Are Epiphones serious guitars?

[Sleeko]

The $650 Joe Pass has been replaced with a $900 Broadway. I personally love the Broadway, but wanted a single pickup guitar so I've been buying and selling things left and right instead of coping with what I have and like.

Guild has a very good offering for a single pup guitar. The Savoy X-150 is definitely worth checking out.





Of course the Epi Zephyr Regent might work as well.

[DawgBone]

I lucked out back in the day, came to my senses and nabbed the very last Byrdland and Broadway from Fuller’s Music. These were purchased brand new $1600.00 each. I’ve seen them for sale recently for $2500.00 and more.


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Not surprising. They were hitting over 3k online in the height of the covid buying frenzy. Was just too rich for my blood. Beautiful guitars though.

[rpjazzguitar]

I didn't have the patience to read the entire thread so apologies if this has been asked and answered.

What, exactly, are the physical differences between the Gibson and Epiphone versions of say the 175 or the LP? And, what are the differences in sound?

Things I've seen go wrong with cheap guitars are frets coming up and hardware breaking.

I regularly play and sometimes gig a Yamaha Pacifica 012, their cheapest Strat copy. I really like playing it, mostly because the slim neck. But, it had replacement tuners when I got it and I have sinced replaced the switch, the output jack and removed a dead bridge humbucker. I'd say that it doesn't sound quite as good as an Fender American Std Stratocaster, but it's close. It stays in tune much better.

[DawgBone]

I didn't have the patience to read the entire thread so apologies if this has been asked and answered.

What, exactly, are the physical differences between the Gibson and Epiphone versions of say the 175 or the LP? And, what are the differences in sound?

Things I've seen go wrong with cheap guitars are frets coming up and hardware breaking.

I regularly play and sometimes gig a Yamaha Pacifica 012, their cheapest Strat copy. I really like playing it, mostly because the slim neck. But, it had replacement tuners when I got it and I have sinced replaced the switch, the output jack and removed a dead bridge humbucker. I'd say that it doesn't sound quite as good as an Fender American Std Stratocaster, but it's close. It stays in tune much better.

The biggest physical difference is the thickness of your wallet after purchase. The epis, such as the LP, generally use cheaper woods and ultra thin veneers on the flamed/quilted tops instead of full thickness. The electronics are generally cheaper, though Epi has stepped up their game in the pickup dept and sometimes in the pots dept in the past few years depending on specific model. The tuners might be solid, or they might be kinda crappy. I never trust an Epi 3 way switch for gigging, just my experience.

All that stuff is fixable for about the same price (or more) than you pay for the guitar but you're still in for a lot less cash than a Gibson. IME the setups on Epis ain't too bad from the factory but sometimes the nuts are plastic on their lesser models. Never seen one with frets coming up or hardware breaking. I'm actually pretty blown away by how much better a cheap squier or epi is today vs what they sold in the 90's. Solid wood vs plywood bodies on squier strats, usable tuners vs complete trash. The pickup are usually a lil better but still leave a bit to be desired in a lot of cases. But still, most of them have bad electrics (pots and switches) as the achilles heel yet still generally better than 30 years ago.

[John A.]

There is one definite objective difference between Gibson and Epiphone versions of the same model -- scale length. Gibson's nominal 24-3/4" scale length is actually 24-9/16" (+/1 a bit depending on when the guitar was made and/or random variation), whereas Epi's is actually a consistent 24-3/4". The reasons for this are a rabbit hole (google "Gibson rule of 18" if you care to fall down it).

I have two guitars with the Gibson scale, and one with a true 24-3/4" scale. I think it does make a slight difference in feel (the Gibson has, maybe, a little slacker feel to it), but I'm not 100% sure of this because there are other differences between the guitars that confound this variable. Nearly all Asian-made Gibson-like objects have the true 24-3/4" scale (the exceptions are some higher end MIJ guitars, e.g., the Seventy Seven I have).

But this does not really affect the question of whether an Epi (or some other guitar) is a good guitar (I don't know what "serious" means). I've played a few recent Epi's (Dot, Riviera, Sheraton, LP, though not the IBG 355), and I thought they sounded and played very well. But if the question is "how close to a Gibson does the IBG really come?" the answer is going to be at best "very close, but still perceptibly different to some players" because of the scale-length difference.

Ditto for most other copies (or near-copies), such as AS-200, etc. But this is at the level of "hmmm, there's something a maybe bit different about this, but I can't quite put my finger on it", not "yikes, this thing sucks!". I did see an IBG 355 in a shop (didn't try it), and it definitely looked the part. The finish, inlay, and binding work looked as good a real 355, which I don't think is true of the prior non-IBG iterations.

[Gustavo Eiriz]

A few years ago a bought a 175 pro by EPI.
I had a Gibson Es175, so i could compare.

Epi was a lighter build, more resonant, it had a thin laquer mate, pickups were gibson classics 57, bridge was pinned.

Soundwise was great, but tuners needed to be changed in order to have a very good giging instrument.

