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1997 Orville 335


SteveFord

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Orville is comparable to Epiphone, which Gibson used to replace the Orville products before 2000. Some members have posted about them - value based but decent. If it's an "Orville by Gibson", the quality is pretty good - on par or possibly a bit better than Epiphone.

 

 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZq-2gW2FE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhqlyZpmhV0

 

Funny I don't really recall these...

 

I just looked on Youtube and Orville made every imaginable Gibson guitar from SG to Flying V to Les Paul '59 reissues...

 

They also made a J200 and a Chet Atkins model....

 

They look pretty decent!

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A good mate had an Orville by Gibson LP flame-top '59 R-I.......very similar to the VSB example in Jimi's post, in fact.

 

It had period-correct fittings and came with a pair of factory-installed '57 Classics.

It sounded great and was beautifully made - far nicer than the Epi LP Standard I owned at one time.

The Epi was a really good guitar - especially for the money asked - but I'd say the Orville was pretty much on a par with a USA-line Standard.

From memory (I could be remembering 'wrong') the only detail which said 'Not a Gibson' was the lack of 'nibs/nubs'.

 

On that admittedly very limited experience (one example!) I'd recommend them.

 

P.

 

EDIT : I've just tried to find out about the nibs and noticed that an 'ObyG' Lester is in the collection of the well-known Gibson aficionado Mike Slubowski.......[woot]

That says a lot!

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A little more comparison on the two; Orville/Gibson...

 

A good article and I like the guys viddie comparison:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL6wIhzI84k

 

 

http://www.theguitar...son_VS_Orville/

This article compares two guitars. The Gibson Les Paul Custom and the Orville Les Paul Custom. Every guitarist is aware of the Gibson Les Paul but maybe less aware of a company called Orville. Orville was a Japanese company that started producing guitars in the late 80's and became 'The Gibson for Japan' if you like. The name comes from the first name of Mr Gibson "Orville'.

 

These guitars were made to a very high standard that came to rival Gibson themselves. There are two types of Orville those produced in the Terada plant and those produced in the Fujigen plant. With the later ones 'in general' being of a slightly better quality.

 

More info can be found on Orville guitars here but the scope of this article is in the comparison of the two. The Orville model is a 1989 Terada made, all stock and costing £500 (used as no longer in production). The Gibson model is a 2009 Black Beauty costing £2800 (New).

 

The Gibson of course is of exceptional quality and should be for the price. I found the Orville to be of excellent quality even though the fretboard is not edge bound which I quite like on a Les Paul, but in all honesty feels about 90% the same in terms of playability. The Gibson has the stock 490R 498T pickups and the Orville has the stock Jap pups. In terms of electronics the Gibson is stock 300K pots and the Orville stock Japanese 500K pots. The Gibson has the Nashville style bridge and the Orville the ABR1 style.

 

Both guitars weigh the same at 4.9Kg.

 

Both of these are great guitars but the question being asked here is: 'is the Gibson worth over £2000 more than the Orville?' Well yes and no. The Gibson certainly has something about it whether that is psychological because of the name on the headstock who knows. However the Orville gives the Gibson a run for it's money in every respect.

 

I found the Orville Jap pickups to be lacking a bit of punch and bite but this is probably due to their lower output compared to the 490R 498T of the Gibson. To my ears the Gibson had a bit more warmth on the cleaner tones.

 

Tone is of course a very subjective thing and what sounds good to you might sound bad to me. Therefore watch the above video where I do a side by side comparison of the two with identical amp and guitar control settings. Decide for yourself which sounds "best" or moreover the big question is does the Gibson sound £2000 better?? - See more at: http://www.theguitar...son_VS_Orville/

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An Orville is really just a Gibson, produced in Japan, without nibs or ebony (model specific) or lacquer, and I'm pretty sure those details don't apply to guitars marked "Orville by Gibson." If you take the PAF clones out of a Les Paul Custom and replace them with the 490/498, they'll sound the same. An Orville Custom is even the right (greater) depth, which an Epiphone is not. The hardware, also unlike an Epiphone, is interchangeable with a Gibson. They're comparable to your average Burny or Greco, which makes sense, because they were often made in the same factories!

 

08_orvillelpc_zpscd35a378.jpg

 

Mine was made at Fujigen in 1998. I was considering saving up for a Gibson at some point to go with it, but having played a Gibson LPC recently... there just wasn't any difference, and I'm not so sure if I'm going to get one after all. Orville was later rebranded as Epiphone Japan. Gibson simply has to work harder in Japan, because their copyrights don't apply there. The Japanese are somewhat lucky in that regard.

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An Orville is really just a Gibson, produced in Japan, without nibs or ebony (model specific) or lacquer, and I'm pretty sure those details don't apply to guitars marked "Orville by Gibson." If you take the PAF clones out of a Les Paul Custom and replace them with the 490/498, they'll sound the same. An Orville Custom is even the right (greater) depth, which an Epiphone is not. The hardware, also unlike an Epiphone, is interchangeable with a Gibson. They're comparable to your average Burny or Greco, which makes sense, because they were often made in the same factories!

 

08_orvillelpc_zpscd35a378.jpg

 

Mine was made at Fujigen in 1998. I was considering saving up for a Gibson at some point to go with it, but having played a Gibson LPC recently... there just wasn't any difference, and I'm not so sure if I'm going to get one after all. Orville was later rebranded as Epiphone Japan. Gibson simply has to work harder in Japan, because their copyrights don't apply there. The Japanese are somewhat lucky in that regard.

 

That's not Ebony?

 

It sure looks it...

 

Anyway, I think I've seen a number of them that do come adorn with Ebony on their Custom models from different years, I could be wrong, but I thought many of them did...

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Actually, Fender Japan and Gibson Orville were both attempts by the two companies to make guitars for the Pacific Rim. They were trying to give the Asian market real Fenders and Gibsons in order to (hopefully) cut down on pirating. So both companies wanted the guitars to be as good as Yankee guitars, just cheaper for the people buying them over there.

 

I'd rather have the real thing, so I don't know what the hubbub is or ever was. And is there even a Fender Japan and/or a Gibson Orville anymore?

 

rct

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