Cool vid! Subbed. I love Epiphone Les Pauls. Always have. And yes - they are excellent guitars. But if I'm being honest... Epiphone is going away from me. They're over=priced now, and getting worse by the month it seems. For the money - give me that Grote. All I need is a beautiful body, and a straight, comfortable neck. The rest.... I can do magic with it. And yeah I know... you drop more cash, and it's like... why didn't I just buy the Epiphone to start with. I have 2 answers: First, you're spreading the cost out, and not dropping the cash all at once. Second - Bridges (if you wanted) / PUPs / Electronics & Switches (if needed) / a set of Tuners (I like Guyker) / and a nut? LOL I can get all that I would probably need..... for $75 to $100. Surely all of it would not need to be replaced. Depends on each individual guitar. But yeah - give me the Grote. Couple weeks later... next pay-check.... I could get everything I need from Amazon or E-Bay - delivered to the door. I'm all in for $300. I'm not paying $1,000 for an Epiphone. Nope. No way.
Thanks for the sub! I know what you mean. Dave Grohl signature... the many Adam Jones Epi's.... nice guitars for sure, but the prices are going crazy. The Epi in this video, thankfully, is not a super high priced one. They're very reasonable second hand normally. I have a lot of time for the Grote too. I think that's because it's light and I was able to get an insanely low action with ease... maybe I just got lucky, it's hard to say. The Grote is such a fun guitar to play and actually sounds great despite the cheap electrics. I know it's not perfect, but I think it's part of the charm and I love putting my own stamp on a guitar when I can. I just want to fit some Hipshot tuners to it I got at the next string change and sort the sharp frets ends (ouch!). It overall compares pretty well with other Les Pauls out there, especially for the bargain price. I literally just published a bigger round up including these, my Epiphones Studio, my Gibson and an RJ Les Paul - quite an unknown but very cool LP - if you're interested, keep rockin': ua-cam.com/video/KBBQAjqBTwQ/v-deo.html
I bought one of the earlier grote jazz guitars a couple years ago and I love it. It's a lovely guitar and a pleasure to play. Seems to me their quality is quite good when you keep the price range in mind. I have two Ibanez art core series guitars (a matching set) and the frets were sharp when I received them.
Grote has some pretty neat stuff you won't find elsewhere in the same tax bracket. Mine is the Semi hollow 7 string LP. Worth the elbow grease it took to make that a real player. Really falls flat in a range with real competition though
Nice, I've not tried the 7 string guitar. You got it spot on there... it's an increasingly competitive market and standards are getting better. Any brand has got a fight on their hands to remain relevant now. I just got in a new Epiphone Studio in Smokehouse Burst - review upcoming - with CTS pots, Grovers, split coils. Epiphone are massively upping their game and it shows. But, it is twice the price of the Grote... so the Grote is a good gradual upgrade platform which would ease the strain on the wallet. I hope they can stay in business. The more competition the better.
Chinese products aren't inexpensive because the labor is cheap, but because they can make things so quickly. On average Chinese factory workers make around $7 an hour, comparable to what Korean factory workers make, and much more than workers in Indonesia or Vietnam. I saw a video of a tour of a Chinese guitar factory and they had a CNC machines making 12 bodies at once, and an automated fret pressing machine that was cranking out probably 6 necks per minute.
Thanks for the review. I just ordered the Grote. How’s the neck shape? I looked at a Fender Squire Tele and the neck was a C shape like a baseball bat. I didn’t care for it but some people like that shape.
Much appreciated, thanks! I've got a deep dive review on the Grote where I show the contour of the neck and the specific neck depth measurements, I hope this helps: ua-cam.com/video/GmzkncWLlAw/v-deo.htmlsi=W3VzvMBKHmEMdCFP
@@appetiteforguitar Hi! That video is great! Looks like a decent neck and tapered as well. They don’t want any returns 😀 I can do the setup and frets as well so I’ll have it as good as it can get like you did. Thanks a lot and enjoy the day
No worries! I hope you enjoy the guitar. I'd be really interested to know how you get on. I'm actually in the process of filming a new video installing Guyker locking tuners to help fix the stability issues on mine. Fingers crossed. Good luck with yours too!
Good spot. I'd just done a full review and it must have got hooked under as I was moving it around for this. They are pretty sharp frets though... it's definitely one of my main criticisms of the Grote. I've got it feeling better now, some very light sanding goes a long way.
