Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

Don't EVER judge a guitar by it's setup. I own about the 10 guitars and the only one that was a setup properly right off the floor was an Eric Johnson Strat I bought a couple years ago.

All others needed action and intonation done with my strings, and most needed some fret leveling and neck adjustment.




kmk108 said:
So I went to the shop and played both.

You can definately tell the Gibson is better built. The volume and tone knobs were looser on the epiphones, and on one of the epiphones, the volume pot looked like a long shaft pot. I had to tune up the epiphones and retuned it a couple times. Idk if they were new strings or not, but I could tell the epiphone wasn't set-up well. The gibson in the store played like mine. Set up well, and already in tune and stayed in tune. The tuners on the epiphone I played seemed a little loose on the buttons, but that's fixable.
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Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

I don't think there's a right way to answer this question.

Play a many specimens of both models until you find one that has the right magic. Then buy that one.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

The problem is like with human relationships, the flaws can be somewhat concealed initially, and sometimes there is some hidden goodness as well. How many hours can you spend in a guitar shop?

Just a quick FYI... my gigging guitar is an Epi Paul I bought mail order as a backup for the one I hand picked so go figure.....


theboatcandream said:
I don't think there's a right way to answer this question.

Play a many specimens of both models until you find one that has the right magic. Then buy that one.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

guitarded said:
I can't see the quality difference between the EPI and Gibson being worth the price difference and you here that argument from a lot of EPI players.... which I didn't mind spending the money because they were good values.
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+1. This has come up at various times in the past, and some well-respected forum members said that a Gibson sounds maybe 10% 'better' than an upgraded Epi of the same model (and a number of Gibson owners swap out the stock PU's too, which is how I've got most of mine). If spending 4 or 5 times as much for that 10% is worth it to you, go for it.

But please, don't heap insults on those of us who chose, for a variety of reasons, not to invest in high-end guitars and equipment. When you have rent, bills, and a family, and aren't making a big salary, dumping a significant amount of cash into high-end gear can be irresponsible, and even immature and reckless. It's not worth getting evicted or divorced over. Are you just playing at home by yourself? Or are you in a band playing in smokey bars on crowed stages, where your guitar could easily get damaged or stolen, all for the generous sum of $100 a man? Neither of these scenarios are real justifications for an outlay of expensive gear.

It may come as a shock to some, but most people's lives do not completely revolve around music 24 hours a day. There are other priorities in life; maybe that's having a reliable car or two (for the wife or child), a house in a decent neighborhood, getting braces for the kid, or paying college tuition for them. I'm sick of seeing a few members here try to humiliate others into spending far more money on gear than they want to. Yeah, I'd love to have a closet full of high-end guitars & amps, and I'd also love to drive a Ferarri & live in a mansion. But there are many things that most of us will never be able to afford. So back off. Buy what you want, but don't flaunt it, and ridicule us. I've seen plenty of guys with expensive guitars that couldn't play worth a crap. You can't buy talent. A mid-priced import guitar will not hold you back from playing your best; if it does, you'd better practice more and come up with a better excuse.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

blueman335 said:
But please, don't heap insults on those of us who chose, for a variety of reasons, not to invest in high-end guitars and equipment. When you have rent, bills, and a family, and aren't making a big salary, dumping a significant amount of cash into high-end gear can be irresponsible, and even immature and reckless. It's not worth getting evicted or divorced over. Are you just playing at home by yourself? Or are you in a band playing in smokey bars on crowed stages, where your guitar could easily get damaged or stolen, all for the generous sum of $100 a man? Neither of these scenarios are real justifications for an outlay of expensive gear.
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I actually had a drummer come to my studio for an audition have the nerve to ask me why I was using an EPI :) You believe that? A stinking drummer.... Anyway.... By the end of the audition he seemed to have a newly found respect for the working man's Les Paul :) Although he did score points with my other guitarist who plays a Supreme with his initial inquiry....
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

guitarded said:
I actually had a drummer come to my studio for an audition have the nerve to ask me why I was using an EPI :) You believe that? A stinking drummer.... Anyway.... By the end of the audition he seemed to have a newly found respect for the working man's Les Paul :) Although he did score points with my other guitarist who plays a Supreme with his initial inquiry....
Click to expand...

At gigs and jams, I often get told I have the best-sounding guitar there, and it's always a mid-priced import with upgraded PU's. Under-promise & over-deliver, that's my motto. Baffles some guys why my Epi sounds better than their Gibson or MIA Strat, but they don't even know how to set-up their own guitars, let alone swap PU's, pots, and magnets. You show up on stage with $5,000 worth of guitar & amp, and you'd better know how to play like Clapton in Cream. Anything that sounds less than great and you're going to look like an idiot to the other musicians in the audience and on stage. You really impressed them! You look like a human credit card holding a guitar. Go on stage with an Epi and tear the place up, & you're a hero. Money gets you just so far.

