Have Epiphone Prices Hit Their Limit?
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- Опубліковано 7 бер 2024
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Players need to come to the realization that the only way this stuff will come down in price, is to .... wait for it ...QUIT BUYING IT!!!!
That will never happen because there will always be buyers. We need hard legislation against corporate greed
BINGO
People just need to buy other guitars that are just as good and less expensive. Then Epiphone will be forced to compete on prices.
Voting with your dollars is your only real power in the modern world and people seem to forget about it.
I'm never buying a 1500e Epiphone. Maybe in 20 years if the inflation also made its way to our salaries
Paying more than 800 dollars for a chinese Epiphone is some crazy shit.
Facts
The Epiphone Kirk Hammett V is $1,300. The Gibson equivalent is $15,000. That's some crazy shit. I mean, this is exactly what he's talking about. They make you want the unattainable guitar so badly that you'll pay the higher price for the import. It's crazy to pay that much for the Epi, but what's even crazier to me is that there are people who will pay for the Gibson version. There's no way the Gibson version is more than 10 times better than the Epi - and at this point, I'm not convinced that the Gibson version is really better in any meaningful way at all
Paying more than 400 dollars for a chinese Epiphone is crazy as far as im concerned.
@@edreynolds8721cost is also low because of the tech and low labor cost.
500 max used on CL all day
I think Epiphone and Gibson can keep their guitars for those prices.
Thanks Phil
They're about the same price, which is bullshit. Gibson is made in the US and should be much more than a guitar made with slave labor in Indonesia.
@@joeking433they aren’t the same price at all though. The equivalent Gibson is 5x+ more.
Keep them? They fly off the shelves. If they didnt sell, they wouldnt cost that much. Just because you won’t pay it don’t mean I wont
A lot of people buy what they want, price be damned, look at how many 600.00 scarfs and 1400.00 handbags Gucci and Luis Vitton sell…
Forget Gibson and Epiphone. Buy EVH and be done with it. EVH guitars are so nice and play so easily with tone to die for, they are a far better value.
This old notion that if it’s only made in the US it is so much better. It’ simply not true.
Evaluate the instrument, know your shit, shop around and pay accordingly.
Enjoyed your thoughts on this. As a player who has owned all the big name brands, I have to say I’m over it. I believe there is way too much emphasis placed on these brand names and way too little placed on actually playing guitar. Get an instrument that inspires you and play the crap out of it. A name on your headstock does not make a player good. I get it that guitars are fun to collect and we are all at different levels in our journey, but these companies are manipulating people through marketing to care more about a logo than actually using the instrument for what it is intended for. Kiesel is the best bang for your buck. They look, feel, play great and stay in tune. I’ve owned two Gibson custom shops and they were huge disappointments. Would not stay in tune, even after two trips back to the custom shop in Nashville. My Epiphone from 1997 never goes out of tune and in my opinion is just a more reliable guitar for playing live. I mostly just buy used these days and save a bunch of money. That way I’m not worried about getting dings in my new $4500 guitar at a gig. All the best to you Phil.
Well said.
I've got a Kiesel in my sights.
I don't give a damn about the rationalization for these prices. These prices are ludicrous and the product is not worth it. Period. What I see coming from these companies is...contempt.
Buying used Asian guitars for 500 usd or less doesn't seem to affect my playing in a negative way.
This is the way.
@@mattschwartzstein3159 The used market is the only place I would look for a nicer Epiphone but don't be surprised if these 'overpriced' models hold some value
My early 00s Japanese Jackson is my fav! Also there are a couple 90s Peavey instruments that rip too!
I bought a used epiphone wino jerry cantrell sig. For 480, its only a year old and half price on used mkt
@@dannyturner7967 SWEET 🧁 Used is the best way most of the time. I do my own setups n feet work and once I got good at it was able to buy pretty much anything not warped or battered and get it playing great.
We don't have to buy overpriced crap when the second-hand market is so ripe for the picking.
Bitching about it is going to drive more buyers into the used market, driving all prices up and making the new expensive guitars seem lees-so by comparison. You aren't making any sense.
@@richsackett3423 Bro do you even reverb? Prices are falling and I've had two offers on Gibby LP's that even I thought were too low and they were accepted lickety split.
True. The market for selling guitars on Reverb and eBay has softened to the point where most of what is listed can be had for less than a similar guitar sold for 2 years ago.
@@dank6852 what a strange made-up story.
@@richsackett3423 OK. 60's Tribute LP Studio w P-90's, $1K. $800 Special with Mini Inlays. Late last year I grabbed another LP studio probably just under $1K. Apologies you don't have that kind of scratch. Believe me, there's more impressive stories to make up on the internet than ones about used gear. Sounds like you just like to complain.
