Re: Epiphone Les Pauls
I have several American made guitars, and I appreciate quality and reliability. I went out shopping for a short-scale / 2 humbucker guitar a year or two ago (a Les Paul or a 335, basically). Money wasn't a big factor. I would have spent 4-digit money.
I bought an Epiphone Dot Studio brand new off the rack for $269.
Now, if you know anything about sociology, and have thought about why people react the way they do to different things, you will have learned that the priming is as important as the actual experience.
For example, my brother-in-law hates Japanese cars --- he's a Georgia boy and Japanese cars were a cultural no-no in his family and in his culture. I grew up with a Honda in the driveway my whole life, so I was alright with them.
My brother-in-law was primed to dislike them, and I was primed to like them.
In 2007, both of our wives got 2007 Honda Civic sedans, within a few months of each other - basically at the same time.
Well, on both cars, the driver's side visor broke within 6 months.
Brother-in-law's reaction: "these cars are pieces of ****."
My reaction: "better the visor than the rod bearings. This is forgiveable."
In 2008 a TSB came out that said the rear control arms needed to be replaced on Civic sedans. They had a warping problem and would cause excessive tire wear. Brother-in-law knew about it and took a road trip before fixing it, thinking "how bad can it be?" They had to replace the rear tires on the trip, an inconvenience and an unexpected cost. I took our Civic to the dealership and dropped it off to get the control arms replaced. I got it back a few hours later, no charges, all fixed, and they even washed the car and cleaned the interior.
Brother-in-law's experience: "Piece of **** Honda failed again, I will never buy a Honda again."
My experience: "Stuff like this happens with cars - got a letter in the mail, took it in, no big deal."
He and I had the exact same problems, in the exact same timeframe. He hates their Civic, and I love ours.
If you buy an Epiphone and are primed with the idea that it's substandard instrument, you'll convert any shortcoming to resent.
If you buy an Epiphone and are primed with the idea that it's a good value for what you get, you'll convert any shortcomings to "well, duh."
Back to my $269 Dot Studio - the pickups were not great, the switch failed, the jack stayed loose, the bridge wouldn't intonate.
If I were primed to dislike it; I would say, "welp, I'll never buy an Epiphone again."
I wasn't. Here's what I did:
I put a $30 bridge on it, scored awesome pickups for $60 used, spent $10 at Stew-Mac getting a new nut, pickup rings, switch, and jack. That's $100, for those of you counting. I slapped all that stuff on it.
Now I have a guitar with hand-picked components, installed with care, attention, and skill by an American (me), a top-notch bridge, Burstbucker Pros, Graphtech nut, Switchcraft components, yada, yada.
Grand total: $369. And it's solid as a rock, set up perfectly, and plays and sounds like hot fudge on a conveyor belt.
If you're primed to hate it because it says Epiphone on the 'stock, you'll hate it.
If you're primed to know you'll upgrade some stuff and come out hugely "on-top" money-wise, you'll love it.
-Hunter
