Gibson or epiphone?

[Mr. Gibson]

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[milod]

Actually that question and the piles of threads on this forum is far too simplistic.

 

Each guitar is an individual, but more importantly, so is each guitarist.

 

I've seen over the past 50+ years how folks make major errors in choice of instrument because of factors unrelated to how and what they play. I confess I've been guilty of that myself.

 

Ditto too appropriate setup. An appropriately setup and otherwise ornamented higher-end SG from Epi will play far better for a given guitarist than a poorly strung and setup SG from Gibson.

 

Should a Gibson of a given type be of better quality of materials, workmanship and QC than an equivalent Epi?

 

Of course. That should be a no-brainer, and probably is fact for 97 percent of the time. Both Gibson and Epi - the same firm - have a fine original owner guarantee that should also cover most contingencies for the occasional "Oops." One should expect more "oops" situations from Epi due to a more mass production environment where that would be natural.

 

But there are far more factors involved. And frankly, I think that a lot of "Epi is no good" from Gibson owners of equivalent guitar types is as much necessity to emotionally justify the difference in expense - even as a lot of "Gibson isn't worth the extra" from such Epi owners is jealousy that they lack the cash for the big guy.

 

Any well-crafted instrument that fits the guitarist's geometry and playing style and appropriately set up will be able to produce a very crowd-acceptable performance. And on just plain audio recordings, likely more of any type of guitar sound will be from the recording process than the actual instrument's qualities. But we watch videos or go to concerts and see - golly, she has a Gibson! (Or Epi) and then we performer fans decide that's what we have to have to be just like him or her. That's silly and certainly does little to encourage the individual artist's creativity as opposed to copying.

 

I honestly don't think that either guitar marque is a poor choice if purchased for the right reasons - and also strung and set up for the right reasons. I certainly have no Gibson/Epi stock, but at this point in time I think that the firm's output is, in general, the stuff of dream instruments compared to the early '60s through the '70s.

 

And finally... one of the best electric guitarists regionally uses one of the most disreputable, worn and re-wired Gibson 345s in existence. I doubt a pawn shop would get much more than $300 out of it, if that. But it's perfectly set up for him and the guy's a true artist.

 

m

[2PoFoAGibSon]

Here is the bottom line..I have owned every level of gibson and epi and,both have dogs. Epi less now then the past..Gibbys more nowadays,IMHO..if ya hope to get yer $ back if and,when you go to sell the guitar buy an GIBSON...if yer goal is just to write music.and entertain the world..buy and epi till ya get rich and can afford to buy whatever you would want because, both will produce the same music YOU put into it. Buy the right guitar for the right reason, the next Fill in the blank is born..good travels on yer music journey..we'll cya on the charts....or at least YouTube.. Peace

[kidblast]

these topics are so much fun.. ahh the controversy!!

 

The Epi's are good at what they are, lower cost alternatives to the higher priced USA models.

 

compare a broadway which can be had for under a grand with the case, to an L5, the L5 is 10x more expensive... is it 10x better than the Broadway? I don't know, I've never held an L5.

 

I have a Broadway that I picked up new about 2 years ago, which I use quite a lot... I think it's a great jazz box,, for the money, can you find something better? I honestly don't know of you can.

 

I'm NOT a jazz guy, (yea I dabble, and know the ropes a bit, but I'm not a dedicated jazz player like some of the other guys on the forum.) These guys can probably justify spending $10k on an L5.

For me, with what I do on a full size archtop... it would be an insane amount of money to invest.

 

When you get down to the meat and potatoes in the solid bodies, and start comparing a later model Epi Les Paul to a similar Gibson, you're going to see there are differences. thanks to improvements in the imports, they are not as stark in comparison as they used to be. The imports have "upped" their game. But if you are discerning enough, you're still going to find the differences. (if you were going back 10 /15 years,, it would be painfully obvious) but the new ones, WAY better. Are they inferior to the same USA equivalent? hmm maybe that's a bit too harsh, however, I think any experienced player will quickly see the USA made instrument, will be ahead of the import, in materials, craftsman shipped required, and the details.

 

basically buy what you can afford, AND buy what makes ya happy.. So if an Epi Les Paul Ultra rocks your world, go for it. there's plenty of people using them. But, if your dying for a Gibosn Les Paul, then, you probably will not be satisfied with the epiphone (and how much of it is in the head only hard to say,, everyone likes what they like)

 

I have 4 epi archtops, I like them a lot. But if they had to go,, Meh,, they can go.. I have 5 USA Gibsons, you'd have to hold a gun to my head to get me to sell them. At the end of the day, it's really up to the individual, they are both good values and good guitars, in the long run, the USA Gibson is going to hold it's value where the import will not.

[Mr. Gibson]

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[kidblast]

Fenders have their own thing going on. it's an apples and oranges comparison imo

 

and I wouldn't call em cheap. strat standards are $1,400 these days.

 

Got a few great starts and a killer tele

 

 

given the right set of circumstances, it's hard to beat a good em.

 

I tend to play the gibby's a bit more tho.

[Mr. Gibson]

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