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[indytruckboy]

I paid my dues on Epis. I am older and have a high paying job now. I only play high end.

You can say what you want. but.........

Sometimes I go hang out at the house we practice at and I play my singers Epis because I didn't bring a guitar. And I can definitly tell where my money goes. Night and day. We have the same stuff, too. Only mine is Gibson and his is Epi. LP loaded with the same EMGs. Night and day. But you guys think what you want.


He is doing better now as he went over to LTD.

I do agree with you for the most part. The Epiphone does Not feel like the Standard/Custom Gibsons LP I owned and Wish I still owned. But you can get a very close Gibson sactioned/designed Copy that for the most part resembles the Beloved and Very High $$$$ Gibsons Most cannot really afford.
I bought my Gibsons in the early 80's New and paid a whopping $1100 for New Gibson LPC 2 pickup Black Beauty with Stock Dimarzio Super D's and a LP Standard Honey Burst for for $800 new.
At todays prices I need $7000 to have them again. Sadly.
The Epi's for Me are a happy low buck medium. I just add Better pickups and hardware and I have a $500 ballpark sounding Gibson Copy.
All IMO of course and I have a few buds who also own multiple USA Gibsons,Fenders,Jacksons,Suhrs,etc.. and truly Wish I could justify spending the $$$$.
I know they are worth it though but kids and billls suck up a lot of $$$.
But one day........If that lotto hits.
 

No see it doesnt. You buy a new Epi LP Standard. Plain. First off, its missing a key ingredient. A maple top. It has a maple veneer. DEFINITELY not the same.
Anyway, $450 there. No case. Add $100. Shatty pickups. Another $200. Pots and stuff are crap. $100 for a RS kit.
So now you are at $850. First off. For $850 you could have bought a superior LTD in the 400 to 500 series, w/case and been MUCH better off. But that's another story. So you do all that and you got something that may touch the soul of a Gibson LP. But it still doesn't play the same. It doesn't have that schmooz a Gibson does.
So you go get a setup. Dress the frets. New nut to replace the plastic hunk of sh.t.
Intonate after fixing the saddles.
Now you are getting there. Getting close but still a little out there. And your bill proabably went up about $150 for a pro setup, new nut, etc.....
Now you are at a grand. You have just about as money in trying to fix up a hunk then what the hunk is worth. That's like buying a new Ford Focus(example) for 17k and then putting 17k in parts on it to try to make it a Porsche. It's still gonna be a crappy Focus.
So you got a G in the guitar. YOu can buy a new, NEW, Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded for $1500.
And its pretty much set.
And when you go to sell it. You will get more than the $300 bucks you would get for your $1000 Epiphone.
It's basicly like an investment. 

[floydmoline]

yeah prolly the reason now :-D originally the les paul only came in gold or black because that's what les paul wanted, his reasoning gold and black looked classy, or upper classed, while sunburst guitars looked mid-town, and like working man's guitars..... or so it has been said in various places

[floydmoline]

yeah prolly the reason now :-D originally the les paul only came in gold or black because that's what les paul wanted, his reasoning gold and black looked classy, or upper classed, while sunburst guitars looked mid-town, and like working man's guitars..... or so it has been said in various places

[Servant]

Well, as an owner of both, I can't justify the money for the Gibby. That's just me though. Keep in mind that I own a Matsumoko Vantage Vs600 that will tear the doors off of just about any LP out there and I paid a hundred bucks for it. Just saying.....you do NOT always get what you pay for. IMO, Gibson is currently a joke and should be relegated to the people with money to play them and not a highly sought after guitar for the working players of the world. I also do all of my own work so I can replace electronics for about $10 or so and decent used pickup in the $100 range, guitar $300, case $75 used, and yeah - I'd like to see someone do that with a Gibson. Nice Klusons btw - couldn't stay in tune if they tried. And this coming from an owner.

[characterzero]

Epis are really just alright in my book.  If I wanted a guitar in that pricerange I'd look elsewhere.  The problem with Gibsons is that most of them are really overpriced.  I don't want to be paying that much just to have the Gibson name.  I think the best way to go is to buy a used LP Studio.  They can be had for only $500-600.

[Brian Krashpad]

Hmm.

OK, here we go.

I have 2 Gibbies currently (LP Classic and LP Studio Doublecut).  At the outset, I will not judge these by new prices, because that's not what I paid for them.  I got the Studio DC w/an Epi hsc for $525 USD, and the LP Classic w/ohsc for $725.

I've also owned two Epi's.  A G400 SG, and a Flying V.  Both these Epi's had factors that made them less desirable than the Gibbies.  With the SG it was muddy pickups, with the Flying V it was an iffy pickup selector switch.  But, I only paid $175 for the Epi SG (pawn shop), and $250 for the Flying V (w/ohsc, private sale).

ALL 4 guitars were giggable stock, and indeed I gigged them all stock.  With the Epi SG, I sold it after I got a P-90 SG knockoff (Agile Valkyrie II P-90), and with the Flying V, I ditched it when I got a ludicrous deal on a straight trade for a Ric 620 (w/ohsc).

Epi's are often perfectrly giggable stock.  Both of mine were.  Though I don't own them anymore, mine were  both quite passable guitars.  It just so happened that I was able to replace them with even better ones.

[characterzero]

I'm sure Epiphones are quite giggable stock, but I've heard a lot of things about them having kind of crappy quality control.  In fact one local guitar store was so fed up with that combined with their service that they stopped carrying Epiphones altogether.  Again, it varies from guitar to guitar and Epiphones are definitely decent, very playable instruments.

[Brian Krashpad]

I'm sure Epiphones are quite giggable stock, but I've heard a lot of things about them having kind of crappy quality control.  In fact one local guitar store was so fed up with that combined with their service that they stopped carrying Epiphones altogether.  Again, it varies from guitar to guitar and Epiphones are definitely decent, very playable instruments.

Like a lot of factory-produced guitars (INCLUDING Gibbies and Fender USA, both of which I also own), it may come down to playing individual guitars before buying.  I know a lot of fellers, whose opinions I value, who LOVE their Squier '51's.  There were 3 at my local mom-&-pop, and they ALL had potentially fatally-sharp fret ends on them.  To the point where I was not even interested in plugging any of them in for a test-run.  Yet I bet one with a proper fret-finish might be really cool.

[Servant]

My only complaint witih Epi's are the electronics. .Perhaps they have gotten better in the past couple of years, but every single one I've ever owned failed electronically in the first year. If I get a new one, I immediately go for the electronics and swap them out. Often, I do it before ever really playing it. 4 pots w/caps, 3-way, and jack = little dollars for a lot of insurance.

[Redline68]

I've owned a few Epi's and have generally been very happy with them.  I agree that some of the elctronics have been weak spots, but I think they've improved much in the last couple years.  I think the EE series SG are fantastic for the $ even with the stock electronics.

[Brian Krashpad]

I've owned a few Epi's and have generally been very happy with them.  I agree that some of the elctronics have been weak spots, but I think they've improved much in the last couple years.  I think the EE series SG are fantastic for the $ even with the stock electronics.

EE series?

Wazzat?