Tweet
TO HATE ALL LOW END GUITARS!!!
Ha ha no. But when buying strings today I decided to do another Les Paul shootout and play 5 epiphones and 3 gibsons, and really look for the difference in feel and playability.
The first 3 epis were cherry sunburst plain top epi standards. This was great because it's 3 of the exact same model, so I feel like I got a better picture of "overall" feel throughout the whole line.
If we just wanna talk about feel (finish, neck profile, fret ends, ease of tuning/maintaining tune, how bends feel on the fretboard, balance of guitar while playing) these were good. Like, really dude, they were fine. Fret ends were good, no frets seemed high at the outset. The poly feels like plastic (hur DUR, right?) but sometimes glossy nitro doesn't really "feel" much different, at least not when band-new.
I played 2 Epi LP "Traditionals" with the satin backs. These ones felt like playing a park bench. A brand new park bench, but still a park bench... These "trads" also both had somewhat rougher fretboards. Bending and vibrato felt much less comfortable. These felt more like toys.
The thing is the Epis all had bad intonation. Stuff like the E and G string saddle being all the way back but still being 10 to 15 cents sharp (I brought my tuner!). On one of the plain tops, it looked like there would be enough room to move the saddles back on the E and G and get them to not be sharp.
If I were blindfolded, and if somehow they had the right intonation, I don't think I could tell if I were playing a epi or a gibson. Unless of course I could hear the sound of the pickups!
The Gibson LP Faded? The intonation was still kinda off but there was plenty of room for adjustment. Smooth fret ends (the Epis all had binding). Nice weight, nicer neck profile (dig that 50's shape!). The finish felt much better to me this time. I used to hate the "Faded" feel, like it was too tacky or something.
Played 2 studios, black and wine red. both felt fantastic. Smooth bends, good intonation. These had BITE on the bridge pickup. I can see now why they do 300K pots.
I didn't play a Gibson Trad Pro today but I've played a few before, and the fret polishing and fretboard smoothness feel better, but IMO, no... not $1500 better. Law of diminishing returns and whatnot. The tops look MUCH better.
Really, I wish that "feel" was the only thing I wanted from a guitar, because the epiphones plain tops felt like they were worth the money. The thing is I'd have to have a tech look at it and probably mess with action, relief, nuts, and probably do some fret work right out of the gate. And... it would need pickups. And... the pots have to be Alpha unless I wanna waller the holes out. And... the neck is 3 pieces. Annnnnnd the switch needs a different nut to use a switchcraft. Annnnd the used value blows. Annnnnd the frets wear faster. Annnnd the tops are nowhere near as nice looking, nor are the burst jobs, nor is the binding that great.
Oh and P.S... the 3 gibsons sounded a lot better. Deeper lows, more bite, more low-mid growl (especially the Faded!). Whoooo! Go FADED!! Make those epiphone sound like alder!
P.P.S. None of them had any dead spots like the SG I just sold. WTF!!!! I paid $1000 for a dead spot (that I didn't notice until after the exchange period was up) when I could have got a $480 Epiphone which at least RINGS OUT on every fret? ZOGM WTF I FEEL STUPID for keeping that SG for so long. No one needs dead spots.
Ha ha no. But when buying strings today I decided to do another Les Paul shootout and play 5 epiphones and 3 gibsons, and really look for the difference in feel and playability.
The first 3 epis were cherry sunburst plain top epi standards. This was great because it's 3 of the exact same model, so I feel like I got a better picture of "overall" feel throughout the whole line.
If we just wanna talk about feel (finish, neck profile, fret ends, ease of tuning/maintaining tune, how bends feel on the fretboard, balance of guitar while playing) these were good. Like, really dude, they were fine. Fret ends were good, no frets seemed high at the outset. The poly feels like plastic (hur DUR, right?) but sometimes glossy nitro doesn't really "feel" much different, at least not when band-new.
I played 2 Epi LP "Traditionals" with the satin backs. These ones felt like playing a park bench. A brand new park bench, but still a park bench... These "trads" also both had somewhat rougher fretboards. Bending and vibrato felt much less comfortable. These felt more like toys.
The thing is the Epis all had bad intonation. Stuff like the E and G string saddle being all the way back but still being 10 to 15 cents sharp (I brought my tuner!). On one of the plain tops, it looked like there would be enough room to move the saddles back on the E and G and get them to not be sharp.
If I were blindfolded, and if somehow they had the right intonation, I don't think I could tell if I were playing a epi or a gibson. Unless of course I could hear the sound of the pickups!
The Gibson LP Faded? The intonation was still kinda off but there was plenty of room for adjustment. Smooth fret ends (the Epis all had binding). Nice weight, nicer neck profile (dig that 50's shape!). The finish felt much better to me this time. I used to hate the "Faded" feel, like it was too tacky or something.
Played 2 studios, black and wine red. both felt fantastic. Smooth bends, good intonation. These had BITE on the bridge pickup. I can see now why they do 300K pots.
I didn't play a Gibson Trad Pro today but I've played a few before, and the fret polishing and fretboard smoothness feel better, but IMO, no... not $1500 better. Law of diminishing returns and whatnot. The tops look MUCH better.
Really, I wish that "feel" was the only thing I wanted from a guitar, because the epiphones plain tops felt like they were worth the money. The thing is I'd have to have a tech look at it and probably mess with action, relief, nuts, and probably do some fret work right out of the gate. And... it would need pickups. And... the pots have to be Alpha unless I wanna waller the holes out. And... the neck is 3 pieces. Annnnnnd the switch needs a different nut to use a switchcraft. Annnnd the used value blows. Annnnnd the frets wear faster. Annnnd the tops are nowhere near as nice looking, nor are the burst jobs, nor is the binding that great.
Oh and P.S... the 3 gibsons sounded a lot better. Deeper lows, more bite, more low-mid growl (especially the Faded!). Whoooo! Go FADED!! Make those epiphone sound like alder!
P.P.S. None of them had any dead spots like the SG I just sold. WTF!!!! I paid $1000 for a dead spot (that I didn't notice until after the exchange period was up) when I could have got a $480 Epiphone which at least RINGS OUT on every fret? ZOGM WTF I FEEL STUPID for keeping that SG for so long. No one needs dead spots.