Stop buggering around with Epiphones, save a little and buy Gibson

se7ent7 · 2009-10-17T14:51:27+00:00

Just a pet hobby/interest/rant of mine I have to let loose.. - if you're going to spend good money on a Les Paul, rather sit and wait for a good deal on a...

Stop buggering around with Epiphones, save a little and buy Gibson

Reinhard

KarateBob wrote: About that post of mine about the Zakk Wylde LP.

Just found this...Odd...

http://www.wantitall.co.za/Instruments-Music/Gibson-Custom-Zakk-Wylde-Signature-Les-Paul-Electric-Guitar-Bull-s-Eye__B0002GY81O

That is strange, hell if it's correct I'd consider getting one lol

inflames

That is strange, hell if it's correct I'd consider getting one lol

This is not strange, the prices of Epi's has increased over the last year.
There is a Epi Les Paul standard at Marshall going for R12k!

So Epi's is expensive to replace right now. I just had my Epi payed out from a insurance claim!

EDIT:
Ha Ha, did not see it is a real Gibson! Crap, I'm mailing them now to place an order!

KarateBob

HAHAHA! ?

inflames

Here is the response from WantItAll:

Hi Lean,

The price on the site was for a replica.
I updated the item to the correct price.
The new price will reflect in the next 24 hours.

All orders placed with us come from the USA and normally take 7-15 working days to be delivered to you, we do not hold any stock in SA.
Please mail us if you have anymore questions.

Regards Don.

DonovanB

stop buggering around with those Gibsons and just buy an Epiphone... ?

Reinhard

Technically a replica with Gibson on the headstock is illegal. So they should honour the advertisement or be reported for selling counterfeit items ?

vic

Ironically Epiphone was a big and proud company in the 20's-early 60's. The company made some great sounding archtops,semis as well as mandolins, and was in direct competition with Gibson for the jazz market...until Gibson bought it.. ☹ .The historians amongst us could perhaps shed more light on this..?
Epis from the 30's-60's are sought after guitars today.

dee

People should really take a look at the Vintage V100's. They are cheaper than Epiphone Les Paul's, they look good, have great sounding Wilkinson PAF type pickups and great build quality. You really get a lot of guitar for the price.

TomCat

+1 Dee....Great value for money.

msch997

+1 to the import the thing yourself school of thought.

I have imported a Martin Acoustic and a Gibson LP Gold Top during the last 2 years both without issue and hassle and at a very favorable price as well.

singemonkey

vic wrote: Ironically Epiphone was a big and proud company in the 20's-early 60's. The company made some great sounding archtops,semis as well as mandolins, and was in direct competition with Gibson for the jazz market...until Gibson bought it.. ☹ .The historians amongst us could perhaps shed more light on this..?
Epis from the 30's-60's are sought after guitars today.

I really like the Epiphone Casino. And they're damn cheap for a famous hollowbody guitar. Although I've heard mixed reports about the build quality. But as usual, it sounds like if you get a good one, you're Beatling it up for very little money.

A friend of mine had one of those little 60's popsicle epiphone solid bodies - I can't remember what they're called off hand. That wasn't a particularly impressive guitar. But the hollowbodies like the Casino and the Riviera are awesome.

Sean

Reinhard wrote: There are a few zakks for under 3K US on ebay. So basically you pay double locally. Hell you can import a LP standard for under R20 000, probably quite a bit less. I wouldn't buy any high end brand new locally, why do people do it? With paypal you are covered for fraud, you get shipping insurance, and you may have to pay some customs locally. If the guitar sucks, sell it locally for a profit. Wasn't the David Gilmour strat something like 70K over here?

Stop complaining about local gear prices, get pro-active and import a guitar yourself.

Right, I guess I won't be buying any guitars from you :?

DonovanB

yip save a "little" (ie more than double your money) and buy a guitar that sucks and nobody wants...

Reinhard

Hold on one second with the character attack. I believe in full disclosure, with suck I meant tone wise, not warped neck or something shady like that. If it has a poor setup you can have it setup and have a great guitar. Tone however is very subjective, what I like in a guitar, someone else may think sounds average or maybe crap. This whole thing of a guitar being a "tone turd" I take with a pinch of salt though. It really has to be a POS if a decent setup and maybe different pups can't make it sound good. Either that or you are playing through a kak amp.

Reasons for importing a guitar and selling it locally could include:
Neck too big or small ( I don't mind, my necks are all over the place)
Doesn't suit your kind of music (change the pups)
Buyers remorse on spending a lot of money.
Realising the expensive guitar does not make you a better player.

vic

I tend to agree with Reinhard. However I have never imported a guitar (say via eBay) myself. But I have bought about 3 Gibsons in London over the years and brought it in with me- all of which I later sold at a small profit. Now imagine if I bought them initially in say New York....so I guess should you want a top of the line guitar, it's worthwhile importing it...

singemonkey

Epiphone's I wouldn't mind owning - available used from Japan (you could buy them today and get thems shipped over):

Japanese distribution only 50's style Les Paul, R6,500:

with open-book headstock:

59' Epiphone Century R16,000:

1950 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent R40,500 ? :

Epiphone John Lennon Casino R21,800:

Available from http://www.kurosawagakki.com/ (among rather a lot else). Ships internationally.

Skywalker

Interesting post this. I got a great deal on 2 Epi Zakk Wylde Lp's a few years ago and they are great guitars. I've replaced the original pickups with Tony Iommi signature humbuckers and they sound and play amazingly. Looks like they retail these days for nearly 3 times more than what I paid for them ??? CRAZY!!!

I've always wanted a pukka Gison Les Paul and considering that they retail for a few grand more than Epi's (depending on what model of course) I would most definately save up a bit more and get "the real deal". If only Gibson had a model other than the Zakk Wylde with a maple neck :? - damn guitar reatils for about R65k - MADNESS!!!

Banditman

That would be the Les Paul Studio Raw Power at $1858.00 for you, sir. All-maple body & neck with '57s in it.

singemonkey

Skywalker wrote: If only Gibson had a model other than the Zakk Wylde with a maple neck :? - damn guitar reatils for about R65k - MADNESS!!!

If it's Gibson on the headstock you're looking for - and you don't want to consider a Tokai replica (better quality than Gibson, despite being cheaper), which are now available in SA, and you particularly want a maple neck, a Les Paul Deluxe might be what you're after.

I'm not sure about mine, cos it's a late model ('83) but the earlier ones certainly had maple necks. You can take out the crappy mini-humbuckers, replace them with anything from early Sabbath-style P-90s, to 3rd party mini-humbuckers, convert a full size humbucker to fit (this is entirely possible), or have the guitar routed out for full sized humbuckers.

I've got P-90's in mine which turned it from a wimp into a monster. There are a lot of them in SA from what I've seen, and they tend to go for between R15k and R18K. The older ones ('69-'73?) are mostly gold-tops. Many of the early eighties ones seem to be black (like mine) and they are also common in wine red.

singemonkey

For someone who's serious about upgrading, I'm selling one. Not for peanuts though ?

http://www.guitarforum.co.za/classifieds/2008-gibson-angus-young-signature-sg/