Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60's - I am so done with Gibson I think

[rjwilson37]

I would love to buy a Gibson Classic, great guitars, but I want the Slim Taper C neck profile. The Classic has a Slim Taper D neck profile, a bit smaller than the Standard 60's. That was the whole reason I wanted the Gibson, was for the Standard 60's neck profile and in Lemon Burst. Who knows what the future holds for me, but right now and am a very happy camper with what I have.

 

[InTheEvening]

Sorry to hear the Gibson didn’t work out but congrats on the killer Epi! And getting to have some more money back in the pocket is always nice.

I was tempted to get an Epiphone Les Paul Custom a while back, played so damn well in the store. If I didn’t already have an Epiphone LP standard and my 1976 Black Beauty, it would have come home with me. Enjoy!

 

[lpfan1980]

I love my Epi almost as much as my Gibson and I play my Epi a bit more they work together well My Gibson has all the rich intricate tones while the Epi has a more classic rock rock LP sound!

 

[dspelman]

RJ,, I am pretty sure you could have had a local Gibson factory repair facility correct all the issues under warranty.

My question is, "But Why? An Epiphone shows up with none of the issues and sounds/feels great and happens to be a lot less expensive. Why bother with a Gibson?"

I'm actually a Gibson fan (my first guitar, ever). I bought my last new one in 2009, and I'm going to sit on the sidelines for a good long while before I buy another new one.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

My question is, "But Why? An Epiphone shows up with none of the issues and sounds/feels great and happens to be a lot less expensive. Why bother with a Gibson?"

I'm actually a Gibson fan (my first guitar, ever). I bought my last new one in 2009, and I'm going to sit on the sidelines for a good long while before I buy another new one.

dpspelman,

I was speaking under the impression he had intended to keep that particular Gibson, but have since learned the scenario changed and he returned it. My mention of the Gib warranty service was for him and or anyone who considered paying anyone to fix the issues when they are fully entitled to factory service at no charge.

I have nothing against Epi nor do I say anyone needs to buy only Gibson, Fender, PRS or whatever. We all have our chances to buy whatever we like and whatever will be of good enough quality to enjoy making music with.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

rj, thanks for posting the nice youtube clip. I made a comment to you over there.

Rock On good buddy, Your demo sounded awesome.

 

[rjwilson37]

My question is, "But Why? An Epiphone shows up with none of the issues and sounds/feels great and happens to be a lot less expensive. Why bother with a Gibson?"

I'm actually a Gibson fan (my first guitar, ever). I bought my last new one in 2009, and I'm going to sit on the sidelines for a good long while before I buy another new one.

The Gibson came first, before the Epiphone. I really liked the Sweetwater Exclusive Lemon Burst tops on the Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's, and of course I wanted a guitar with the new 60's Slim Taper C neck profile. There is no near by Gibson Warranty shop, I would have to pack up the guitar and send it back to Sweetwater and wait to get it back. I first took it to my local luthier, because they do good work and I thought what ever was wrong would be a quick fix. Then I find it has a few more issues that are a bit more than a basic setup.

I like the Nitro Finish on a Gibson Guitar, and they do use better wood and the Lemon Burst Finish is sweet. Basically, I wanted the best looking/sounding Les Paul Standard 60's guitar I could get my hands on. That is why I went to Gibson first. Acoustically, the Gibson sounded a lot nicer than any of my Epiphones, and that does come through the amps a bit nicer. Plus... over time, the nitro finish really soaks in and helps the guitars wood breath better and sound better over time. I do believe these things. Anyway, That particular Gibson was just not right for me and I am very happy with what I currently have at the moment. There will be a lot more new guitars coming out from both Gibson and Epiphone, who knows what I will try next. But again, right now I am still in a good spot.

 

[rjwilson37]

rj, thanks for posting the nice youtube clip. I made a comment to you over there.

Rock On good buddy, Your demo sounded awesome.

