Gibson/Epiphone

[Lozz196]

Ok, not bass related but musical instrument related. Last week I bought a Gibson SG Standard, great guitar but realisation hit at the weekend, I’m not in a band playing guitar, and very unlikely I will ever be so having a grands worth of guitar seems a bit extravagant.
 

So I ordered an Epiphone SG Standard which arrived today. I was hoping it would sound ok and play ok, if it didn’t I’d send it back but hopefully it would do for my needs.

 

Would it do, it’s amazing, I prefer it to the Gibbo! Now I’m not a great guitarist, I can play rhythm pretty well but that’s my limit, but this Epi just works, and out of the box with no tweaking at all plays and sounds fantastic. 
 

Am well chuffed, my mature decision to offload an expensive instrument and replace with a cheaper version has paid dividends.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[ubit]

38 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Would it do, it’s amazing, I prefer it to the Gibbo

In what way do you prefer it to the Gibson? Sound, looks, weight?

[Crawford13]

I often get tempted to offload my highend gear and buy more modest equipment. 

It always passes, but sometimes the mood  takes me that I don't need thousands of £'s of gear. Luckily my wife always tells me to stop being silly and that I have worked hard to have nice things. 

 

But then I see stories like this and the loop starts all over... 

[Lozz196]

15 minutes ago, ubit said:

In what way do you prefer it to the Gibson? Sound, looks, weight?

Looks it’s exactly the same aside from headstock, weight is about the same, it’s the sound and the playability that do it, it just feels better in the hand and reacts better to my playing style. 

[Skybone]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Looks it’s exactly the same aside from headstock, weight is about the same, it’s the sound and the playability that do it, it just feels better in the hand and reacts better to my playing style. 

 

Can't argue with that. 👍

[Sparky Mark]

I much prefer the cheaper faded (satin) finish to the (sticky) high gloss finishes on Gibsons. Gloss is beautiful but not as comfortable to play for me.

[Nicko]

I feel the same about my US made Fender PB which has not been out of its case for around 2 years - the Squier CV does the same job and did most of the gigging duty when I was in a band.

 

Guitars - I have nothing too expensive just far too many of them really.  My Epi 339 was the most recent purchase and I think its good quality.  I've always bought what feels right rather than what looks good or has the right name.

[Geddys nose]

I had a Gibson Heritage LP and got a Epi 1960's LP  the Epi sounded so close and played better IMO so the Gibson went.

 

I don't think anyone builds bad these days,  My Bass Centre Betsy is such a great bass in sound and playability.

[BassAdder60]

I had the Epi Les Paul Custom Pro with Probucker pickups 

 

I too thought it was better than the Gibson Les Paul 

 

I also had the PRS SE Tremonti which after a pickup upgrade was a great guitar. All gone now in preference to playing bass 👍

[Stub Mandrel]

The top end Epiphones look and sound great.

 

For Gibson they seem to be the equivalent of Fender's made-outside-America instruments, rather than Squiers.

 

This is true of their basses as well.

[casapete]

36 minutes ago, Nicko said:

I feel the same about my US made Fender PB which has not been out of its case for around 2 years - the Squier CV does the same job and did most of the gigging duty when I was in a band.

 

Guitars - I have nothing too expensive just far too many of them really.  My Epi 339 was the most recent purchase and I think its good quality.  I've always bought what feels right rather than what looks good or has the right name.

I quite fancied a Gibson 339 when they were first introduced, but didn’t have the funds. Remember trying the Epi 339 soon after and it was not far off the same quality, great guitars. Ended up with a 335 in the end!

[ubit]

All I know is I built a Strat, and two basses out of bits from eBay. I bought the electrics and pick ups from KiOgon and they sound as good as the American standards that I also own.

[SteveXFR]

When I bought my Thunderbird I went to the shop with the intention of buying a Gibson which was discounted to £1500. I tried it and liked it then just out of curiosity I tried the Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird which was £499 and thought there really wasn't a grand worth of difference. I preferred the sound of the Epiphone as well so I went home with that and the shop dude was regretting mentioning how good the Epiphone was.

