Re: Entry Gibby or higher end Epi?
My last word (if anyone shd care, & i understand if theydont) on the neverending G Vs. E dispute is basically: HENRY Juszkiewicz: as a CEO, he compromises both the quality aspects of Gibson AND Epiphone- routinely fires the best people, and strong arms the dealers in a way that causes quality resonant Gibsons to be scarce. So as a plus, the Gibson history speaks in a way he cant screw up, but they were very messed up for a while. Despite turning the company around, lots of HJ's ideas are bad.
Since the turnaround (amount of employee firings) is so severe, many ex- employees have reported why quality control is far less than optimum.
So the dedication of the Gibson employees who love their job struggles against the obstacle of a hostile micromanager. Production numbers is the first priority,& quality suffers within HJs standard of acceptable imperfections.
In short, among brand names, Gibson is def volatile: bcuZ they are ordered to lie about woods and defects and whatnot, bcuz they sell a $2000 gtr for $10000 or $15000, bcuz they are (currently) unresponsive to customers, dealers, and their best workers. A JimmyPage signature was found with a Chinese neck. Theyve suffered lawsuits for using illegal woods.
The world is flooded with good Gibsons and mediocre
Gibsons, so finding a good one isnt hard, but worth the money is a little trickier. If it says Gibson on it, youre not out of the woods yet. In fact, i would argue that theres more to discern with a Gibson,( for all the reasons above, as well as the adoration of mythological proportions, and the nonmusical investor factors) than with the expectations of most brand of guitars, ... Or brands of anything.
One anonymous music store employee,(mr.X) did an interview for Dinosaur Rock Guitar website. If you care about the difference between resonance and sustain, he makes a valid point about the availability of quality Gibsons to the general public.
Im not a Gibson hater, by any stretch.(in fact, my music collection is organized by guitar & pickup: this year ive listened mostly to music played on LesPauls) I just think that the monetary value of each one relative to the sonic/ playability satisfaction isnt as simple as Gibson=great. The worst case scenario is paying over a thousand dollars for a unit that might be in the $600 quality range. I assume one wants to prevent that.
And make no mistake,i would rank my opinion way below that of many other forumites on Gibson expertise.
Ive heard many good Gibsons that sound twice as good as a Schecter, and maybe two that sounded five times as good as an Epiphone. Which is what they cost new.
But ive heard many more Gibsons (2001 on) that sound okay, but not a thousand dollars better than a $500 guitar.
