Are expensive Epiphones better than cheap ones?

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cephus

cephus

Slow Children Playing
I guess I am wondering whether an Epi is worth $750. I got the latest Music123 junk mail and there is this really cool (looking) ES 295 in there. Do they make them in the same factories on the same lines as the $250 les pauls? Or do they have some kind of third world almost custom shop where they make the john lennon guitars?

Can you actually buy a set-neck guitar mail order? Is it possible/likely that it wouid be so screwed up it was beyond a good setup?

Then again, down at GC they have a used washburn archtop with neck pickup marked at $399 which would be a pretty killer deal at $300.
 
that is a yes.

I played a custom epiphone Les Paul and it rocked and felt rock solid. I would go try one out.
 
The highest quality Epi's are the MIJ Elitists(formerly "Elite"). If you can find a good deal on one of those, go for it. Some claim these are just as good as their Gibson equivalants.

I bought the Epi "USA" 1964 Sheraton for $999 last year. It had a list price of $3300. They're still selling them for $2555 at Music123. There's a few posts and more info about it if you search this forum.

I've got my eye on an Epi Elitist Broadway but there's no way I'm paying 2 grand for it. When they blow them out at 1K, like I have a feeling they might do sometime later this year, I'm ready to pounce.
 
Lemme ask you, is there supposed to be some kind of "insulation" between the top of the guitar and the bridge? At GC, all their archtops have this piece of thin foam. Like I thought that was to be removed before flight. They had a couple used archtops that had the same thing. I'd think you wouldn't want to dampen the vibrations from the bridge to the top.
 
cephus said:
Lemme ask you, is there supposed to be some kind of "insulation" between the top of the guitar and the bridge? At GC, all their archtops have this piece of thin foam. Like I thought that was to be removed before flight. They had a couple used archtops that had the same thing. I'd think you wouldn't want to dampen the vibrations from the bridge to the top.
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If they're floating bridges it's there to keep the bridge from sliding around and scratching the guitar's finish while it's in the store and lots of people are playing with it. It should be removed after you buy it.
 
Cephus, that guitar will make you play just like Scott Moore, I just bet for sure!! :D
Tony
 

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I expect you'd be quite happy with that, but I would highly recommend the Ibanez Artcore stuff for seriously good semis at sensible prices. :)
 
I'm an ES-335 kind of guy. The Epi Elitist 335 is on par with Gibson version. The pick ups are very good although I might replace them with actual gibson pickups. If you get the top of the line you can get a good quality axe.
 
Back to your original question: There is a definate difference between a $200 Epi and a $700 Epi. As a general rule Epi makes pretty good guitars and their $200 or less models are fine for a beginner or to use as a "student" guitar. The higher end models are quality instruments which (in my opinion) are cloce too if not equal to Gibson products. I can't quite explain it but the "economy" models just don't have the same feel. They just have that student guitar feel to the neck and don't have as good a finish and are made of less expensive wood. So far I haven't found an Epi which could not be set up well enough to be playable, but I've only done a set up on a hundred or so, there may be the impossible one out there somewhere.
 
Dani Pace said:
Back to your original question: There is a definate difference between a $200 Epi and a $700 Epi. As a general rule Epi makes pretty good guitars and their $200 or less models are fine for a beginner or to use as a "student" guitar. The higher end models are quality instruments which (in my opinion) are cloce too if not equal to Gibson products. I can't quite explain it but the "economy" models just don't have the same feel. They just have that student guitar feel to the neck and don't have as good a finish and are made of less expensive wood. So far I haven't found an Epi which could not be set up well enough to be playable, but I've only done a set up on a hundred or so, there may be the impossible one out there somewhere.
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I think I have the impossible one. :D I just picked up a Epiphone Junior from ebay. It's a sg style guitar with a single p-90. The action is high and notes tend to fret out in the upper range of the fretboard. The bridge is pretty much all the way down and the neck looks straight. I can't figure out what to do with this guitar. It's a shame too because it's a rockin guitar. Every time I pick it up I get involuntary urges to play like a caveman on heroin. This guitar makes me play hard and mean but I can't do if for very long because of the high action. I got myself two bloody fingers last night playing this thing. And that was just sitting in my bedroom playing thru a little combo amp and using the headphone out! :eek: I don't know how it happened.

