Californiaman Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 If you had your choice to chose between an Orville or Epiphone which would you chose. History: The Orville was a Japanese made (1988-1998) for Gibson by Yamano Gakki. The guitars were priced between Gibson American guitars and the Epiphones brand also made in Japan and Korea at that time. All of the following images were taken off the web today. All are Orville Guitars http://www.patsguitars.com/images/auctions/orville/gal8.jpg http://www.guitarsandeffects.com/images/orville.jpg http://www.guitarsite.com/news/images/guitar/Orville-Mando_Glam.jpg http://www.guitarsushi.com/item/musical_instruments/guitar/electric/orville/firebird/firebird_G005416/images/guitarpic_16_01.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3915824363_1c118984be.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I would go with epi. Don't ask me why because I don't know, I just know I would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Never played an Orville but if you say they're a step up from an Epiphone, I'd probably have to go with Orville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 Remember Orville was only made from '88-'98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 What is this Epiphone you speak of? Old or New. BIG difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Korean Made Epiphones are Really Nice Guitars. I haven't tried an Orville, so I can't speak to that point, but Japanese Guitar Makers have been known to crank out some really nice axes. Japanese Fenders and Jacksons are nice players. If I had to make a choice now, it would be a Korean Epi from the Peerless or Un Sung factories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max2343 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I've Played & Owned Both and The Orvilles are Sweet. No Mystery Woods. They used Mahogany and Maple. I had and Reget Selling a Custom. I got it Cheep and it was pretty close to a Historic Copy. Soild Body with a Long Tenon for 550.00 and Heavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 What is this Epiphone you speak of? Old or New. BIG difference. Thank you Axe. I was thinking the same. Also are the Japanese Epiphone Elitists included under the Epiphone umbrella in the poll? The Epi's made in the Unsung factory in Korea are made very well. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Korean Made Epiphones are Really Nice Guitars. If I had to make a choice now' date=' it would be a Korean Epi from the Peerless or Un Sung factories.[/quote'] I am guessing my sloppy casino is an exception...(sigh).. I would take Epi but if I could choose one personally due to their inconsistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I am guessing my sloppy casino is an exception...(sigh).. I would take Epi but if I could choose one personally due to their inconsistency. agreed Groper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 sorry to hear of both of your negative experiences. I wonder if the percentage of disgruntled Epiphone Korea owners is similar to the amount of Gibson USA ones? Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 It is my own fault Matt I could have returned the guitar but it was a Special Edition with a bigsby and last one I could find. The saddest thing is that it is an Epiphone Custom Shop. These are the issues: - people use the term plastic nut losely, this guitar has a low density plastic nut that is actually 1mm short on each end. - the pots are so cheap that I don't think they are even branded Alpha, I have Alpha pots that look much better. - the pickup toggle switch is so stiff that when switching pickups the guitar strings resonate since it is hollow. - the F holes are actually unfinished, no binding is fine only paint but the outline is actually rough. - the input jack is very stiff as well, again not good on a hollow guitar. - the screws on the chrome pickups are so tight that they are stripped and the metal covers are a bit bent. - Glue ran inside the guitar from the post that holds the bridge all the way to the tenon. Casinos are expensive in the Epiphone line, they should be perfect. When I went to the Gibson wholesale event the Epis there were models and they were perfect, all of them should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I am guessing my sloppy casino is an exception...(sigh).. I would take Epi but if I could choose one personally due to their inconsistency. Sorry about that casino. Have you run the Serial Number through the Guitar dater Project?. I'm curious as to which factory it came from. I've heard the Samick Factory is hit and miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Korea has been rather odd, especially from, say 1980 to 1990. The economic boom after the Olympics created almost a different country in ways. E.g., in 1987 I would have been comfortable driving in Seoul. Not so two years later. That made for a lot of changes in factories/craftsmanship ideas, and not just guitars. In '87 I got a wool made-from-scratch suit for under $100. Circa 90-91, the same suit was nearly double the price tag at any decent tailor. I'll wager the same sort of issues were hitting the whole country as the general standard of living soared. But for what it's worth... Japanese guitars made for a general market in the 1960s were poor quality. In the 70s I saw many that were a lot better. There's lots of incredibly inconsistent stuff with relatively poor materials in a lower income country, much better materials and some questions of consistency in a higher income country and - like it or not, the consistency issue for a relatively mass-produced item as "touchy" as a guitar is not likely to be solved. Japan in the 1960s was just emerging from being hammered in war. Korea was something like 15 years behind because of its war. As we internationalize today, those rules seem to have somewhat changed. Frankly I'd like to see what they're doing with general market guitars in former Eastern bloc countries. Here's my take... Even if a piece is what Stiffhand or I might consider "perfect" out of the factory, it may or may not be by the time it comes out of a mail order house or a mass marketer's store. Then there are issues I find ridiculous, such as "the strings on my new guitar stink." Yeah? No matter what they put on at the factory, unless we stand in a custom shop and hand them the string set, nobody's going to be especially happy. Ditto setup. I like an extremely light touch action and light strings; You may want a medium action and much heavier strings. Somebody else may like the tone of this string and setup version and... Stiffhand hit it in terms of what he considers craftsmanship and/or quality control issues. I may or may not agree on the tightness of an output jack (I've had some that were way too sloppy), but the rest? Yupper. Cheapie guitars with cheapie materials should be no shock to anybody. Shock comes when you buy a high end product that doesn't seem to be. Me? I'd likely take the Epi (dot) if I could play several first... