Tanner1994 Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 What really are the differences between the epiphone and gibson sg's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynadude Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Body and neck materials, finishes, hardware and electronics. I believe that Epis have a different string spacing too, but I'm not sure. Basically, they are completely different, other than the style and configuration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameswithesg Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 (this is what ive heard/read/discovered myself) # of pieces of mahogany, ive seen up to 3 piece bodies on epi's one solid piece for gibson, same for necks headstock is separate piece of wood for epi's joining around the 3rd fret, gibsons use one solid piece quality of mahogany, epi's are made of common mahogany varieties, gibson's use rare honduran mahogany finnish, gibsons use nitrocellulose (an intensive process) which makes repairing dings and scratches easier, (almost immpossible on some epi,s) this also makes it so if the neck happens to break you have to refinnish the whole epi, gibson nitrocellulose is easy to match, epi's use a more cost effective catalyzed finnish ive seen crooked epi machine heads gibson serial numbers and made in usa branded on, epi's have decals laquered over mother of pearl vs. silvery plastic inlays heel/neck joints are different SUSTAIN, epi's dont have anything on gibsons as far as sustain is concerned pickups, they sound pretty similar, but the output on the gibson pickups is much higher it is difficult to judge the pickups in isolation with all the other differences affecting the tone however its basically burstbuckers vs. 57 classics you get what you pay for, epi' electronics are more prone to early failure and less cosmetic attention to detail is shown on things from the electronics to the bridge and tailpiece gibby's=thicker body/top=heavier epi's=thinner body/top=less heavy ( top apllying for les pauls) on les pauls the maple top is added for clarity, with a thinner top you get less of that clarity, hense a murkier tone for epi's for some people buying a gibson, a small part is buying the name though i have played epi's that have blown me away, and some gibby's that have had no attention payed to them during manufacturing, but i couldnt go for anything else than my gibson but when it all comes down to it, you have to decide, if you cant tell the difference youll love em both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Gibsons look, feel and play a million times better than Epiphones. I have a couple of Epis because they are great guitars for the money but even my Elitist Sheraton feels slightly cheap because of the polly finish. Nitro definitely makes a difference, as does fret edge binding and decent pickups. Anyway there is no point going over this again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpdeluxe Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Epi SGs are a slightly different shape from Gibson SGs. You can buy an Epiphone and get a perfectly satisfactory guitar. But: in plain terms, Epiphone is a downscale knockoff of Gibson, and Epis will always exhibit shortcuts in materials, manufacturing, and hardware quality in comparison to Gibsons. I've had two Epiphones, and there was nothing wrong with them...but I now have three Gibsons, and I wouldn't trade them for Epiphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston004681 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Overall Quality. No comparison. Go for the Gibson. For my First.... well, full-functioning guitar i wanted an Epiphone G-400. It looked like a dream online. I went a music store to play it and i hated the thing. Overall, there was nothing wrong with it. It just didn't feel right. It didn't bend nicely, it was neck-heavy, I was disappointed with the upper-fret access.... ect. Today I have the real macoy and i LOVE IT! OK, you know what, get the epi if you're limited on cash. They really ARE a value! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanner1994 Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Thanks for telling me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteRaven Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 By all means, look at G-400s. Play them all, though. If you find one that plays nicely and doesn't have any irregularities, after a pickup upgrade and perhaps a new bridge, it'll be a very nice guitar. But a good G-400 won't go any further in the "niceness" category than perhaps an average Gibby Special Faded, IMO. I have a Goth G-400 that I got used with some upgrades from the original owner for $200, and it's a very nice guitar. The bridge is a little wonky as far as the intonation goes and I'd like to replace it sometime, but for a backup to my Gibson Special, after a good setup from a good tech, it's not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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