I find that Gibsons tend to sound better than Epiphone, but they are seriously over priced...Here in South Africa the cheapest Gibson Les Paul we can buy is R3000ish, thats about $3500, and I can get an Epiphone Les paul for about $500, it has too much to do with the name...I find that Cort Guitars are awesome and here they are not expensive as they are not really available in USA, I got a guitar with a Wilkison floating bridge with a rolling nut, rosewood fretboard and maple body and neck, with one humbucker and two single coils for nly R2000, about $200, and that was brand new...if I was to buy a similar guitar by Ibanez or someone it would have cost tripple that
Andrew