It’s a bit of a stretch to claim that an Epiphone Les Paul Classic is as good as a Gibson Les Paul Classic.
I've got a Epiphone Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom, and it’s a very good guitar. But play the Gibson after playing the Epiphone and you will notice a difference. The pickups are totally different, the controls are smoother and there’s no noise. If you open each up you’ll notice a few thing also, shielded pickups, routing cutouts are smooth, no leaks in the finish. Thicker wire and better solder joints. Not to mention how smooth the neck is.
when I bought my Gibson, all it had to do was tune it . I checked the string height, with a gauge and then with the feeler gage Gibson gives you. No high frets, all the frets were polished, the intonation was set.
when I got my Frampton there were a few sharp frets, that I filed a week later because I was thinking it was due to shipping. The action was super high, and when I lowered it there was a buzz on the high E string. No problem with the fit and finish, except for a few small spots on the binding.