Epiphone/Gibson = same thing, except cost of manufacturing/labor. Yup, I said it. LOL Same guitars made by the same company, just in a different location. I'm a professional musician, been playing Gibsons for almost 40 years. I also play Epiphones on stage just the same. They both have slight pros and cons over each other in various ways but, "better" or "worse" would be subjective to each individual. I can also honestly say that none of my Epiphones have needed any setup, modifications, adjustments at all. So far, all have been just right out of the box. So, not all guitars under $800 need attention. I have many under that cost that were all great out of the box. Price doesn't define quality, and every guitarist on the planet knows that guitars are just gonna cost more if made in the USA due to higher cost of labor and higher cost of importing the materials.
I have an Epiphone Les Paul Studio that I bought (new) for $499.00 - the Gibson version of the same guitar was $1499.00. Did it sound a thousand bucks better? No.
I have a lefty cherry red Epiphone SG standard that I brought new a year ago. It played and sounded great right out of the box. I have not adjusted anything on it and it still plays and sounds great. The attention to detail for a left handed guitar is great. The taper on the pots is lefty correct. the numbers on the knobs are lefty correct and even the SG printed on the truss rod cover is lefty correct. It is a great guitar for $500. Cudos to Epiphone for looking out for us lefties.
These days, Epiphone has been putting out some good stuff. And some of the prices are reflecting that. Epiphone used to be considered junk, but not anymore. If you're shelling out $1,000 U.S. or more for an Epiphone, it better be darn good. John Lennon loved Epiphone Casinos, so are they THAT bad?? But that was before Gibson bought them out, too.......
Gibson purchased Epiphone in 1957. John Lennon’s Epi was a ‘65, so technically already under Gibson’s parent company. However, still made in the USA at the time.
I'm not about to start knocking Epiphone because their track record, their history makes them one of the biggest brands regards Guitars.Who am i to say they are bad? For the past 40 years i have played, i haven't once thought Epiphone were bad. I'm a southpaw and i have owned a few Epiphones but never kept them. Last one being an Explorer, which i owned briefly. There is just something i cannot gel with when it comes to Epiphone's. I am from a time when a 70's Ibanez LP was a great alternative, which is the first Les Paul style Guitar i owned. Still have it. After that though as your skills develop, you set your sights on something a bit more prestigous. The newly gained skills from years of practtice and school had me setting my sights on a Gibson LPS. I also have Strat's and Tele's, Fenders but i wouldn't say I'm a brand snob. See a 14 year old playing an Epiphone Les Paul now. If they are still 'seriously' into their playing, by the time they are 25, they will have set they're sights on a Gibson.
I think epiphones make fun guitars that are good and aforable for their feature sets... Though I do wonder why my Jackson JS22 a $200 guitar is just great and in many ways perfect out of the box. Is the way it is as well as seemly all new Jackson guitars but most epiphones and squaiers simply are not even if they cost more.
I have An Epiphone Goth V with an set of SH-6 Duncan distortions in it and it F@#$IN SCREAMS ! Pretty solid guitar lol I also have an 98 Korina Explorer. It's the 58 tribute and I put Seymour Duncan Invaders in it and that gave it a really beefy, thick tone. Both are Gems in my opinion. Great Vid ! 👍👍
1:39 I'd like to see that actual calculation to back that up. Epiphone are showing a worrying trend with their pricing for their Dave Grohl and lemon drop models
I bought a Epiphone Flying V back in 1990. It was my main workhorse all through my playing days, all 10 years of it. It never let me down. Of course, one of the first thing I did was to replace the pickups with something playable, I replaced basically all of the wiring too. That thing got beat to hell! It actually caught fire one time during a drunken binge and I swear too good it actually sounded better afterwards! After I stopped playing it was in its case in my garage for a few (25+ years) and moved with me a few times. Occasionally I would take it out, set it up and play it, just for the sake of nostalgia and it still was solid as a rock. Then I moved to a new town. The humidity in that place took me by a surprise and actually more or less wrecked my beloved guitar. So now, even though it is simply a cheap Epiphone, it has so many memories and therefore I am having a luthier fix it for me. A new fretboard, new electronics, minor modifications where the wood has shifted, new paint, new pickups, new electronics.... it's getting to the point of the joke about the hammer which had the handle and the top replaced a few times. But still, this is the thing about Epiphones. You can replace a bunch of stuff on it and it's still your old guitar. Try that with a vintage Gibson.
I had a 1973 Epiphone Crescent right off the showroom floor. It was a pretty nice guitar for my intermediate playing as a youngster. I graduated to a Strat, because I needed the whammy bar.
