buying a gibson les paul need advice

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I've seen a few of these Gibson's with paint flaws, and they're horrendous. Either too much lacquer and it globs all over everything, or just uneven paint.

Also, if I owned a guitar store, I wouldn't put out the guitars I'm about to send back to Gibson for inexcusable flaws

Well, I guess we're the only two people here who have noticed major paint flaws on $2200 Gibsons! Let's not mention the abundance of videos people have posted in regards to poor fret-leveling jobs! I mean, they're only floating all over the internet!

See, we could post 1000 pictures of paint flaws on Gibsons and it wouldn't matter, because our resident Gibson fanboy, Don, will only accuse us of "photoshopping" every one of those photos!

Don, guess what. I couldn't give a damn less if you're not convinced that I'm not a Gibson hater, and I'm pretty sure nobody else would give a damn if you think they are, either. I've made my valid points, and I know what I've personally seen with some of these products. Whether you choose to believe those statements is irrelevant to me. I'm not going to debate this issue with you any further. You'll believe what you want to believe, regardless how many pictures you see, how many people tell you they've seen the same thing(s), how many videos you see, etc.

[Sukkoi19]

Some of the more expensive Epiphones I've seen appear to have better quality than some of their Gibson counterparts, but you're right as far as the tone goes...the Epiphone LP doesn't even come close.

Some of the Epiphones I've played play real nice, and then others are just disasters. I'm honestly thinking it's a matter of where it's bought. For instance, where I take lessons, nearly every single one of the guitars plays like an absolute disaster, regardless of make or model. Regardless which one I grab off the wall, it's always way out of tune, the string action is extremely high, and it's just miserable to play. Oddly enough, when I hit other shops, the guitars always manage to play better. They're always in tune when I pick'em up, and the string action is always lower. The differences are night and day. :think:

I don't count horrible setups when evaluating guitars as the rigors of shipping and stupidity of various stores will have a detrimental effect on instruments. What "high-end" Epiphones do you believe are constructed better than their Gibson counter-parts? By that do you mean a "high-end" Epiphone like a Les Paul Custom or some such is better than a Gibson Les Paul Custom or that an Epiphone Les Paul Custom is better than a Gibson Studio Faded?

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I don't count horrible setups when evaluating guitars as the rigors of shipping and stupidity of various stores will have a detrimental effect on instruments. What "high-end" Epiphones do you believe are constructed better than their Gibson counter-parts? By that do you mean a "high-end" Epiphone like a Les Paul Custom or some such is better than a Gibson Les Paul Custom or that an Epiphone Les Paul Custom is better than a Gibson Studio Faded?

No, I don't count horrible setups when reviewing guitars either, I was just commenting on the fact. I've seen some of the Epiphone LPs and Explorers going for over $1000. I'd consider them fairly higher-end.

[Sukkoi19]

Just for the sake of repeatability I am looking on Musician's Friend. The most expensive Epi I see on there that has a comparable Gibson model is the SG double neck for just over a grand. The most expensive Les Paul is the Slash AFD sig for just under a grand. I have played both in both iterations. I don't like either to tell you the truth whether it be Gibson or Epiphone. I can't get over that stupid Slash signature on the headstock and the double neck seems pointless unless you are doing your own rock god version of Stairway.

Anyway which one do you suppose is the Epiphone and which is the Gibson. FYI neither has stock pickups in fact they both have a JB in the bridge.

[tomanyjacksons]

A friend of mine just got a faded and it had a wiring problem, no biggy was an easy fix, no matter where you had the selector you had both pups. But it sounded and played awesome afterwards. Gibsons may have their problems, heck what company doesn't? But there is something that a Gibson has that you can only get out of a Gibson. I personally think they're overpriced, but that's just me. They're beautiful looking and sounding. Good luck.

[Torment Leaves Scars]

A friend of mine just got a faded and it had a wiring problem, no biggy was an easy fix, no matter where you had the selector you had both pups. But it sounded and played awesome afterwards. Gibsons may have their problems, heck what company doesn't? But there is something that a Gibson has that you can only get out of a Gibson. I personally think they're overpriced, but that's just me. They're beautiful looking and sounding. Good luck.

Never had a problem with either Fender I've purchased, and one was a $250 Affinity J-Bass Gig Pack. No electrical problems, unlike those $2200 Gibsons.

Actually, I guess it can be argued I've purchased FOUR Fenders, if you wanna count the two Jacksons.

I just saw some black Epiphone Explorer for $1200 just the other day, and the other one was a Zakk Wylde Epiphone LP...

[lerxstcat]

Never had a problem with either Fender I've purchased, and one was a $250 Affinity J-Bass Gig Pack. No electrical problems, unlike those $2200 Gibsons.

Actually, I guess it can be argued I've purchased FOUR Fenders, if you wanna count the two Jacksons.