@@appetiteforguitar it does indeed. I make guitars so I’m very fussy but I understand for a budget they have to cut a few corners. But for £3-400 you can get ready good quality guitars nowadays
Ah, very cool. I'm not at the stage of making them yet! I was thinking of giving a StewMac DIY LP a go, but I know that really most of the work is already done... and even then to get a really good result is labour intensive. I appreciate it's a very highly skilled task to make from scratch. I'd agree, it's much better to spend £300-500 on something with higher QC and parts. I've just got the new Epiphone Les Paul Studio in to review that sits right at that price point. It's in a different league entirely to the Grote. Review will be up I hope within the next week.
@@appetiteforguitar making a guitar is a lot of work, the math for a break angle on the body, and head stock for the scare joints need to be spot on, after that it’s all carving and sanding. Finishing is by far a dark art and the hardest to master, so stew mac or any guitar kit build is a great way to start. I have a few vids on my channel from back in 2018-19 if you want to check them out, I will maybe have new content out this year too. Making guitars and trying to run a UA-cam channel was just too much work for me while also having a full time job.
Yes, I will give those a watch. The actual fabrication and numbers involved sounds challenging to say the least. The finishing part actually looks scary on a DIY kit for a relative building noob like myself too. I can set a guitar up, deal with frets etc like a lot of people. But a full glorious sunburst paint job for example looks tough. Balancing all that you were doing on guitars and a job etc must be hard. Running a YT channel in itself is a lot of work. I sympathise with having to focus elsewhere. I'm going to see how it goes. Even a single review takes a long time, so I'm very grateful that you watched even this video. For now, I'm experimenting, seeing what goes down well... mostly reviews for now but I'm trying to be flexible with it. Lessons are on my agenda too along with set ups, tone tips... the list goes on! I just need to find time for it all. Phew...
That's really interesting. A few people have said that about the single coil... hmmm. That's such a strange one. I intend to do a video on an upgrade of tuners on this and will dive into the pups at the same time to get to the bottom of it. Despite it's flaws it's actually a really fun guitar to play and is such a beauty. I did a review here, but I'll do another one on the upgrades too: ua-cam.com/video/GmzkncWLlAw/v-deo.htmlsi=swEj6Uoa8TeSWp7g
It comes down to this; If you're a professional studio musician or live player.. then the brand names are worth the cost, even if you're just a serious collector too. But if you're simply a hobbiest player/enthusiast.. the cheaper 'knocknoff' brands are perfectly fine, and typically a really good deal. So basically there are about 3 ranges.. Pro = spend the big money. Semi pro = $500 and up range Hobbiest = $170 to $300 is acceptable This is why all these comparison videos make no sense to me.. There's nothing to compare, I mean what's the purpose/goal? 🤔 If you paid $200 you're not going to get a $500+ quality.. is this really that difficult for people to figure out?
My comments still stand re these two guitars. The Epiphone is made to a much higher standard. The Grote is a fun guitar to play, but needs a bit of work to get the most from it. I am gradually softening my view on pot size though. My latest project is using mini pots. I'm about to switch out the pups on an SG style guitar for some Alnico Fleor Humbuckers. Apparently they're amazing for the money. I'm sticking with the existing small pots on that one and we'll see what happens. I looked at full size, split coil etc pots, but it may not make much difference to the sound and it's a hassle to bore out bigger holes for the fatter shafts. The issue could be in durability. The size pots is more of a reflection of money saved in the construction (if they're cheap pots) and they are usually in budget guitars. Small can be good though if made well, so I acknowledge that. Video incoming on the new pickups... I hope they rock!
@@appetiteforguitar We're largely in agreement. The point I'm trying to get across is that small pots shouldn't automatically be regarded as trash just because they don't take up much space. The potentiometer is such a simple little thing that Edison "invented" one almost a decade before he filed a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edit: Tolerances are important when it comes to resistors. Diameter is barely worth mentioning.
@@anthonystark5412To me the output of a pot is more important than the size of it. Example I've replaced 250k pots that meter 229k with ones that meter 239k-250k and get excellent results. Much improved sound quality.
dont you mean a Epiphone Les Paul vs a Grote single cut.... as there are only 2 companys in the world that can actually use the Les Paul name, Gibson and Epiphone.
While we're being pedantic, don't you mean, "Don't"? Don't you mean "companies"? Don't you mean, "Gibson owns Epiphone", so that's actually only 1 company that can use the Les Paul name? Epiphone is to Gibson what Squier is to Fender; i.e. a brand rather than a separate company.
