Epi Lp

Robbyk

Robbyk

New member
Ok so I decided to do it. I bought the 3 pickup black beauty. ( Gold hardware),I had it set up in store and brought it home last nite. I could not let it go. It was like a female you just wanted to carress all nite long. We made our music for half the evening, and when it was all done, I wanted a cigarrette. ( I don't smoke).This guitar is flawless and I played 4 different Les pauls by Gibson and felt and heard no difference in them compared to this one.
Long story made short, Epi pauls are as good if not better than a Brand name gibson.
 
Re: Epi Lp

Robbyk said:
Ok so I decided to do it. I bought the 3 pickup black beauty. ( Gold hardware),I had it set up in store and brought it home last nite. I could not let it go. It was like a female you just wanted to carress all nite long. We made our music for half the evening, and when it was all done, I wanted a cigarrette. ( I don't smoke).This guitar is flawless and I played 4 different Les pauls by Gibson and felt and heard no difference in them compared to this one.
Long story made short, Epi pauls are as good if not better than a Brand name gibson.
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This has been discussed a lot. Epi makes great guitars. Specially when you concider the price. You gotta look for a good one, and when you find one, don't let it go.

I don't think you can generalise though. There are some awesome gibsons out there, and I have played some les paul standards that God himself would feel good playing.

I'm not saying epis arent awesome guitars, when you find a good one. All I am saying is that a good gibson is hard to beat, specially when you compare it to an import. I don't think it's possible for an import to be better than a well made gibson.

Congrats on the new axe dude, play it tons!
 
Re: Epi Lp

Robbyk said:
Ok so I decided to do it. I bought the 3 pickup black beauty. ( Gold hardware),I had it set up in store and brought it home last nite. I could not let it go. It was like a female you just wanted to carress all nite long. We made our music for half the evening, and when it was all done, I wanted a cigarrette. ( I don't smoke).This guitar is flawless and I played 4 different Les pauls by Gibson and felt and heard no difference in them compared to this one.
Long story made short, Epi pauls are as good if not better than a Brand name gibson.
Click to expand...

I had a similar experience just recently with an Epi that came home with me. Congrats.

I wouldn't go as far as saying they are better than Gibson, but I have not felt the $$$ difference that a Gibson should have considering the price tag difference of a new Gibson vs. a new Epi. Epis are a bargain for quality vs. price. I don't think Gibson cares either way, they own Epi.
 
Re: Epi Lp

Binnerscot said:
I had a similar experience just recently with an Epi that came home with me. Congrats.

I wouldn't go as far as saying they are better than Gibson, but I have not felt the $$$ difference that a Gibson should have considering the price tag difference of a new Gibson vs. a new Epi. Epis are a bargain for quality vs. price. I don't think Gibson cares either way, they own Epi.
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You said it best. It aint better, but for the price, they are fine guitars.

This thread is useless without pics!
 
Re: Epi Lp

Dunno, I have owned many gibsons in my 42 years of playing. I still own a SG that I will never part with. This Epi is right up there with the gibson. I would have bought a gibson had I felt it was as good, but it was not. I was going to spend the bucks for a gibson les, but since this made the grade( I am the fussiest SOB around) I bought this one. I usually have my manager ( wife),choose what I own, but this time around I said PISS on it, I want to have a say. I honestly feel epis are as good , if not better than a gibson( yes I know they are one and the same). I own a 70's epi 12 string I play out with nightly. But my point was, epis are as good as a gibson, they are from the same blue print. So even of you have the cash, why not save some and get a epi?
I figured this would help some who dream of a gibson les, but cannot afford it. I can, but some cannot.
Cheers Bros. I am out, my daughter has drum lessones She is 9 and already better than most. :)
 
Re: Epi Lp

Robbyk said:
Pics on the WAY
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Thanks dude!

As to them being from the same blueprint, you are right. The gibson though, has better wood, better pickups, and generally, better worksmanship ( being built by hand and not by machines in china).

I know that for the cash though, epis are hard to beat, and anyone on a budget should concider them.
 
Re: Epi Lp

The Epi LP I bought sounded and played better than any of the Gibons my local GC had in stock. Of course it isn't nearly as amazing looking, but sound wise it blew all of the studios and a few of the standards out of the water. One of the Gibson LP standards even had a rusty fret...
 
Re: Epi Lp

ZoSo0789 said:
The Epi LP I bought sounded and played better than any of the Gibons my local GC had in stock. Of course it isn't nearly as amazing looking, but sound wise it blew all of the studios and a few of the standards out of the water. One of the Gibson LP standards even had a rusty fret...
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No doubt that some gibsons can suck. I totally agree. But if you compare a good gibson to a good epi, I can't see how someone would judge the epiphone to be better, if they are both good specimens of their respective brands.
 
Re: Epi Lp

phil_104 said:
No doubt that some gibsons can suck. I totally agree. But if you compare a good gibson to a good epi, I can't see how someone would judge the epiphone to be better, if they are both good specimens of their respective brands.
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I agree. Gibson's have better materials and workmanship, but is it worth 5 times the price? I think that while most of an Epi is good quality, I invariably find the PU's to be muddy. Put a SD in an Epi and you have a pretty nice guitar, for a fraction of the price of a Gibson.
 
