Tried 2 Les Pauls out today

Rocker1 · #1 07-15-2007, 03:11 PM

Well....... i was at my local music store today, and i caught sight of a Epi Les Paul Black Beauty, and a Gibson LP Goldtop, i tried both, the gibson was better, but it does hav better pickups, and the epiphone felt the same but didnt sound it. I cant afford the Gibson but i can afford the Epi, so is it worth getting the epi and puttin the burstbucker pups in it or should i save for the gibson

I ask u guys cos i havnt had any experience with LP's and not sure if there are any issues with a cheaper guitar.

Anyways

Thanks

Salamander In The Sun · #2 07-15-2007, 03:46 PM

It still won't sound exactly like the Gibson, because it's made from lower quality wood. The Epiphone uses a mix of alder and mahogany for the body, as opposed to the Gibson's body, which is solid mahogany. In addition the Epiphone has an alder top, while the Gibson has a maple top.

The Gibson probably has better wiring and hardware, as well.

If you really want that Gibson tone, you've gotta spring for a Gibson.

That's not to say that Epiphone's are at all bad, though. Hell, I know for a fact that Epiphone's Elitists are as good as some Gibsons, and are made with high quality materials.

An Elitist will cost you about as much as a Gibson LP Studio, and will be the better guitar.

dannymills · #3 07-15-2007, 08:22 PM

It's called an Epiphone Elite. Elitism is not a good thing - they would never call a guitar an elitist.

Racerx2k · #4 07-15-2007, 08:33 PM

Here's my 2 cents:

I had an Epiphone Les Paul flametop a couple years ago. It played like a dream. Even the other guys in my band were amaezed and agreed that it played better than either one of their actual Gibson Les Pauls. There, was, however, one nagging thing: The tone of it had this sort of hollowed, chambered thing to it, like it was a chambered guitar, instead of solid wood. It could've very well been the other tonewoods involved, but, whatever. Point is, I couldn't seem to dial out that overtone, and ultimately ended up selling off the guitar cause is bugged me so much. shame, cause it DID play wonderfully.

David McCarroll · #5 07-15-2007, 08:38 PM

Believe it or not Danny, they are called Epiphone Elitists! They are made in Japan, they are very good, and they are VERY EXPENSIVE! Like, so much that they are not imported into Australia because there is almost no difference in retail price.

To answer Rocker's question, there really is a universe of difference between an Epiphone and a Gibson - ALL of the hardware on an Epi is pretty well, um, crap, their gold plating is infamous for having a working life of a few days, the electrics are absolute junk and the pickups are ordinary at best.

So, you can take an Epiphone Les Paul, put in Burstbuckers, replace the bridge and tailpiece with Tone Pros (which are considerably better than Gibson hardware for a few reasons) and you will have a pretty decent Les Paul copy - but you still have to factor in two, or actually three things; As Sal said, the actual strucure of the guitar is different, so it is never quite going to be a Les Paul; you will end up spending quite a lot of money on parts, and tech time if you don't do the replacement yourself - how much more would the real thing cost? And lastly, what's the resale/trade in value going to be - Epi's don't really hold their value very well in the secondhand market because there as just so damn many of them out there.

So, thik through carefully what you want to end up with. Epiphone, when they first were restarted by Gibson did actually make guitars for the Japanese market - you can tell these mainly because they have the correct Gibson headstock shape, Japanese Tokais are really excellent Les Paul copies (Korean Tokais are junk), Japanese Fernandes Les Pauls were pretty cool too - all three MUCH better than the Korean/Chinese Epis.

Also, I know it's not quite what you are looking at, but a reasonable alternative to all of the above is the PRS Tremonti SE - PRS get their Korean guitars from World Music (Cort), and I don't know quite how they achive it, but the build quality, finish, playability and sound are miles above anything else that seems to come out of Korea, so if you can get your hands on a Tremonti SE, or a Singlecut SE, give 'em a try before you whack down bucks on an Epi.

You can add BurstBuckers to any of the above (obviously) - they are easily the best pickup Gibson have produced in the last thirty or so years, so again, as an upgrade, fantastic, but work out what it is going to cost you - in the end, what you really want is a Les paul - it might be better to simply save a bit longer!

Cheers

David

**Ayrton** · #6 07-15-2007, 11:57 PM

Epiphone Elitists were made in the Fujigen plant...

quiksilverdew · #7 07-16-2007, 12:32 AM

Well, I can attest that Epiphone electronics are horrible, but I for one think that they are making better playing guitars than Gibson currently. When I got my Epi Explorer I tested it against 3 brand new, fresh out of the box Gibson Explorers. why 3 you ask...the first two were DOA. The pots hadn't even been screwed all the way and there were screws MISSING...on one of them (the second) the bridge pickup didn't have any output at all, just silent. The third was pretty good, but still not as good as the Epiphone. I bought it and a few weeks later the bridge pickup died (or I thought), so I got a DiMarzio Super Distortion and a PAF for the neck while I was going in there. I installed both, only the neck worked...WHAT DO YOU KNOW!

The middle pot had totally died, and I realized after changing the bridge that it had burnt out. I soldered the Super D straight to the tone pot and bypassed the Volume control for it (short 1 potentiometer at the time)...

I just kept it this way because I have plenty of Planet Waves cables that cut the signal, so I didn't need a volume knob for the bridge pup on an all out metal guitar.

Lesson learned...Epiphone, first try, Gibson, 3 before one worked (Well, but not worth the 700 dollar price difference).

I really wanted an Epiphone Elitist LP for a long while, but then I saw the Edwards ones, so now those are the only I would consider at this point as they are exactly what I want (SDs, Perfect Flames for me, you know...)

If I hadn't found those I would get an Epi...I think that they are in general better than Gibsons (And I own 3 Gibsons [1981 Flying V, SG Standard, SG Special]).

MadRyan · #8 07-16-2007, 01:05 AM

I tried out about 20 or so today and bought a beautiful white studio.

David McCarroll · #9 07-16-2007, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayrton

Epiphone Elitists were made in the Fujigen plant...

And probably still are, unless Epi have moved everything to their (eeeuurghhh!!) Chinese factory.......

**jim777** · #10 07-16-2007, 10:06 AM

Heritage makes a very nice Les Paul for less money than Gibson.

Rocker1 · #11 07-16-2007, 10:40 AM

how about a gibson les paul studio premium plus?

jemplayer55 · #12 07-16-2007, 11:40 AM

Want something like a Les Paul on the cheap but well built and slightly different?

http://www.hagstromguitars.com/swede.html#

Find a old used one..... load some nice pickups and....

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/Gea...x?Item=1685791

**jim777** · #13 07-16-2007, 11:48 AM

Those Swedes are nice. A Guild Bluesbird is another very high quality and almost totally overlooked guitar as well in the LP vein.

jemplayer55 · #14 07-16-2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim777

Those Swedes are nice. A Guild Bluesbird is another very high quality and almost totally overlooked guitar as well in the LP vein.

My brother had a swede..... we changed out the pickups and that was as nice as a LP Custom. I think it was a "75" model, had ebony fretboard, and great workmanship for it's price! Wish we still had it!