Why Does Epiphone Get No Love?

See the same thing with Squiers, in my opinion they are just as good if not better than the made in mexico Fenders but everyone trashes them. Well, everyone but smokindog and Vic.

And Nils.. Thinking of getting a Squire myself to satisfy that Fender urge.

I think any "knockoff" is going to get comments from high end owners since that is just the way it is. Look at Cadillac owners, they look down on Chevy owners but they are still GM.

Until they were stolen I had a Gibson LP and a Gretsch. Since they were not insured because of where they were stolen I could not afford to replace them at current dollars so I went with Epiphone LP's and I can tell you that there is a difference but not enough to make me worry about it or feel like I have a cheapie.

Exactly. I also hear the trash talking about Squiers.

My Epi stays in tune, plays awesome, looks awesome, and sounds pretty good. Granted, the electronics could be better, but overall quality of the guitar is awesome. With the addition of some Gibson 57's my guitar will sound beautiful.

Brand name doesn't equal good.

I have two students with Squier Strats right now. Both are pretty inferior to my Fender Strat - but both are playable guitars. I've also got students with budget acoustics (Seagull, A&L etc.) that play and sound as well as guitars I own with price tags four times higher.

Back in the early 80s, Ibanez had a 'junk' reputation. I bought one - not because I craved an Ibanez, but because it was a great guitar. I've played some high-end brand-name guitars priced at $5K or more that clearly aren't worth anywhere near the money.

Brand names are in demand for only three reasons: first, because the overall quality of their instruments tend to be better than those of 'lesser' brands... but you're not buying the average of all the guitars they make, you're only buying one. Second, because some models have a collector's aftermarket. If you'll be selling it at some future point, a Fender or Gibson might make more sense than a Squier or Epi, because there's always a decent resale market for the big names. Third, because some companies spend a lot more on advertising and brand awareness.

There are millions (literally) of Fender Strats out there. No way all of them are good guitars. There are hundreds of thousands of Squiers and Epis out there - no way all of them are junk.

Very good points.

I suppose a lot of it also has to do with the market. Since I was just starting out on the guitar, it didn't make a lot of sense to spend $1200+ on a guitar. So I opted for the $600 Epi. I walked out of the music store with a guitar, amp, and HSC for much less than the Gibson counterpart. It met my needs at the time (and still does). Had it not been for the "cheaper" brand, I would not have been able to get a guitar when I did (my girlfriend bought it for me as a bday/xmas gift, and she wouldn't have, nor could she have, bought me a Gibson).

I haven't played a Les Paul (either Epiphone or Gibson) very often, so I'm not that sure of the differences. As far as Fenders and Squiers, I have a Squier, and it's been a fairly disappointing guitar. The one thing I can praise it on is that it stays in tune very well. I'm sure there are good Squiers and bad ones, and good Fenders and bad ones, but I probably wouldn't buy another Squier. One thing that I like about the American strats that the Squier or Mexican made models don't have is the extra fret, which does come in handy when playing high on the neck in certain keys.

After chatting with Nils I have been very interested in getting a Epi Les Paul Studio. I think they are great guitars. PLus from what I understand, Gibson OWNS Epiphone, right? Same company just less expensive...

This goes on with everything! Look at Harley's and Honda"s...Now THERE'S a battle! Some of those new "Harley copies" by Honda are quite impressive...and a MUCH lower price tag...Quality isn't half bad either...

I'll bet it the Epi Les Paul had a different name but identical build no one would say anything about it. But because they use the name "Les Paul" people are all upset about it.

This goes on with everything! Look at Harley's and Honda"s...Now THERE'S a battle! Some of those new "Harley copies" by Honda are quite impressive...and a MUCH lower price tag...Quality isn't half bad either...
Yeah but only a Harley sounds like a Harley or rides like one.

There are some great sounding and playing cheap guitars. I was always told that EP's play just fine.

Yeah but only a Harley sounds like a Harley or rides like one.

Actually its quite easy to make MOST motorcycles sound like Harley's...Now I don't mean the little Honda 450's or these crappy crotch rockets...But the Harley spin-offs can be made to sound almost identical.

All you have to do is remove the baffle inside the exhaust pipes or just replace the mufflers with HArley mufflers...it will sound pretty darn close!

But I regress and need to redirect back to the topic

I've got nothing against the Epiphone name, I ended up with an Epi Elite, because I liked the sound and thought it was better built than the Gibbies I saw.

On the Epi standards, I think they are decent enough, though their workmanship never satisfied my eye. (as always, I haven't seen every last one). Also, they have different specs than the Gibbies. If you A/B them, you should hear a difference. :P
I'm not sure if any of the Epis are really the best deal either. I think the Yamahas might offer a better deal, being closer to the Gibson specs while being somewhat cheaper. But I couldn't seem to find one.

(Besides, this way I have an excuse to buy a reissue if I ever have the money- I've already got something close to a standard Gibby)

See the same thing with Squiers, in my opinion they are just as good if not better than the made in mexico Fenders but everyone trashes them. Well, everyone but smokindog and Vic.

You'll not hear me trash talk Squires either I've owned two of them now. Had to play probably 10 or so before I found one I liked, unfortunately I fondled/played 3 or 4 Squire 51's the other day and all of them felt great the necks are really sweet. Guess I'll have to buy one.

I feel like a scmuck now cause I had a squier that really wasnt half bad but buzzed something terrible. I didnt know enough to take it in and have it looked at. I bet it would have been and easy fix and other than that it was great.

As for Epi's I havent played one but there are a couple I have been drooling over for some time..

Its like anything.. There will be your nay sayers for anything.. Usually from the people that have lots of money or few responsibilities in life. Their opinions mean nothing to me.

Geoo

You'll never *ever* hear me bash an Epi guitar, for the simple reason that I owned and gigged with an Epi Crestwood as my sole electric guitar for 12 years. I even had a guy offer me a Les Paul Goldtop (yes, a Gibson Les Paul) in an even swap, and after playing the Paul, I turned him down flat. The Crestwood felt better, and sounded better.

I think there's a few reasons for the price difference.

Firstly, labour is far more expensive in the USA and Japan than it is in the countries where they make most of today's mass market guitars.

Many companies don't seem to actually "make" guitars at all now, they just farm out the various supply and building jobs around the world to whichever places can do the best price. Japan was cheap once, then it was Korea I think, and now it seems to be heading to China (with a bunch of other places in the mix too).

Secondly, it always seems to cost increasingly more to get that extra bit of quality - in a sort of upwards curve. All cars can pretty much get you from A to B and do the speed limit, but the top of the line stuff costs many times the basic models, despite not really being ten times as good, or whatever.

You can buy average for reasonable money, but that little bit extra always seems to cost proportionally a lot more.

I'm going to reward myself with a "good" guitar once I'm good enough to play it properly, but I won't be expecting 8 times as good (or whatever) but just a few improvements in sound and detail work. Even then I'll need to play it and eye-ball it to see if that individual guitar was a good one off the build line.