I'm curious what people's take is on the current production of Epiphone LP Standards vs MIM Fender Strat Standards?
I'm not looking to purchase either one of these but more interested in the debate and reasoning between these two guitars. I know they both sound, feel and play very differently.
Here's my take on the MIM Fender Strat I had in tobacco sunburst. It may not be a useful assessment as I had gotten it around 1999-2000 then sold it about a year ago. So, I haven't played extensively with a current production MIM Strat Standard. However, I have played with my friend American Strat.
MIM Strat Standard from 1999-2000
Pros:
Stayed in tune really well.
Good Nut.
Controls worked really well and didn't break down on me.
Fret ends were smooth and frets were level.
Cons:
Had to shim the neck so my saddles weren't so low to keep a good action.
Guitar finish on the sunburst and the wood grain didn't look that good (at least up close).
This may not be a true con but more of a personal preference but I prefer larger frets. My Fender acoustic has larger frets.
Stock pickups lacked string to string definition in neck and middle pickup position and the bridge pickup was ice pick city courtesy of ceramic magnets and the fact that the bridge pickup wiring stock was not wired to a tone control.
Below are my firsthand assessments of Epiphones I've owned but none of them are Les Paul Standards. And also an assessment of my friend's American Strat.
I currently own an old Epiphone Les Paul Junior made of laminate (plywood) in matte silver. I bought this a few months ago for less than $50. Probably nothing compared to current production Epi LP Standards.
Pros:
Looks cool
Most of the frets were in great condition. There were a two frets that had high spots I leveled.
I like the feel of the back of the neck. Fairly smooth due to the matte finish.
Unplugged I notice it sustains really well with the cheap Kmise intonateable bridge I got off of amazon. I don't remember what it was like with the stock bridge as I had to replace it because I couldn't move the bridge far enough back to accommodate a set of 12 gauge strings tuned to C# standard.
Volume and tone pots were soldered well and worked good. I replaced them with Bourne pots and Orange Drop cap with 50's wiring just because I have a bag of Orange Drops and like 50's wiring and going in and modding the wiring of guitars.
Cons:
Tuners were crap and made it difficult to tune and stay in tune so I replaced them with Grovers.
The stock nut was cut poorly and also of cheap plastic which contributed to tuning issues. Replaced with a Graphtech nut.
Stock pickup sounded terrible, lacked string to string definition and was harsh. Replaced with Lace Hammer Claw pickup. Now the guitar sounds really good clean and dirty.
Bridge had to be replaced due to bridge posts being too close to neck. When I got the guitar it had 10's on it and the bridge was already as far back as it would go.
I don't know what you call the screw in part in the body that the bridge posts go into but they don't fit snuggly in the guitar so I had to tape them with aluminum tap to get them in there snuggly. I have a cheap LP Jr. style Gretsch made of laminate that doesn't have this problem so I'm not sure if it's a question of the laminate or not.
Some of the fret ends are a little sharp.
Had to level a couple high spots on two frets.
My friend's American Strat which he got new about 6 or 7 years ago.
Pros:
Stays in tune well.
Looks good and has a nice finish that feels really good.
The neck is smooth, no fret issues.
Very comfortable to play.
Cons:
I hate the pickups in this guitar. Very thin sounding even on the neck pickup. When I put the cheap GFS Brighton pickups in my MIM strat it blew my friends strat away in the tone department.
I'd say a big con to this strat is the price in that the neck felt and played the same as my MIM strat and the stock pickups in the American strat were very thin sounding. I prefer the stock MIM pickups I had to the American ones he has. I hope he doesn't read this. I'm going to talk him into letting me install some new pickups.
I had an Epiphone Nighthawk for a bit then sold. Below is my assessment.
Pros:
Great tuners and hardware in general minus the nut, which was OK.
Stayed in tune well.
Middle pickup was good.
Electronics and layout was good.
All the frets were great except a high spot on the low e string at the 19th fret, but not a big issue since I never used it.
It looked cool.
Cons:
Plastic nut.
Neck heavy.
Neck felt too wide.
Stock bridge and neck pickup were muddy.
One high spot on the 19th fret mentioned earlier.
Finally, the last Epiphone I owned then sold was an Epiphone Century I had gotten used.
Pros:
Looked cool.
Neck was smooth.
Frets were perfect.
Stayed in tune once the nut was upgraded to Graphtech.
Electronic worked well.
Sounded pretty good with stock pickups. Once I upgraded the pickup to a Seymour Duncan Antiquity it became the sweetest sounding guitar I had ever heard in my opinion. I sold the guitar though because I mainly play heavier music and stuffing the guitar with socks to prevent feedback kind of killed it's tone. But I saw the guitar selling for really cheap used online at the time (impulse buy).
Cons:
The stock nut was the poorest nut I've seen on all the Epiphones I've played.
The nut slot was far from level.
