Re: Epiphone VS Gibson (give me your insights plz!)
I have owned and played an Epi LP Standard for a few years now, and it's been a great guitar ever since I replaced the tuners (old ones WERE junk), installed SD pups in it, and went through my electronics, replacing the switch (was messed up when I bought the axe), pots (became scratchy soon after the p.u. swaps), and capacitors (the old .047's were way too muddy). But mind you, I only paid $230, shipped, for it on ebay used and with slight damage to the bottom of the body where it had sat on a guitar stand evidently for too long or was mishandled once or twice. You should be able to find one for around $300 with no damage. There was a slight chip in the body itself and part of the binding was also chipped. Super easy repair on that (did it myself, it's not perfect but it gave the guitar "character"....lol) plus the upgrades have me into this guitar for about $500 total. I asked the tech I took it to for a setup after all my upgrades if, while blindfolded, he thought he could tell the difference between my Epi and a Gibson LP as far as playability is concerned, and he told me he couldn't. Of course he didn't A/B the two axes in that fashion, and neither have I, but my Epi is a great guitar IMO, and I'll never sell it. It flat out rocks!
I recently considered buying a Gibson in a serious way, went as far as placing a few bids on one or two on eBay for over $1000, but after being outbid and then picking my Epi back up and playing it for a long while I had to do a gut-check and ask myself why I was looking for a Gibson when I had a great player in my Epi. My answer was in buying a newer '01 American Strat instead for under half the price of a used Gibby LP.
I may eventually look seriously into a Heritage LP instead of a Gibson, as Heritage's are hand-made in the old Kalamazoo factory where all the Gibsons used to be made, and cost in some cases several hundred dollars less.
My advice? Play some Gibsons, and play some Epi's and let your conscience be your guide. You don't have to buy a new Epi, and with all the experienced DIY'ers here at the forum helping you could save much on the cost to pay a tech to do the upgrading. You could even do your own set-up as it's not really that hard, if you're inclined. I did pay $50 for a new set of Sperzel locking tuners (luv 'em), I didn't need a new output jack, I didn't pay $30 for pots (only paid $10 for 4 generic pots at a music/guitar shop that have not let me down yet), bought my SD pups used on ebay for under $100, and ended up only paying $75 to a tech to give it it's initial set-up (but that was before I learned so much more about doing it myself from the gang here at the forum and a few key websites). Whatever you end up buying, plan to keep it forever. That way you'll never regret it. Play a Heritage and a Tokai if you can find one. People write alot about how different guitars of the same make and model play and sound differently, but I feel each guitar has it's own character that anybody can adapt to if they are open minded. You can get used to anything if you work with it enough and adapt it to your tastes with a custom set-up, as I did.
I'm no authority on Gibson or other high-dollar guitars, but consider the Epiphone "better" models such as the Standard LP to be a good bang for the buck.
Just my $.05 worth.
) The Epi is still a good playing and sounding guitar, but there's no way on earth I'd part with my Gibby either!