I bought one of the now discontinued Gibson tributes for $1200 and it's a fantastic guitar. No way I'm paying over that for a Chinese Epi. The Age of affordable USA guitars and cheap imports is over, and not surprisingly this is coinciding with the general decline of the West.
The comparison isn't really a budget Gibson these 'overpriced' Epi models are still a small fraction of what Gibson charges for similar models. I get what you are saying but what people are really mad about is Epi offering premium models. I say get over it Epi is a solid brand and if they can sell $1500 guitars good for them
Vote with your dollars. It’s the only way to stop them.
While I agree with you I feel like sometimes most companies would RATHER go under than bring their prices down. We'll see how that works with guitar companies.
Dollar is not worth more than pennies anymore due to spending from our current administration in Washington DC.
This is the reality. I buy and sell hundreds of guitars a year. I got a gibson les paul studio smokehouse burst 2023 for 800 local. Mint. I got an epiphone amos for 700 dollars local. I sold the epiphone for 1100 and the gibson for 800. My advice. Buy as many gibsons as you can. They are average over half off used. This is the absolutely best time to buy gibson guitars. For whatever reason people are flocking to epiphone but the margin makes no sense. Search you local markets and buy every gibson you can. This whole crazy pricing will absolutely change one day
Typical corporate move. Gibson saw Epiphone quality is up because of tech, but the prices were still affordable thanks to tech. Gibson saw it eating into their sales, so instead of making Gibsons more affordable, they raised Epiphone prices. More profit, but likely less sales.
The only sensible take in a page of comments.
Exactly.
A money grab by any other name...
I doubt if they were eating into their sales. Those who are seriously shopping for Gibson are not shopping for Epiphone. It is a money grab, so I’m on the same page as you. It’s as Phil stated. They are trying to get the bigger money with the Gibson shoppers and tease the others with an identical lEpiphone. Then they raise the price to where it is at the threshold of ludicrous, yet people will still hold their noses and buy it. Like any other company, they have a staff of bean counters who know the market and are very good at forecasting what working people will pay to get what they want. And it does work, dumb as it may sound.
But they don't cost more... The Epiphone LP Standard 50s/60s has listed at $700 since they were released in 2020, and can often be snagged for less through various sales. An LP Classic can be had starting at $500 MSRP. The expensive ($1k+) models are all limited edition/signature models or special finishes. They're *additions* to the top end of the offered product range, not price increases of their standard models. Just... don't buy those.
Gibson is doing the same damn thing with their US-made range. A "regular" Gibbo LP Standard is like $3k. Roll into the Custom Shop/Murphy Lab, or (heaven forbid) Aged Reissue lines and you're looking at $7k to *$20k*. For a factory built assembly-line guitar with some fairy dust sprinkled on it. And like Phil said, you're gonna wait 2 years for it, because they're selling every single one they make. Why would they stop??
Epiphone for $1900.00? No way!
Absolutely, that's ridiculous pricing, but get this, I'm a lefty and a Epiphone USA Casino hollowbody electric guitar sells for $3499.00, it cost more than a "Gibson Les Paul standard".
Epiphone asking twice the price of a Mexican Fender is just ridiculous.
Yep
Guess you haven't looked up Mexican fender prices lately.
@@Yostopactinjive I’d rather pay Mexicans than Chinese, our enemy(CCP)
For the price they are asking I would rather have a Eastman guitar. Same price and way better quality MHO
Rather have an Eastman than a modern Gibson...My LP Custom is a Burny and is built every bit as good as Gibson...Burny,Tokai& Eastman are right up there...
or A Reverend
Have three Eastmans. Get 'em before they get too expensive because they're heading that direction fast.
The Eastman LP guitars are under 8 lbs or they don’t make it out of the factory.
Times are tough. As a working musician, now it's just have one really good guitar and stick with it for life.
One is none and two is one. A working musician needs a back up.
@@Southernguitar74 Yeah I know that to be the case, but as I said, times are tough. These brands are only getting more expensive.
I thought that the point of Epiphone was for people who couldn't afford a Gibson? It seems that they are just going to price themselves out of the market? Greedy bastards!
Have you always hated capitalism?
The best way to force prices down is to make sure the manufacturer discovers that the public will refuse to buy the product until the price is appropriate.
People will buy them and Epi offers options at price points starting around $200 so what is the issue?
the problem is that people don’t refuse it in real life, everyone complains about the prices but at the same time people keep buying them at whatever price they sell them for because it says adam jones, kirk hammett, dave mustaine… you name it. And not just with epiphone, LTDs and schecters used to be dirt cheap too
The problem is they are selling. Cant even get the grohl guitar right now. Why wouldn’t they charge this.
Facts
Because they can.
I bought my Gibson '68 Flying V for $699 in 1994. The Epiphones were $299 for comparison.
This is why I love Harley Benton!
Amen, their higher end models are so great. I'd easily take 3-4 HB's over a single Epiphone.
