Wow, I can't believe that I didn't notice this thread before. This is actually one of my pet subjects.
First, let me say that I have never owned an Epi Les Paul but have owned two Gibson Les Paul's. My first, a mid 70's Custom, was in my opinion, an absolutely horrid instrument. Why did I buy it then? At the time, the price was right, and I was seduced by the name and the myth. That is what I believe sells Gibson's today! OK, so on to my current Les Paul, an '84 Studio. It is quite the opposite of the Custom, a beautiful instrument. It doesn't weigh a ton, although it's no lightweight either; that's the way of Les Paul's. It stays in tune, and it has such a beautiful voice.
Now, on to the Epi vs. Gibby thing. At the time I bought my Studio, I'd had my eye on a gorgeous custom-built Warmoth parts strat. It sounded great and looked fantastic, but I was hesitating, because I already had strat tones in my arsenal via my G&L S-500. Then my eye fell on this really sharp looking Les Paul, an Epiphone anniversary model. Although used, it was absolutely mint! It sounded great, both unplugged and when connected to an amp. It looked great too, almost like a Custom, but with differences. I was just about to buy it when, for some reason, my hand fell upon my Studio. There was something about it that drew me in. Well, I ended up, after about a week's worth of deliberation (what a week that was - nervous that someone else would buy one or the other!), with the Gibson. It cost me a bit more, but today that is OK. Both were in my reach financially. In the days since, it has turned into a REALLY beautiful guitar. The Epi would have stayed stock, and I probably would not have been as happy down the road. Does that mean it, or Epi's in general are bad? Why certainly not.
The early Les Paul's, the ones which became famous in the hands of players with names like Clapton, Page, Beck and others, were fabulous guitars. When it comes to the late Fifties Les Paul's, there probably was not a bad one in the bunch. Good wood was plentiful, and these guitars were being built by craftsmen. It was a different time, but these are the guitars that made Gibson's reputation. When people buy a Les Paul today, it is the sound of those instruments that they are trying to capture. It is the essence of rock!
Today's Gibson's are not the same guitar. Consistently good wood has become more scarce, and today, the corporation's bottom line profitablility must take precedence. Today, I would not buy a Gibson Les Paul without playing it first. Why? Because there is such variation in quality from one instrument to the next. One can be a dud, while the one right next to it sings!
Now, I can forgive inconsistent quality in a guitar costing two or three hundred dollars. It's understandable. I can even do so, to an extent, for a guitar in the five to six hundred dollar range. When I am spending upwards of fifteen hundred dollars, and quite possibly more than twenty-five hundred, every last instrument should be absolutely stellar! That is not what I have found to be the case with Gibson today. Nor has it been the case since the Norlin days.
In the days since the old Standards of Page, Clapton, Beck and others, the top end of guitars hasn't improved all that much. We can probably build as good of a guitar, at less cost (when the dollar value is adjusted for the time), but it doesn't get much better. What has changed is the bottom end. Lower priced guitars are just so much better these days than they were back in the Fifties (or 60's and 70's for that matter). The computer has given us that, as well as advances in finish technology. Today you can build a damn good $500.00 guitar!
So, which is better, Gibson or Epiphone? That depends entirely upon your outlook. For me, if price is close enough, and the quality is there on either, I would go for the Gibson. Yeah, it's probably just that name thing, although I do like the mustache headstock better. As the price valley begins to widen however, the Epiphone begins to look more and more attractive, and that is only increased by the fact that I might have to go through a number of Gibson's to find one I loved.
I'm not a rich man, and I'm no rock star. I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a single guitar. For me, a two thousand dollar (or more) guitar would be a real stretch.
If I was buying new today, I would look at the Gibson faded models, but I would give equal time to Epiphone as well. Of course, in actuality, if I was buying a guitar today, it would probably be used, and I would look at both Gibson and Epiphone, but I would not stop there. I would definitely want to think about Orville's and Tokai's as well, for these can far surpass the quality of either a modern Gibson or Epiphone.
Anyway, that's my $.02. For your enjoyment, I've posted another pic of my '84 Les Paul Studio.
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