Gibson vs Epiphone Les Pauls

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suprstar

suprstar

It aint ez being green
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a new guitar, and someone on craigslist has an Epiphone Les Paul, great looking guitar, for $300. I can walk into any music store and get a new Epi LP for a few hundred bucks. The 'real' Gibson models are $1000+.

I've googled around and it looks like the Gibsons are better crafted, what's that mean, better materials? Stricter tolerances on the machining of the body, neck, bridge, etc parts?

How about the sound and playability?
 
You'll get answers all over the map on this one, Suprstar.

There are Epiphone devotees who will tell you that some of the Epi models (particularly the Elitist models) are as good as or superior to the Gibson models at a substantial savings.

Then there are the Gibson snobs who say that if it ain't American made, it ain't a Les Paul. (I have to disclose my bias towards this position.)

I think there is a consensus that the hardware, pickups, swiches, and pots in the Gibsons are of better quality than the Epi models. I can't speak to the quality of the wood or any difference in manufacturing techniques.

One thing to look out for: Some of the really inexpensive Epi LPs have bolt-on necks rather than set necks.
 
The main diffs I've heard about are the quality of pups, switches etc.

I don't own a Gibson ($$$) but have 2 Epi's and am fine with em. I do plan on installing better tuning heads in both of them tho. I'll go with the Sperzel lockers for both. I dig em.
 
Epiphones are lower-priced guitars made to Gibson specs by Asian manufacturers. I'd like to say that I'm no snob: I've owned everything from Montgomery Ward to Gretsch to Rickenbacker to Fender, with a few Venturas and whatnot thrown in for good measure. I judge instruments by how well they sound and play. At the same time I can pretty much afford what I want (I'm not into collector's guitars, so it's less expensive for me than others).

Obvious differences are: Epi LPs use alder for the cap wood, instead of maple. Alder is a little lighter and that will affect the tone. Gibson pickups are consistently well made, with an identifiable tone; the Epiphones use Asian-made pickups that are not made to the same tolerances and standards. Hardware is often lower quality on Epiphones, and, since they don't use Gibson-spec stud spacing (among other features) you can't interchange Gibson parts to upgrade them.

You can upgrade pickups: I had an Epiphone Sheraton II I picked up during a lot of horse trading at the local music store, and the first thing I did was to install Seymour Duncans. Soon after, I got a Gibson ES-335, on which the Sheraton is based, and traded off the Epi.

Differences between the two were sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle. Both had very nice necks, with Grover tuners, tune-a-matic bridges and stop tailpieces, and both were finished in natural blond. The Epi had the characteristic vine inlay on the peghead, and blocks of mother of pearl with abalone vees on the fingerboard (and it was real shell: no "pearloid" plastic); the Gibson has pearl dots and the traditional and simple crown on the peghead. The wood on the Epi was very plain maple, with a few discolored spots finished with a heavy coat of poly; the Gibson is made of nicely figured maple with gloss nitro over it. The original pickups in the Epiphone weren't much, and the switch and two pots were noisy (I replaced all of the electronics); the Gibson sounds like a Gibson, and required no upgrades.

Even with the new pickups, the Sheraton did not sound as good as the Gibson, and that's why I bought the 335 and peddled the Epi.

The Epi is a stone bargain, for those who want the 335 form factor in an attractive and affordable guitar, but it needed help sonically. Luckily I found the Gibson at a very good price, so the Epi had to go (I don't keep guitars around that I don't play). Depending upon your needs, the Epi could be perfectly suitable, but, as has been said before, nobody ever bought a Gibson and wished they had an Epiphone.

Another thing: if you are into modding, then get an Epi. You can change out parts to your heart's content without destroying resale value. On the other hand, no matter what cool things you do to one, it'll never be worth more than you paid for it. In contrast, I won't touch my Gibson, but it doesn't need upgrading -- the upgrades to the Epi were mostly to make it more like a Gibson, after all.

Epiphones are good guitars, and there's no reason a person can't be happy with one (as I was, until I found the 335) if you get one that sounds good.
 
I've got a chinese-made Epi LP Jr that i found in a pawnshop for $70. This black-painted plywood piece of asian made crap has ridiculous tone and sustain. And the neck is perfect. i hit 3 chords (unplugged) and out came the cash. I've replaced the wiring with cloth wire, swapped the Alpha pots for CTS, swapped the jack for a Switchcraft, installed a bone nut and put in a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates. It does only one trick, but it sure does it good. It's a screamer.

Sadly, I've got more invested in the wiring, pots and pickup than the guitar. but stock it sounded horrible plugged in. since it was a good acoustically sounding guitar, i knew i could "fix it".

It needs new tuners as the stock ones suck. I don't like the compensated albeit "vintage accurate" wraparound bridge, i think i'm going to replace it with a tuneamatic and a bigsby. that'd be da bomb. but that's another $200 or so to invest in a $70.

it's scary and sad, though, that this $70 piece of plywood can out play and out tone a lot of $2000+ les pauls i've played. but it's true. if it had a "Gibson" logo on the headstock, i think people would go nuts over it. maybe i should swap out the logo while i'm at it. :p

anyway, that said.......i'm firmly in the "if it's not american made, it's crap" camp. :p

this one was one of those happy accidents, i suppose. b/c i've never played an epi LP Jr like this one. but in short, with a "gibson" you're paying for american labor (and craftsmanship), better materials, better attention to detail, better hardware, and assumedly an overall better guitar.


cheers,
wade
 
Gibson and Epiphone are not the only options for creditable LP style guitars. You have options beside and between the two. Consider Heritage on the top end and Agile on the lower end. Great guitars at their respective price points. I played a Hagstrom Swede that I liked.