I just purchased the Harley Benton JA 25th fire-mist this morning. I already own the Harley Benton JA-60 OW and
love it.
@@bluesdawg8014 i have the te 52 tele better than any Fender under 200 delivered!
I've never tried an HB, but I just took a look at that JA model and it seems pretty nice and the price was pretty damn incredible.
You can still get an Epiphone Les Paul Standard for $699. That's about $100 more than it was 10 years ago and in-line with the crazy inflation we're feeling on all goods... These $900-$1500 Epiphones ARE NOT the cheap junk at the bottom, they usually have USA Switchcraft parts, CTS pots, USA capacitors, Gibson USA pickups. In other words, you're getting the soul of a USA Gibson in a Les Paul body for about 50-75% off the price of a USA built Gibson... Under JC's leadership he elevated the Epiphone brand to put it toe to toe with what Fender is building in Mexico, and I would say the entire Inspired By Gibson lineup has been a huge success and these guitars are great alternatives..The value of the US dollar goes down a little each year, it is what it is.
Agree with everything except the "soul" (yep, I had to be, that, guy) of a Gibson. Having been down (and still on) the 'put USA parts in/on your Epiphones and making them equal to Gibsons is not the case. I've tried and tried and tried with different Epiphones. They're still fun for kicking around with and having a halfway decent sounding and good playing (after some more work) guitars.
The expensive Epiphone still uses the same woods, frets etc. So you still get the junk, just with fancy electronics.
@@stratolestele7611 Is soul of Gibson poor quality control? Being done by poorly paid imigrant or manual workers in USA?
Fender MIM is more affordable and you get a better guitar
What are you talking about? Look at the specs on the Epiphone 59 ($999) for example, solid Mahagony body, solid AAA maple cap... No one knows what fretwire Gibson or Epiphone use, they are non stainless steel frets either way. They will wear over time and you'll need a refret. The fretboards are Indian Laurel on the Epiphones, you get real inlays, you get a Nitro finish (one of the most expensive things here), and you get more bench time by Gibson to dress the frets and other attention to detail... But the bench time you can pay a tech to do with a setup and fret dressing and truthfully you need to do this with a new Gibson as well. So, generally strongly disagree.
It won’t work in the long run for Epiphone as long as brands like PRS SE, Schecter, Ltd, etc keep offering Korean made guitars at prices around $1000 which are superior in every way.
PRS SE's are Indonesia made
@@frankschmidt4311 May be they produce in Indonesia now. The PRS SE Custom 24 (from 2018) I use on my channel is made in Korea.
Agile makes a pretty good Les Paul too, also MIK. Korean guitars and aftermarket parts are generally decent and well-priced. Indonesia produces some good guitars too but I think they also have some really low end stuff. My Squire VM and Faith acoustic were made in Indonesia, both excellent. The Faith is fantastic.
Indonesian PRS guitars are fantastic.
You shouldn't be surprised by this but you also shouldn't support it and you should speak out against it. Friends don't let friends overpay.
thanks for speaking up about this. I appreciate guys like you who understand how things really work
00:55 Love the Cartman (South Park) impression with the echo. 🤣 I was kicking around buying a $1500 Epiphone Bonamassa SG. I ultimately went with a Gibson SG Maestro, my first Gibson...cherry is officially popped now. It was that psychological price threshold on the Epiphone that took me to that "might as well get a Gibson" decision point. Maybe Gibson and Epiphone are rigging prices that way. Many people will look at that $2500 price tag on the Gibson and think the Epiphone is a bargain.
It's a free market. If you like and you think it's worth it then buy it. If not buy something else.
I'm never going to buy Epiphone at their new price point, in fact I'm offended by their greed! It's time for Players to say No!
Over AUD$3k for the Dave Grohl model now in Australia. It's insane. That will get you into USA strat money territory lol.
I found one for around $2700 online. But still. Laurel fingerboard? They’re just taking the piss now
@tylerdurden5122 yeah agreed. Lol yeah laurel instead of rosewood is a bit rich.
I paid $475 for a 2014 Fender Standard Strat, with case, that was unused and had been in controlled storage. There isnt too many that sound or play, or look, as nice as this one. I was totally surprised.
$1000 in 2024 is equivalent to $125 in 1970. In 1970 it was really hard to find a playable guitar for $125.
Comparing $1000 in 2024 to $125 in 1970 suggests a big difference in purchasing power. In 1970, $125 could buy a playable guitar, but with advancements in manufacturing, $1000 in 2024 can likely buy a much higher-quality guitar
It's my understanding it's much cheaper to make quality guitars today. So there should be a cost savings passed on, which the cheaper Amazon brands do.
You're comparing 1970 apples to 2024 oranges.
They don't compare in quality of build, manufacturing costs, or as the other guy said, the power of the consumer dollar in spending.