Great, thank you. I started that Youtube channel to do more with my guitar playing as well as recording. I hope to at some point, do some multi track layer stuff and do more with editing. I do have to get better first though, so I have a lot of work ahead of me. Should be a lot of fun!

 

[rjwilson37]

Hmmm, go figure. I went to GC to check out the difference in neck sizes between the Classic and the 60's necks. While doing that, I saw a nice 2014 Gibson Les Paul Signature in excellent condition. These are very similar to the 2014 Gibson Les Paul Classic with the DB Boost switch in place of the Bridge tone knob. Anyway, long story short, it felt/played fantastic with a great low price to boot. I broke down and got it for $1499, and I still have 45 days to return it if things don't work out with it. I have been going back and forth between the Signature, my 60's and my Lazarus. All great guitars and a lot of fun to play. The website states that it has a 50's rounded neck, but it is pretty much identical to the 60's Slim Taper C neck profile, maybe just a tad bigger possibly, but very close and hard to really tell. It is definitely not as big as the Lazarus 59 neck. I am so lucky to have found it, such a nice looking and great guitar to add to my collection. Now I have my 3 Goto Guitars. Mainly I play the 60's and Signature. I use my Lazarus for practicing, gives me a nice workout with the bigger neck, and the BB 2/3 pickups sound totally sweet. The 60's has the PB 2/3 pickups very close to the BB 2/3's and my new signature has 57 Classics. So much fun playing these 3 guitars, I am a lucky camper.

 

[rjwilson37]

 

[noodlingguitars]

That tobacco burst is absolutely stunning! Lately I've been eyeing a tobacco trad or a classic goldtop on sale here.

I'm kind in the same boat as you and buy both, but mainly play my Epiphones. I do play my Gibsons, but they're not my goto guitars. I buy them mainly as kind of a high-end collectible. But probably because my first Les Paul experience from way back (and for many years after) was an Epiphone - while I had a honeymoon phase when I got my first Gibson and thought they were absolutely *the* Les Paul, I soon realized I had gotten so used to the feel of Epiphones and ESPs that it just feels more natural to me to pick those up to play.

I think nowadays people have it much better with the quality (in terms of functionality) of instruments being pretty much normalized across all price ranges. I still like Gibsons for the smell, the finish and some of those small details though.

 

[rjwilson37]

I was having a lot of fun today doing some tone searching. I even pulled out my Epiphone Les Paul Custom for a bit. I was comparing the 57 Classic pickups in my new Gibson Signature, to the Probuckers in the 60's Standard and Custom, as well as the Burstbuckers in my Lazarus. I think the Burstbucker 2/3's in my Lazarus sounded the best. They were the clearest/warmest and hit that nice crunch tone the best out of all 4 guitars. But... The Lazarus has the thickest neck as well, maybe giving it a little bit deeper fuller tone. I do know that the Lazarus with the BB 2/3 pickups are a really good combination, because the guitar sounds amazing. In dialing in the best tone possible on my 60's Standard, I lowered the pickups a little bit more, giving it a bit more clarity. It is still a little bit brighter than the Bursbuckers, but that did not stop me from getting a nice crunch tone that matches nicely with the guitar's playability. I adjusted my tone knob down a bit to take away the brightness and it sounded really sweet. The PB 2/3 and BB 2/3 pickups sound pretty close to each other, but the BB 2/3's really do win for a nice full clear warm tone. The 57 Classic's are a little bit bright as well and you really need to adjust your tone knob accordingly.

I played mostly the new Gibson Signature, the 60's Standard and my Lazarus, only pulling my Custom out towards the end to hear how the PB 2/3 pickups sounded. I did have to lower the bridge pickup just a little on the Custom, and then it was a nice clear and sweet crunch tone. I was playing for almost 3 hours, so much fun.