Pretty sure grote are factory 2nd epiphone that they put cheaper hardware on. Both are cheap chinese crap, one has awful hardware that need replaced for 200$, the other has decent parts that you will still probably replace for 600. Tbh im pretty biased against Epiphone, cause ive never played one worth owning.
I've got a couple of Epiphone Studios too as well as this Trad Pro. I really like them. One South Korean made from 1998, the other a brand new Chinese one. They both sound and play great. I nearly went for the Gibson, but the new Epiphone Studio is just so good for the money. The Gibson will probably be acquired too at some point when the time is right. The least refined I played was the Special II, but that's a really cheap guitar so some leeway is due - it was the tuners which didn't cope with bending very well which is not surprising at the price - easy replacement, and it's still overall a good starter guitar/modder base. I do currently have a PRS newly acquired and the quality on that is really outstanding, so I've got that as my most recent benchmark for comparison. The QC on my new Studio seems excellent, but I need to dig into the internals before I make a final judgement. I find it very hard to believe Grote comes out the same factory as Epiphone... in person the feeling of quality is very different. I believe Epiphone have their own dedicated factory. But then the Grote LP is much cheaper than a Studio, for example. The new Epiphones, from my experience so far, have a lot of care taken over them. I've been lucky so far to have only played good ones. Review of the new Studio is upcoming. Keep rockin' 🎸
I get the impression that you were pretty biased against Epiphone before you ever played one. Individuals with sub-par intellects often mistake their simple confirmation bias for something more erudite.
Cool vid! Subbed. I love Epiphone Les Pauls. Always have. And yes - they are excellent guitars. But if I'm being honest... Epiphone is going away from me. They're over=priced now, and getting worse by the month it seems. For the money - give me that Grote. All I need is a beautiful body, and a straight, comfortable neck. The rest.... I can do magic with it. And yeah I know... you drop more cash, and it's like... why didn't I just buy the Epiphone to start with. I have 2 answers: First, you're spreading the cost out, and not dropping the cash all at once. Second - Bridges (if you wanted) / PUPs / Electronics & Switches (if needed) / a set of Tuners (I like Guyker) / and a nut? LOL I can get all that I would probably need..... for $75 to $100. Surely all of it would not need to be replaced. Depends on each individual guitar. But yeah - give me the Grote. Couple weeks later... next pay-check.... I could get everything I need from Amazon or E-Bay - delivered to the door. I'm all in for $300. I'm not paying $1,000 for an Epiphone. Nope. No way.
Thanks for the sub! I know what you mean. Dave Grohl signature... the many Adam Jones Epi's.... nice guitars for sure, but the prices are going crazy. The Epi in this video, thankfully, is not a super high priced one. They're very reasonable second hand normally. I have a lot of time for the Grote too. I think that's because it's light and I was able to get an insanely low action with ease... maybe I just got lucky, it's hard to say. The Grote is such a fun guitar to play and actually sounds great despite the cheap electrics. I know it's not perfect, but I think it's part of the charm and I love putting my own stamp on a guitar when I can. I just want to fit some Hipshot tuners to it I got at the next string change and sort the sharp frets ends (ouch!). It overall compares pretty well with other Les Pauls out there, especially for the bargain price. I literally just published a bigger round up including these, my Epiphones Studio, my Gibson and an RJ Les Paul - quite an unknown but very cool LP - if you're interested, keep rockin': ua-cam.com/video/KBBQAjqBTwQ/v-deo.html
I bought one of the earlier grote jazz guitars a couple years ago and I love it.
It's a lovely guitar and a pleasure to play.
Seems to me their quality is quite good when you keep the price range in mind.
I have two Ibanez art core series guitars (a matching set) and the frets were sharp when I received them.
If you get a good one, i guess it's ok. Scarr opened up a humbucker and one of the bobbins was missing.
Grote has some pretty neat stuff you won't find elsewhere in the same tax bracket. Mine is the Semi hollow 7 string LP. Worth the elbow grease it took to make that a real player.
Really falls flat in a range with real competition though
Nice, I've not tried the 7 string guitar. You got it spot on there... it's an increasingly competitive market and standards are getting better. Any brand has got a fight on their hands to remain relevant now. I just got in a new Epiphone Studio in Smokehouse Burst - review upcoming - with CTS pots, Grovers, split coils. Epiphone are massively upping their game and it shows. But, it is twice the price of the Grote... so the Grote is a good gradual upgrade platform which would ease the strain on the wallet. I hope they can stay in business. The more competition the better.