@@PowersPoch Bingo! You finished my thought. Thank you!
@@charlie-obrien Exactly!
Prices will keep going up let’s just accept this and enjoy playing our guitars knowing they are rising in value!
Most Indonesia (Cort/Cortek made) guitars I've tried have been very impressive. The guitars they make for Ibanez, PRS, and Schecter are usually very well appointed and are ready to gig out of the box. The Cort brand guitars are usually less expensive because there's no middleman brand, and they offer the same great quality. I highly recommend the Cort X700, G300, and KX700. For Les Paul style guitars, Vintage & PRS SE have some great options.
Companies like D'Angelico have been charging 2k for import guitars for years. Many of these Epis have Gibson pickups and hard cases which cost money. I recently bought an Alex Lifeson Ruby Red and it's well worth the money.
Imagine paying that for Indian laurel
The value of wood is purely based on tradition. If martin and gibson had used indian laurel back in the day, guitarists would want that instead of brazilian rosewood
@@ileutur6863nah cause Laurel sucks and yields the most dry boards imaginable. Why they chose that over other much better options is insane.
@@ileutur6863 nah Indian laurel looks like ass.
I always watch your channel for your knowledge of the musical instrument industry.
And to think I bought my Worn Brown Gibson SG Faded for $600 in 2009… lol
I bought a Gibson LP studio new in 2005 for $1000, with a hard case!
Hard to want to buy any new guitar at the current prices, so guess it’s time to finally learn to play 😂
And i can find them for about 850 online, so right on track for the same cost adjusted for inflation.
@@patrickmcpartland1398 not for a brand new one like what I paid! I was comparing how the Epiphone prices are very high now compared to what base model Gibsons used to be. The world has gone crazy!
@@patrickmcpartland1398 just waiting for the amount of money I earn to catch up with the rate of inflation, and then I can buy guitars again
Worn Brown Gibson = modern day relic custom reissue limited edition = add some zero’s to the price. lol
I own two Epiphone Explorers. A $699 Ghosthorse and a $799 Prophecy. Imho they’re a great bang for the buck.
I just got wise and started buying used project guitars.
I end up with the exact guitar i want out of it with sometimes simple mods and upgrades
That's the reason I started building my own guitars. I've made around 50 over the last 13 (or so) years. some were duds but most turned out good, some turned out very good. The point I wanted to make(and prove to myself) is that you can make your own three thousand dollar guitars for a lot less than three grand. And have a lot of fun doing it.
I just pimped out two glarrys and a squire and they play so nice. Its a lot of work to get everything just right and it usually cost about $400 but they play like a dream
@@tinytim1389 Exactly!!!!
Just picked up an Epiphone J-200, not a cheap guitar, for me at least. But I love it!
Important point to understand: guitar dealers aren't concerned with whether you buy the top dollar guitar or the less expensive guitar. They want to sell the guitar with the best profit margin. And that might be the most expensive or it might be the cheapest guitar. And even MORE important, they want to sell as many as possible in a given period of time. Imagine if you asked someone how much money they make and they said (like in Rainman) "a hundred dollars". That could be a lot or almost nothing, depending on the period of time it takes to make that amount...one minute, one hour, a day, a week...as well as the background econony, i.e. how much $100 will purchase. So the prices being listed...there might be a huge markup, but the retailer has to balance that with the consideration of how many of these units will sell in a month, or a year...a profit margin of $1000 a unit is meaningless if you don't sell any! :-). Anyway, my 2¢...thought provoking episode, as usual. Cheers
FYI. Visited Sam Ash in New Haven CT. A sad looking store, w sad long term employees and prices on diminished inventory almost the same as before.
Some pretty insane shit going on
When i first lived outside Nashville in 2004 Gibson had a store at the Opry Mills mall. I went in there one time and saw they had Epiphone guitars for the price of 1,000 and maybe a little more. I asked a salesman about it and said Guitar Center in the same city had them for $500.00. He said they include setups and etc. i guess they wanted people to feel like they would be taken good care of if they bought from the factory. Sometimes famous Japanese builders at Epiphone made guitars that were that expensive.
In Tokyo the prices have also gone up… and I thought it was just the currency exchange. Searching for a nice Japanese brand instead… but in general everything has gone up.
Yeah, I haven't really bought guitars in like 6 years and it's gotten crazy. Even the Japanese brands that I used to go for for the "secret deals" aren't nearly as cheap as they used to be.
That said, unless things have changed radically since after covid, Edwards and Navigator make nice new production Gibson patterned guitars. They're part of ESP, made in Japan, and even have the right headstock shape because they're for domestic market only.
I have a 3 humbucker black beauty LP custom from Edwards from like 10 years ago and it's great.
