screw the look and name

i have matured i think in guitar purchases.....at GC yesterday i shopped extensively for a guitar under $800....i kinda want an sg but the gibsons in this price range sucked imo. i tried usa/fenders, schecters..ibanez...jackson..etc. i made my choice---this was the the best sound and player of the bunch and it is an sg!! why is this epi $400 dollars cheaper and a thousand times nicer in playability and tone than the gibson???

It's all personal preference man........I've played good and bad Epi's and also good and bad Gibsons. They vary from instrument to instrument....

The Epi's are getting better than they used to be..

true.... :cool:
i just want to get the point across that you MUST play the guitar first then decide!!!! Even guitars of the same make and model vary somewhat.

I almost bought one of those a few years back. I went for a new amp instead.

Those guitars are pretty nice but like FRICK said, it's the quality control that is generally the problem with Gibson and Epiphone... If it's bad for Gibson you can imagine how bad it is for Epi. It's always a good idea to play the specific guitar that you're going to buy. Unless you're getting a bargain from an online store or something and in that case you better get a warranty or money back guarantee..... So if that's the axe you're going to want to buy try to play the exact one you're going to buy... And if they say "We're going to go grab one in the back that's in a box." Then tell them that you're going to get it out and play a bit befoer you buy it....

yep....so i wrote down the serial # to make sure it is the same when i go back in couple weeks to purchase!!! :D

Man, that is a sweet looking guitar!!!! I've just never been a big fan of Epi or Gibson's. :rolleyes:

it is different. it has 3 volume knobs for each pickup and a universal tone knob. with the switch in the mid position it activates all 3 and in the other positions it activates bridge/mid. or neck/mid. so if you want just bridge or neck you need to turn off volume on the mid. pickup.....i really liked the way it felt in my paws.

Hey, thats all that matters! If you like the way it plays, sounds, looks.......its all good from there on! :)

I remember being in my early 20's seeing guys buying the really expensive guitars and bragging about them and they couldnt even play a lick. At that time one of my favorite guitars I had was a Fender Katana. I use to catch all kinds of BS from guys with high-end Jackson's, ESP's and the like. I also had a Hurricane Ex60 back then that was a killer guitar. Ever heard of them? Wished I had kept that Fender now! lol....

I go with that too, it doesn't have to be an expensive guitar to suit you, the last guitar I bought was a Washburn N1, no floyd, no locking stuff, just 22 frets of comfort to play. I love that axe... it sounds great, it's light weight, the neck is a bliss to play and the price was... trtrtrtrrtrtrtrtrtrttrtrtr (drum roll)

Tsssssssss (cymbal crash).

Ka-ching: $120 usd, in 6 payments cause I used my credit card...

I can't think of a better deal ever... well maybe if it was a N4... but let's not mess with my luck.

I once had an Epi Les Paul and it sucked, but i guess they can be hit or miss as has been said. I completely agree that you should "screw the name" on the instrument or amp...I've been playing a Carvin electric exclusively for 6 years now and I've never picked up another guitar that feels and plays quite like it. Most folks have never even heard of Carvin (i guess cuz theyre not sold in stores)...Forget the fact that theyre a great "bang-for-your-buck" (i think that term has a bad connotation anyways) they'd be worth it if they cost the same as a PRS or Gibson...luckily its on about half the price.

Originally Posted by: Homebrew1709 Most folks have never even heard of Carvin (i guess cuz theyre not sold in stores)...Forget the fact that theyre a great "bang-for-your-buck" (i think that term has a bad connotation anyways) they'd be worth it if they cost the same as a PRS or Gibson...luckily its on about half the price.

I think you'd be surprised at the amount of people that have heard of Carvin. They're actually a pretty high end guitar manufacturer and they have been around for a long time. They make some very nice guitars. I think they recently redid a Custom replica of EVH's FrankenStrat.

Oh yeah, I've never owned one. But I have played a few Carvin's over the years. They make some great guitars.....and amps for that matter.

Originally Posted by: halo71Oh yeah, I've never owned one. But I have played a few Carvin's over the years. They make some great guitars.....and amps for that matter.

Yeah, I forgot about their amps. Steve Vai's signature amp is made by them I believe... I think it's called The Legacy or something like that... Never played one but I'm sure they're pretty nice if Vai endoreses them. They make some killlller bass amps too.

Originally Posted by: aschlemanI think you'd be surprised at the amount of people that have heard of Carvin. They're actually a pretty high end guitar manufacturer and they have been around for a long time. They make some very nice guitars. I think they recently redid a Custom replica of EVH's FrankenStrat.

