JeffB
Let it B
Re: Considering an LP/LP clone
This is all well and good- And I agree, if you are looking for a budget instrument that "sounds & plays good". However, If I'm buying a Les Paul (or SG, or Explorer, etc). I'm buying it for a certain sound and feel. I've owned a couple dozen high end Gibsons (including Custom shop stuff) as well as 6 or 7 epiphones- of course you can make the Epis a decent sounding guitar, but they never play or sound the same as a Gibson using the correct tonewoods, high quality hardware, and thin lacquer finish. The key is really the woods and hardware- you can swap pickups and re-wire all you want in a "mystery mahogany" - it will never sound the same as African, Central/South American , or ESPECIALLY "true" Honduras mahogany. The stuff most MIC/MIK guitars are made with sounds closer to Alder than a true mahogany. Does it sound good? sometimes, but it never sounds the same.
For all the money people put into an Epiphone to upgrade them (and I've done it myself too-even recently), you are better off buying a MIJ clone (of which I've owned a few, both old & new). You are getting better hardware (Tuners, bridge, etc), higher quality mahogany (African/Sapele-Honduras on the high end stuff) and maple, higher quality fret material, and pickups- You are getting a far superior build as well.
This is all well and good- And I agree, if you are looking for a budget instrument that "sounds & plays good". However, If I'm buying a Les Paul (or SG, or Explorer, etc). I'm buying it for a certain sound and feel. I've owned a couple dozen high end Gibsons (including Custom shop stuff) as well as 6 or 7 epiphones- of course you can make the Epis a decent sounding guitar, but they never play or sound the same as a Gibson using the correct tonewoods, high quality hardware, and thin lacquer finish. The key is really the woods and hardware- you can swap pickups and re-wire all you want in a "mystery mahogany" - it will never sound the same as African, Central/South American , or ESPECIALLY "true" Honduras mahogany. The stuff most MIC/MIK guitars are made with sounds closer to Alder than a true mahogany. Does it sound good? sometimes, but it never sounds the same.
For all the money people put into an Epiphone to upgrade them (and I've done it myself too-even recently), you are better off buying a MIJ clone (of which I've owned a few, both old & new). You are getting better hardware (Tuners, bridge, etc), higher quality mahogany (African/Sapele-Honduras on the high end stuff) and maple, higher quality fret material, and pickups- You are getting a far superior build as well.
