Gibson Les Paul vs. Epiphone Les Paul?
I was wondering what people thought about the two. They seem to get similar reviews on Amazon.
Posted Dec 24, 2011, 1:22 AM UTC
3180
The devil is in the details... Epip LP's have two neck profiles neither of which is listed in the specs. A 60's flat neck or a mid 80's semi compound radius. Compared to Gibby LP's which there are many choices.
The frett size is also wildly vast on Epip's I've seen huge fret wires as of late coming out of the factory.
Pick up's with eipi it's a mixed bag some great others ehhhh.
I can go on and on but it boils down to the sound. Go play a bunch at the store and don't settle till you gin the sound your after. I own multi Gibson and Epip Les Pauls some of the Epip's smoke Gibson stuff.
Buying guitars isn't about a brand name thing it's about each guitar as a separate instrument you can't judge a product line from one instrument.
16
"Epip"? Why the extra "p"? It hurts mah brainz.
Edit: It is sound advice, though.
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My friend has a LP custom Epiphone tripple humbuckers.. I can't find another guitar with its sound... I love it! I own a sonex 180 deluxe it is soooooo rich.. Great Gibson!
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got myself a g400 custom lp and it has triple humbuckers. It sounds like your friends guitar, I can second that it is absolutely tone heaven.
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With a Gibson, you're paying extra for better quality woods (better Mahogany, a proper maple cap on the Les Paul vs the Epiphone's veneer), better general workmanship, a Nitrocellulose finish, American labour costs, and nicer electronics.
I think that the Epiphones are well-made guitars, and if you get a good one and change the pickups there's no doubt that it'll sound every bit as good as its Gibson counterpart. I put the humbuckers from my Gibson SG into a kid's Epi SG when I changed them for P90s and it sounded almost exactly the same as my Gibson.
Believe me, it's worth trying any guitar before you buy it, regardless of price. I used to work in a guitar store and we saw a massive variation in Gibson's workmanship - £3,000 guitars with glaring quality control problems, etc. If anything, I'd find that Epiphones tend to be more consistent.
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Id just say that epiphones are great guitars, you'll be happy if you get one.
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Depends a lot.. I would take an Epiphone Custom over a Gibson Special any day of the week. Assuming you mean both Standard, then the Gibson is made with higher build quality, better components and will sound/play much better. However, Epiphone Standards are still pretty good guitars.
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I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Black Beauty for just slightly less than my roommate paid for his Gibson Les Paul Studio. I'd say they sound very similar, but I love the look and sound of the third pickup in the Beauty. I'll be getting it rewired shortly as described here to get individual control over the middle pickup.
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I'll agree that the Black Beauty looks nice.
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I have an Epiphone Custom Les Paul, and I have to say it's tone holds up pretty damn well compared to the few lower end gibson standards I've jammed out on. I don't know what kind of budget you're on (if you're planning on buying one of the two) but to me the Epiphone is the way to go. You can get an Epiphone Custom for around 599 last time I checked, or a gibson standard for around 2 to 3 hundred more. Gibson will always be superior to Epiphone on the whole, but a high end Epiphone is a better deal in tone, look, and price than a standard Gibby. Really they're both great guitars, you get what you pay for.
One bad thing, Les Pauls are notoriously HEAVY as hell, so if you pick one up, make sure to get a wider guitar strap. Your shoulders and back will thank you.
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Nearly all the good points have been made so all I have to contribute is: As I get older I start buying stuff to last, stuff that I can hand down for a few generations; which is why I chose a Gibson. Locally made, nitro finish (= age beautifully), and great wood selection, craftsmanship etc. Epis can be just as good as well, but the locally made aspect of a Gibson really sold me on it
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I typically use the price of computers as justification for expensive purchases.
EG: If I buy a new macbook pro for $2,000 or I buy a Les Paul for $2,000, which is going to last longer and be worth something in 5 years?
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That is actually a really good point I haven't though of. Thank you for bringing it up.