Chinese products aren't inexpensive because the labor is cheap, but because they can make things so quickly. On average Chinese factory workers make around $7 an hour, comparable to what Korean factory workers make, and much more than workers in Indonesia or Vietnam. I saw a video of a tour of a Chinese guitar factory and they had a CNC machines making 12 bodies at once, and an automated fret pressing machine that was cranking out probably 6 necks per minute.
Thanks for the review. I just ordered the Grote. How’s the neck shape? I looked at a Fender Squire Tele and the neck was a C shape like a baseball bat. I didn’t care for it but some people like that shape.
Much appreciated, thanks! I've got a deep dive review on the Grote where I show the contour of the neck and the specific neck depth measurements, I hope this helps: ua-cam.com/video/GmzkncWLlAw/v-deo.htmlsi=W3VzvMBKHmEMdCFP
@@appetiteforguitar Hi! That video is great! Looks like a decent neck and tapered as well. They don’t want any returns 😀 I can do the setup and frets as well so I’ll have it as good as it can get like you did. Thanks a lot and enjoy the day
No worries! I hope you enjoy the guitar. I'd be really interested to know how you get on. I'm actually in the process of filming a new video installing Guyker locking tuners to help fix the stability issues on mine. Fingers crossed. Good luck with yours too!
The fact that the e string is stuck under one of the frets makes it a big no no for me
Good spot. I'd just done a full review and it must have got hooked under as I was moving it around for this. They are pretty sharp frets though... it's definitely one of my main criticisms of the Grote. I've got it feeling better now, some very light sanding goes a long way.
@@appetiteforguitar it does indeed. I make guitars so I’m very fussy but I understand for a budget they have to cut a few corners. But for £3-400 you can get ready good quality guitars nowadays
Ah, very cool. I'm not at the stage of making them yet! I was thinking of giving a StewMac DIY LP a go, but I know that really most of the work is already done... and even then to get a really good result is labour intensive. I appreciate it's a very highly skilled task to make from scratch. I'd agree, it's much better to spend £300-500 on something with higher QC and parts. I've just got the new Epiphone Les Paul Studio in to review that sits right at that price point. It's in a different league entirely to the Grote. Review will be up I hope within the next week.
@@appetiteforguitar making a guitar is a lot of work, the math for a break angle on the body, and head stock for the scare joints need to be spot on, after that it’s all carving and sanding. Finishing is by far a dark art and the hardest to master, so stew mac or any guitar kit build is a great way to start. I have a few vids on my channel from back in 2018-19 if you want to check them out, I will maybe have new content out this year too. Making guitars and trying to run a UA-cam channel was just too much work for me while also having a full time job.
Yes, I will give those a watch. The actual fabrication and numbers involved sounds challenging to say the least. The finishing part actually looks scary on a DIY kit for a relative building noob like myself too. I can set a guitar up, deal with frets etc like a lot of people. But a full glorious sunburst paint job for example looks tough. Balancing all that you were doing on guitars and a job etc must be hard. Running a YT channel in itself is a lot of work. I sympathise with having to focus elsewhere. I'm going to see how it goes. Even a single review takes a long time, so I'm very grateful that you watched even this video. For now, I'm experimenting, seeing what goes down well... mostly reviews for now but I'm trying to be flexible with it. Lessons are on my agenda too along with set ups, tone tips... the list goes on! I just need to find time for it all. Phew...
Epi all the way - particularly if resale value matters to you.
😆
Epiphone any day - with Grotes - LOTS have been pulled apart and the pickups found to be single coils made to look like Humbuckers
That's really interesting. A few people have said that about the single coil... hmmm. That's such a strange one. I intend to do a video on an upgrade of tuners on this and will dive into the pups at the same time to get to the bottom of it. Despite it's flaws it's actually a really fun guitar to play and is such a beauty. I did a review here, but I'll do another one on the upgrades too: ua-cam.com/video/GmzkncWLlAw/v-deo.htmlsi=swEj6Uoa8TeSWp7g
For the money, you could buy the Grote and upgrade the electronics, nut, and tuners.
For sure. I'm tempted to go that route with this one.
It comes down to this;
If you're a professional studio musician or live player.. then the brand names are worth the cost,
even if you're just a serious collector too.