I just saw some black Epiphone Explorer for $1200 just the other day, and the other one was a Zakk Wylde Epiphone LP...

The Fadeds he's talking about are your $679 to $750 Gibsons, just to make sure you know what you're comparing. A bad switch is not unheard of with any brand, your anecdotal experience notwithstanding

[Torment Leaves Scars]

The Fadeds he's talking about are your $679 to $750 Gibsons, just to make sure you know what you're comparing. A bad switch is not unheard of with any brand, your anecdotal experience notwithstanding

Well, it's certainly comforting to know that Gibson just lets brand new, $2200 guitars slip out their doors with bad switches, lemme go pick one up right now!

I guess it requires too much effort for their wonderful quality control department to take the time to plug in their flawless products to make sure their electronics worked!

[clifffclaven]

reading comprehension. FTW. jesus.

[tomanyjacksons]

The Fadeds he's talking about are your $679 to $750 Gibsons, just to make sure you know what you're comparing. A bad switch is not unheard of with any brand, your anecdotal experience notwithstanding

Correct sir, and it wasn't a bad switch. Somebody just got two wires touching each other. Took all of 5 mins to fix.

[MarkTheMuscleShark]

I'd still get a Gibson LP... But a custom shop:

• Mahogany or Solid Ash body, with trans maple top. Maybe even alder,
• Maple neck, set through (with some better access to the higher frets)
• 24 ebony frets, (or maybe 22-24 slant from low E to high E like the Warrior Pro's)
• Trans red burst or trans blue burst. Or maybe a silver burst, or maybe a trans finish like the Model 88's (cancel the maple top for both then)
• 25.5" neck scale with a neck profile like my Ibanez RG1570 Prestige or Model 4
• OFR recessed bridge
• Single humbucker bridge, (probably an X2N or maybe an EMG 81 or 89)
• Black hardware if it's silverburst or Model 88 burst, gold or chrome hardware if it's trans red burst or trans blue burst
• Standard Gibson 3x3 headstock, or if I'm drunk an Explorer headstock
• Satin finish neck
• If it's a trans finish then body neck and headstock binding

Gibson won't do an explorer headstock on a LP, a different neck profile, an ash or alder body, I've never heard of ebony frets, only nickel, brass, stainless steel etc, also they won't do 24 frets, or 22-24, they won't do a "set-through" neck, they might do a maple neck, probably no satin finish neck, the rest of the stuff I guess but couldn't you just get an Ibanez/Jackson/Warmoth/ESP or does it just HAVE to be a gibson?

[Sephiroth]

Gibson won't do an explorer headstock on a LP, a different neck profile, an ash or alder body, I've never heard of ebony frets, only nickel, brass, stainless steel etc, also they won't do 24 frets, or 22-24, they won't do a "set-through" neck, they might do a maple neck, probably no satin finish neck, the rest of the stuff I guess but couldn't you just get an Ibanez/Jackson/Warmoth/ESP or does it just HAVE to be a gibson?

THere's always the Epiohone Les Paul Prophecy, which has some of those features like a different slimmer neck, 24 frets, and trans red finish.

[lerxstcat]

Well, it's certainly comforting to know that Gibson just lets brand new, $2200 guitars slip out their doors with bad switches, lemme go pick one up right now!

I guess it requires too much effort for their wonderful quality control department to take the time to plug in their flawless products to make sure their electronics worked!

AGAIN, he's talking about the Faded series, $679 for the SG or V and $750 for the LP, not $2200. And again, the 4 guitars you have bought are not indicative of every guitar made by every company. I'm sure some defective Fenders and Jacksons have made it out the factory doors as well. Your anecdotal experience doesn't cover all guitars made by all companies. As the guy who posted that followed up, the switch wasn't bad but 2 wires were touching and it was a 5-minute fix.

[Torment Leaves Scars]

AGAIN, he's talking about the Faded series, $679 for the SG or V and $750 for the LP, not $2200. And again, the 4 guitars you have bought are not indicative of every guitar made by every company. I'm sure some defective Fenders and Jacksons have made it out the factory doors as well. Your anecdotal experience doesn't cover all guitars made by all companies. As the guy who posted that followed up, the switch wasn't bad but 2 wires were touching and it was a 5-minute fix.

Yeah, we've established that...like 5 or 6 posts ago, and your "anecdotal experience" doesn't cover all guitars made by all companies, either. Just so you know...

[clifffclaven]

Gibson won't do an explorer headstock on a LP, a different neck profile, an ash or alder body, I've never heard of ebony frets, only nickel, brass, stainless steel etc, also they won't do 24 frets, or 22-24, they won't do a "set-through" neck, they might do a maple neck, probably no satin finish neck, the rest of the stuff I guess but couldn't you just get an Ibanez/Jackson/Warmoth/ESP or does it just HAVE to be a gibson?

gibsons custom shop will build anything you want, for a price. just like jackson. Jesus.