Epiphone vs Gibson

Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

I have owned a few epi's over the years, two were middle of the road as far as sounding/playing, one was absolute crap, and one was pure magic.

Slap a duncan distortion in the bridge, kick on some dirt pedals, turn up the amp and have fun!

The elitist snobs who are listening to you play from next door can't even tell what brand of guitar you are playing unless they are looking at it....

Yup I just said that.

Ha ha or better yet slap an A8 in there.... then your guitar will sound perfect!
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

Andrew Lamprecht said:
I just said it's part of the basic tone you get but it doesn't give you any more variety in your playing.
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Having a variety of HB's, P-90's, magnets, and wiring combinations, in a variety of guitars, gives you a lot of variety in your tones. Hence, some of us like to have an assortment of solid, semi, and hollowbodies. They sound different, feel different, and inspire you in different ways. You ask: 'Why own more than one SG?' PAF's in one, hot HB's in another, one with P-90's, etc. to fit various songs or moods. If you don't perceive the differences, it doesn't mean they don't exist. At your age I thought owning more than one electric guitar was insanity, however we change as we get older, as you shall too. You just might wind up with another SG. The mystery of multiple guitar ownership has been clarified.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

80's_Metal said:
The elitist snobs who are listening to you play from next door can't even tell what brand of guitar you are playing unless they are looking at it....

Yup I just said that.
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... and your hands will never feel the difference between the two....:cool2:

Caus we all know playing guitar is all about the sound, and nothing about the actual interaction with the instrument.

The best analogy I have seen on this forum on this debate is comparing it to cars. A Fiesta and a BMW M5 will both get you from home to work, and back, on the same road. The drive there, will be very, very different. People at work won't know how you got there unless they see the car, but you'll have seen the difference for yourself. Not it all depends if the cash is worth that experience to you.

On a serious note though : I respect players, not guitars. I appreciate guitars, but they are what they are, an object. It's part of my overall theory, where if I buy a expensive axe, it gets played more than the cheap ones, caus that's why I spent the cash. They are all tools. If you can produce the same sound with the same comfort and playing experience on a 500$ guitar than some can on a 5000$, more power to you. But at the other end of the spectrum, I can also respect a talented and creative player who chose a 5000$ guitar as his vehicle for music.
 
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Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

phil_104 said:
The best analogy I have seen on this forum on this debate is comparing it to cars. A Fiesta and a BMW M5 will both get you from home to work, and back, on the same road. The drive there, will be very, very different. People at work won't know how you got there unless they see the car, but you'll have seen the difference for yourself. Not it all depends if the cash is worth that experience to you.
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The people who own expensive import cars think the rest of us drive around in a bunch of dumpsters on wheels. They're appalled, at our lack of taste and pitiful excuses. What you own depends on your cash flow and priorities. Maybe you put your money into a nice house and yard, or your kid's college. Musical gear is not near the top of the list for 99.9% of Americans. It's easy to get a skewed view here.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

blueman335 said:
The people who own expensive import cars think the rest of us drive around in a bunch of dumpsters on wheels. They're appalled, at our lack of taste and pitiful excuses. What you own depends on your cash flow and priorities. Maybe you put your money into a nice house and yard, or your kid's college. Musical gear is not near the top of the list for 99.9% of Americans. It's easy to get a skewed view here.
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I agree 100%. The problem is not with nice cars, or budget cars, it's a question of perception is what I'm trying to say. You have to make the call at the end of the day, on what works for you and what does not. Just figure out what makes you happy, and be on your way with it.

I just think it's important to keep in mind that what is good for one faction is good for the other. If you are happy, 110% happy with a epi, I think every actual musician would understand and respect that. With that said, I think it's also important to respect someone who chooses to play something a little pricier, if their situation and priorities allows them to do so. I don't think it's right to crap on someone because they don't have a 3k guitar, but I also think it's absurd to call someone a snob if they play a 3k guitar.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

phil_104 said:
I just think it's important to keep in mind that what is good for one faction is good for the other. If you are happy, 110% happy with a epi, I think every actual musician would understand and respect that. With that said, I think it's also important to respect someone who chooses to play something a little pricier, if their situation and priorities allows them to do so. I don't think it's right to crap on someone because they don't have a 3k guitar, but I also think it's absurd to call someone a snob if they play a 3k guitar.
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I totally agree.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

blueman335 said:
Having a variety of HB's, P-90's, magnets, and wiring combinations, in a variety of guitars, gives you a lot of variety in your tones. Hence, some of us like to have an assortment of solid, semi, and hollowbodies. They sound different, feel different, and inspire you in different ways. You ask: 'Why own more than one SG?' PAF's in one, hot HB's in another, one with P-90's, etc. to fit various songs or moods. If you don't perceive the differences, it doesn't mean they don't exist. At your age I thought owning more than one electric guitar was insanity, however we change as we get older, as you shall too. You just might wind up with another SG. The mystery of multiple guitar ownership has been clarified.
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I hear ya man, I probably will own more than this SG. I hear a difference in tone, but usually if I switch to a different guitar it doesn't really make me play any different... I still play and sound like me.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

phil_104 said:
... and your hands will never feel the difference between the two....:cool2:
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Oh no I wasn't going there.....I was just taking a wee little poke at the elite brand tone snobs...