Edwards is lower end than Navigator (It's kinda like highest end Epiphone vs Gibson) but still pretty nice. Edwards I'd say is comparable to high end Epiphone and ESP's LTD EC-1000 line, and it looks like you can get them used for the old Epiphone prices sometimes judging from Ebay and Reverb right now. I'd imagine that if you're in Tokyo you can get them for even better in local stores or whatever.
The lowest end of ESP's brand of domestic only Gibson-style guitars is Grassroots, but those aren't made in Japan.
If you go used with the older Japanese lawsuit era brands for Gibson-style guitars like Greco, Tokai, Fernandes, Burny, etc., you have even more options and they can be nice if you buy the higher end ones of that era (i.e. the ones that aren't bolt-on necks, have fret nibs, etc.). Though with their age they're more likely to be beat up or have issues with wiring or whatever else you tend to run into with old used guitars.
Biggest issue with those brands is that they have new production instruments that are made in China, so you'll have to do research to tell if it's MIJ or MIC. Easiest way for me to tell though is that if it's a LP Custom style and it has the Gibson split diamond inlay. You see that and it's a pretty sure bet that it's old enough to have been made in Japan, lol
Got an early 80's Greco Peter Frampton style LP Custom that has the right headstock shape and even the split diamond logo and fret nibs.
That one I got at old Epiphone prices at $600-ish iirc, but that was also pre-covid.
Anyways, sorry for the long-winded comment. Hope you find something good.
Much smaller companies do import lines too. Eg Dingwall and Ormsby. They will never have the power to dominate the market, and their imports aren't cheap. However it does provide an entry level to their products.
Guitars are cool but with Bidenomics killing all of us we need groceries too. I’ll play my awesome $300 Ibanez, it does everything and then some.
How is “bidenomics” killing us? 😂😂😂
@@Cmunic8 It certainly isn’t helping us.
Phillip, thanks for filling this video with such wisdom. Oh wait, that's what you do with all of your videos! PS) I just realized that I only own USA made guitars (1977 Guild D40C; 1970s (?) Spector NS-2A bass (non-stock, employee-made?); 1989 G&L Skyhawk Signature; 1994 C.P. Thornton custom *trat (that I bought directly from Chuck). I'm a terrible guitarist, yet terribly lucky to own such truly fine instruments.
Neat conversation you got about the guitar industry you got phil - its funny hearing this perspective and conversation as its essentially the same thing in the gaming industry in terms of "Value propositiion". A lot of people really dislike the way most AAA games are going and now are moving away to more indie/AA games and what have you. Such games as "Helldivers 2" which has gotten critical acclaim and is worth $40 vs Starfield made by a AAA studio that ultimates a very dry and mismanaged experience for $70. Perhaps a lil confusing - all I'm saying is its funny to hear the same conversation in a different industry and its p much the same convo regardless of which we talk about like how you were talking about Apple.
This is all to say - love the conversation, and been watching for a while on your main channel. Keep doing this awesome thing you do.
Keisel has a sweet niche. Where else can you get a FULLY custom guitar, with your choice/combination of style, wood,finish, color, hardware, pickups, etc? I bought a fully custom chambered guitar with MIDI for more than half of any of the other brands "Custom" shop. 15 years down the road, it still plays great.
my 15 year old epi 295 hollow body gold top plays and sounds great ! my family got it for my 50th birthday. It is made in Korea with p90's they paid 700.00 brand new. it's discontinued now .Came w/bigsby tremelo bar
I have 8 Epiphones in the arsenal my Bonamassa 335 being the most expensive. With Gibson pups and pots I was shooting for a 335 at a third the cost not so much the high dollar for an Epi. I think most manufacturers want you to buy 10 not just 1 and for years the features vs price metric kept increasing to where you can get a damn fine axe fo 650 or less. I have a Firebird I got for 650, not paying twice that for a cool paint job. Especially since the Iceman is back for 800 or less!
And because of that, used 90s, 2000s MiJ Epis and Orvilles are up in prices as well. Lucky if can get in one for USD600
I picked up the epiphone greeny and for the price I payed the fretwork is scratchy and needed work. I also picked up an Ibanez rg550 and the fretwork is beautiful so smooth and silky, a pleasure to play for half the price of the greeny, I own several Epiphones and some high end Gibsons, but I’m done they need to improve quality if their charging more, they will get no more money from me for premium priced substandard workmanship.
You make a lot of sense, Phillip. One thing you didn't mention is buying import guitars, perhaps on the used market, and upgrading them if you, as a player need to make specific improvements. This is where secondary sellers like the Stratosphere on eBay make their money. I know it's a different issue, but I'm thinking about guitars like the Epiphone Casino (and Casino Coupe) which aren't available as U.S. made (Gibson) models. Maybe you have thoughts on that too?
