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epi vs. gibson, can you hear the differance

JerseyRay

By JerseyRay
in Epiphone Electrics

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JerseyRay

JerseyRay

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I think they said what we already know, EPI's are good guitars and a great value. Gibson's for the most part are great guitars and priced at a premium price, it's a premium guitar. I think when they were talking about SG's, one of them questioned if a SG standard at 3x the cost really worth it. I would say that the Gibby is worth the price, considering all the upgrades. BUT, I'm not going to really know much difference. And the impressive thing is, the epi's are good enough to be hard to tell the difference based on playability. I do suspect there is some difference in sound, and there should be. One is a premium guitar, the other is a value priced version but still a good guitar.

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rct

rct

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Those guys annoy me. It was ok though. I've used both, gotten paid to use both. I know the difference for me is pretty big, and I've never cared about hearing others use guitars, they don't do what I do and vice versa. Nothing conclusive, each player has to decide for themselves.

 

rct

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rct

rct

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If I ever play a gig where the punters genuinely A: believe they can hear any difference, and B: give a fat rat's...then I am surely not somewhere I ought to be.

 

That's the thing, if yer playin a bar for "tone" you are most definitely doing it wrong.

 

rct

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craigh

craigh

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I'll put in my 2 cents. I had an Epiphone LP standard plus top. Beautiful looking guitar. Recently played a 2011 LP Traditional & a 2013 60's tribute with humbuckers. They both blew away the Epi. Sound, playability, you name it. I traded in the Epiphone for tne 60's tribute.

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capmaster

capmaster

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I'll put in my 2 cents. I had an Epiphone LP standard plus top. Beautiful looking guitar. Recently played a 2011 LP Traditional & a 2013 60's tribute with humbuckers. They both blew away the Epi. Sound, playability, you name it. I traded in the Epiphone for tne 60's tribute.

Here are my opinion on and my experiences about comparisons and in particular shootouts.

 

There are six Les Paul guitars right beside me, five Gibsons and one Epiphone. The largest price ratio is 8:1 between them; the most expensive Gibson I already owned when I bought the Epiphone was exactly eight times her price with 1% precision. The second Gibson I also owned that time was exactly five times the price, also with 1% precision, all prices including factory cases and excluding straps, strap locks, string cutters, string winders, nail files, picks, bottleneck slides, spare strings, special tools not supported if applicable, and spare battery (for the Alex Lifeson LP).

 

First, all of my LPs are different, none better or worse, Gibsons and Epiphone as well. That's why I bought three more Gibsons after the Epiphone. Two of the Gibson LPs are rare limited models. These LPs have various neck shapes, various fretboard timbers, various top timbers, various neck tenons. Three Gibsons are weight-relieved in two different kinds. Then there also are different pickups and one Floyd Rose piezo bridge.

 

As a sidenote I want to mention that I use chrome-plated strings with a very bright tone. They bring most out of all my guitars, through magnetic and piezo pickups as well, and I need that for the seven of my piezo'd hybrid solid-bodies.

 

Closest are my Gibson 2012 LP Standard and my Epiphone 1960 LP Tribute Plus. When listening in a blindfold test to musically identical tracks I recorded with either using the standard humbucking settings the have in common, I can't discern them without appearance of the specific dull tone of either as a longer lasting note. The differences between timbers and pickups seem to level out each other precisely.

 

Besides some others in headstock shapes and angles and switching options, the differences are as follows: The Gibson has a one-piece modern weight relieved mahogany back, one-piece mahogany neck with super-long tenon, solid flame maple top, and BurstBucker Pro pickups. The Epiphone features a five-piece solid mahogany back with veneer, one-piece mahogany neck with long tenon, solid maple top with flame maple veneer, and Gibson '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus pickups. Either fretboards are made from rosewood.

 

When playing them I can easily discern the 60's Slim Taper Gibson neck from the 60's D-shaped neck of the Epiphone, and the finishes feel clearly different, too. I prefer the Epiphone finish, but whatever - when about playability, I prefer any finish I ever encountered over nitro, in particular when sweating. I just have to live with it since half of my guitars are Gibsons, the rest are of five other brands, most of them Fenders.