Re: Epi Lp

Well am I going to compare any old standard Epi LP to a Gibson '58 VOS LP? No, it's obvious that the Gibson will probably justify the 8x price difference. But if you compare it to the price range that general people can actually afford (like the Studio, and the Standard, and the Classic), I don't find the difference to justify the price. You'll end up changing out pickups anyways on the lower end Gibsons that have all the 490ts and all that junk. I'd rather just find an Epi with good wood, replace the pickups, change out the bridge for something a little better, and have an overall better guitar than anything Gibson puts out at under $2000 at a fraction of their stock cost. These days it seems like if you're buying a Gibson, youre basically buying a name on the headstock and a really beautiful guitar; not something aimed at playing the equivalent of it's ungodly price
 
Re: Epi Lp

ZoSo0789 said:
Well am I going to compare any old standard Epi LP to a Gibson '58 VOS LP? No, it's obvious that the Gibson will probably justify the 8x price difference. But if you compare it to the price range that general people can actually afford (like the Studio, and the Standard, and the Classic), I don't find the difference to justify the price. You'll end up changing out pickups anyways on the lower end Gibsons that have all the 490ts and all that junk. I'd rather just find an Epi with good wood, replace the pickups, change out the bridge for something a little better, and have an overall better guitar than anything Gibson puts out at under $2000 at a fraction of their stock cost. These days it seems like if you're buying a Gibson, youre basically buying a name on the headstock and a really beautiful guitar; not something aimed at playing the equivalent of it's ungodly price
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Again, gibson are hit or miss. My les paul studio vintage mahogany smokes any epi I have seen, and I have seen a lot. I guess it's like anything else, and it comes down to your situation, and how much you are willing to pay.

Not to start a war here, but it seems that people buying epis are kinda convincing themselves that the epis are as good when they can't afford a gibson, and as soon as they have money, you see them playing a gibson standard. Just an observation of the people I see......
 
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Oh trust me, if I had the money, I'd get a good Gibson. But I would never buy a Studio or one of the lower end ones unless it just had some kind of dash of magic in it that justified it because all of the lower end one's I've played weren't anything special in terms of wood, usually have not-that-great of necks and frets, and the pickups are just... odd. Not that the Epi's are any better, but for $400, I'd rather look and find a great out-of-place Epi that sounds great and change the pups to have something that'd easily compete/beat out any lower end Gibson
 
Re: Epi Lp

phil_104 said:
but it seems that people buying epis are kinda convincing themselves that the epis are as good when they can't afford a gibson, and as soon as they have money, you see them playing a gibson standard. Just an observation of the people I see......
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I would be careful with statements like that. I get paid well enough these days (now that I am old and have a "career") that three or four grand for a guitar isn't much to me. While I have plenty of really nice guitars, I bought an Epi.

I wouldn't pay the going rate for any of the Gibson LPs I have picked up so far. They haven't compared in quality to my other US guitars of different makers - so why give them the cash? When they can keep up with Hamer, I'll think about it.
 
Re: Epi Lp

like your Gibson Vintage Mohogany, I've played a few. They have pretty nice pickups and look great, but I couldn't justify paying $900 bucks for the sticky unfinished neck, and out-of-whack frets. The guitar's wood was awesome and resonating great, but everything else on it felt horrible. The Epi's with a better feeling neck, perfectly done neck, and half-decent pups at less than half the cost seems the better deal (assuming you can find a good one)

Your guitar's neck might not be sticky, but the 2 of 3 that I have played were so sticky tha they were almost unplayable. But if I found a good one, I'd get it in a second
 
Re: Epi Lp

I still really dig my Epi Standard that I've had for a few years now. I don't know if it's one of the 'gems' or whatever, but it works for my ability. The money I had to put into it though for my liking (pups, tuners, pots) makes me wonder if I should've just saved up for a low end Gibby.

HotSEXJ, what more could you tell me about the Epi Dot? I've been g.a.s.ing for one of those lately but not sure of the quality and everything. Did you have to mod it other than the pickups, most likely?
 
Re: Epi Lp

Binnerscot said:
I would be careful with statements like that. I get paid well enough these days (now that I am old and have a "career") that three or four grand for a guitar isn't much to me. While I have plenty of really nice guitars, I bought an Epi.

I wouldn't pay the going rate for any of the Gibson LPs I have picked up so far. They haven't compared in quality to my other US guitars of different makers - so why give them the cash? When they can keep up with Hamer, I'll think about it.
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Like I said right before ( the part you left out of my quote ), I'm not trying to start a war, and I know there are great epis out there, and I'm not stupid enough to think everyone is shallow and follows the same tendencies.

All I am challenging in this thread is your initial statement that said " Long story made short, Epi pauls are as good if not better than a Brand name gibson."

The fact is, I simply don't think that is true. Of course there are some great epi guitars that will compete will the lower grade gibson, but a good lower grade gibson will be better than a good epi, from what I have experienced.

The problem I see lately is people go into a store, pick up a piece of crap gibson, and then compare it to a good epi. Of course the epi is going to play better if the gibson was a piece of poo.

I played 27 les paul studios before buying mine ( I counted). There are good and bad guitars in all lines, period. Some custom shop gibsons suck. All I am saying is that any day, anywhere a good gibson kills.

What I was trying to say in the last post I still believe is true : some people ( not all, as you have shown), will justify the buying of an epi because of finances. I think that is fine. But I just see to many 16 year old bashing of gibsons simply because they can't afford them.

I recognise epi as a great guitar maker. I had a epi wildkat custom shop limited edition. All I wanted to say in this thread is that gibson will utlimatly have the better product. If you would of said " Epi guitars are better FOR THE PRICE" I would have agreed with you.

Anyways dude, I totally respect you for picking a guitar that felt right over the name. That takes a special kind of musician to do that. I really hope you will enjoy your guitar, and I will still be waiting on those pics.
 
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