I've also seen recent photos of Alice Cooper's bassist playing the Epiphone for live shows.

Edited August 18, 2021 by SteveXFR

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, SteveXFR said:

When I bought my Thunderbird I went to the shop with the intention of buying a Gibson which was discounted to £1500. I tried it and liked it then just out of curiosity I tried the Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird which was £499 and thought there really wasn't a grand worth of difference. I preferred the sound of the Epiphone as well so I went home with that and the shop dude was regretting mentioning how good the Epiphone was.

I've also seen recent photos of Alice Cooper's bassist playing the Epiphone for live shows.

 

I tried one of these and was astounded by how nice it was. I really expected not to like it...

[Barking Spiders]

I had a similar argument with myself viz getting a 335 (my #1 choice of any guitar) or an Epi copy in natural finish. I've got an Epi Sheraton II. It's a heavy beast for a semi and initially the neck seemed a bit thick for my dwarf hands but now I'd never get shot of it. It's that good it's cooled off my ardour for the 335.

[Stub Mandrel]

I wanted a 335 or similar, even looked but ended up trying a Yamaha Artcore AS53... TBH my guitar exploits don't justify spending a lot and I already had a Tokai SG.

[SteveXFR]

A friend of mine has just sold his vintage Gibson Les Paul and replaced it with an Epiphone 355. He absolutely loves the 355 and says that other than slightly cheaper feeling tuners and bridge (both of which function perfectly well) it's just as good as a US built product. 

I think to be honest, in making the Epiphone products so good, Gibson have really shot themselves in the knob.

[ubit]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I tried one of these and was astounded by how nice it was. I really expected not to like it...

I have always loved Thunderbirds but couldn't justify the price. I bought an Epiphone Thunderbird and was completely unimpressed. It was underpowered and sounded poor. The Vintage Pro must be a step up,

[Bassassin]

Always had a bit of GAS for Epi's Thunderbird Pro (the through-neck stripey active one), but never wanted a 'proper' T-Bird.

 

I deeply regret missing a Pro for £100 on my local FB ads - just have to keep telling myself it was probably nicked!

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

A friend of mine has just sold his vintage Gibson Les Paul and replaced it with an Epiphone 355. He absolutely loves the 355 and says that other than slightly cheaper feeling tuners and bridge (both of which function perfectly well) it's just as good as a US built product. 

I think to be honest, in making the Epiphone products so good, Gibson have really shot themselves in the knob.

 

Two years ago everyone was saying Gibson are going down the river.

 

I think this is a deliberate strategy to regain visibility for their instruments. Once Gibson & Fender were the 'top brands', but Fender have held the top spot alone for a couple of decades.

[Stub Mandrel]

8 minutes ago, ubit said:

I have always loved Thunderbirds but couldn't justify the price. I bought an Epiphone Thunderbird and was completely unimpressed. It was underpowered and sounded poor. The Vintage Pro must be a step up,

 

It is, set through neck and better pickups.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Stub Mandrel

[SteveXFR]

27 minutes ago, ubit said:

I have always loved Thunderbirds but couldn't justify the price. I bought an Epiphone Thunderbird and was completely unimpressed. It was underpowered and sounded poor. The Vintage Pro must be a step up,

 

It's a big step up from the old bolt on neck Epiphone t bird. Oddly there's not a big difference in used prices between vintage pro and the old Epiphone with bolt on neck

[BreadBin]

Tune-o-matic bridge on the Vintage Pro as well 👍

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, SteveXFR said:

A friend of mine has just sold his vintage Gibson Les Paul and replaced it with an Epiphone 355. He absolutely loves the 355 and says that other than slightly cheaper feeling tuners and bridge (both of which function perfectly well) it's just as good as a US built product. 

I think to be honest, in making the Epiphone products so good, Gibson have really shot themselves in the knob.

Agree, back in the 90s I had an Epi Les Paul Custom, when I bought a Gibson Les Paul Studio the jump in quality, playability, tone, well it was very noticeable. Now that jump isn’t so much, aside from price tag of course.