Most of us are working men, on working man's wages, and high-end guitar manufacturers have little interest in selling their products to us anyways. We're not worthy. Sure, salesmen in music stores want to sell you the expensive stuff (like any other salesman in the world); too bad the manufacturers intentionally price most of it out of our reach.

Old joke: "You know who drummers are, don't you? They're the guys that hang around with musicians."
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

blueman335 said:
At gigs and jams, I often get told I have the best-sounding guitar there, and it's always a mid-priced import with upgraded PU's. Under-promise & over-deliver, that's my motto. Baffles some guys why my Epi sounds better than their Gibson or MIA Strat, but they don't even know how to set-up their own guitars, let alone swap PU's, pots, and magnets. You show up on stage with $5,000 worth of guitar & amp, and you'd better know how to play like Clapton in Cream. Anything that sounds less than great and you're going to look like an idiot to the other musicians in the audience and on stage. You really impressed them! You look like a human credit card holding a guitar. Go on stage with an Epi and tear the place up, & you're a hero. Money gets you just so far.

Most of us are working men, on working man's wages, and high-end guitar manufacturers have little interest in selling their products to us anyways. We're not worthy. Sure, salesmen in music stores want to sell you the expensive stuff (like any other salesman in the world); too bad the manufacturers intentionally price most of it out of our reach.

Old joke: "You know who drummers are, don't you? They're the guys that hang around with musicians."
Click to expand...

I've gotten the most compliments on my live sound when using a Peavey Generation with GFS pickups in it. Go figure.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

Yes odd bunch.... Those drummer types... LOL Up until that audition no one except my other guitarist has ever had anything to say to my face about my EPI's... And even he knows that they sound and play pretty darn good.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

guitarded said:
a drummer come to my studio for an audition have the nerve to ask me why I was using an EPI
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Well... it comes with the territory... somehow they think they're musicians as well, you know? Don't be too hard on them; they just can't tell the difference.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

blueman335 said:
It may come as a shock to some, but most people's lives do not completely revolve around music 24 hours a day. There are other priorities in life; maybe that's having a reliable car or two (for the wife or child), a house in a decent neighborhood, getting braces for the kid, or paying college tuition for them. I'm sick of seeing a few members here try to humiliate others into spending far more money on gear than they want to. Yeah, I'd love to have a closet full of high-end guitars & amps, and I'd also love to drive a Ferarri & live in a mansion. But there are many things that most of us will never be able to afford. So back off. Buy what you want, but don't flaunt it, and ridicule us. I've seen plenty of guys with expensive guitars that couldn't play worth a crap. You can't buy talent. A mid-priced import guitar will not hold you back from playing your best; if it does, you'd better practice more and come up with a better excuse.
Click to expand...


Yes indeed! :1:
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

You know, if someone wants to push people to buy expensive guitars, how about "turnabout being fair play?" How nice is their house & furniture, what kind of car do they drive, do their kids go to private schools, what kind of clothes do they wear, what restaurants do they go to, and how many 'gifts' do you get from your parents?

Why pressure other people to spend more, when you're probably a cheapskate in some areas that someone else feels are important? If you've done well financially, or there's money in your family, maybe you can indulge yourself, but that's not the average person's life.

I have a friend that got a Workman's Comp settlement, and proceeded to buy some Gibsons and other expensive music gear (sounds like he got advice from this forum). He's a very good player and wants big name stuff. Then he fell on hard times, lost his condo, had to sell the guitars for half of what he paid for them, and sleeps in his van half the time. He really couldn't afford to take the losses on the guitars, and for the few gigs he's been able to find, an Epi would have been just fine. There's a lot of people who think they 'deserve' high-end gear, but have no business spending that kind of money.

And really, how good a guitarist are you anyways, that you think that only high-end is good enough for you? Not like we're seeing your name headlining concerts.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

I'd personally get the SG.
A: Kickass design.
B: Friendly to normal strat players like me.
C: Great upper register access.
D: Get that Duane Allman/Tony Iommi/Eric Clapton vibe.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

blueman335 said:
You know, if someone wants to push people to buy expensive guitars, how about "turnabout being fair play?" How nice is their house & furniture, what kind of car do they drive, do their kids go to private schools, what kind of clothes do they wear, what restaurants do they go to, and how many 'gifts' do you get from your parents?

Why pressure other people to spend more, when you're probably a cheapskate in some areas that someone else feels are important?
Click to expand...

You make an interesting point, but the difference is that we're not posting in forums about those things, asking for advice.
 
Re: Gibson SG faded or Epiphone Les Paul

theboatcandream said:
The difference is that a guitar is a musical instrument.
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Yeah, there's that, too. Find somebody who's a college music professor, or who plays in an orchestra, and ask them how much a professional violin, cello, etc. costs. Some of us, I think, don't realize how lucky we are to have world-class professional instruments available at the prices we're used to seeing.

And it is worth getting a seriously good instrument. If you can't tell the difference now, eventually you will.
 
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