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basshole Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Sometimes Epiphone messes up and makes a good guitar, but a good majority (and I would say 75% of the time) of Epiphone's are poorly set up, can't stay in tune, and have the sound of a duck getting slammed in between a fire truck door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I've only had good experiences with Epiphone. I have a good playing Epi Moderne ~ nothing wrong at all with it, no complaints and it sounds killer. And I have an Epi Elitist dot which I would put up against any Gibson ES-335 any day it's that good. I've never played an Orville, but with the short production time and made in Japan I would probably go with them just for the collector value... unless it was an elitists then I'd have to think twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I've only had good experiences with Epiphone. I have a good playing Epi Moderne ~ nothing wrong at all with it' date=' no complaints and it sounds killer. And I have an Epi Elitist dot which I would put up against any Gibson ES-335 any day it's that good. I've never played an Orville, but with the short production time and made in Japan I would probably go with them just for the collector value... unless it was an elitists then I'd have to think twice.[/quote'] Me too, Teaching mainly youngsters whose monetary situation means they have an Epiphone and not a Gibson. I have honestly only encountered one suspect one in ten years of teaching. That was a bottom of the line Les Paul special. I have played many since though that were okay. I reckon I must have played hundreds of Epiphones over a ten year period. The best in my opinion have been the Les Pauls and semi style ones. The Elitist range are a different thing altogether. The shops in London's famous Denmark street said they discontinued them because the conundrum of them being so good meant the price was similar to a Gibson. People being people would rather see Gibson on the headstock rather than Epiphone Elitist. Me, I don't care give a toss. I have bought and will buy what my ear likes. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Me too' date=' Teaching mainly youngsters whose monetary situation means they have an Epiphone and not a Gibson. I have honestly only encountered one suspect one in ten years of teaching. That was a bottom of the line Les Paul special. I have played many since though that were okay. I reckon I must have played hundreds of Epiphones over a ten year period. The best in my opinion have been the Les Pauls and semi style ones. The Elitist range are a different thing altogether. The shops in London's famous Denmark street said they discontinued them because the conundrum of them being so good meant the price was similar to a Gibson. People being people would rather see Gibson on the headstock rather than Epiphone Elitist. Me, I don't care give a toss. I have bought and will buy what my ear likes. Matt [/quote'] Yeah Matt I was GASSing for a 335 and I was about to buy one then someone mentioned the Elitist line so I thought I'd investigate them. As it turns out I bought mine at the end of August and they discontinued them in September. From what I learned it seems that they were, as a whole more consistant in quality than the Gibsons and they quality was spot on. The Elitist Dot was priced less than the bottom line Gibson 335 by about $600 if my memory is correct, but the quality was far superior on the Dot. So I think your right when people look at the bottom cost and consider the name they would rather pay the extra money just to have the Gibson name. As for me, I want the best instrument for my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hi djroge I blame your post for the following outburst... I shouldn't even entertain what I am about to write as my good wife has agreed to my gypsy jazz guitar that is being made as we speak (pricey too as it is being made to order), not to mention how tolerant she is of the many other things like an 8 year I say "I need" but... damn it!!! I'll come out with it as she never reads my posts here! I am gassing for an Elitist Casino...THERE! I have only heard them being played but having played other Elitists know I would like it[biggrin] Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Wow, this thread has turned out to be "not your typical bash Epiphone" thread. It's refreshing to read your oppinions about lesser Gibson family guitars. I too would agree that the Epiphone Elitists are indeed manufactured with the utmost quality and attention to detail. I have done several searches for different Elitists over the last year and the reviews are all good. I believe I would own an Orville. Especially for the collectibility of such an instrument. Some of the ones I've posted are real nice and I recently saw an Orville Les Paul Jr. on Ebay that I would certainly consider buying if I had the cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 My Wilshire reissue is one of the nicest guitars I own and it's a Epiphone or at least it has the epiphone brand on it since it was made in the Gibson custom shop I don't know what it counts as. :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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