1998 Godin artisan strat, 2012 worn brown gibson lp a Valencia nylon acoustic and a vox mini 5 cost about $3k nz which I have accumulated over 5 yrs and maybe $2k nz spent and gone over 20 yrs before that . A shit ton of money but I can't live without playing.
My 4 Epiphones (spanning 30 plus years) in order; Les Paul Special 2 (first electric kept in classroom so I could sneak in some practice time), Wilshire Pro (incredible sound horrible quality), Wild Kat Royal (great guitar at any price), and Slash Epiphone Les Paul Special 2 (cuz, well, it's Slash!) To me that's what Epiphone is (was); a mix of their own unique classics and affordable copies.
A Squier Classic Vibe 60s that is a reissue of a 60s Strat except for a Laurel fingerboard is $429 vs Epiphone 1959 Les Paul reissue with Laurel fingerboard is $1299 (nearly quadruple the price).
Like many have said, the buyer sets the market. If sales for Epiphones drop by significant margins quarter over quarter, the prices will come down. Look at the PRS SE Silver sky. They were 850 when they first came out, but you can find the new all day long for 630+.
I have a client for whom I made a total custom guitar almost 25years ago. The client had bought an early Dean V back in the mid-80s and it was the first one I'd ever had the opportunity to examine. I told the client it was spectacular, and way superior to a similar Gibson. I had also gotten my hands on one of the first Fender Japan 62 Reissue Strats and told the same client to buy one ASAP, because they were (are) THAT close. The same thing with the first Epiphone 335 DOTs. See a pattern? PS the client is VERY happy they listened to me.
Everything has gone up in price over the last few years. Cars, houses, groceries, energy, restaurants etc.. of course the guitar makers are following suit. That bring said, I bought myself an Epi '59 Les Paul last Christmas. $749 with Gibson burstbucker pickups, Cts pots, Switchcraft toggle and input, Mallory capacitors, 50's style braided wiring and a Epi hardcase. The guitar looks, plays and sounds fantastic, and was surprisingly well set up/intonated right out of the box. It was an excellent value for my money considering the Gibson equivalent is $6700, almost 9 times more than the Epi. The exorbitant "Made in America" price gouging and snobbery is what people should really be complaining about in my opinion.
I have 3 Epiphone Les Pauls, all are beautiful, one is a 2005 Standard, one a 2010 Slash and one a 2021 1959. None of them I would swap for a Gibson. But I did play a £600 Epiphone Les Paul in a shop recently and it was horrible, I think I was lucky with mine.
I have 2 Epis: a '16 LP PlusTop Pro with gorgeous flame, cherry burst. A 2023 IG 335, cherry. Both guitars are absolutely outstanding instruments I'd put against a Gibby anytime. Paid $749 for the LP and $699 for the 335. Epis are still in this price range unless you're going after a sig model. The recent quality of Epis has really risen to a whole new level. I'd have to pay $3k more for a Gibby 335 and not get anywhere near the quality bump for the money.
Most people don’t buy phones, they’re given free when they purchase a plan.
I am glad that I bought my guitars a while ago when the prices were less. Nowadays, there are great manufacturers in the UK, US, CAN, etc. that can do a great instrument for a Epiphone Dave Grohl price (or close).
I cannot stand the truss rod adjustment screw on the Epiphones because I can never find a hex head allen wrench when I need to make an adjustment and if I do, they are difficult to use. I much prefer the universal standard truss rod adjustment nut that you find on the Gibson/Heritage etc USA made models where i can use the same truss rod wrench that is included with the USA models right in the case when you buy them.
On that thought, I'd also like to know where I can get a Flying V guitar with the same exact specs (right down to the truss rod adjustment nut) for $300.00 instead of $2400.00-$7000.00) from Gibson.
Yes that metric system is real pain in the butt. You can never find wrenches for it.
I recently worked on a newer Squier, and was very impressed with the neck and the fretwork. The craftsmanship is much improved over the older stuff. Hardware and electronics are still sub-par, but still quite impressed overall.
The other thing I wonder about , is that these price increases might help the many small/one-person builders out quite a bit. They might actually be able to charge what they're worth.
Fretwork is always a crapshoot with budget guitars. My Squire Vintage Modified came with perfectly level frets and smooth fret ends. Much less work for me. The Duncan designed pickups aren't bad either. In fact the only parts I swapped out were the block and the ugly white pickguard with a pearloid. I paid $299 for that guitar 3-4 years ago. The VM's have since been discontinued, but I see the Classic Vibes are up to $450 now.
I just bought a Squier body and neck for a Classic Vibe 70's Jass bass that I'm putting together and the quality over even a few years ago is significantly improved.
I went to Guitar Center last week and there are still a boatload of Epis priced in the $400-800 range. The ones everyone's up in arms about are almost all signature models (Grohl, Hammet, etc). Basically if you don't need a famous person's name on your guitar, you can still get plenty of Epiphones at the prices we're more accustomed to. For example, they had a number of gorgeous flametop 335s for $700. Functionally the same thing as the Grohl model. This is overblown.
