Two things: the Epiphone finish is much brighter in person than on camera. And in almost all situations. Also the neck is not as chunky as everyone is saying. It is slightly thicker than my old 2015 Gibson Memphis 335 and my 2022 Dot 335. But like... barely. Anyway, nice review. Nice to see them side-by-side. I love my new Epi '59 ES-355. Easily as much as I loved my 2015 Memphis
I bought the new epiphone 355. It sounds better then my USA Gibsons. It hangs with my customshop 58 lespaul. Considering the price difference sound wise not that far apart. In a band mix the epiphone cuts great. I actually like the satin feel on the neck. I think overall the feel is similar to a Gibson tribute.. but soundwise much better.
omg… first 5 seconds I heard the Gibson ES-355, I knew exactly why I love em so much! But no doubt, that Epiphone did an incredible job on their 355’s which are still very affordable. … I’m sure you felt the difference instantly 😉🤝 But I like the Epi too. It’s good and adorable. If the Gibson is worth the extra cash it costs… that’s a whole different discussion. For me -> 200% YES ! 🙌 Gibson or die 🤘🔥
I preferred the Gibson tone and it does have a finer look to me. I often play a worn-in 345 and I love it. That said, for the money the Epi seems like a great deal. I play a lot of gigs where there's not much room, crowded restaurants with wait staff carrying trays of hot food and drinks mere feet away from you and the occasional customer who's had one too many cocktails. X thousand dollar Gibson V $1300 Epiphone in that, far more common for most players, scenario? No brainer.
Wait a minute - that's not Darrell Braun! Just kidding. Thank you for this comparison! The Epiphone tone is more my style, while the treble & upper midrange are more pronounced on the Gibson/Murphy. Neck pickup w/ distortion on the Epiphone is awesome - makes me want to get one! And nice playing!
Yeah, I get the sense the Epi is more balanced/even toned, dare I say, flat, where the Gibson has that treble/upper mid spike, and presence. I would personally chalk that up to either pickup heights, individual differences between the sets of Custombuckers in each, or more likely, the bridge/saddles or the strings. Nothing an adjustment/mod/swap can't fix.
I like the neck pup on the Epi and the bridge pup on the Gibson. I already have an ES Supreme and an ES 345 but I have an Epi ES 355 on order anyway (gonna get it Plek-ed by Sweetwater), just for the A) different pickups, B) Alex Lifeson factor and C) to have an inexpensive beater. (The Supreme, with its ebony board and coil taps, is an absolutely godly guitar btw.)
Cool videio. Tone wise, I did notice a bit more clarity in the Gibson but marginally. What you DONT see in this video and why people like myself pay big bucks for the Gibson is the FEEL.....that can't be expressed by video, it can only be felt by the player....my two cents. Keep up the good work!
Absolutely correct on the feel thing man, and that’s REALLY what it comes down to. It’s gets to a point where the price can only justify so much of the “sound” or “tone”. The feel is something that you cant always explain, it has to be felt by the player!
Correct - I have both - and the EPI feels like an EPI still - no matter how nice it is. and the Gibson feels like Gibson. is it worth the $? - thats up to the player. but the EPI you can take on stage and not worry - the $8000 gibson you wont want to take out unless you're a paid rock star ;-)
I think a more fairer shot for the epiphone would be against a Gibson USA ES model. Custom shop blows the epiphone away but the price also clearly reflects that. Having owned them and currently I own a ML 59 ES-355. The feel of the ML is just amazing, no poly gunk or over the top sprays of nitro. Mine is also 7lbs 5oz while the epiphone I tried in store was 9lbs. I know not everyone can spend 9K on the Gibson. Epiphone is still solid and will get your there. Still, for $1200 I’d look at other brands that are built better than Epiphone for that semi hollow tone. Epi is great at that $400-$600 price point, these are built no different than their regular epi models minus the USA pickups.
@@srh361 I also had a look and could not find one in that price range, it was either much cheaper (the rest of epi range for example) or around 2k. I am curious to see where you find an ES type guitar around 1200 new.
