Epiphone Les Pauls... Crap/Not Crap?

[dubkitty]

i argued against buying guitars online for years other than cheap ones, but i have two Tokai Les Pauls and a Eastman 000 acoustic i bought on eBay which are wonderful instruments. you have to be extremely careful and picky, though, and i still wouldn't recommend it for most people. i got my Standard type from Richtone in England, when they had something like 50 or 60 of them on eBay and i winnowed them down by staightness of body grain and top pattern. i still dream of the seafoam green quilt-top one they had. i'm sure glad i got them before the exchange rate vs. the pound went all to hell.

[Fuzzy Fred]

Yeah, because Gibson's got vastly improved QC...


spoiler: they don't.

Always play a guitar before you buy one. Always!

im not talking about qc, i'm talking about straight up quality. i don't think anyone can say that, as a whole, chinese epiphones have better pure quality than a gibson. again, your mileage may vary, but i'm pretty fucking happy with mine and I always think about how I could have gotten an SG or a tele instead of this LP and i don't regret it

[ifeellikeatourist]

Mine had shitty fit and finish, but playability was perfect and couldn't complain about the tone...

[McSpunckle]

Yeah, because Gibson's got vastly improved QC...


spoiler: they don't.

Always play a guitar before you buy one. Always!

Honestly, when I used to go to the Gibson showroom in Nashville before it flooded, I was always surprised (as if I was expecting different each time) that the Epiphones were really... almost better than the Gibsons.

I'm sorry, but Gibson has terrible finishes, often bad fretwork, average pickups, and are generally overpriced for such a large-scale production.

That said, SOME of the Gibsons were almost perfect... and they were wonderful. And I don't doubt the wood is better. When a Chinese/Korean/Indonesian guitar says "mahogany", they usually mean "wood." If the wood shows, they'll use luan or something that kinda looks like mahogany. Better wood could last longer, and might sound better. So, getting a used Gibson and giving it a proper setup might be the better option.

But, Agile... Agile makes better guitars than Epiphone, IMO. I bet Xavier's Les Paul copies are really nice as well. If you want a cheap Les Paul, or even an SG, you really don't have to limit yourself to Epiphone.

I mean, as with most things, going with the largest company isn't always the best option. You can always get better quality or a better price for the same quality. That goes for potato chips and guitars.

[dubkitty]

the Agiles i've seen personally were about equivalent to a mid-level Epiphone, which is appropriate given that they were the models priced about where a similar Epi (e.g. a goldtop with Humbuckers) would retail. IMO the PUs on the Epis are better; the finish on the Agiles seems better than some Epis, but not others...the higher-priced models have nice finishes, but the Epi Customs and Ultras often look like they've been dipped in sugar glaze. n.b. the Agiles i've seen ended up at the local buy/sell, so they may not have been optimal examples. but then, Agiles raise the ordering-off-the-net question again...you don't have the opportunity to sort through ten different Agiles, you get whatever Kurt pulls off the shelf and sends you. i know a number of folks online who have been very happy with Agile guitars, and some who say in esse "they're good cheap guitars, but you have to work on them like any cheap guitar." the Xaviere guitars are less well spoken of, but i've seen a very small sample of opinion so far.

[Officer Bukowski]

again, your mileage may vary, but i'm pretty fucking happy with mine and I always think about how I could have gotten an SG or a tele instead of this LP and i don't regret it

Talkin shit on my axes, bro?

You're totally right though. The wood, hardware, and electronics are better quality on Gibsons. They crank out a few duds but c'mon their average guitar is very usable. That's not to say there aren't some really nice Epiphones..

[cheesecats]

i have 2 les paul 50s tributes with p90s that are brilliant and cost about $750 each. gibson can put out quality guitars at a cheap price. i can't comment on the epi, as i've never played one. but try it out and decided yourself.

[Andrew]

You should look into some 80s/90s MiJ Copies. My Edwards easily outplays LP Studios and a couple Standards.

Cheap too.