The company you are thinking of that did the EVH replicas is Charvel, not Carvin...they either used to be or still are affiliated with Jackson guitars...

Carvin actually celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2006...pretty damn impressive for a company that only sells direct to stay around for so long. Thats a mark of a great company as a whole.

Originally Posted by: Homebrew1709The company you are thinking of that did the EVH replicas is Charvel, not Carvin...they either used to be or still are affiliated with Jackson guitars...

Riiiiight. I knew it was something like that. All I remember about the gutiar itself was that it was terribly overpriced for a guitar with a single humbucker in it.... I don't like Van halen much so I never paid too much attention to the major details of the axe.

One thing to watch out for. Alot of shops that sell Epi v. Gibson will setup up the gibson all nice and easy to play, even going to great lengths in the setup to make the guitar have very little if any fret buzz.....The epi will come out of the box and go on the shelf.

When you play the two you think the Epi sux and the Gibson is all that...and thats reinforced by the drooling sales kid looking to make more money on the Gibby.

I bought an Epi from an online retailer after trying a few out around town (all played fairly crappy, yet I know several big name guys who use EPI's so I said, WTH.) I bought the epi and out of the box it played ok, after a good full day of setting it up, tightening the truss rod, adjusting the bridge etc...a friend of mine who plays professionally and uses only Gibson or Fender said he couldn't tell a difference at all and when I told him how much I paid he was shocked.

Sure all instruments play differently and everyones tastes differ. Just make sure you can tell a good axe from an axe that has been set up like crap.

Cheers!

That's a sweet lookin' axe!

I've owned a lot of guitars over the years, and I still have a bunch of 'em. The one's I keep all feel right in my hands, and they sound great. Nothin' else matters.

Nice looking instrument. Try before you buy. Yup that works but since i only own 5 guitars that i tried first out of my 26 item collection that don't hold true. I only have one guitar that is a stick and that's shaped like an AK 47 assault rifle. I get most from Ebay and all of them are real gems. Oh except the AK 47, more of a novelty thans a guitar. The look is as important. I have gained a lot of experience over the years working with guitars and players as a roady/driver in the music business so i can see a dudd when i see one.

As for Epiphone over Gibson. It's a lot to do where they were built. I have noticed the same with Fender and squire, the cheaper modeled squires feel and play better then the more expensive fenders. Over here in the UK the Genuine article is way expensive. your 800 dollar guitar is double that over here. Jacksons seem to be the only ones that hae no diffrential between playability charvelle and charvette guitars play the same as the real mcoy and are a fraction of the price although Charvettes are now so rare they are worth bundles especially the hot pink ones. They cost as much as a top range Randy Rhodes. I'm waiting for a mass produced Vinnie vincent Model. The real Job would set me back at least 4.5 grand including import taxes from the USA and thats the only place to get one. GRRRRRRRRR

That's like this Ibanez RG1570 fascination I have now.. I checked out all the Ibanez's.. even the ones I knew I couldn't afford.. and all but the most expensive two in the store were anything close to the feeling the lower priced RG1570 gave me the moment I picked it up and held it. The price is roughly a third the cost.. but then I live in Australia and have to pay all sorts of luxury taxes before I get my final price.. They were asking $1570.00 Australian Dollars for it.. and they were asking $5499.00 for the JEM with the mirror finish, not sure which model.. but it's top of the line signature model I think.. Big difference in price.. no difference in quality.. except for possibly the pickups. Also they were chucking in a hard Ibanez guitar case as well without me having to haggle for it.. so with a bit of haggling, I might get it down a bit.. but I'm thinking that it's already a cheap price for it.. the other prestige models were $1899.00.. so I'm thinking it would be that price normally.. but they are doing a special RG 1570 for $1570.00 deal or something..

Oh dear... look at that.. I've turned a simple reply post into a novel.. lol

I just recently bought an Epi Les Paul standard and I absolutely love it. I am not sure why, but it came with grover tuners on it. Stays in tune forever, and it sounds great. I think that I picked a good one, but I played it quite a few times before I got it. I think that if you try out some Epiphones, eventually you will find the cream of the crop, if you will. A local music shop in my small town has a Gibson LP studio in wine red. I've heard it is a great guitar, but I like to play my Epiphone more than this one. Awful..... So I think that you can get great guitars from Epiphone, and Great guitars from Gibson, but both also have some pretty bad ones. I say, just play whatever feels comfortable to you, in price, and playing.