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The difference between a Gibson and an Epiphone
So, what is the difference between a Gibson and an Epiphone? Besides the price there are countless differences and a bunch of similarities between the two brands as well! This article will be centered around "NEW" solid body guitars such as the Les Paul and the SGs. Lets start out by pointing out the obvious, the one thing that most musicians know about the Gibson guitar is that it is "Made in the USA". Handcrafted by people from Memphis, Bozeman or Tennessee (depending on what type of Gibson you buy *see my post on the Gibson Factory). New Epiphones are made in China, Japan, Czech Republic and Indonesia (Korea plant closed in 02). The last known Epiphone that carried the Made in the USA stamp/sticker was made in the 1980s, it was a Spirit guitar made in the Gibson Kalamazoo plant before they moved to Memphis. Now lets talk about the wood. Solid body Gibsons are made of Mahogany and Korina (African Mahogany) while solid body Epiphones are also made from Mahogany but a different species of mahogany. Gibson guitars also have a maple top which gives the guitar an incredible look. The Epiphone usually just adds extra lacquer. Epiphones have also been known to sometimes use Alder wood if Mahogany is out of stock. How can you tell if you have a mahogany Epi, well you can't because they top the guitar with a maple overlay and lacquer it. At the Gibson Factory there is a specific saying, "Everyone who works here is a quality control specialist!" If a piece of Mahogany at the Gibson factory is flawed in any way the employees at Gibson will try to repair it, if it is beyond repair the guitar body is destroyed! At the Epiphone factory they don't care as much. I'm not saying that they will push out a guitar that is a defected they just don't care as much about minor blemishes like Gibson does. How about the hardware? Epiphones are known to have cheaper electronics in them. They tend to give out in time and they are not always put together with a quality assurance that Gibson has. Gibsons on the other hand usually use top rated or close to top rated electronics and hardware and their quality control like I said is amazing. Do Epiphones us absolutely terrible electronics? NO! Some of their models like the Custom Les Paul will use pickups that the Gibson Studio has or used a few years earlier. One thing to remember is that Epiphones lower entry guitars will carry electronics that a Gibson guitar will never see or touch. How about the sound?! Here is were things get strange. Many and I mean a lot of people who own both Epiphones and Gibsons swear the the tone is almost identical with certain guitars. The Gibson guitar again is a guarantee of great tone. The Epiphone well it is hit and miss. But on the upside there is a lot more hits then misses. Another plus for Gibsons guarantee is the fact that they go through a vigorous sound testing while Epiphone sound test is well "quick and dirty". So why the price difference? $3000 more for a Gibson is huge!!! The "Made in the USA" quality and labor price is one reason! The superior electronics add up! The demand for a Gibson is higher than the supply and we all know what that means. Each Gibson factory (workshop) will turn out about 45 to 65 guitars a day while Epiphone...well I'm not sure but I guarantee it is a lot more. If you have money to burn or know how to play a guitar well I suggest a Gibson! They don't go down and price and they are a work of art!!!! If you are learning and like the style of a Gibson or you are a person who enjoys thrashing guitars ....go for the Epiphone. After all both companies are owned by Gibson, you can't go wrong.
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Contributor's Note
I am a teacher begining some side Web affiliate work.
www.goldcoinsearch.com
www.gibsons4sale.com
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