I would by a Sheraton. There are superb Guitars and are widely used by a lot of famous players, Joe Walsh and The Edge but to name a few.

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2013 Fender Pure Vintage 65 Stratocaster
2003 Gibson ES-355
2015 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
2002 Gretsch Duo Jet
1980 Rickenbacker 360/12 Fireglo
2014 Martin 000X1AE
2014 Fender Blues Junior III

Gorgon-I don't know if you are aware that there are several levels or series of the Epi SGs and Les Pauls etc.The $200 ones that you mentioned are the entry level bolt-on neck ones and I agree with you 100% that they are not near being top quality guitars-they are SGs and Les Pauls only in name and basic shape,everything else about them certainly leaves much to be desired.However guitars with a MSRP of $900 routinely go for around $5-600 and these guitars-such as the Les Paul Traditional Pro are exceptional guitars is every way.

When I bought my Traditional Pro Les Paul I was so impressed with the PAF like sound that I e-mailed the CEO of Epiphone- Jim "Epi" Rosenberg and let him know how impressed I was with the guitar and Epis overall.When he replied he told me what I had suspected all along-their goal when creating the new line of pickups was to try and recapture the PAF tone and the Trad Pro certainly has that.

Epiphone has come a long way quality wise in every aspect of guitar construction in recent years and once you go beyond the entry level "learner guitars" you get much better than average quality guitars,as they have put much time in refining the pickups especially and the other components also.All my Epis are 2008 or newer so I can't vouch for guitars made before that other than a few I played but none of my Epis have caused me any grief at all.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

These types of debates will go on and on and on and….
But at the end of the day, it’s about the guitar player. You could have the most expensive American made axe available, but if you can’t really play it proper, what’s the point?

I know, I know…this will not end these types of debates. And I’m not the first to ever point out this fact in this or any other forum. But, I had a lot of free time this afternoon with not much else to do.

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Visit my ReverbNation page @ http://www.reverbnation.com/mcampbell
Thank you!

+1 Well said GS. Epiphone was a major competitor of Gibson years back. The thing is, almost every major guitar manufacturer had budget lines that are well..... budget guitars. That said, the budget guitars today are a lot slicker than the ones from back when I was a kid. $200-$300 guitars are pretty hit and miss. Gretsch has a lower end as does Fender. Gibson has some lower end guitars like the Melody Maker and Faded Studio/Tribute lines. They are also fine guitars and made in the states too. If you buy a lower end guitar that doesn't stay in tune, get a new nut or tuners. It's a quick and easy fix. I've seen higher end Fender, Gibson, Gretsch guitars with tuning problems. Most of the Fender Road Worn Strats guitars I tried were horrible. The RW Tele's were a bit better. Still not nice enough for me to take home. Some of the Squires are great, some aren't. But Epiphone guitars are nice in my book. You have to look at what you plug them into too. Amp choice is a huge factor. Plug even a mediocre guitar into a great amp and it will sound good. Plug a great guitar into a cheap cheesy amp and it will sound cheap and cheesy.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Glad to see guitslinger that you agree with me about the Epiphone Lp's. They are just trash, the bolt on one's i mean. As for high end Epiphone's i've never seen any for sale anywhere it's all these crap one's i'm talking about.

63Supro: When someone buys a guitar they buy it the way it comes. Unless you're into working on guitars it is a pain in the neck to buy a guitar and then have to cannibalise it and build it back together again. Maybe you like doing that, plenty of us don't and when we buy a guitar we expect the tuning pegs to at least turn with a modicum of smoothness and also expect our scratchplate to actually be mounted to the guitar with a screw instead of flapping in the breeze all courtesy of a third world "throw together any old way kinda vibe."

BTW: Epiphone was a rival to Gibson when all the guitars were made in the USA by American craftsmen. They were every bit as good as Gibson because the workers were good and the quality of the parts was good. Something that is impossible to achieve on a £200 Epi LP.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

You may need to set your heights a little higher. If you buy a lower end instrument, that's what you get. You won't get Grovers on a $200-300 guitar. I don't cannibalize anything. I don't take a guitar home unless it play well, has good intonation and stays in tune period. It's called being a smart shopper. I don't buy guitars or amps on line. I have some cheap guitars as well as some pretty nice ones. I have an Ibanez AS73. The guy before me put SD Phat Cat pups in it. I only paid $175 for it. It plays well and would have no problem putting Gibson 57's in it and upgrading the pots and switch. I look at it this way, If I feel a guitar is good and I can make it better and more personal to my taste, I will. I won't say because I got one bad guitar the entire companies lineup is junk. If you play guitar, it just make sense to learn how to set them up and do some repairs or modifications if necessary.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Im starting to feel badly for the OP of this post..poor dude just wanted to buy a guitar and now 6 pages later..lol Personally I hope he enjoys his purchase and I bet his hands will be trembling if he attempts to post any more questions haha!