@@dobiqwolf OH yeah, I'm looking at a Murphy Lab, I believe it's a 61 light aged but it's a little pricey so I'm also looking at a VOS 59 but I don't like the way the burst is on the 59. These types of guitars are really expensive. I've got a Gibson satin cherry red 335 and it's a great guitar but now I want a custom shop 335.
The Korean Samick Epiphones are far better than the Chinese Epis. But the BEST EVER Epiphones were made by Gibson, by Fjujigen factory in JAPAN. In fact they are better built than Gibsons. The Fujigen LP's have REAL BRAZILIAN fretboards, bone nuts, full maple cap, NO veneers, real abalone fret markers, and long tenon neck joints that make the entire guitar vibrate with sustain. The Murphys are over priced and come with the dim-witted Custom Buckers that are some of the worst they've ever made. With Gibson you definitely don't get what you paid for. The hardware is simply junk, along with the harnesses....
@@Edward1312 Epiphone did not make Les Pauls in the 60's :-) The Epiphone ELITISTS MADE IN JAPAN BY GIBSON. I have 7 of them and they are better than what Gibson is making now. All of them have Brazilian fretboards. I replaced harnesses, hardware and pickups and people often mistake them for original 50's Les Pauls in my videos. Gibson had Fujigen Factory make them, and if you can even find the 335's they made, it'll cost you a ton of money to buy one. The original Epiphones back then yes, are great guitars, but they are very ver expensive if you can even find one now.
@@SDPickups I was aware of that fact, this video is about an Epiphone ES335 Semi not an LP anyway and I was referring to the quality of build of Epiphone's in general not specifically Les Pauls.
The only complaint I have with the Epi is the heel carve where the neck attaches to the body (too thick/chunky). Much nicer contour on the Gibson. But, that being said the Epi is well worth the $$$.
Would be interesting to know if the pickup heights were the same as any difference here could account for some of the tonal difference! Also the difference was less noticeable when the pots were on 10 and a bit of gain was applied, so possibly some better wiring and pots could reduce the difference?
I’m a new y when it comes to electric guitars. Been playing acoustic mostly Martins since the “70s. I own a Joe Bonamassa 1962 ES335 and I have to say it’s very nice…sooo. Please enlighten me about the the differences between these 2 guitars…thanks.
Nice comparison. I could definitely hear and tell a difference with the Murphy Lab. More overtones and a little more character. Still it shows that Epiphone did a pretty good job. I won't be buying a Murphy Lab anytime soon but I have always wanted a 335 style guitar.
One thing that stood out to me is that the Gibson sounded a bit brighter. Not saying that that is better. Just a sound observation. I know they are both suppose to have the CustonBucker pickups......sooooo is there a difference between the pickups or is it the construction of the guitar itself. I have one of the Epiphone inspired by Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls....and I think it is amazing. I'm sure I would think the same of the 355.....for the money!
The epiphone has the old potted custom bucker pickups the older custom shop Gibson came stock with. Since 2019, Gibson custom now uses an unpotted custom bucker with different magnets. Therefore it will noticeably sound brighter/more open since they are not wax potted and more accurate to the originals
No joke, one of the things preventing me from buying an Epiphone was the funky looking headstock and now these inspired by Gibson have the Gibson headstock (it looks slightly different but almost same shape). You’d think the pickups would be the reason I wouldn’t buy an Epiphone but that’s a cheap fix by replacing them with Gibson or Seymour Duncan pickups. Oh and the fretboards on Epiphones are usually an ugly Rosewood (even the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson ‘59 Les Paul burst has the ugly rosewood) but these have the ebony fretboards. I really want the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop black and gold hardware or the white and gold hardware but they have the damn 498t/490r pickups for the same price as the ones with the custom buckers. I literally would’ve bought one already if they had the custom buckers. If I were to buy one and then buy custom buckers on top to replace them, now I’m spending upwards of $1,800. It’s more of the principle.