The stock P90 was a little muddy and was replaced with a Seymour Duncan Antiquity.
I'm not looking to purchase either one of these but more interested in the debate and reasoning between these two guitars. I know they both sound, feel and play very differently.
Here's my take on the MIM Fender Strat I had in tobacco sunburst. It may not be a useful assessment as I had gotten it around 1999-2000 then sold it about a year ago. So, I haven't played extensively with a current production MIM Strat Standard. However, I have played with my friend American Strat.
MIM Strat Standard from 1999-2000
Pros:
Stayed in tune really well.
Good Nut.
Controls worked really well and didn't break down on me.
Fret ends were smooth and frets were level.
Cons:
Had to shim the neck so my saddles weren't so low to keep a good action.
Guitar finish on the sunburst and the wood grain didn't look that good (at least up close).
This may not be a true con but more of a personal preference but I prefer larger frets. My Fender acoustic has larger frets.
Stock pickups lacked string to string definition in neck and middle pickup position and the bridge pickup was ice pick city courtesy of ceramic magnets and the fact that the bridge pickup wiring stock was not wired to a tone control.
Below are my firsthand assessments of Epiphones I've owned but none of them are Les Paul Standards. And also an assessment of my friend's American Strat.
I currently own an old Epiphone Les Paul Junior made of laminate (plywood) in matte silver. I bought this a few months ago for less than $50. Probably nothing compared to current production Epi LP Standards.
Pros:
Looks cool
Most of the frets were in great condition. There were a two frets that had high spots I leveled.
I like the feel of the back of the neck. Fairly smooth due to the matte finish.
Unplugged I notice it sustains really well with the cheap Kmise intonateable bridge I got off of amazon. I don't remember what it was like with the stock bridge as I had to replace it because I couldn't move the bridge far enough back to accommodate a set of 12 gauge strings tuned to C# standard.
Volume and tone pots were soldered well and worked good. I replaced them with Bourne pots and Orange Drop cap with 50's wiring just because I have a bag of Orange Drops and like 50's wiring and going in and modding the wiring of guitars.
Cons:
Tuners were crap and made it difficult to tune and stay in tune so I replaced them with Grovers.
The stock nut was cut poorly and also of cheap plastic which contributed to tuning issues. Replaced with a Graphtech nut.
Stock pickup sounded terrible, lacked string to string definition and was harsh. Replaced with Lace Hammer Claw pickup. Now the guitar sounds really good clean and dirty.
Bridge had to be replaced due to bridge posts being too close to neck. When I got the guitar it had 10's on it and the bridge was already as far back as it would go.
I don't know what you call the screw in part in the body that the bridge posts go into but they don't fit snuggly in the guitar so I had to tape them with aluminum tap to get them in there snuggly. I have a cheap LP Jr. style Gretsch made of laminate that doesn't have this problem so I'm not sure if it's a question of the laminate or not.
Some of the fret ends are a little sharp.
Had to level a couple high spots on two frets.
My friend's American Strat which he got new about 6 or 7 years ago.
Pros:
Stays in tune well.
Looks good and has a nice finish that feels really good.
The neck is smooth, no fret issues.
Very comfortable to play.
Cons:
I hate the pickups in this guitar. Very thin sounding even on the neck pickup. When I put the cheap GFS Brighton pickups in my MIM strat it blew my friends strat away in the tone department.
I'd say a big con to this strat is the price in that the neck felt and played the same as my MIM strat and the stock pickups in the American strat were very thin sounding. I prefer the stock MIM pickups I had to the American ones he has. I hope he doesn't read this. I'm going to talk him into letting me install some new pickups.
I had an Epiphone Nighthawk for a bit then sold. Below is my assessment.
Pros:
Great tuners and hardware in general minus the nut, which was OK.
Stayed in tune well.
Middle pickup was good.
Electronics and layout was good.
All the frets were great except a high spot on the low e string at the 19th fret, but not a big issue since I never used it.
It looked cool.
Cons:
Plastic nut.
Neck heavy.
Neck felt too wide.
Stock bridge and neck pickup were muddy.
One high spot on the 19th fret mentioned earlier.
Finally, the last Epiphone I owned then sold was an Epiphone Century I had gotten used.
Pros:
Looked cool.
Neck was smooth.
Frets were perfect.
Stayed in tune once the nut was upgraded to Graphtech.
Electronic worked well.
Sounded pretty good with stock pickups. Once I upgraded the pickup to a Seymour Duncan Antiquity it became the sweetest sounding guitar I had ever heard in my opinion. I sold the guitar though because I mainly play heavier music and stuffing the guitar with socks to prevent feedback kind of killed it's tone. But I saw the guitar selling for really cheap used online at the time (impulse buy).
Cons:
The stock nut was the poorest nut I've seen on all the Epiphones I've played.
The nut slot was far from level.
The stock P90 was a little muddy and was replaced with a Seymour Duncan Antiquity.
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