epiphone les paul vs. gibson les paul

[WEBCYAN]

Enough of a difference to really matter?

Im considering getting one. I would only pay the extra for a gibson if it was that much better. Im not concerned with bragging rights via the name gibson, i just want a good sound.

my current is a Squier Fender Stratocaster, so, um... yeah.

 

[hixmix]

Why not get a $200 dollar strat and make it sound like a Les Paul. That would even be cheaper than an Epi Les Paul.

 

[gibs]

hix, that is the best thing you have ever posted.....perfect timing, perfect post....perfect sarcasm....I LOVE it !!!!!..................gibs

 

[Leeking]

Tokai!!!

The best LP clone I've ever try is the Tokai Loverock. In fact, I like it better than gibson! definately better than an Epi.

Great tone, great feel and hand crafted... I think it's around US$500.

 

[charger]

If you can get an Ibanez "lawsuit" les paul, those kick butt. But I think the guy in A Perfect Circle uses 200$ strats to get his sound...

 

[WEBCYAN]

im never going to be able to escape that am I?

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

I've played both and own a Gibson LP Custom. In my mind there is no comparison. The Epiphone feels a little like a toy to me in comparison, but then I'd already been playing the LP for 10 years before I played the Epi.

Not to say that the Epi is a bad guitar. I actually kinda liked it, but there is a definite difference in the way the guitar feels. The Gibson is heavier, feels more solid, and plays a bit easier. The Epi felt like I had to fight it to get the sound I wanted. Its a feel I associate with cheaper guitars.

Having said that, the Epi is a fine instrument for its price. It certainly sounds good.

I've had many cheaper guitars since I started playing 14 years ago. I've had the Gibson for 13 of 'em, and all the rest never stay around for more than a year.

 

[badgas]

The epiphone felt nice to me too.
My SG walked away one night a few years back, so I tried out a bunch of guits and ended up with another SG.

The difference, WebCyan, it what the instruments are made of. Electrical components and wood being the two main ones, not to mention the physical characteristics.
The weight comes mostly from a tighter grain wood. A wood such as Mohogany has very tight grains giving it more soild wood to resonate the sound, even though it's electric. A wood with wider grains doesn't carry the sound through it as well due to the softer spacings between the grains.

Yes, there is a difference.
Like recording, you have to know what your hearing. There is a recent post about that here somewhere.

If you can afford it, go with the Gibson, you'll like it a lot more a few years down the road. A fine guitar is just that. A lesser guitar is that.

But on the other hand, the Epiphone has a decent sound. I'm not knocking them.

I'll knock them now.
The old Epiphones have it hands down over the newer ones.
The general opinion, out and about, is that the quality of Gibson Guitars has diminished over the past ten years or so. Cost cutting due to competive pricing has been the main problem with Gibson. The quality is affected then. The SG that walked away from me was a 72 model. The one I have now is a 99. There is a difference in them. I can tell. But the average listener doesn't.
Variable after variable. The optinions are endless.

Good luck WebCyan, and long may you play.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

In the years that I never touched my electic guitar I thought about selling the LP several times.

For about 2 seconds.

You're reminding me that I'm happy I still have an 80's model LP Custom.

Cyan, I've *heard* that the custom line still has some of the old quality to it, but then they are priced that way, too.

You can alwyas look for a good used one. Ebay is chock full of 'em.

Another thing to concider: When I bought my LP it was $1100 new. I could sell it for more than that now. Any LP you get now will probably do the same thing since quality will likely continue to go down.

Take care,
Chris

 

[Tom Hicks]

Yes, the Epi customs are nicer than the standards.I had heard how crappy the standards are (plywood with inferior hardware).Then I actually played an Epi Les Paul Custom.It is solid mahagony with a maple cap,rosewood board and nice hardware.Played like buttah.So I got a wild hair and bought it.
If the current Gibson Les Pauls are overhyped,the Epi Les Paul Custom is underhyped.Sorry,I have no experience with the standard.They could be as crappy as everybody says.
Tom

 

[Slackmaster2K]

You probably won't feel the difference. I'm not saying that because I don't think there is a difference, because there is. I'm not saying it to be rude either, because that is not my intent.

What I've seen from your other posts though, I would seriously just recommend getting yourself the cheaper ephiphone. In fact you might even just consider throwing humbuckers in your fender. There will be a time when you can appreciate the differences between guitars, and realize that guitars themselves don't have a "sound". At that point you will never ask another person for his opinion on a guitar. It's a hands and ears on experience, and you'll know exactly what you want because you'll be at the music store holding a guitar that will BE exactly what you want.

Back when I was playing very cheap guitars I always had this image in my mind of what a good guitar should FEEL like. The way it would react to my hand as I squeezed the neck. The way my right hand would feel on the bridge. The way it would feel sitting in my lap or on a strap. So far the Les Paul Custom has been as close to that image as I've ever found, so that's what I play. I am looking into fenders however, because there is a lighter feel that I want to go for....but you know to this day I have yet to pick up a fender that felt just right....someday....

Slackmaster 2000

 

[lester paul]

Well i'm bias i own a lp studio custom 84 model ,first ones to come out ,they're lite, fast neck,beautiful craftsmanship. A couple months back i though about getting a epi lp so i wouldn't ding up mine ,we're starting to play out ,anyhoo i went to check out th epi it was far from what i hoped for it felt bulky an real cheap .Having said that about cheap i got a danelectro for christmas ,this thing is super cheap, but,it outplays the epi by miles .Now i'm a Gibson man but their epi line cannot compare to Fenders Squier line , Iwish it was different. Still though I've played Gibson custom stuff that can't hold a candle to my 84 . Maybe if you start out on the Epi it will be better for you ,but don't ever try the real deal or you'll never be satisfied .......