Guitars are the new tulips if you can understand that reference.
Good reference.
@@DougHinVA- Yes, and "Bubble"- as has preceded disastrous COLLAPSE, in several speculation - collapse events in the "boom and bust" cycle of industries, in the last couple hundred years.
- To get Academic about this "Tulip" reference , Couple hundred years ago, (when New York was called "New Amsterdam"), the Dutch had huge fortunes via their shipping of spices, silk, porcelain, etc. from the Orient, THE RICH had fortunes to spend, on Amsterdam homes, paintings, and ( to this day) flowers. Tulips, being early and hardy, brought high, then insanely high, prices. For uniquely colored, early tulips, ONE BULB could sell for the price of a modest home, on land, in the outskirts of Amsterdam. Like all "bubbles", after a couple decades, the frenzy wore- off, and tulip priced dropped, speculators lost their asses...
- If the "guitar bubble" runs outta buyers, the $150 Fender Squire will return...
@@DougHinVA It actually happened from 1634 to 1637.
First plus $1K China guitars I saw were the Jacksons late last year because I was jonesing for a V. Slept on it for a few weeks, grabbed a used Carvin V at equal or lesser price.
I bought a used Gibson Flying V 2005 it’s not the faded though, it’s like a dark shiny cherry looks like the 67 it’s beautiful still plays and sounds great I got it for 1900 I had to have it and it’s all original not modded I’ll keep my gibsons that way , not to mention how cheap good sg’s are I’ll never pay that for an epiphone
I paid 700 bucks for a hand made les paul style guitar, made right here in knoxville TN where im from and it shits on anything epiphone makes. Even came with a case. Gregory Glandon guitars for anyone curious. All under 1000 bucks. Pretty sure mine has a real nitro finish if im not mistaken.
"Is that a real nitro finish Clark?"
Whenever I read comments from people bashing on Epiphone's prices versus American made guitars, I chuckle a little. For us players outside the USA most guitars are import guitars, in some cases they can all be pricey. Sometimes a USA-made guitar can be out of reach for most players, but luckily nowadays there's plenty of quality instruments at more affordable prices. Case in point, Epiphone. They're pretty good instruments, sure they're getting more expensive, but they're still more obtainable for a lot of players and that's cool. I think everyone deserves a shot at enjoying a good instrument.
yes, but not everyone gets the shot, if they are asking 2k for Chinese made guitar.
I dunno...I own all the big names. Just gained possession of a setup FireFly 338, $225......and played it on stage TODAY!....Big names need to be MORE than nostalgia (like say....Harley Davidson). I am going to KEEP this 338!
I watched a video a few months ago about the Epiphone prices going up. It’s because Gibson will no longer be making guitars in that price range anymore , cheap Gibsons will now start at around 3 to 4 grand and anything below that will be a Epiphone and Epiphone will get to use the Gibson HS.
I remember back when Jeff Kiesel started doing Q&As, someone asked why they stopped making the Carvin Cobalt acoustic guitars. And he said, plain and simple, they couldn't keep the quality up to their expectations. The world is a little smaller these days, to where I'm sure they could have more qualified eyes on the product. They could do the SE thing where someone in the US takes a quick look at every guitar to make sure it isn't complete trash. But the room for error is pretty high. Kiesel have rolled with inflation pretty aggressively. I bought a mostly barebones Carvin DC in 1998 for $729. Building a similar one today would be right at $2k. I would hope that they're not losing money at those rates. Maybe not printing money, but I never thought that was the aim.
Next, Squire prices will go through the roof
Squier just had a more reasonable price adjustment recently.
But Fender already has multi tiered price/equipment levels ...
2 or more Asian, 2 Mexican and several USA levels.
Once again, at least in marketing, Fender has been way ahead of Gibson for years.
Never been 'an Epiphone guy,' but their recent offerings are pretty nice guitars. Everything costs more these days, simple fact. That said, if you're patient and open your options up, you can find nice guitars for decent prices. Just bought a Godin Stadium HT (Tele style) guitar--made in Canada, very nice gig bag, brand new for $650 shipped from Pro Audio Star. Now it's back up to $1100. So you just have to be patient and pick your spots.
My 2019 Fiesta Red 50's Classic Vibe Strat still slays and I bought it new for $350.
The Epiphone Frontier from the USA collection commands a whopping price tag of $3,999.00, five times the price of the Chinese-made Masterbilt Frontier at $799.00. Like the Casino, there are several key differences between these two to justify the vast gulf in pricing.