Is it bad I want a Bigsby and some relic’ing on my Epiphone355? For those who are interested in buying the 355, bear in mind it will need a neck set up. In my experience, every new guitar I’ve owned needed a set up. The Epiphone 355 has cured my GAS of wanting to sell every gear I own for a Gibson equivalent. Now it’s all about practicing and getting better. Thanks for the comparison video
@@csharp57 cheers! Funny enough this Epi is one of the VERY few I’ve ever unboxed and it didn’t need to be set up immediately. Excellent guitar all around and I’m very happy with mine. A bigsby is a cool idea!
Listened without looking. Twice. I listened “in-air” using speaker on my phone. Busy day doing chores. They sounded very much the same. Would there be a more discernible difference listening earbuds? Probably. But not enough to say they sound significantly different. Buy the Epiphone. I don’t think my opinion will change later. I’ll listen again tonight with earbuds.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about some lowlife stealing your $8000.00 guitar. That would be one of the biggest in a lifetime of heartbreaks. That is the reason why I admire guitars like that from a distance. Besides to me it is kinda splitting hairs because the Epi sounds fabulous in its own right.
For me I totally preferred the Gibby across the board... but the difference isn't big enough that most people would notice, ESPECIALLY with a band at the same time, and especially live. I agree the Epiphone is a little bit sharper tone. One way to adjust that is by switching to a longer cable: 20' sounds definitely mellower than 10' and 10' mellower than 6'. (True with all passive pickups, but with a preamp it doesn't matter.)
I use a 30' Fender vintage style curly lead, al la Alvin Lee. It definitely has an effect on the sound. My tone is virtually identical to what Alvin's was . . so much so that when I had Alvin's Pure Blues album playing during my breaks when playing my well over 3000 gigs, plenty of people would ask me if that was MY album playing! Alvin was practically unknown in Australia. As I was preparing to go back on after a break, I'd let the song on the break music album finish, and I'd do my best to play along. From where I stood, listening through the foldbacks Alvin's tone and mine were practically identical. As soon as I found out Alvin used a curly lead, I ordered mine! The thing weighs a couple of pounds, so it must have plenty of copper in there!
Big neck on the epi! Something I’m a fan of, I find it comfortable but it’s purely subjective. I tried two, the white model and this red one, white one had an even thicker neck.
There are so many well made lower priced guitars on the market nowadays there's really no reason to spend extra just to have a GiB, Epi, or fender logo on your headstock
Any differences can most likely be chalked up to the slight variances between individual guitars. If you had 2 Gibsons side by side, or 2 Epiphones. You'd notice the same miniscule inconsistencies. I'd be more concerned with the overall QC of the specific example I received, than how it compares to another brands version. The reason Epiphones are 10 times less expensive, is you have little to no control over how good of an example you ultimately receive. Generally when you buy a Gibson, there's specific documentation for the exact serial number guitar your receiving. When you buy an Epiphone, you get what you get. Unless you have connections, and someone who's in a position to cherry pick one for you.
The very fact that theirs so many videos on Gibson comparison to Epiphone shows how far Epiphone have come.... never been a better time to buy a guitar 👍
And the best part is, one can easily steer right past both Gibson and Epiphone and spend far less money yet get an amazing instrument. If your thing is resale value, then it matters what you buy. If you don't care, then there's literally a sea of choices out there. It's a great time to be a guitar player, especially if you're still buying guitars. I'm long past the buying stage, but it's still cool to see so many great guitars out there for "sane" prices.
Gibson has the nice fade, body paint detail, just higher quality all around, the tones richer, even just through this recording I can hear the Epiphone has a cheaper tone in comparison the Gibson that just is more articulate, fuller with character. I just hear the history more coming through Gibson's, wither their remake modern year or the real vintage older era guitar.
Epiphone sounds awesome, but I preferred the Gibson. More clarity to my ears even though they're allegedly the same pickups. TBH, I still prefer a set of Seth Lover's over these way over priced Gibson made buckers, but it's all subjective.