 

[Estilo]

I'm with you, all the way. I just sold my 2019 Gibson Les Paul Traditional, which I could never intonate correctly, and never sounded all that great. I used the money to buy a new Epiphone 1959 Les Paul, a new 2021 Epiphone Korina Explorer and a very nice used Ovation acoustic. Both of the Epiphones needed minimal setup work upon arrival and are now GREAT playing & sounding guitars. And I still have a few bucks left. It just makes more sense to me.

How is the Korina Explorer? Do you like the pickups on them for your purposes?

 

[darkvoice]

The other factor is resale. A Gibson is worth about twice as much now where an Epi is about a third less.

Are you saying the $2,7-3K Gibson the OP purchased last year is or will be worth $6K someday? There's no way. And if you go to the pre-owned market they sell for $1600-2000, same "a third less" as Epiphone you mentioned. In fact this secondary pricing is very much in line with what we see for recent Epiphone models. You are just paying more for Gibsons, but you also lose a lot more dollar wise when re-selling.

 

[musicmaniac]

I'm saying a Gibson purchased years ago is worth a lot more than an Epi.

 

[rjwilson37]

I'm saying a Gibson purchased years ago is worth a lot more than an Epi.

Either way, you still lose 1/3rd to 1/4 of the purchase price whether you purchase a Gibson or an Epiphone. Obviously since the Epiphone only cost 1/4th the price of the Gibson you don't lose as much money purchasing an Epiphone over a Gibson after resale.

 

[flamesarewicked]

I’ve owned a few of the newer Epiphones and they’re great for the price point… dump my Gibsons for them? Absolutely not

 

[djw171]

Are you saying the $2,7-3K Gibson the OP purchased last year is or will be worth $6K someday? There's no way. And if you go to the pre-owned market they sell for $1600-2000, same "a third less" as Epiphone you mentioned. In fact this secondary pricing is very much in line with what we see for recent Epiphone models. You are just paying more for Gibsons, but you also lose a lot more dollar wise when re-selling.

Depends upon the model, and as anything it's worth what someone is willing to pay. In the current market prices are high. I have a 2013 Slash Rosso Corsa which go for +$2k more than I paid. Even the price of a 2013 Traditional I also own is higher than what I paid. I sold a Gary Moore Standard for more than twice the amount last year.

 

[rjwilson37]

Depends upon the model, and as anything it's worth what someone is willing to pay. In the current market prices are high. I have a 2013 Slash Rosso Corsa which go for +$2k more than I paid. Even the price of a 2013 Traditional I also own is higher than what I paid. I sold a Gary Moore Standard for more than twice the amount last year.

If you purchased a new or used 2013 Traditional and got a good deal on it, then you can most certainly make a profit on it right now, because of the demand for a Les Paul. You will not get 3k for it, because someone would buy a new guitar over the 2013 Traditional for 3k, but you could get 2k to 2.3k if someone is willing to pay for it. I got a 2014 Les Paul Signature for just this past week for 1.5k, I know that it cost more than 1.5k in 2014, heck a 2014 Les Paul Studio Pro sold for 1.2k in 2014.

Some of them if kept in nice shape will be worth 5-6k in 25-30 years, when the price of a new Gibson is 5.5k to 6k, it all depends also on the model.

 

[djw171]

If you purchased a new or used 2013 Traditional and got a good deal on it, then you can most certainly make a profit on it right now, because of the demand for a Les Paul. You will not get 3k for it, because someone would buy a new guitar over the 2013 Traditional for 3k, but you could get 2k to 2.3k if someone is willing to pay for it. I got a 2014 Les Paul Signature for just this past week for 1.5k, I know that it cost more than 1.5k in 2014, heck a 2014 Les Paul Studio Pro sold for 1.2k in 2014.

Some of them if kept in nice shape will be worth 5-6k in 25-30 years, when the price of a new Gibson is 5.5k to 6k, it all depends also on the model.

Does depend on the model for sure, and how sought after they are. Those 2014 Signatures had a list of $2288 (does yours have the mini etune removed?).