Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

[PowerTube]

Excuse me, but I'm no un-informed kid. I'm 41, and have been playing for almost 30 years. I've HAD Gibsons, Les Pauls, in particular, so don't tell ME about histrionics. I've probably owned over 50 or more guitars in that 30 years, of all kinds (Not to mention all the OTHER guitars I've played that weren't mine), and I'm telling you, right here right now, that THAT Epi LP was as good as those actual Gibsons, so you can shove your snobbery up your ars.

There you go, Ron. Like you, I've played for more than a couple of decades and I just don't see the price difference being justified. I could understand someone accusing a kid of just not having enough experience to see the difference, but when we veterans are seeing the same thing, it makes a statement.

I also understand the angle about cheaper wood, cheaper hardware, blah blah blah. Of course, each guitar has to be assessed individually; there are indeed some crappy Epiphones, just like there are some great Gibsons, but I suspect that cost-cutting by all of the major manufacturers, not just Gibson, is narrowing the gap.

[markD]

nyuck, nyuck, nyuck....all use fuckas be wrong. weez all bee no in dat duh epy-phone is see-krit-lee reely duh gibson geetarz. day E-vin sayz gibson on dem. dare ani't no dif-rince. my epi LP100 frum 1992 iz duh bist geetar use biotches evah tuch.

eyes had me twelf of dem fan-c gibsons in eyes cin till NO dif-rince att all. no don't be calling me no troll, fuckwads, eyes be 103 yearz ole in eyes bin playin dee gi-tar longar din use bin breefing. eyes be re-mim-bring win dat 'ole coot lis paw made dat geetar outta duh fo-by-fo log in stuck one of dem il-lictrik tings on it....now DAT was an epy-phone!!!!!

in dat wuz the firs lis paw. git yo histree rye!!!!

[Flatpicker]

Excuse me, but I'm no un-informed kid. I'm 41, and have been playing for almost 30 years. I've HAD Gibsons, Les Pauls, in particular, so don't tell ME about histrionics. I've probably owned over 50 or more guitars in that 30 years, of all kinds (Not to mention all the OTHER guitars I've played that weren't mine), and I'm telling you, right here right now, that THAT Epi LP was as good as those actual Gibsons, so you can shove your snobbery up your ars.

Don't feed the troll, dude.
Just makes them feel like they won some small victory.

[Racerx2k]

dude you can justify spending less on your inferior guitar all you want, but you wont be changing anyones mind who actually owns and plays a gibson. i for one will be playing my standard buit by someone who takes pride in the 20+ years that he has been building superior gibsons, over someone who was trained last week in some starving country from across the world. and by the way you might think that your epi plays better and sounds better, but when you save up and secretly buy your gibby, you will realise that you fooled noone with all your histrionics.

Excuse me, but I'm no un-informed kid. I'm 41, and have been playing for almost 30 years. I've HAD Gibsons, Les Pauls, in particular, so don't tell ME about histrionics. I've probably owned over 50 or more guitars in that 30 years, of all kinds (Not to mention all the OTHER guitars I've played that weren't mine), and I'm telling you, right here right now, that THAT Epi LP was as good as those actual Gibsons, so you can shove your snobbery up your ars.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Hi ya Gil!

Hey Ron. *waves*

[zeegler]

Yeah. I know some folks who recently bought their kid a Gibson Les Paul (don't know what model), but his amp is a little 10-watt practice type. To me, that pretty much defeats the whole purpose of going all out on the guitar.

I don't think a young kid should have a guitar like that in the first place. Having a cheapo guitar, and a cheapo amp is sort of a right of passage the way I see it. You start out with entry level gear, and you learn to appreciate what you've got, and make the best out of it. As you progress, you get better gear. I dunno, makes sense to me.

[PowerTube]

An 1100 dollar So-Cal or a 3K Rhoads won't sound that much better than than a Turser through a little SS $99 amp.

Yeah. I know some folks who recently bought their kid a Gibson Les Paul (don't know what model), but his amp is a little 10-watt practice type. To me, that pretty much defeats the whole purpose of going all out on the guitar.

[85 San Dimas]

TN people cost too much to employ, making guitars cost too much. Fire them all and ship the jobs oversea and make less expensive guitars and higher corporate profits.

Thats why Gibson moved to TN to start with. Them northerners cost too much to employ, didn't want to work, and Norlin'd all over everything. But you have one thing wrong. When you move to cheaper labor you INCREASE the cost of the guitar at the same time and claim its "better".

[85 San Dimas]

I was in total agreement until this part. Yes, some tube amps are awesome but I happen to love my Vetta and it hasn't been anywhere near a tube. There are a lot of Roland JC-120 fans who would also agree.

Well, it was meant as a primer for the young guys. When we were young and didn't know better we spent all of our money on a guitar that "looked right" (modern equivalent would be say a cheap "Dimebag") or was the same brand our heroes played and not give one thought to the amp. if you had 500 to spend you spend 389 on the guitar. Get home, sounds like crap...so we start spening money on pedals, guitars, etc. Everything but the amp because it isn't sexy. Problem is that 90% of what they're heroes play is tube-based.

I just want to encourage those starting out to take a harder look at the amp before spending money. An 1100 dollar So-Cal or a 3K Rhoads won't sound that much better than than a Turser through a little SS $99 amp. Those are the things that bum kids out. No matter what they do it doesn't sound even close to "right". There are some great Solid-State amps, but for the beginner......they end up wasting a lot of money...and I'd love to see them know not to do that. That's one of the great things about this forum is having a place to come and learn rather than doing all your learning out of your wallet.

I agree your point is correct. There are exceptions, and some are extremely high quality.

[PowerTube]

Hey, quick question. What state are you in, and what state is Gibson in?

1. Confusion

2. Tennessee

[DonP]

^^^^

Yep.

Hey, quick question. What state are you in, and what state is Gibson in?

Maybe Gibson should close up US operations and make all Les Pauls overseas

TN people cost too much to employ, making guitars cost too much. Fire them all and ship the jobs oversea and make less expensive guitars and higher corporate profits.

[PowerTube]

I think you need to re-read the original question (beyond the subject heading of the thread). The question was, do the differences between Gibson & Epiphone justify the massive difference in price

^^^^

Yep.

[PowerTube]

.... and no matter what, the lack of a tube amp is holding you back.

I was in total agreement until this part. Yes, some tube amps are awesome but I happen to love my Vetta and it hasn't been anywhere near a tube. There are a lot of Roland JC-120 fans who would also agree.

[Killertofu]

if you think epis are crap play the zakk wylde bullseye epiphone. if you dont like that guitar you're doing something wrong.

i didn't read the whole thread but it works like this:

gibsons are very well made in america and really really good
epis are made pretty well not in america and for the money are good

the higher end epis are like pro series jackson vs usa select or custom shop guitars. yes the USA selects are better in every way and it shows in just about every way but the pro series are really really really good guitars.

[warlok]

In response to the original post... The price vs. value for me is too much. I am one of the ones earlier spoken of that is not touring, not in a band, and really not that great a guitarist. I just love to sit in my studio or with some friends and play. I've collected my guitars cause they interested me and I was able to pick them up cheap. My skills certainly can't justify the extra coin for a Gibson. I'm not "tuned in" well enough to feel or hear that much of a difference between the Epi and Gibson so I buy what feels good in my price range. That means the best sounding solid state amps and cheap pedals I can find on CL or ebay as well. Gibson is definitely out of my price range.