BUT... some people may just fit an epi neck and controls better or worse than they'd fit a Gibby neck... and Vice Versa. Also weight, neck angles, balance.... etc etc... To each his own in that dept.... a complete matter of personal taste.

Heck I was all into LP's for years until I learned that Dean guitars just plain fit me better.... Now I am LP-less.....
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

I'd like to see a collaborative effort between the two divisions, called Gibophone. There would be two series: The 'Born in the U.S.A.' series, where American workers in the factory currently building production Gibsons, would be making guitars with exactly the same materials, parts, and specs as you'd currently see on Epiphone branded instruments. And the "Crafted in the P.R.C." series, where the plant that's currently making Epiphones will build with all the materials, parts, and specs now used on production Gibsons.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

blueman335 said:
It's like cars; buy what you like and what you can afford. What you play doesn't make you more important, or less important, than anyone else. High-end guitars don't make you a better player, practicing a lot does. The only ones who get hung up on brand names are other guitarists, but at a gig, they're only a few of the people in the crowd, at best. Please yourself, don't worry about them, they'll be fine. When you walk off the stage, all that matters is how you played, not what you played it on. Does anyone think that the crowd will be patting you on the back and buying you drinks, and saying: "You played like crap tonight boy, but we love that guitar of yours." But they will do that if you dazzle then with your playing, and it's totally up to you if it's a Gibson or an Epi that's you did it with. Whatever makes you happy.

I can hold my own with any of the local blues guitarists I've seen, and I play mid-priced imports, mainly Epi's. They don't hold me back. Music's in the hands and head, you just channel it thru a guitar, which is a tool, no more, no less. Pick the tool you're comfortable with and see if you can't impress people with what your hands can do with it. On it's own, a guitar is wood, metal, and plastic; in the right hands it becomes an instrument, and creates emotion and moods. It can't do that on it's own.
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this is one of the coolest things i have ever read here.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

never once did i go see a band play and go....they kicked ass,to bad about the lame cheap ,great sounding guitar......to a lot of these guys who invested serious money in a premium axe ,nothing else will do, and thats cool too. if you can play music and it sounds good..thats all people will remember.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

ravendouglas said:
never once did i go see a band play and go....they kicked ass,to bad about the lame cheap ,great sounding guitar......to a lot of these guys who invested serious money in a premium axe ,nothing else will do, and thats cool too. if you can play music and it sounds good..thats all people will remember.
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The only thing I ever care about is whether the singer is hot. That, and whether the bass player is using authentic J-bass wiring.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

Jessie's ghost said:
I'd like to see a collaborative effort between the two divisions, called Gibophone. There would be two series: The 'Born in the U.S.A.' series, where American workers in the factory currently building production Gibsons, would be making guitars with exactly the same materials, parts, and specs as you'd currently see on Epiphone branded instruments. And the "Crafted in the P.R.C." series, where the plant that's currently making Epiphones will build with all the materials, parts, and specs now used on production Gibsons.
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My money's on the Chinese.

No offence.

Although I think it would make a better reality TV program if we just kidnap all the American workers in their sleep, lock them in a cargo container for a couple of rough weeks at sea and then chain them up in the Chinese guitar factory/sweat shop and force them to work.

And I know that Chinese guitar factory does not necessarily equate to sweat-shop, but it's just not sensationalist and dramatic enough if it doesn't.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

Kam said:
Although I think it would make a better reality TV program if we just kidnap all the American workers in their sleep, lock them in a cargo container for a couple of rough weeks at sea and then chain them up in the Chinese guitar factory/sweat shop and force them to work.

And I know that Chinese guitar factory does not necessarily equate to sweat-shop, but it's just not sensationalist and dramatic enough if it doesn't.
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Yes. With blindfolds, and teary-eyed video blogs, elimination rounds, million-dollar sets for when shooting on-location isn't dramatic enough…

Hell, yeah. Let's pitch this thing to CBS.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

Oh well, it's 4 pages long but I'll have my say too.

Gibsons are better there's no arguing with it. I'll play my Gibby any day over even my great old Korean Epiphone.
But Epiphones are great value and after a pickup upgrade sound as good as a Gibson.
I would not be ashamed in any way to play an Epiphone exclusively. Jeff Waters endorses them, what more do you need?

Epiphones even come with decent electronics nowadays - full size alpha pots and a decent toggle switch. And even Gibsons seem to use cheap caps, so there's not any gain there over Epiphone (if a dollar on an orange drop is really a gain, financially). All they need is a nice set of Duncans or whatever and you have a great giggable instrument.

This also applies to many lower end "import" guitars, but the good thing with Epiphones is they seem to hold their value if you buy them used.
 
Re: Epiphone vs Gibson

I dont really play favorites on this issue. I take my instruments on an individualized basis.

FWIW though: I've never Personally ran into a Gibson SG that tilts downward when you let go, and I've never ran into a Epiphone SG that stayed in place. Gibson SG models, in my own experience, are better balanced.
 
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