But if you're simply a hobbiest player/enthusiast.. the cheaper 'knocknoff' brands are perfectly fine, and typically a really good deal.
So basically there are about 3 ranges..
Pro = spend the big money.
Semi pro = $500 and up range
Hobbiest = $170 to $300 is acceptable
This is why all these comparison videos make no sense to me..
There's nothing to compare, I mean what's the purpose/goal? 🤔
If you paid $200 you're not going to get a $500+ quality.. is this really that difficult for people to figure out?
Please stop judging pots by the size of their footprint. CTS makes mini potentiometers for crying out loud!
My comments still stand re these two guitars. The Epiphone is made to a much higher standard. The Grote is a fun guitar to play, but needs a bit of work to get the most from it. I am gradually softening my view on pot size though. My latest project is using mini pots. I'm about to switch out the pups on an SG style guitar for some Alnico Fleor Humbuckers. Apparently they're amazing for the money. I'm sticking with the existing small pots on that one and we'll see what happens. I looked at full size, split coil etc pots, but it may not make much difference to the sound and it's a hassle to bore out bigger holes for the fatter shafts. The issue could be in durability. The size pots is more of a reflection of money saved in the construction (if they're cheap pots) and they are usually in budget guitars. Small can be good though if made well, so I acknowledge that. Video incoming on the new pickups... I hope they rock!
@@appetiteforguitar We're largely in agreement. The point I'm trying to get across is that small pots shouldn't automatically be regarded as trash just because they don't take up much space.
The potentiometer is such a simple little thing that Edison "invented" one almost a decade before he filed a patent for the incandescent light bulb.
Edit: Tolerances are important when it comes to resistors. Diameter is barely worth mentioning.
@@anthonystark5412To me the output of a pot is more important than the size of it. Example I've replaced 250k pots that meter 229k with ones that meter 239k-250k and get excellent results. Much improved sound quality.
Bourns also make some high quality "small" guitar pots. So size does not equate to quality.
dont you mean a Epiphone Les Paul vs a Grote single cut.... as there are only 2 companys in the world that can actually use the Les Paul name, Gibson and Epiphone.
I went with that to keep it clear and obvious this time about the style of guitar. Specific nomenclature noted for the future. Keep rockin'
TBH, the Les Paul shape is just a generic single cutaway guitar shape. Though Gibson claim it's original, it's actually not. @@appetiteforguitar
Orville hasn't made guitars in a good while, but the still technically have the rights
While we're being pedantic, don't you mean, "Don't"?
Don't you mean "companies"?
Don't you mean, "Gibson owns Epiphone", so that's actually only 1 company that can use the Les Paul name? Epiphone is to Gibson what Squier is to Fender; i.e. a brand rather than a separate company.
When referring to knock-offs, I think it's ok to say "a Les Paul Style" guitar rather than just saying "a Les Paul" guitar
Pretty sure grote are factory 2nd epiphone that they put cheaper hardware on. Both are cheap chinese crap, one has awful hardware that need replaced for 200$, the other has decent parts that you will still probably replace for 600. Tbh im pretty biased against Epiphone, cause ive never played one worth owning.
I've got a couple of Epiphone Studios too as well as this Trad Pro. I really like them. One South Korean made from 1998, the other a brand new Chinese one. They both sound and play great. I nearly went for the Gibson, but the new Epiphone Studio is just so good for the money. The Gibson will probably be acquired too at some point when the time is right. The least refined I played was the Special II, but that's a really cheap guitar so some leeway is due - it was the tuners which didn't cope with bending very well which is not surprising at the price - easy replacement, and it's still overall a good starter guitar/modder base. I do currently have a PRS newly acquired and the quality on that is really outstanding, so I've got that as my most recent benchmark for comparison. The QC on my new Studio seems excellent, but I need to dig into the internals before I make a final judgement. I find it very hard to believe Grote comes out the same factory as Epiphone... in person the feeling of quality is very different. I believe Epiphone have their own dedicated factory. But then the Grote LP is much cheaper than a Studio, for example. The new Epiphones, from my experience so far, have a lot of care taken over them. I've been lucky so far to have only played good ones. Review of the new Studio is upcoming. Keep rockin' 🎸
I get the impression that you were pretty biased against Epiphone before you ever played one.
Individuals with sub-par intellects often mistake their simple confirmation bias for something more erudite.