For me, I might opt for the Heritage. There's nothing like having a real Gibson though.
 
Thanks all! I'm buying it, I'm picking it up tomorrow after work. Epi LP with Seymor Duncan 59's and Grover tuners for $300, hell yeah! I went to the bank, got cash in hand right now, and I already went to the music store and bought a case for it, used for $50. Merry xmas to me :D
 

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suprstar said:
Thanks all! I'm buying it, I'm picking it up tomorrow after work. Epi LP with Seymor Duncan 59's and Grover tuners for $300, hell yeah! I went to the bank, got cash in hand right now, and I already went to the music store and bought a case for it, used for $50. Merry xmas to me :D
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congrats! more pics and some sound clips please!
 
Congrats, indeed. personally, I am very happy with my Epi Standard, esp. after upgrading the pups to Burstbucker Pro Alenco 5's (made a modest but noticable difference- perhaps the original pups were some of the better ones?) and Gibson tuners- which were functionallly the EXACT same tuners as the ones I took off, but that's ok, as I like the shape of the Gibson buttons better, and a week later needed the Epi tuners for an Alvarez acoustic I scored for Gale, for next to nothing... because it was missing tuners. And she said she loves the way the tuners look on her "new" guitar- I win all around! Rest of the story is I grabbed the tuners at Mars Music's close-out, years ago for almost no money, and am selling my Westbury for more than I paid for it/almost the total cost of the Epi-

I love it when a plan comes together!
 
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suprstar said:
Thanks all! I'm buying it, I'm picking it up tomorrow after work. Epi LP with Seymor Duncan 59's and Grover tuners for $300, hell yeah! I went to the bank, got cash in hand right now, and I already went to the music store and bought a case for it, used for $50. Merry xmas to me :D
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I did it almost like you did, Suprstar, but I got mine off Ebay. It won't be my last EPI, for sure, I absolutely love her. I've got 2 EMGs in the drawer, so my next one will be a LP Studio with them fitted in.
 
suprstar said:
Thanks all! I'm buying it, I'm picking it up tomorrow after work. Epi LP with Seymor Duncan 59's and Grover tuners for $300, hell yeah! I went to the bank, got cash in hand right now, and I already went to the music store and bought a case for it, used for $50. Merry xmas to me :D
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Merry Christmas indeed!!!
 
true-eurt said:
The pic you posted looks like a quilted maple top. Is it?..oh and congrats!!
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Yeah, it has the maple woodgrain finish, it's a beauty! I'm counting the minutes til I go pick it up, the pickup is at 4pm, which is 8 hours 39 minutes away..... I may or may not be at work tomorrow! I'll certainly post better pics. I'm getting it just in time too, I have a show to play downtown tomorrow nite! That'll be my new Eb / Drop Db guitar, which is a significant chunk of our songs. I've been wearing those featherweight Jacksons for years, this thing is heavy, hopefully my shoulder wont get sore!
 
suprstar said:
I may or may not be at work tomorrow!
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I've already decided that I will be sick :D I'll be back monday with calloused, sore, and possibly bloody fingertips.. Kinda like the guy who calls in sick and shows up the next day all sunburnt except for where his sunglasses were, except a lot less noticeable :D
 
Epi vs Gib LP

lpdeluxe said:
Obvious differences are: Epi LPs use alder for the cap wood, instead of maple. Alder is a little lighter and that will affect the tone. Gibson pickups are consistently well made, with an identifiable tone; the Epiphones use Asian-made pickups that are not made to the same tolerances and standards. Hardware is often lower quality on Epiphones, and, since they don't use Gibson-spec stud spacing (among other features) you can't interchange Gibson parts to upgrade them.
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The construction on both Epis and Gibsons can have many different materials. I have Epis with Maple, Alder, and I think even Mahogany tops. I have a gibson with a Mahogany top.

My favorite Les Paul I have owned so far is from Musicians Friend:
Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany Electric Guitar
#517536

My second favorite is an Alder top Epi with P90s I got for 299.

Some great info on Les Pauls Epi and Gibson can be found here:

musiciansfriend. com/lespaulguide (won't let me paste the link yet, but you get the idea...)

In my Opinion the single biggest difference is the paint, which you can read about in the above link.

Cheers,

-Neal
 
I build my own.. but love my epis

I've got about twenty guitars, I sell one now and then so the count isn't up to date.

But. I've got a 15 year old epiphone sheraton.
grover imperial tuners. bone nut. new bridge and tail. Kent Armstrong humbuck size p90 pups. CTS pots, Sprague Orange Drop caps, Dunlop straplocks, gold dome knobs and gold switch, over natural finish.

and a newer epiphone les paul studio, sunburst.
grover locking tuners, bone nut, cts and sprague again, KA p90 humbuck size in neck, KA Vintage 12 pole humbuck in bridge, dunlops, bigsby trem.

So I know how an epi holds up. I've only lightly gone over the frets once after 15 years, yet that sheri was on the stand in my house for almost it's entire life.

The lp studio I bought on a whim and fell in love with it. I'd put it up against anything out there regardless of price, save for the cosmetic aspects.. after all it is a studio model, no fancys.
(got plenty of fancy in the sheri though, don't I?)

I wont tell anyone not to buy a gibson.
But I will tell them, four or five epiphones can be modified for the same money and one gibson wont keep up with those.

I've been playing since the mid sixties and I've owned a lot of guitars and basses.. expensive and less so.. and these epis are keepers, players, lookers and tone monsters with just a few personal taste changes.
and not expensive.

TWANG
 
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