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Both are good guitars it just depends on your budget. The Gibson will have better components and play a bit better. IMHO
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That's what it seems like, pricing wise.
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Epiphones are good guitars just don't buy either one online, they could have some issue (set-up, blemishes) that you won't know about. Plus if you play each you'll get an appreciation for them. GL and Rock on! \m/
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True although I bought my Epi Ultra II online for about $500 because of a little imperfection on the back. Plays and looks great couldn't be happier.
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Can't stress vornan19's point, of trying out and buying a guitar in the flesh, any harder. Especially when it comes to Epiphones. Sometimes you will find an Epi that is as good as the more expensive Gibson and sometimes it will just be lacking, each guitar is very individual. That is where the great strength of Epi's comes in, you can get something for a reasonable price that plays beyond its price tag, but online you are gambling (as with nearly any guitar purchase online IMO).
I am sure either way you will get a great guitar you are happy with though so gl and hope you find a great buy!
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I own a Gibson but not on purpose. I started out shopping for an Epi based on price but I couldn't find one that I was happy with. Once I played my Gibson I didn't care about price anymore. It was head and shoulders above the Epi's I played. I only played 10 or 12 different guitars though. Your mileage will vary. My friend owns an Epi Paul and he loves it.
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You might want consider investment value as well. My Gibson has only increased in value since I have had it. Not sure if the same could be said for an Epi. Also not not sure about current Gibson's appreciation. I've had mine for a while.
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You might want consider investment value as well.
That's one of the least artistic criteria when looking to buy an instrument, your instrument. The brand is valuable just as long as it's valuable to you. I've never ever considered it. If I'll ever buy a Gibson Les Paul '59 reissue, it's going to be because I love its feel, tone and build, and I'm unable to find anything else coming close at a tenth of the price. The brand and investment value play no role in this decision. In fact, that is why I'll probably never buy a '59 reissue, because I'm actually perfectly able to find a very similar instrument for the tenth of the price.
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wa
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Yeah, I can see your point but shit costs money. A well made, quality instrument will hold it's value better. There is a reason for that.
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When talking about the difference in the sound, it boils down to pickups. I had an Epi version of an SG that played great. I liked its feel even better than my friend's Gibson SG for some reason. But it maybe could have had the pickups switched out for a hotter sound.
But don't listen to me. I believe you could put the right set of pickups on a chair leg or a fence post and it would sound as good as an expensive electric guitar. Wood is important in an acoustic, but all that really matters in an electric is the pickup.
Some people disagree.
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I'm one of the people who disagree. :P
I do agree that pickups make up a large percentage of the sound of an electric guitar... but your starting point is the acoustic sound of the instrument. If that were not the case, there would be no difference in sound between hollowbody and solid body electric guitars (disregarding the role of feedback at high volumes), and no difference in sound between guitars with large vs small solid bodies.
The wood plays a big part in the overall tone of the instrument and it's attack/sustain qualities. While these are not as important in an electric guitar as they are in an acoustic, I still believe that they make a significant difference.
Try putting the same set of pickups into two different guitars and tell me they sound the same. I've done this a few times, and to my ears they most certainly did not sound the same in different guitars.
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In an electric, wood has more to do with sustain than tonality, as I have understood it. I could, of course, be wrong. That's why mahogany is such a standard use wood... the cellular structure of mahogany is quite dense, causing sound waves to carry better through the wood.
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I think this is mostly true for people listening to an electric guitar, but if you're playing it, the wood is going to make a difference in how you feel the vibrations.
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Very true statement there. I actually fine tune by touch rather than by ear. I can elaborate further if needed, but it's how I've been doing it since '83.
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that's pretty cool! I can imagine doing that with the lower pitched strings, but I don't think I could feel the high e and b vibrations well enought to tune.
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I have been doing it on electrics and acoustics since I started, as I cannot hear certain frequencies at all, or am unable to differentiate tones when tuning.
