gibson vs epiphone

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
Sorry this is long, but its my Epiphone/ Guitar center / Gibson story.

So, I am in guitar center playing gibson studio, I was curious about the robo tuners. Next to me is a epi les paul, used I was contemplating buying.

One of the employees walks by in their black shirt with a guy I thought was a customer.

Well, the customer asks me if I am buying the Gibson studio, and what do I think of it. The GC associate immediately says, no, he loves his epiphones, took 2 years until we could even get him to buy a fender

So, I kind of laugh it off and tell the guy, depending on usage, and what you want out of a guitar, is what you buy. If you have your heart set on a strat, gibson, jackson epiphone, thats what you buy and god bless.
I point out to the guy, how the Gibson has many benefits. The robo tuners, the quality pick ups, and the iconic name. But, that I cant excuse the shoddy workmanship on how loose the pick up rings are, and the garbage way they put the pick guard on, I figured it would break the fist time I really let go jamming.

So, now I grab the epiphone. And I tell him, in full disclosure, I am an epiphone fan, so I have a bias. I point out the better attention to detail on the pick guard mount, and the pick up rings. I also tell him, honestly, the pick ups probably arnt as good though.

But, that I suggest he plays them, get the feel, and which ever one calls to him is the correct one, just like a woman, what is right for one man, isnt right for another........price doesnt always mean better.

Then I suggested, he play some other brands, dont just buy a name or what someone else tells you to get. That I think Fender and Gibson, amazing pieces of American history, but, my money doesnt buy history, it buys something that feels good in my hands.I also suggest, he check out some gretsch as they have some serious cool stuff

Then the guy looks at me straight in the face and goes

" Actually, I am the gibson representative"

that was kind of embarrassing
 

twbuff

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!
Mark:

Twp thumbs up for the great/honest response to the Gibson rep. Probably needed to hear it and would not have if he had provided full disclosure prior to the questions. Great!
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
I wasnt trying to bag on the guy, or Gibson. I love their guitars, they are iconic, but the studio I was playing, has the Gibson name, but it was like buying a cadillac and the door trim isnt put on correct and is falling off. I just expect more from such a brand. To be fair, it was their sub $1000,guitar. But the reality is, a $450 Epiphone seemed to have tighter tolerances
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
That seems like a reasonable expectation. If you pay a premium price, you would expect a better quality product.
 

Mike A

BLUES NOODLER
i work in a guitar store i own 1 Gibson and 6 Epiphones all of my epiphones play and sound better than my Gibson..,EPI ES335 dot that i put a 70's Paf humbucker with a (1980's)seymour duncan lydia wound Paf humbucker with 50's wireing , wired with Gibson pots and old school bumble bee caps) it Gibsons 1.jpg sounds amazing less than $500 invested,,i have a les paul traditional pro.that i wired with real USA Epiphone Humbuckers classic 57 and 57+ wired with 300k linier gibson volume pots and 500k audio taper tone pots sounds and plays amazing less than $500 invested plays and sounds better than my $1800 Gibson .. i have a 56 les paul Gold top reissue it sounds and plays amazing.. i have a ES339 P90 Pro, and A studio dot ES 335..that i left alone because it sounds so good..My Gibson takes a back seat to my Epiphones because they play and sound so nice..true story . i took a couple of pictures of some of my guitars.the rest are at my office...hey it is snowing out and i am bored.
 

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Cleotis

Boiled Eggs Rock
Nice collection!

I was wondering... on a per guitar basis I would assume that the Epiphone outfit is given a certain amount of resources (which can be converted to money, such as hourly wages for sanding, gluing, etc.). The amount of money, per guitar, for construction of an Epiphone Les Paul is less than that of a Gibson Les Paul. If we say that the Epiphone has a better fit and finish, is it possible that the Chinese workers take more pride in their craft than do their counterparts in other places of the world? If that is indeed the case, probably a lot of guitars made in China would be pretty good.
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
Nice collection!

I was wondering... on a per guitar basis I would assume that the Epiphone outfit is given a certain amount of resources (which can be converted to money, such as hourly wages for sanding, gluing, etc.). The amount of money, per guitar, for construction of an Epiphone Les Paul is less than that of a Gibson Les Paul. If we say that the Epiphone has a better fit and finish, is it possible that the Chinese workers take more pride in their craft than do their counterparts in other places of the world? If that is indeed the case, probably a lot of guitars made in China would be pretty good.
I dont know, all I can say, the way the pick up rings and the pick guard were placed on the gibson studio, it should never have even been boxed up and shipped
 

Mike A

BLUES NOODLER
Nice collection!

I was wondering... on a per guitar basis I would assume that the Epiphone outfit is given a certain amount of resources (which can be converted to money, such as hourly wages for sanding, gluing, etc.). The amount of money, per guitar, for construction of an Epiphone Les Paul is less than that of a Gibson Les Paul. If we say that the Epiphone has a better fit and finish, is it possible that the Chinese workers take more pride in their craft than do their counterparts in other places of the world? If that is indeed the case, probably a lot of guitars made in China would be pretty good.

the pick up rings on my Gibson are real flimsy they sag and you can change the shape of the ring by sqeezing them..on my EPI les paul traditional pro the pickup rings are pretty solid you cant sqeeze them ...on the Gibson the frets are like speed bumps . on all my epiphones the frets are nice and comfortable they dont grab your attention away from your playing..on the Gibson i need to do a fret job and it is going to be a chore, so it is on the back burner for now..also the new pcb boards,they might be hightech,BUT THEY SUCK and they are very noisy and dont ground well, and you get a constant static pop through the whole guitar. so most shops take out the pcb boards and re-wire and solder them normal ..and for me i buy the pcb boards on ebay and reverb $20-$25 cut the Gibson pots out and and use them on my epiphones .Gibson pots $15 a piece.when using Gibson parts on a EPIPHONE you have to do some mods.drill bigger holes for the pots ect.., metric verse standard..companies like Samick in, korea , japan, indonisia ,china have been building guitars for the USA companies for years.way back in the 80's and back then they sucked ,,they used plywood for bodies,,but these days the quality has gotten pretty good. samick even has a factory right down the street from gibson , nashville,,so there is some contrversy that not all usa Gibson is made in the usa..and for me and my money , i have so much fun building guitars..i have no problem purchasing a second hand fender or epiphone dirt cheap $100-$300 off ebay or reverb weather it is made in indonisia , mexico , china. and i can build a guitar for less than $600 that some on would pay upwards $2k +...i am all about USA and American workers...but if these ceo's who have to pay off there college loans get out of college go to work for these corporations and make $350,000 + a years need to cut corners and lie and outsource everything and say they are usa ..because they have companies in a world economy ..WOA mike, just one mans opinion...but i have a EPIPHONE dot es 335 studio i paid less than $300 used and it sounds as good as my USA Gibson...the EPI has Alpha pots and the pots are matched for tolerance i measured them with epiphone classic 57 and 57+ pick ups they say USA designed ..but the guitar sounds great as for a lot of the Gibson pot ..they are suppost to be matched ..but i have a set of Gibson pots that came out of a usa Gibson SG that measure 299k and 255k volume and the tone pots are 455k and 497k that is well over the 10% range ..so ya Gibson quality control has gone out the door,,,,and even fender usa has and is doing the same,,i have some usa fender pickups that are not usa ,,they are koren ...there is a lot going on unless you get into the custom shop stuff...so i became my own custom shop and i am having funn
 
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