My video on this is coming out on Monday, in short yes they are but I can see they are pivoting towards being perceived as a higher qlty intrument and tjats driving prices up which overall makes them outside the grasp of beginners which sucks becausr an epi lp is a wonderful guitar you could play and own for a long time, maybe your whole life
It's headed that way, but as I type this, you can still get an Epiphone Les Paul on sale at Sweetwater for around $560. That's about what they sold for 15 years ago. However, 15 years ago they didn't have any guitars over a grand and now they do. If they can keep a Les Paul around the $600 mark, I think that'd be great. But if 3 years from now they're going for $850, then Epiphone will have screwed up big time IMHO. Gibson is an aspirational brand. To some extent, so is PRS. But Epiphone isn't. I just don't see spending four figures on an Epiphone, but you're right, they got a bunch in that range. At $550 I can make a case for an Epiphone Les Paul. At $1,100, I can't.
I mean, how could Epiphone keep making guitars if they were no good !?😂 I have one Epiphone guitar that actually feels exactly like my 2017 Gibson sg standard an it's an Epiphone Prophecy SG custom from 2008 and its awesome! My first Les Paul is a 2014 standard cardinal red and still to this day I've yet to find a Gibson les Paul standard that had a neck like this so I keep searching for a Gibson les Paul. My Epiphone would be perfect if it had that snap and kerrang.
Epiphones are no longer a budget guitar unless you get the ES-335 or the SG. Epiphones are making a bunch of over-priced artist-inspired models. I bought the 1959 Les Paul standard, my take: I enjoy the guitar, but the frets are not dressed as well as my MIM Telecaster, which was cheaper. The frets are rather sharp, the tuners are simply not good, and the guitar needed a proper intonation. Personally I think in terms of bang for buck you're getting slightly more from the Gretsch Electromatic series, or a PRS CE SE 24. Typing this, I have a set of Bare Knuckle pickups on the way to replace the Burstbuckers in the Epi 1959 LP.
@@dmalenko2149 The picture is of John Lennon,Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. 🤣😂🤣 You've inadvertently made yourself sound like a moron. Just another Troll.
My purchase was made in 1996, but I'm still here for the validation.
Way to show the Epiphone some love. I like mine. It plays and sounds OK. And it appears to be built reasonably well for the money.
57 Classic pickups are very good. Love them on my SGs
Epiphone/Gibson = same thing, except cost of manufacturing/labor. Yup, I said it. LOL Same guitars made by the same company, just in a different location. I'm a professional musician, been playing Gibsons for almost 40 years. I also play Epiphones on stage just the same. They both have slight pros and cons over each other in various ways but, "better" or "worse" would be subjective to each individual. I can also honestly say that none of my Epiphones have needed any setup, modifications, adjustments at all. So far, all have been just right out of the box. So, not all guitars under $800 need attention. I have many under that cost that were all great out of the box. Price doesn't define quality, and every guitarist on the planet knows that guitars are just gonna cost more if made in the USA due to higher cost of labor and higher cost of importing the materials.
The Indonesian factory is legit.
I have an Epiphone Les Paul Studio that I bought (new) for $499.00 - the Gibson version of the same guitar was $1499.00. Did it sound a thousand bucks better? No.
I have a lefty cherry red Epiphone SG standard that I brought new a year ago. It played and sounded great right out of the box. I have not adjusted anything on it and it still plays and sounds great. The attention to detail for a left handed guitar is great. The taper on the pots is lefty correct. the numbers on the knobs are lefty correct and even the SG printed on the truss rod cover is lefty correct. It is a great guitar for $500. Cudos to Epiphone for looking out for us lefties.
These days, Epiphone has been putting out some good stuff. And some of the prices are reflecting that. Epiphone used to be considered junk, but not anymore. If you're shelling out $1,000 U.S. or more for an Epiphone, it better be darn good.
John Lennon loved Epiphone Casinos, so are they THAT bad?? But that was before Gibson bought them out, too.......
Gibson purchased Epiphone in 1957. John Lennon’s Epi was a ‘65, so technically already under Gibson’s parent company. However, still made in the USA at the time.
You talk a lot of sense. I agree with you
Love my Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50's (heritage cherry burst), and prefer the darker red paint of the Epiphone.
I'm not about to start knocking Epiphone because their track record, their history makes them one of the biggest brands regards Guitars.Who am i to say they are bad? For the past 40 years i have played, i haven't once thought Epiphone were bad. I'm a southpaw and i have owned a few Epiphones but never kept them. Last one being an Explorer, which i owned briefly. There is just something i cannot gel with when it comes to Epiphone's. I am from a time when a 70's Ibanez LP was a great alternative, which is the first Les Paul style Guitar i owned. Still have it. After that though as your skills develop, you set your sights on something a bit more prestigous. The newly gained skills from years of practtice and school had me setting my sights on a Gibson LPS. I also have Strat's and Tele's, Fenders but i wouldn't say I'm a brand snob. See a 14 year old playing an Epiphone Les Paul now. If they are still 'seriously' into their playing, by the time they are 25, they will have set they're sights on a Gibson.