Gibson acoustic sound was muddier and soft, heavier guitar, seems more durable. I didnt compare amplified sound since i sold the Epi very quick (i bought it crazily cheap in an auction in japan and it was meant to be re-selled from the start), but surely amplfied sound was fatter in the Gibson due to the wood thickness.

Wrapping it up, the price wont justify the difference totally, but the difference was there. I could certainly record an albun with that Epi if the setup was good (tuners changed).
So yes, they are serious, everyone is now i think.

[Bob_Ross]

I've never owned an Epiphone, but I've played at least a half dozen of them over my life. Copies of a Les Paul, of an ES-335, of a Johnny Smith, of a J-45, I think of an SG (or wait, that one might have been a Madeira)

And they were all serious enough guitars.

...but not as serious as their Gibson equivalents.

[Stringswinger]

I have owned 5 Epiphone guitars over the years.

3 were hand carved vintage archtops (2 made in New York and 1 made in Philadelphia). These were as "serious" as any guitars can be.

2 were Asian made (an archtop made in Korea and a Les Paul made somewhere in Asia, probably Indonesia). These were "serious" guitars to be sure, but as stated above, nowhere near as good as their USA made Gibson counterparts. But, one could gig with these guitars.

Buy and play the guitars that inspire your playing. If a modern, Asian made Epi does the trick, you are in luck. At their current price point, they are a bargain.

[vintagelove]

Give me a epi/squire/japanese anything that had its frets looked over by a good tech over most any "standard" offering from the main company. I have 2 Greco LP's that lay waste to any Gibson I played. Hell, I TRADED a Gibson for the Greco, it was that good.

[snoskier63]

Epiphone began making acoustic archtop guitars in 1931, and for more than 40 years their guitars were very desirable and of a very high quality. Gibson bought Epiphone in the late 50’s with quality remaining for a while, but in the 70’s that quality declined dramatically as production was shifted overseas. Quality eventually returned, and today Epiphone guitars are quite good.

Initially, Epiphone guitars were different in that it was a unique brand of guitars. Since being purchased by Gibson, Epiphone gradually became Gibsons less expensive little brother, mostly replicating the more expensive Gibson models.

[snoskier63]

Another thumbs up for the Epi ES175 Premium. Can’t do any better for that price!

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I certainly tried, as I just got this gem from Eastman. Probably slightly more expensive than your Epi, but considerably less expensive than a ‘57 ES-175 which it aims to replicate…and succeeds very nicely!

[ScarTissue]

I did play two Epiphones, ES 339 with humbuckers, and Les Paul Classic, also model with humbuckers. Both around 500 - 550 $ price range.

And I will tell you - Epiphones became really good guitars. They are really nice.

It is just - I am not a Les Paul guy, I tried it more for a learning experience. And ES 339 feels odd on my body.

But both do sound really good.

So yeah , Epiphone gets thumbs up from me. Nice guitars. <3

[Jonathan0996]

Is a Gibson 335 better than an Epi 335? Of course it is, but not as much better as the price difference might lead you to believe. An Epi can be improved with upgraded pickups and a good setup, but it still ain't quite gonna be like a good Gibson, IMO.

That said, tone is largely in the hands. I've heard great guitarists make cheap guitars sound amazing, and I've heard mediocre guitarists make great guitars sound blah. Ultimately, you buy the guitar that works for you. There's no substitute for playing them.

[Bach5G]

I had a couple more looks at the Epi 335* that caught my attention. I also looked over some Ibanez 335 style guitars. I wonder if these are made in the same factory. They all seem very similar to one another.

The price of the Epi recently dropped by $100, with 6 months interest free financing. So, about $570 USD. Not very much money.

* The 355 mentioned in my first post was sold when I returned for a second look.

[Hammertone]

I guess it depends on which Epiphone is under discussion.

[Jimmy Mack]

I have played a bunch of Epi guitars. (I am serious about Epiphone)
Bought 3 60's models in my time, and 4 recently made. The recently fabricated ones were all made in China. I am partial to Gibsons and the Epi "clones".

Right now, I have favored the Epi 335 guitars. I own and really like the 335 Pro, great for gigging and traveling around NYC. When I wanted a backup, I got hooked on the Marty Schwartz 335, with Gibson '57 Classic p/ups. I highly recommend this model. GC puts it at $899, look for deals.

Prior to that, the 1959 ES 355 was purchased. I had to return it due to a potential neck twist. That purchase seemed doomed, as it was the last one available at the time, and arrived with a broken bridge. Ugh. But you need to be able to see the grain of the neck!!! My tech advised me that in a year or so, that neck would be trash. In that moment though, the neck was not giving up what it should have - too many dead notes. But what a beautiful guitar it was.

That's been my experience of late. I bought a Gibson 335. And y'know, that has not been a perfect guitar either.

[SierraTango]

I adore the hell out of my '53 Triumph Regent. I play out with it in small, intimate venues no amp needed-it doesn't have a pickup anyway. I realize this thread is about modern Epi's. It's just that these 30's-40's-early 50's can be such wonderful instruments as Hammertone posted.