what corners are cut to make a gibson an epiphone?

[jonathan_matos5]

i know of the whole cheaper cuts of wood and made in a different country, but what else?:confused:

[allan]

Most everything.

:)

[rowka]

Although I will say, more often than not these days new $500 Epi Les Paul guitars have a much cleaner fit and finish than its $2500 Gibson counterpart.

[cdb]

i know of the whole cheaper cuts of wood and made in a different country, but what else?:confused:

7 year old girls are assembling them in indonesia during 12 hr shifts... the wood is cheap, etc...

[jonathan_matos5]

7 year old girls are assembling them in indonesia during 12 hr shifts... the wood is cheap, etc...

does that make it cheaper than my bass assembled by 8 year old boys in Korea?

[oldivor]

does that make it cheaper than my bass assembled by 8 year old boys in Korea?

Girls normally have better fine motor skills.

[jonathan_matos5]

Girls normally have better fine motor skills.

you and your under aged asian girls:rofl: ;)

[The Lurker]

Although I will say, more often than not these days new $500 Epi Les Paul guitars have a much cleaner fit and finish than its $2500 Gibson counterpart.

+1. Gibson's QC these days is pretty horrible. Some of the goofs I've seen in the last year or so go beyond fit and finish-- a friend of mine tried and I tried out a Les Paul Custom a couple weeks ago, and the neck pickup didn't function. The store guy opened it up and started swearing a blue streak because the pickup's wires had never been soldered on, and were waving around loose.

Most Epis, e.g. the Thunderbirds and most of the Les Pauls, SGs, and so on, have had different construction too-- a les paul will usually have a bolt-on neck rather than a set one, and a thunderbird will be set-neck or bolt-on instead of neck-through. Electronics were usually much cheaper, too.

The last few years, though, Epiphone has been making huge leaps in overall quality, especially the Elite series.

[ironfist]

Yeah, Gibson's quality control has sucked for awhile now. Poor fretwork, sanding swirls in the finish, etc.

Epiphone makes a ton of products from the very cheap to the very nice. The Japanese made Elite series are often better than their Gibson counterparts. Epiphone has also made a lot of cheap disposable junk over the years (Accubass anyone?) but overall they turn out good instruments. For example, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard has been a great budget guitar for years. It's built just like the Gibson but as stated before, the woods probably aren't as nice and the electronics aren't as good. Fit & finish has always been pretty good and they have a set neck joint just like the Gibsons (the really cheapie Epi LP's have bolt-on necks). They were made forever in Korea by Samick but last year Epiphone moved production to China.

The biggest reason Epiphones are cheaper is because they are made overseas. That trumps pretty much everything.

[oldivor]

you and your under aged asian girls:rofl: ;)

Don't forget shanky >:0

:D

[jonathan_matos5]

Don't forget shanky >:0

:D

indeed;)


http://www.occidentalism.org/pic/irie2.jpg

[brake]

Although I will say, more often than not these days new $500 Epi Les Paul guitars have a much cleaner fit and finish than its $2500 Gibson counterpart.



I would definitely agree to this. I played one of the new Epiphone Rippers with the P/J setup and it was an awesome bass.

[philthygeezer]

http://www.12fret.com/new/Gibson_SG_classic_07.jpg

I'll be contrarian here. I bought this $999 Gibson SG Classic with P90s over an Epiphone. Fit and finish was excellent though I do understand that others may not be this good.

Then again I always wanted an SG, and I like the way the P90s sound.

[brake]

It's definitely not impossible for a new Gibson to be nice nowadays, though I've seen fewer and fewer over the last couple of years. You got a good one, it seems.

[Rusty the Scoob]

I'll count myself as another contrarian. The SG I bought C for her birthday is a killer guitar... they were closing it out as it has a discontinued finish.... it's not shiny. I've never played or heard an Epiphone that was anything other than "meh"... they're nice guitars, made more or less with the same designs, but the Gibson guitars play better, and really sing. Quality wood makes a big difference.