Honestly, what the difference between Gibson and Epiphone?

[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.

[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".

[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.

[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.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Hi ya Gil!

Hey Ron. *waves*

[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.

[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.

[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!!!!

[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.

[Racerx2k]

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

Good point. That snobbish retort of his just kinda got under my skin. Gets old hearing the same, old b.s. all the time, but when someone questions your knowledge, especially when it's based on an ASSUMPTION of age? well, that's just stupidity at it's finest. Second to that is assuming that a lesser-priced guitar couldn't POSSIBLY top a more expensive one. You guys that are so sold on brandname or the price=quality equation, you wanna keep living that scenario in your head? Great. I'll continue laughing at ya.

[Dred]

Good point. That snobbish retort of his just kinda got under my skin. Gets old hearing the same, old b.s. all the time, but when someone questions your knowledge, especially when it's based on an ASSUMPTION of age? well, that's just stupidity at it's finest. Second to that is assuming that a lesser-priced guitar couldn't POSSIBLY top a more expensive one. You guys that are so sold on brandname or the price=quality equation, you wanna keep living that scenario in your head? Great. I'll continue laughing at ya.

+1

Feel the same way, man.

[SEEGERMANY]

You guys that are so sold on brandname or the price=quality equation, you wanna keep living that scenario in your head? Great. I'll continue laughing at ya.

Does this mean that when you go to the grocery store, you buy all generic brands of food and generic brands of toothpaste, deodorant, drugs, etc? Do you wear Levi's, Faded Glory, Wranglers, or Lee's? Do you drive a Hyundai or a Kia? Do you buy your guitar strings at Wal-Mart or do you buy name brands such as D'Addario, Elixir, GHS, etc?

[PowerTube]

Does this mean that when you go to the grocery store, you buy all generic brands of food and generic brands of toothpaste, deodorant, drugs, etc? Do you wear Levi's, Faded Glory, Wranglers, or Lee's? Do you drive a Hyundai or a Kia? Do you buy your guitar strings at Wal-Mart or do you buy name brands such as D'Addario, Elixir, GHS, etc?

If the name brand items are priced at 500% more than the generic versions, then I have to ask if the difference in feel, taste, effectiveness, etc... is worth it.

Probably not.

And besides, you also have to consider the working scale here; There's a bit of a difference between $5.00 for a tube of Crest as opposed to $3500.00 for a Gibson Les Paul.

[Racerx2k]

Does this mean that when you go to the grocery store, you buy all generic brands of food and generic brands of toothpaste, deodorant, drugs, etc? Do you wear Levi's, Faded Glory, Wranglers, or Lee's? Do you drive a Hyundai or a Kia? Do you buy your guitar strings at Wal-Mart or do you buy name brands such as D'Addario, Elixir, GHS, etc?

Let's see:

NO. Can't. My daughter has a dietary condition that dictates what we have to buy. Generic drugs, yes, when I can.

I wear what I can afford, usually Wranglers, cause they're cheap and I'm making my paycheck stretch.

I drive a Chevy. Forced into car payment because some bitch totalled my van.

I buy Ernie Ball. Either Super Slinky, or Hybrid Slinky, merely because they have been pretty reliable for me AND they are decently priced.


However, most of this is moot, since only the car costs over a grand. If this was 1970s or 80s, you MAY have a leg to stand on, as I still recall some of the god-awful cheaper guitars of those days. However, today's lower-priced lines are WAY better than most of those of decades past. I still shudder when I think of my brother's Harmony Les Paul copy!

[Flatpicker]

Does this mean that when you go to the grocery store, you buy all generic brands of food and generic brands of toothpaste, deodorant, drugs, etc? Do you wear Levi's, Faded Glory, Wranglers, or Lee's? Do you drive a Hyundai or a Kia? Do you buy your guitar strings at Wal-Mart or do you buy name brands such as D'Addario, Elixir, GHS, etc?

For the most part on the food and groceries, yes. I tend to shop Price Rite for that.

Generic Drugs if available, yes.

I drive a 10 year old Saturn with 178k miles on it.

Have worn the same pair of jeans for 5 years. When I wear them. I can't for work. They are LLBean because I won a Gift Cert at the office back then.

Don't shop Wal-Mart, but do by my guitar strings at bulk rates for 10-12 packs. Tend to go for the cheapest I can get.

So the only thing I really spend my money on are the guitars.

Gawd. I'm so Dull, I just bored myself.