 

Furthermore comparisons are valid only with same sort and age of strings and meticulously close setups. For instance, my Fenders play the same as my Gibsons, Ibanezes, Epiphone, Weimann, and Suzuki. I feel the D shape of the Epiphone just when I check for that, and it's just the same with fretboard radiuses between 9.5" (most Fenders) and 16" (one Ibanez). I'm not kidding, I have all of them personalized so close that even strings between 10-46 and 12-54 don't make much of a difference, with the only exception of bending plain and wound G3rds. [rolleyes]

 

There is no chance that any other of my guitars "blew away" my Epiphone. Were it that way, I wouldn't own the one or ones blown away. Three of the five Gibson LPs allow for slightly harder attack before compression starts, but that's it. That meaans perhaps one or two notes per minute of playing that make a difference. In contrary, one of my Gibson LPs, a Custom Shop model by the way, could be rated as being "blown away" by the Epiphone which delivers more dynamic. But the deep, compressed tone of the related Gibson LP is just her special tonal characteristic, transduced by a pair of '57 Classics in both positions. This is identical to the Epiphone's neck pickup and quite close to the bridge pickup. The most dynamic Gibson LP of mine has a quilt top and a Coração de Negro fretboard - there are about 300 worldwide of them delivering that unique tone.

 

Again, none is better or worse, they all are just different, with the Gibson LP Standard 2012 and the Epiphone LP 1960 Tribute Plus closest to each other. And guess what - I wouldn't want to change that! [biggrin]

 

I think it's nice to have options supporting different sounds and styles. LPs, SGs, L6Ses, ES models, Teles, Strats, they all make sense for me. My Epiphone LP belongs here as well. Countless other models I don't own and don't use also have a right to exist for their discerning players.

 

Tastes are different. It's the music and every single song that rule! [thumbup]

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SG player

SG player

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I'll put in my 2 cents. I had an Epiphone LP standard plus top. Beautiful looking guitar. Recently played a 2011 LP Traditional & a 2013 60's tribute with humbuckers. They both blew away the Epi. Sound, playability, you name it. I traded in the Epiphone for tne 60's tribute.

 

Same for me

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lazarusvt84

lazarusvt84

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I found this video consistent with my experience with my recent Epi acquisition. I love my Epi LP Custom Pro...it plays better, tunes better, and without nibs I don't have low E string coming off frets on pull offs. But...it lacks the bright sparkle/chime of my Gibson. My guess is the quality of the mahogany body and the thicker/solid maple cap on the Gibson.

 

 

I hope he used new strings for both guitars...

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SmokeyGhost

SmokeyGhost

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Oh no....😫.....not this again.

 

What? Do you mean by "this" the issue being Gibsons are overpriced and as soon as you buy new they lose 40%+ in value much like cars, so ya better to buy a used Epi, swap out the pickups, change the bridge and the turners and nobody but an expert would know the difference in tone between a Gibby and an Epi? Hehe. Says the owner of a Gibson LP Studio 2004 and J-45TV. Then if I had to pay full price for them, which I didn't, I wouldn't have them.

 

Never denigrate the guitar purchase or preference of others. Just proves you is a shallow minded, soulless prat - and that statement was not directed at you, good sir.

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deeman

deeman

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What? Do you mean by "this" the issue being Gibsons are overpriced and as soon as you buy new they lose 40%+ in value much like cars, so ya better to buy a used Epi, swap out the pickups, change the bridge and the turners and nobody but an expert would know the difference in tone between a Gibby and an Epi? Hehe. Says the owner of a Gibson LP Studio 2004 and J-45TV. Then if I had to pay full price for them, which I didn't, I wouldn't have them.

 

Never denigrate the guitar purchase or preference of others. Just proves you is a shallow minded, soulless prat - and that statement was not directed at you, good sir.

 

I think he was referring to our friend SG player...he posts pictures of 'his' Gibsons and will usually throw in something like 'not a copy here' or something along those troll lines.

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