Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

[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!

[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

[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.

[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

[iced_earth]

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

[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..........

[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...

[RacerX]

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

Pretty interesting history

[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

[quiksilver]

This question has no general answer, because the answer is personal to each buyer. Each potential buyer decides whether the item is "worth it" to him/her, then buys it or not. End of discussion.

[85 San Dimas]

This is a link to an Ebay auction I stumbled across this morning. This is the kind of qiality you can expect when you try to save a couple of bills . check the picture looking down the neck especially. That's what you call Tone Wood.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Dynamic-Vibrato-Electric-Guitar-6-String-AS-IS_W0QQitemZ160327637584QQihZ006QQcategoryZ33039QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[85 San Dimas]

This question has no general answer, because the answer is personal to each buyer. Each potential buyer decides whether the item is "worth it" to him/her, then buys it or not. End of discussion.

Too bad the dealers don't have the choices. If you want to be an "average" Gibson dealer you're forced to carry the Epis whether its "worth it" or not.Same w/FMIC. Fender decides what your product mix will be until you are able to buy beyond a pre set minimum..

[El Chiguete]

And besides, the wood doesn't make quite as much difference on an electric guitar as it does on an acoustic instrument.

Well if THAT would be true then for decades theres been a LOT of BS going around!!! Come on... wood if extremely important for the sound that a guitar makes

[TommyD]

Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

> The last time I went into a decent shop,I had a chance to compare the 2. They had a cherry burst real LP and a Epi,both as close feature wise as possible,easy for comparison.
After spending 30 minutes with both,because there were no J/C's present,I couldn't tell any difference in build quality,playability,or tone. The price difference was like 2k too. Tommy D.

[roodyrocker]

Whether something is worth it is different from whether or not its better. I love Paul Gilbert but the fact that he played and shredded on a Squier doen't make the Squier a better guitar than a USA Strat! Sorry to burst the non-believer's bubble but a Gibson Les Paul IS a better guitar than an Epi. Doesn't matter if its a pre 70 Les Paul or current issue.