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Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

Yeah I know. I bet Oldguy is tearing it up as we speak. Haven't heard from him so hopefully he received his new guitar.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Gorgon , check out gumtree plenty of nice epi's for sale and right now it's a buyers market , there's a couple of customs advertised for around 200 quid , cheers
Alan

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No need to feel bad for me -- I've really enjoyed the responses. The Epi LP Tribute Plus I ordered won't be shipped until the week of 9/16, according to Sweetwater. I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival! I'm not worried about receiving a subpar Epi from Sweetwater because they really check out the guitars before they ship them, making sure there's no buzzing, defects, etc. And, if by chance, there is a problem, all indications are they take care of their customers.

As I said before, playing guitar is just a hobby for me so there's no way I'd consider buying a Gibson LP Standard because of the cost. I really like the look of them and, of course, the tone but, if I can get 80-90% there with the Epi, I'll be completely satisfied. Hey, I'm 61 years old and I'm guessing my hearing and eyesite has probably deteriorated enough to cover part of the difference between the Gibson and the Epi. And, while I don't mind changing electrical stuff in a guitar, I'm happy that the Epi has most of the upgrades already done. The only upgrade I think I'd consider is replacing the bridge with a Gotoh unit but only if I have issues with the stock bridge..

I'll be playing the Epi through either my DRRI or my soon-to-arrive Blues Jr, so I'll be playing it through quality amps which, I believe, is key to making an inexpensive guitar sound good.

I applaud companies like Fender and Gibson (via Epiphone) making it possible for guys like me to acquire quality guitars at reasonable prices... Playing at my level, I don't see a HUGE difference in quality and playability between my Am Deluxe Strat and my CP 50's. The CP 50s cost me almost exactly the same as the Epi LP Tribute Plus.. In fact, my CP 50's is my favorite guitar.. So, anyway, I like to check specs and look for what I consider to be excellent value for not a bucketload of $$.

By the way, one of the really positive things that came out of the responses in this thread was that the Gibson LP Studios are nice guitars for the money. So, I'm figuring that the next addition to my low-budget collection will likely be one of those. I'm already lookin' at specs (60's thin profile neck a definite) to see what will give me another alternative sound-wise.. The Epi has the 57 Classic pups so I've got that covered but there's other pups in the Gibson LP Studio line to consider (P90's for example)...

Actually, the other possibility for the next addition to the herd is a CAR MIM Fender CP Jaguar Special since I'm really into the surf instrumentals. Feature-wise, it looks like its close to the 50th Anniversary American-made Jaguar, except it doesn't have the neck binding.. Street price difference -- the MIM Jaguar is about half the cost of the 50th Anniversary Jaguar. There I go again looking at specs to identify a really good value for the $$$...

So, worry not -- I'm enjoying this thread...

Gorgon, It looks like you misread my latest post,I didn't say at any time the Epi LPs were trash,if you carefully reread my post you'll see that what I was referring to was the $200 entry level Epi Les Pauls and SGs.More upscale Epis such as the Trad-Pro Les Paul are absolute gems and sound and feel incredible,As I stated before, many people who have heard my Epi Trad Pro Les Paul and '61 Les Paul Custom Reissue couldn't get over how great they sounded. I have posted in this Forum several times now over the past year or so that the absolute best Les Paul I ever played bar none was an Epi '59 Les Paul Reissue that cost just over $1,000 when an '09 Gibson Les Paul a jamming buddy of mine bought new for over $3,000,has caused him nothing but grief since he bought it despite many trips to the dealer for warranty work.Anyway I believe that this thread has gone on too long and" people are starting to talk" lol, anyway it appears that we've had quite opposite experiences with Epiphones and myself, and a few other Forum members who own them , like them and no doubt will continue to play them and even buy them.Cheers.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hmmm...

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

What a ridiculous statement to make! There are more Fenders for sale on e-bay then any manufacture out there! I love my Fender guitars but I refuse to think they are they only people that can make quality . Bolt on neck guitars are the easiest to make of all! For you to make it sound like a set neck Epi is junk just shows ignorance to what a quality guitar is! I haven't played for 40+ years and not know what the difference is! Lumping a name in to quality is a joke! Foreign Foreign manufactures have been making musical instruments before there was a U.S. and some of the greatest acoustic craftsmen in the world are European and Asian. Don't equate where a guitar is made to quality because that would be stupid.The Erhu and the Pipa where made in Chana a thousand years ago! StradivarI was Italian! To just say Epi Lp's are junk , Ridiculous!

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

^^ Don't blame me i didn't build them The fact is that the bolt on neck Epi's have a terrible reputation for being crap. It just so happens they're also dirt cheap. Can you not see the connection? clue: it's in the price.

They may have higher end one's that play better, i've never tried those but i believe Alan when he says the custom he has is good.

The point remains though; the £200 one's are hopeless.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Love my ebony LP Standard Epi. Some even prefer them to Gibsons.