kennysmoke
New member
The newer models rival the quality of the new Gibson Traditional's and Tribute's and in many cases are superior...
kennysmoke
New member
Gibson's quality has been very inconsistent lately.... The Tribute LP's And SG's I tried out had runs in the paint, terrible fretwork and setups..
Seeker of Rock
Let’s Go Brandon!
acidrock
GO PACKERS!
Most non-musicians don't know the difference,and I'll take a guy who can play with a Squier over a guy who can't with a Gibson.
Chili
Site Moderator
It's totally a coincidence but today i suddenly had a jones to use my $140 Xavier tele thinline (in red metalflake!!!) for my gig today.
Hope people will believe I'm a pro.
I have a similar Xavierre tele (Blonde flamed maple) and sanded off the logo decal. The headstock cries non-Fender, but people will think it's custom made just for me. It kind of is, now.
Of course, I don't gig, so it doesn't matter....
muttley600
Banned
It's totally a coincidence but today i suddenly had a jones to use my $140 Xavier tele thinline (in red metalflake!!!
Hope people will believe I'm a pro.
My guess is they all took one look and chorused "what a chump... Lets hit the bar this is gonna be shit"
Telegram Sam
New member
I only do about 150 paid gigs a year and only done it for about 30 years so I still need the brand name on my gear..
I only play in my living room.
If it doesn't say Les Paul or Stratocaster on it, not even my dogs respect me, let alone my lady friends.
garryspicer
Southpaw
Totally agree, you will never regret having bought the real thing. I bought a Les Paul over 40 years ago. I was earning $80.00 a month and the guitar cost around a year's wages. I still have the guitar and it is the best investment I ever made in both playing and a piece of history terms.
tascam4ever
New member
I'd like to say that I never meant to imply that the "real deal" instruments weren't better or worse than say an Epiphone. I was merely trying to explain to the poster who asked the original question about what brand guitar to buy, what my personal experience was with an Epiphone. My particular Epi, has as I stated, has been gone over by one of the east coasts best builders. AFTER he made all the necessary changes it became a really sweet instrument that I believe is my current favorite.
I truely believe that if one has the true talent to play guitar at a high level, that person can play great on any decent guitar. Be it a brand name or off brand.
Head stock status is one issue and vintage value is another. Yes, a Gibson will in some cases go up in value but they also sell for less than what one pays retail for in many cases. Example... E-Bay. Many sell for less than the original price.
In the end it's about the music and the amazing rush when a group of musicians are playing so tight that no one is thinking, just being interwove musically and on that same plane. That's where I believe it all really matters.
I truely believe that if one has the true talent to play guitar at a high level, that person can play great on any decent guitar. Be it a brand name or off brand.
Head stock status is one issue and vintage value is another. Yes, a Gibson will in some cases go up in value but they also sell for less than what one pays retail for in many cases. Example... E-Bay. Many sell for less than the original price.
In the end it's about the music and the amazing rush when a group of musicians are playing so tight that no one is thinking, just being interwove musically and on that same plane. That's where I believe it all really matters.
Telegram Sam
New member
None of it really matters (unless you are getting paid to do it).
Being a hobby, in the end it's whatever floats your boat.
Some of us even work alone.
The differences in quality of manufacture between 1st and 2nd tier guitar makes are glaringly obvious.
That doesn't mean 2nd tier instruments aren't perfectly serviceable, it just means that the differences are obvious.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
that's the deal right there. What really matters to one guy in inconsequential to another.
For instance, for me the whole point of music is the doing of it ... the actual act of playing the instrument ...... that's why i'm a live plyaer.
That's the ONLY time that each and every note you do matters .... because there is no redo.
You play it and that's the end of it. You get something compelling or you don't.
Which is also why I don't care that much about an instrument that has paint overspray or sloppy inlays.
It's what i do with it that matters to ME.
Seeker of Rock
Let’s Go Brandon!
Definitely. My Epi Dot is (I believe) laminated maple compressed wood with lesser quality metals than the Gibsons. With more expensive guitars I can definitely tell the difference in quality, and I doubt an Epi LP is going to come close to my LP Std in quality of materials. But I play that Epi regularly and it does an admirable job of doing what a guitar should do and at the price tag, surprisingly so.
muttley600
Banned
On an instrument that is principally designed to be played amplified there is absolutely nothing wrong with laminates. On an acoustic instrument, as a rule a solid top will generally give you a better tone. Tone is subjective however.
Seeker of Rock
Let’s Go Brandon!
Yep, but it's a cheaper quality of wood than a solid maple top. An Epi is not using the quality of materials that most Gibsons are.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
i thought Gibson 335s were a laminated top. I don't think they're solid.
muttley600
Banned
On a solid body or even on a semi like Lt mentions that often is not the driving factor in terms of tone. On an acoustic the defining factor is how well the top vibrates across a full set of harmonic frequencies. On a solid body or semi much of that is defined by the pickup and the method and material that the anchor the string.
Think of it this way. On a solid body the sound you hear is the vibration of the string itself amplified by the pickup and coloured by everything else to a degree. On an acoustic the sound you hear is the top vibrating coloured by everything else and driven by the strings energy passed through the bridge. So in one case you hear the string influenced by the wood and in the other you hear the wood influenced by the string.
I'm not trying to say anything is best or worse here, thats just how it works.
muttley600
Banned
You'd also be surprised by the variation in terms of wood that the popular brands use and the lack of selection in terms of accepted qualities of tone wood. The benifits are subjective though and a piece of firewood has the potential to sound good if that is the sound you like.
I have the luxury of being able to spend a lot of time sifting through woods and selecting maybe just 1% from stuff that is already graded as top 5% for tonewood. Gibson or fender or any big brand simply don't have that option. They both select on stability first and then aesthetics. They need a lot of wood and make a lot of instruments.
Laminates are actually a good way of improving consistency in many cases. I don't have the need to but the big players use them with great success and build some iconic instruments that way.
Seeker of Rock
Let’s Go Brandon!
Would you say the materials on an Epiphone DOT, generally speaking, are as good as those used on a Gibson ES 335?
muttley600
Banned
If you mean simply the wood used there is not as big a difference as you may expect. On the pickups, hardware, set up, and attention to detail there is a much bigger difference. My point was that on an electric or semi solid with a maple centre block all those other things make a bigger difference than the wood itself.
Both have a laminated top and use similar timbers. I am willing to bet that if you took all the hardware and fittings such as pickups, pots, switches etc. from a ES 335 Gibson and put it all on a Epi Dot and did a decent setup on the neck and intonation you would be pretty damn close to the sound of that Gibson. I have never done that but it would be an interesting exercise...