I can say the same as the suffian before me.. lol.. good Murphy.. but the sound from the Epiphone is so cool.. that i dont would spend such a lot of Money for a Guitar, than my name is not Keith Richards 😃😃😃
@@RockToneRevelry neck; nut and fretboard, not the profile. I briefly had an Epi es355 Lucille, I really disliked the neck. It was a combination of the narrow fretboard, but it had a slimmer profile, I'm wondering how it feels(or even is).
@@timwhite5562 as I stated in the video, the neck on the epi is large. Fat and round, “baseball bat” feel. Typical Gibson nut width (not the slimmer) between the two, the Gibson had a “smaller” feeling neck, but was still nice and round. Does not feel flat like the Lucille profile.
@@RockToneRevelry how do the weights and the neck/body balance feel in comparison? Sometimes one might feel a little heavier or lighter in the neck than the other, things like that. Anything jump out at you? I'm going to get one regardless, I was looking for a decent for a copy, so I'd be a fool to not just go with this. With that said however, clearly their listed description and specs aren't completely accurate, going by the one you're demoing, so I'll ask while I have your attention.
@@timwhite5562 they are the same pickups. Definitely unpotted for both, when the room volume is increased/enough gain is present they squeal like no tomorrow lol
Issues? Practically none. Didn’t even need a setup when I unboxed it, which is really something within itself because I’ve unboxed hundreds of epis over the years and every single one of them played terribly out of the box.. but not this one. No uneven/loose frets either, which I tend to see a lot as well in other Epiphones. The only thing I’ve done now is a personal fret polish and cleaned up the fret ends a tiny bit (more of a personal preference thing at that point).
Sounds like someone is holding onto a certain predisposition about Epiphone. Sounds like it’s going to break? Give it a year and throw it away? 🤣 it’s not made of brittle plastic. Not only does that not make sense, it’s literally impossible to tell such things from watching a video.
@@RockToneRevelry own an epiphone and you’ll see. The plug in never stays tight the solder is junk and if you can’t hear the difference, then try owning one and experience it for real. I went the cheap route twice.. they are Chinese junk like a bic lighter. Better yet try to resale it to a retailer.. You won’t get 400 out of it 🤣😂🤣. Those are the real facts…not predispositions
@@keithmatry8939 I’ve owned several Epiphones, and I can tell you first hand this is the best one I’ve ever had. I grant you, that historically the jacks were cheap, I changed all mine to switch craft jacks. The hardware in these guitars are all now akin to their Gibson counterparts. I own many Gibson guitars and haven’t even glanced at an Epiphone in a long time until now. These are not the laughably cheap instruments they once were.
@@RockToneRevelry I’m not calling you a liar and I’m glad I watched the video because I was thinking about getting one. How does that proverb go. You don’t put new wine in old wine skins. ✌️Time will tell
@@keithmatry8939 I’d highly recommend trying one and make your judgements front there ☺️ As someone who found it nearly impossible to recommend an Epiphone to anyone over the last 10 years, these guitars are something else entirely. Good luck! 🤞
My guitar heroes played quality guitars. I want a quality guitar too. I can understand having an epiphone or a Mexican Strat on the side for outdoor summer gigs or whatever but I got to have the custom shop and or some cool vintage. I just can't see how anyone would spend $1,000 on a new Epiphone they have always been around for $300 and most are Chinese junk
I totally understand your sentiment here man, I am one that will usually reach for the higher end personally as well and would never give Epiphone the time of day. I haven’t owned an Epiphone for near 20 years until now. So trust me when I say these new Epiphones are NOT the $300 guitars they once were. They aren’t even comparable, not even close. These are the highest quality guitars they’ve ever produced to date, unquestionably. Now, that doesn’t mean that you NEED to buy one, and it doesn’t mean everyone will buy one over the Gibson counterpart, but it does mean that people can obtain something that can stand up to the big brand without spending $10,000. And that is huge. There will always be people who will prefer one over the other and that likely won’t change, but what needs to change is the mindset of “Chinese Junk” when talking about Epiphone, especially with these newer guitars.