The Made in USA Frontier is made in Bozeman, Montana, in tribute to the original Epiphone Frontier made from 1958 to 1970. The guitar has high-end materials to suit its high price tag, including a solid Sitka spruce top and solid figured maple back and sides, Indian rosewood fretboard, traditional hand-scalloped X-bracing, and gold-plated Gotoh Keystone tuners. The Epiphone equivalent, impressively, features similar construction, including the same materials for the guitar’s top, back, and sides. Even the “lariat-and-cactus” pickguard, as seen in the image above, is common to both instruments. The primary difference in the guitar’s construction is it’s bracing, as the Chinese-made Frontier lacks the hand-scalloped X-bracing of its American cousin. The Masterbilt Frontier also uses Indian laurel, rather than rosewood, for its fretboard material, which has lighter color.
epic sound effects Phil!
I have recently purchased several expensive Epiphone guitars including the Firebird V. Most have Gibson USA pickups and other premium features along with very good fit and finish. Epiphone prices are going up but they are still relative bargains to Gibson counterparts that are also going up in price. I have never been disappointed with any of my Epiphone purchases and they usually get more play time than my Gibson guitars.
A lot of these high priced ones are signature models and they are putting higher end electronic and hardware in them. Buy em used and get a better deal. Most people who jump on these when they first come out and then sell them. Just picked up a Marty Schwartz 335 used with a small cosmetic issue for a song.
I have always said I would love to see a 335 build with gibson parts and wood- made in epiphones factory- and selling for 2k-but they dont want that competition
To be fair I played a 1959 les paul reissue (Epiphone)
And the sound playability and overall quality is leaps and bounds better than in the past
I chose it over a Gibson Studio.......or Traditional
When Epiphones are released with the same headstock angle as Gibsons, and a two screw TRC, I will consider paying a high retail price for one. Until that day, I will purchase used Japanese made Elitist or domestic market Epiphones, which do have those details.
If the only reason for the cost of these is insane markup and it becomes the norm then someone else will swoop in to fill the gap. For me, there's marginal additional cachet to have Epi on the headstock. Certainly not $1k worth.
I miss the good old days on reverb when my GAS days were high and mighty…just up until 3-4 years ago. So many USA made guitars.
Epiphone guitars are all...cra*!! Every single Epi I have owned has disappointed and any price. They are junk , especially the new ones.
Lolololololololo!I look lolol
Nonsense.
I have a brand new Epi SG, ordered from Musician's Friend, and delivered by GC. The guitar plays & feels great. The pups are coil split, and the finish and fretboard are flawless. The problem is the fret markers past the 12th are heavily grooved. I know if I return guitar I might not get as nice of a player, so I will try to do the finishing work myself. Should I still call GC/MF? 🤣😂
ESP are doing the same price gouging; LTD George Lynch Desert Eagle = $1,699... made in Indonesia and comes with a cheap Korean Floyd Rose 1000. Ridiculous.
There is a Bonnamassa gold Epi Firebird 1 Treasure, mint with all the documents, special gig bag etc locally for $750. Maybe I should buy that thing!
Are you aware that Epiphone is using real mother of pearl inlays, Gibson burst bucker USA pickups, and Grover roto matic tuners on most of the higher end Gibson inspired guitars? I don't think you could buy the Gibson pickups and Grover tuners for $300. Just my two cents.
I have a pristine ES-335 I bought new. I immediately installed locking tuners as I did not know better. Have I ruined the value of this bright red beast?
for most even me being Canadian, i don't think that made in USA is the selling point. just good quality control, which yes is also lacking by the workers even in some American fender factories who are more than underpaid.
agree 100%. it is much easier to hide bad soldering, and craftmanship in a phone which will almost never be serviced its entire lifespan. sadly, guitar electronics are much bigger lol. easier to see where they cheaped out.
I bought 2 Epiphones in the last couple years. One an SG that was $450 and then the 58 explorer which was like $800. Both good guitars but not amazing. Needed something cheap while relocating and bought a Squier affinity tele for $250 and it's honestly a better guitar on all fronts.
They have to get better if they want to follow this marketing strategy.. solid maple caps.. frets need to be perfect.. and the wiring is atrocious.. so bad I wouldn’t buy a semi hollow unless I was a professional tech..
If you want a reasonably priced guitar built in SE Asia, consider a Squier. I bought a Squier Baritone the middle of last year. The build quality is really quite nice as is the playability.
Squiers haven’t been worth anything since about 2005. Throwing a ton of lacquer on a chunk of green wood hardly makes a great guitar. None of them stay in tune or intonate. Same with modern Fenders.
I never said it was a great guitar.@@zerosoma33 I said reasonably priced. I have done only minor set up work to it. I play it regularly. I have had zero problems with its stability. And as much as I would like a Reverend Baritone, I couldn't justify spending +/- $1,000 more. For a no longer professional, home studio player, it meets my needs. Safe travels.
I have some Yamaha and Alvarez acoustic guitars. They sound great and great. Prices, in general, are going up.
The sky is blue.