure of quality at all.

And if you think an Epi Zakk is a good guitar than you and I clearly have different ideas of what a good guitar is. I couldn't get rid of that thing fast enough.

Same with the sound, so what would I compare, the look? The Quality? They were both used so I can't see how I could.