I've never played one of the higher end epiphones. A friend of mine had a epi les paul with paf's that sounded pretty decent but the neck felt like the previously mentioned "student guitar". I think he paid around $400 for it used. The junior that I just picked up has that "student guitar" neck feel too but that p-90 does something to me.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
I think I have the impossible one. :D I just picked up a Epiphone Junior from ebay. It's a sg style guitar with a single p-90. The action is high and notes tend to fret out in the upper range of the fretboard. The bridge is pretty much all the way down and the neck looks straight. I can't figure out what to do with this guitar. It's a shame too because it's a rockin guitar. Every time I pick it up I get involuntary urges to play like a caveman on heroin. This guitar makes me play hard and mean but I can't do if for very long because of the high action. I got myself two bloody fingers last night playing this thing. And that was just sitting in my bedroom playing thru a little combo amp and using the headphone out! :eek: I don't know how it happened.

I've never played one of the higher end epiphones. A friend of mine had a epi les paul with paf's that sounded pretty decent but the neck felt like the previously mentioned "student guitar". I think he paid around $400 for it used. The junior that I just picked up has that "student guitar" neck feel too but that p-90 does something to me.
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I looked up that style guitar and it has a compensated bridge/tailpiece with no height adjustment or saddles. I have known a lot of people who replaced that bridge with the "Badass" bridge with the adjustments of a Gibson style tune-o-matic style bridge. They have them on ebay...check them out. :cool:
 
Anfontan said:
I looked up that style guitar and it has a compensated bridge/tailpiece with no height adjustment or saddles. I have known a lot of people who replaced that bridge with the "Badass" bridge with the adjustments of a Gibson style tune-o-matic style bridge. They have them on ebay...check them out. :cool:
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Thanks for the info but the badass bridge does'nt look like it will help with my high action problem. The height adjustment works the same as the bridge that's on the guitar now.
 
If the action is high all the way from the high notes to the low notes, the nut slots may need cut a little deeper. Some of the tune-o-matic style bridges are made a little thinner ( a Leo Quam Badass is one example) which will allow you to lower the bridge maybe another sixteenth of an inch. Your model has a bolt on neck (correct me if I'm wrong) and if all else fails, the neck can be shimmed. Shims are just little thin metal strips which are slid under the neck where it bolts on, sometimes the thickness of a razor blade will change the angle of the neck enough to make a dramatic improvement and they rarely affect the sound or sustain of a guitar. It sounds like you really like the guitar, except for the action, so take it to a tech and explain exactly what you want then sit back and let him (her) do that magic thing to make it play better.
 
Each one is different obviously.
I have a Korean Sheraton II & down here even those are expensive @ AUS$2000+.
It's really well detailed, feels good & plays really, really well (pity I don't).
The only gripe I have is that the selector switch has to be jiggled to pull up the bridge p/up (didn't when I test played it).
As I tell almost anyone who'll listen - you won't know until you try it. My wife has a total no name acoustic (333 is the brand actually) and it is SSSSOOOOO sweet you could shut your eyes & think of it costing many thousands of dollars. It was only a couple of hundred BUT she played shops full of 'acoustics across the range & brands before she chose, bargained & bought. Just Like A Woman.
 
Short answer: Yes.

I have a Epiphone Les Paul Standard and a friend of mine has an Epiphone LP-1000.

Both are Epi Les Paul's but the Standard ($500 guitar) blows the LP-1000 ($200 guitar) absolutely out of the water.

Matter of fact, I'll say the LP-1000 is one of the biggest clunkers I've seen...whereas the Standard is a good guitar (certainly a good back up for my Gibson Les Paul Studio).
 
Just to update. I ended up buying one and it is absolutely TITS!

I love it. Makes me play totally differently than i do with any of my other guitars. It is very nice, epiphone or no.
 
I'm thinkin' you probably deserved it too, been too good for too long, I'll bet.
 
cephus said:
Just to update. I ended up buying one and it is absolutely TITS!

I love it. Makes me play totally differently than i do with any of my other guitars. It is very nice, epiphone or no.
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Which one did you get?
 
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