 

[badgas]

I went to town today and ended up in the guit shop.
Course, this thread was lingering in the webs of my mind, so I mosey back and tried a used LP, I think it was 85-86.
Mmmm.

Then I tried the Epiphone.
Same amp, same pick, same room, same songs and settings.
No comparison. One of the big things I noticed about was that the Epiphone didn't seem as balanced when I was standing as the used LP. A definate difference in weight. It seemed to want to tilt on me.
I could tell the difference in the feel and sound, especially up the neck.

I don't know how much either was cuz I never look at the price. My feel and ears decide for me.

I like Lester's advice. 'Don't try the real deal' and I'd like to add, 'if ya can't afford it', 'cuz you'll never be satisfied.' True, very true Lester.
Now I want one. Grrrrrrrrrr.

 

[MenT-aL]

Sorry to dig up the past but i am currently thinking of investing in a new guitar, now i am a strat man and would like something alitle different, to give me a different feel....

So off i went down to my local music store, i tried out an Epi Les Paul Custom (£465) I liked it, i was playing sum funky tunes through it, i spent about 30 mins, although i couldnt get used to the feel, being a strat man i am used to a nice big guitar that sits in a very dif way to the LP models, also the positioning of the hands due to the knee being in a slightly higher up position, anyway i rather liked it.

Then the guy brought over a £2,400 Gibson LP custom. I dont know if he did this on purpose to try to get me to pay an extra £1,935 ! anyway i sat down, it felt slightly more solid and heavier. I turned the amp to the same presets and started playing, the first thing i noticed was that for me it was a much more comfortable feel, the fretboard i mean. Sound wise i could tell a difference, the pickups on the gibson were much more intense, and the sound was crystal clear and sounding like i wanted it to. But to be quite honest i really couldn't say that there was £1,935's worth of difference.

So i am asking myself do i continue saving every penny i get or do i just go and buy an Epi? I mean they aint half bad guitars, when your comparing it to it's ancestor then there is surely gonna be a difference. Just like a US Strat is gonna sound absolutley pathetic next to a clapton strat. But it don't mean it's a bad guitar.

Anyway thought i'd post my opinion having had the chance to try them both out, i am howeveer gonna try out all the epi range i can get hold of, and also the gibson range (all Les Pual's ofcourse!)

I'll let you know if i ever decide. :|

regards

aL

Out of the blue, Doesn anyone know of any US stores which will ship to the UK for a fairly cheap price? if so please tell me UK prices are stupid!

 

[Khompewtur]

The GB Custom LP's are superior for 1st position chording and for single line parts. Power chording they hold their own against the "metal" guitars and if you slap a heavy gauge on them, you will get a better response/more sustain because of the heavier body.

The EPI clones feel and sound like crap, don't scrimp here. The best way to describe it is when I was playing the guitar and it was resting against my hip, I couldn't feel the same level of vibration against my body and the sustain was never as good.

 

[MenT-aL]

But there's still a whopping £1935 difference, and money dont grow on tree's, lol!

 

[Khompewtur]

I got 2 GIB custom's slightly used, both great instruments, both for under $750 usd

Not cheap, but you don't have have to go to $2k. See if you can find a 2nd hander.

(No feeling like getting an instrument like that from someone who had it for "show" and barely touched it so it's practically in mint cond)

 

[RWhite]

From an investment standpoint, it's a no-brainer. The Gibson will hold its value MUCH better than the Epi.

To really judge what you like, you will have to play them both.

Now having said that, here's something in favor of the Epiphone. Back in the late 1970's when I started playing, I had a friend with a Gibson Les Paul Standard. I used to play it on occasion. It sounded great, but I found it to be just too heavy. I'm a skinny guy, and I found that after about 30 minutes my arm would just go numb from all the weight on the guitar strap.
Then I was traveling in Indianna and came across a guitar in a little music store. It was a "Premier" Les Paul; for all practical purposes you can think of it as a Epiphone Les Paul. It was very solid and had been well set up, beautiful action, it just played great. Best of all it was significantly lighter than the Gibson - it still felt solid but didn't kill my sholder.
I bought the copy and installed Dimarrzio pickups into it. For almost 30 years it has had that great 1970's power sound going, and it remains one of the best-playing guitars I've touched.

 

[jmorris]

I just scrolled to the bottom and did not read any other ones replys 'cause there is only one answer!! Epiphone's are CRAP!!! Total CRAP! Light shitty wood,poorly put together,crap neck sets.frets always buzz,necks warp etc,etc,etc. It putting good money after bad. I would as I quickly saw someone say..go get a strat..used for 450.00 or save for a Gibson. Not since the late 60's earlie 70's were epiphone's any good..ah!!! dont do it!!!ah!!!

 

[MenT-aL]

Well it looks like i am off to my local music store to apply for a job there, then i can really test them out

I heard that the Epi Customs are a hell of a lot better made, solid construction and sound great. Any comments on this? (Tom Hicks told me)

Khompewtur- being in the UK, where the prices are too high and the choice is too low, It's hard to find a good used one, as i don't liek the idea of buying one of "e-bay" as you never know where it's come from, who owned it etc etc, and its not like you can take it back. But i will however keep my eye out for a good one in the paper. But i am still pretty sure i will be paying £500+ for a used one, standard model that is! As for custom well even second hand, as everyone says they hold their price, so i wouldn't expect to pay less than £800 for a custom. and £500 is pretty much my limit.

Oh and i am already a strat man, thus being the reason for exploring new fronts, aka a Les Paul

cheers for the info guys

aL