Scott0 Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 i'll update with pics hopefully today, there's great light here right now but i've got some work things to wrap up and also more guitar practice. been playing both these, they're a blast! the gibson arrived ready to play, tuned the strings it came with and blammo. the epi had bad intonation issues and it took a new set of strings and ~2 hours of adjusting the bridge screws to get the intonation proper across all frets and strings but now that is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6string Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Both great looking guitars. Glad you're digging them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 Both great looking guitars. Glad you're digging them. thanks, hoping to carve out some time for a full set of pics and such but work is getting in the way, i did have to pause and take a snap though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 the epi arrived about 40 minutes ago. it wins the contest. hands down. i'll set up and get a lot more pics tomorrow, gotta play this thing, the 57 classic pickups made me exclaim "wow" several times already. they sound sublime Your impressions of the '57s meet my experiences. Darn nice looks of both the LPs! they both sound fantastic as well. i'm keeping both. So - H2NGD, Scott! Very wise decision. If the guitars deserve being kept, you deserve them, too. thanks, hoping to carve out some time for a full set of pics and such but work is getting in the way, i did have to pause and take a snap though! Can't wait for the pics to come when your Pelham Blue Epi ES model will be complete... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Your impressions of the '57s meet my experiences. Darn nice looks of both the LPs! So - H2NGD, Scott! Very wise decision. If the guitars deserve being kept, you deserve them, too. Can't wait for the pics to come when your Pelham Blue Epi ES model will be complete... me too, take some "progress" pics...please... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 finally able to shift focus and get some snaps of the new guitars. for a new guitar player, i think these guitars are very similar in tones and quality! this is in focus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I think that the real test of a guitar, acoustic or electric, is how one feels playing it. If it "works" well with one's technique and physical geometry, it will likely also give one a sound one likes. Epis are incredible instruments for the price. Gibsons are just plain incredible instruments. The question of a plain or fancy instrument is, IMHO, far less important than the way it interacts with the player. I doubt I would have said that at age 20, or even 35, but that was a long, long time ago. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 finally able to shift focus and get some snaps of the new guitars. for a new guitar player, i think these guitars are very similar in tones and quality! this is in focus! nice indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordBlackadder Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 I think that the real test of a guitar, acoustic or electric, is how one feels playing it. If it "works" well with one's technique and physical geometry, it will likely also give one a sound one likes. Epis are incredible instruments for the price. Gibsons are just plain incredible instruments. The question of a plain or fancy instrument is, IMHO, far less important than the way it interacts with the player. I doubt I would have said that at age 20, or even 35, but that was a long, long time ago. Wise words Milod. Even from my novice standpoint I can see exactly what you mean. I've owned a couple of guitars that didn't quite feel right to me and I have others that the more I play them the more I love them. The trouble is I hate trying guitars out in shops (mainly because I haven't developed sufficient playing confidence) so I end up buying a guitar to later find it's not quite right for me, and in the process of trading them in I cop a fair financial whack in depreciation. Admittedly I could sell them privately or on eBay instead of taking the dealer's profit hit, but living in a remote location isn't entirely conducive to that. I drove 450 km yesterday and traded in my 12 string electric for a Maton acoustic. Wow, what a guitar - I love it instantly. So I guess what I'm saying is I am enjoying being in my happy place with my current guitars. Now for less dreaming about what guitar to own and more building my skills and confidence! :) Cheers, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted December 18, 2013 Author Share Posted December 18, 2013 i don't have any problem admitting i like guitars that are as beautiful to look at as they are to play. i don't think those are mutually exclusive either. but this comparison wasn't about fancy v plain. as mentioned in the op, it was about comparing the playability, fit & finish, and sounds of these two. this epi isn't just fancy, it represents the best craftmanship epiphone can provide including a hand-fitted deep set neck, maple top and most importantly, top-notch electronics, from the pickups to the caps. the gibson, while entry level is finished in the vintage gold, certainly not plain and it benefits from gibson's ability to creat fantastic guitars. i find them both completely beautiful and extremely playable, and while it took a couple gibsons to get a good one, the one i kept is super all around. not to mention both were in the <$550 price range. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 I found out that there always are differences between several guitars of same model and brand, and these are somewhat larger among Gibsons as I experienced. To my senses this may be due to the different philosophy of Gibson and Epiphone regarding construction. One piece bodies and one piece tops (even a bookmatched top was one piece which was cut in two) seem to cause a more different tone than multipiece bodies do. When I checked out several Gibson guitars of the same model, there always have been obvious differences between them. I also checked out several Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute models the day I bought mine and found out the same like weeks before when checking out the same model in a different finish: They were pretty close to each other in playbility and tone. In my opinion, this comes from the typically five-piece body with a veneer on its back since the different pieces glued together are flattening the differences. The Gibson pickups finally make for a superb tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheapShoes Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 It's all anecdotal, but in my experience, I keep finding the middle and upper level Epiphones to be better feeling and better playing guitars than low-end Gibsons. However, the kicker, again in my limited experience, is the Gibsons sound a lot better - regardless of boutique pickups added to the Epii's. Seems like an issue of build philosophy. So... for me I end up with this weird trade-off. I'd probably go with the Epi until I was good enough player to warrant spending the cash on a mid -to high-level Gibson. Which I am not and may never be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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