jimistone
long standing member
I have said repeatedly that it is better to save and buy a gibson rather than an epiphone but I bought an epiphone.
I was at guitar center buying some strings and they had a used Korina wood V. I thought that it would be heavy, like a les paul....but it was light as a feather. Weight has kept me away from gibsons....I had a gibson LP custom that I got rid of, because of the weight.This epi Korina wood V is lighter than my strat even.
I want the gibson sound, light weight, and I hate SG's...so I was interested.
I played it and it played good. I have a mex strat that I don't like that much and talked to them about a trade. Told me they would give me 150 bucks on it.
Anyway, I decided to investigate the reviews at harmoney central.
Basically the pickups (microphonic squeal at high volumes) and the quality of the components were being bashed pretty hard. The bridge posts are not hard enough metal supposedly, the keys are so-so at best...pots and wiring are the cheap shit, sloppy fret edges...but the wood has good tone and nothing but positive feedback on the neck.
I went back and REALLY looked this sucker over:
Great neck and the fretwork is not sloppy at all...plays very good.
One of the bridge posts was slightly bent (the cheap shit)
Keys had been changed ....stays in tune very well
I plugged it into a fender deluxe and played that sucker....listening to the pickups closely. Then I played a gibson faded V through the same amp....pickups had a little bit more definition, but acustically the epiphone had a beter sound and was much lighter weight (look ALOT better too).
I played a gibson les paul standard for a while, then plugged the epi V back in. Yep, pickups are kind of mushy....more of a "gazoo" sound on the overdrive. (spent an hour playing and comparing)
The saleman came up to me and said; "well, are ya ready to trade"
I told him "I dunno man, I read alot of reviews on this guitar last night and there weren't many kind words"
Really? he says
I told him; "yeah, the hardware is cheap shit....see this bent bridge post. Listen to this guitar (played the epi V) now listen to this guitar (played the Gibson V)
He agreed the epi pickups weren't up to snuff.
He went and got his boss involved to try and put together a deal
Bottom line:
I made them throw in a brand new gibson bridge/bridge post set,
3 brand new gibson pots,
a brand new gibson toggle switch.
I also got him to come down on the price,
I went ahead and told him I wanted to buy a set of good pickups and a gig bag that would hold that sucker.
I settled on a matched set of Semore Duncan vintage 1959 humbuckers.
We ended up with a $450 "out the door" price that I could live with.
I went home and did the pickup installation, wired it with heavy duty wiring, put all the gibson pots and toggle in, and did a complete setup on it. I had to tighten the truss just a tiny bit and the action is smooth as silk.
Gigged with it last night and I will have to say ...
I LOVE THIS GUITAR!!!!!
I fuckin' screams on rock.
on blues it has that Albert king quack and has the best clean sound I have ever gotten out of a humbucker guitar.
And did I mention it's light as a feather?
I was at guitar center buying some strings and they had a used Korina wood V. I thought that it would be heavy, like a les paul....but it was light as a feather. Weight has kept me away from gibsons....I had a gibson LP custom that I got rid of, because of the weight.This epi Korina wood V is lighter than my strat even.
I want the gibson sound, light weight, and I hate SG's...so I was interested.
I played it and it played good. I have a mex strat that I don't like that much and talked to them about a trade. Told me they would give me 150 bucks on it.
Anyway, I decided to investigate the reviews at harmoney central.
Basically the pickups (microphonic squeal at high volumes) and the quality of the components were being bashed pretty hard. The bridge posts are not hard enough metal supposedly, the keys are so-so at best...pots and wiring are the cheap shit, sloppy fret edges...but the wood has good tone and nothing but positive feedback on the neck.
I went back and REALLY looked this sucker over:
Great neck and the fretwork is not sloppy at all...plays very good.
One of the bridge posts was slightly bent (the cheap shit)
Keys had been changed ....stays in tune very well
I plugged it into a fender deluxe and played that sucker....listening to the pickups closely. Then I played a gibson faded V through the same amp....pickups had a little bit more definition, but acustically the epiphone had a beter sound and was much lighter weight (look ALOT better too).
I played a gibson les paul standard for a while, then plugged the epi V back in. Yep, pickups are kind of mushy....more of a "gazoo" sound on the overdrive. (spent an hour playing and comparing)
The saleman came up to me and said; "well, are ya ready to trade"
I told him "I dunno man, I read alot of reviews on this guitar last night and there weren't many kind words"
Really? he says
I told him; "yeah, the hardware is cheap shit....see this bent bridge post. Listen to this guitar (played the epi V) now listen to this guitar (played the Gibson V)
He agreed the epi pickups weren't up to snuff.
He went and got his boss involved to try and put together a deal
Bottom line:
I made them throw in a brand new gibson bridge/bridge post set,
3 brand new gibson pots,
a brand new gibson toggle switch.
I also got him to come down on the price,
I went ahead and told him I wanted to buy a set of good pickups and a gig bag that would hold that sucker.
I settled on a matched set of Semore Duncan vintage 1959 humbuckers.
We ended up with a $450 "out the door" price that I could live with.
I went home and did the pickup installation, wired it with heavy duty wiring, put all the gibson pots and toggle in, and did a complete setup on it. I had to tighten the truss just a tiny bit and the action is smooth as silk.
Gigged with it last night and I will have to say ...
I LOVE THIS GUITAR!!!!!
I fuckin' screams on rock.
on blues it has that Albert king quack and has the best clean sound I have ever gotten out of a humbucker guitar.
And did I mention it's light as a feather?
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