I think epiphones make fun guitars that are good and aforable for their feature sets... Though I do wonder why my Jackson JS22 a $200 guitar is just great and in many ways perfect out of the box. Is the way it is as well as seemly all new Jackson guitars but most epiphones and squaiers simply are not even if they cost more.
I have An Epiphone Goth V with an set of SH-6 Duncan distortions in it and it F@#$IN SCREAMS ! Pretty solid guitar lol
I also have an 98 Korina Explorer. It's the 58 tribute and I put Seymour Duncan Invaders in it and that gave it a really beefy, thick tone.
Both are Gems in my opinion.
Great Vid ! 👍👍
1:39 I'd like to see that actual calculation to back that up. Epiphone are showing a worrying trend with their pricing for their Dave Grohl and lemon drop models
I bought a Epiphone Flying V back in 1990. It was my main workhorse all through my playing days, all 10 years of it. It never let me down. Of course, one of the first thing I did was to replace the pickups with something playable, I replaced basically all of the wiring too. That thing got beat to hell! It actually caught fire one time during a drunken binge and I swear too good it actually sounded better afterwards!
After I stopped playing it was in its case in my garage for a few (25+ years) and moved with me a few times. Occasionally I would take it out, set it up and play it, just for the sake of nostalgia and it still was solid as a rock.
Then I moved to a new town. The humidity in that place took me by a surprise and actually more or less wrecked my beloved guitar. So now, even though it is simply a cheap Epiphone, it has so many memories and therefore I am having a luthier fix it for me. A new fretboard, new electronics, minor modifications where the wood has shifted, new paint, new pickups, new electronics.... it's getting to the point of the joke about the hammer which had the handle and the top replaced a few times.
But still, this is the thing about Epiphones. You can replace a bunch of stuff on it and it's still your old guitar.
Try that with a vintage Gibson.
I had a 1973 Epiphone Crescent right off the showroom floor. It was a pretty nice guitar for my intermediate playing as a youngster. I graduated to a Strat, because I needed the whammy bar.
Epiphone rules, only amateurs look at the logos / brand. I own the Les Paul Custom pro and ES-335, both are around 500€ and work great
My video on this is coming out on Monday, in short yes they are but I can see they are pivoting towards being perceived as a higher qlty intrument and tjats driving prices up which overall makes them outside the grasp of beginners which sucks becausr an epi lp is a wonderful guitar you could play and own for a long time, maybe your whole life
It's headed that way, but as I type this, you can still get an Epiphone Les Paul on sale at Sweetwater for around $560. That's about what they sold for 15 years ago. However, 15 years ago they didn't have any guitars over a grand and now they do. If they can keep a Les Paul around the $600 mark, I think that'd be great. But if 3 years from now they're going for $850, then Epiphone will have screwed up big time IMHO. Gibson is an aspirational brand. To some extent, so is PRS. But Epiphone isn't. I just don't see spending four figures on an Epiphone, but you're right, they got a bunch in that range. At $550 I can make a case for an Epiphone Les Paul. At $1,100, I can't.
I mean, how could Epiphone keep making guitars if they were no good !?😂
I have one Epiphone guitar that actually feels exactly like my 2017 Gibson sg standard an it's an Epiphone Prophecy SG custom from 2008 and its awesome!
My first Les Paul is a 2014 standard cardinal red and still to this day I've yet to find a Gibson les Paul standard that had a neck like this so I keep searching for a Gibson les Paul. My Epiphone would be perfect if it had that snap and kerrang.
Epiphones are no longer a budget guitar unless you get the ES-335 or the SG. Epiphones are making a bunch of over-priced artist-inspired models. I bought the 1959 Les Paul standard, my take: I enjoy the guitar, but the frets are not dressed as well as my MIM Telecaster, which was cheaper. The frets are rather sharp, the tuners are simply not good, and the guitar needed a proper intonation. Personally I think in terms of bang for buck you're getting slightly more from the Gretsch Electromatic series, or a PRS CE SE 24. Typing this, I have a set of Bare Knuckle pickups on the way to replace the Burstbuckers in the Epi 1959 LP.
Industry standard. Gibson and Fender are industry standard instruments, and that's what it boils down to. The best use the best, it's not snobbery.
Your profile picture is John Lennon playing an Epiphone Casino 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 “the best use the best”
@@dmalenko2149 The picture is of John Lennon,Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. 🤣😂🤣
You've inadvertently made yourself sound like a moron. Just another Troll.
@@dmalenko2149 The picture is of John Lennon,Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. Your Just another Troll
Nah. Epiphones are crap. Save up for a Gibson, or even better, an ESP.