It made tuning it when I started way back when an absolute nightmare until I learned to actually feel the headstock vibrate.
The electronic tuners that you take for granted these days were ridiculously expensive technology 30 years ago, much like handheld calculators were in the early 70's, so I had to learn somehow. Being self taught with my mentor 4 hours away didn't help.
True story :)
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Some people disagree.
The guy in this video doesn't. Worst "tonewood" ever, and it sounds ok. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFyQXy74xz4
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that's hilarious!
I do agree with the other commenters that the wood plays a role in sustain. And I agree there's a big difference between hearing a guitar and actually playing it.
And if a guy says he put the same pickups in two guitars and noticed a difference, I believe him.
Good discussion, thank you.
I've been thinking I could get a more classic strat sound if I put a single coil between my two humbuckers. You guys seem up on that. What do you think? Is the Strat sound in the Strat, or is it in the pickup?
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The strat sound is a result of a few things, IMO. There are the pickups, and that's a big part of it. But the scale of the neck (a strat has a slightly longer neck scale than say, a Gibson) make the strat sound more twangy. But if you have a guitar with a long scale neck (25 1/4 I think?) and you put a strat pickup in there, it might sound strat-like enough for you.
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i'm not sure if this has been touched on already, but pickups need to be seriously taken into consideration. i find that an epiphone with some upgraded pickups can sound phenomenal at a fraction of the cost of a traditional gibson les paul.
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I've had both and liked both about equally. I felt less reservations about doing things to the Epi Paul, like changing pickups and what not, because I didn't pay as much for the guitar. As for my Gibson, I've left it stock and feel no need to change anything, except for maybe the Kluson-style tuners for some Grovers or something.
If I ever got another Epi Paul, it'd be the Custom, because I will never be able to afford a real Gibson Les Paul Custom.
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I, for one, am saving up for a Gibson R9 Les Paul.
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I have a 1999 Les Paul Standard which I love, it's a fantastic guitar and sustains like nothing else I've seen. I also have an Epi "dot" ES 335 copy and it's OK.
My accountant pointed out that I routinely spent thousands on computers that I got rid of every freew years. Then he asked me how long I would keep a guitar like a LP.
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Neither grab a PRS man, I have a standard 22 (which isn't made anymore i believe) and honestly i can find anoter guitar that I like more, except maybe my national. Anyways I'd say look around for other styles of guitars rather than just the LP style, you might be surprised at what you find.
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Fuck this again?
Read this: http://www.masht.com/guitars/gibsonvepiphonehtm.htm
tl;dr Gibson: made in USA with higher end components, construction and finish. Epiphone: made over seas with more economical components, construction and finish.
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Thank you.
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You're welcome. Honestly at the end of the day Gibson is a luxury brand. Much like a BMW vs a Toyota. The Toyota is by no means a bad car. It'll comfortably get you from point A to B, but the BMW is in another league.
This is coming from a guy who's played an Epiphone LP for the last 9 years and finally picked up a Gibson 2 months ago. My Gibson is fantastic and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I wouldn't say my playing suffered during those years I was playing an Epi.
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There is a slight difference in the shapeliness of the guitar and the headstock.
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As a Guitar center employee I can simply note the overwhelming disproportional number of epiphone returns/repairs to gibson. Gibson has a much much much higher quality control level than epiphone. also gibson uses select woods for their manufacturing.
after reviewing all these great comments, i'd say this one is the most valuable.
Would that have anything to do with the fact that my Guitar Center fills their store with guitars under $300?
The guitars that are in a store are of the type that people may buy spontaneusly. You don't buy a 1,5k$ gibson just because you feel like it.
(pre-emptive apologies to rich people)
But you also don't buy a Gibson without playing it
Nope, but if you order a gibson, to try it out, and end up not buying it. Then most guitar shops will send the guitar back to gibson, unless they want to have it hanging around until someone buys it.
Usually they have the good stuff stashed in a seperate room or wall space
not many people have 3000$ most people have 300$. thats just good buisness