Cheapest Gibson vs Most Expensive Epiphone - A Les Paul Challenge! 

Idea >> You each get one of those cheap DIY guitar kits and have a build off against eachother. Only thing you can change is the included pickups. Plus you can both get creative with the finish/paint etc. Then the public vote on who wins.

There should be a law against dot-inlays on a Les Paul...

I can make the most expensive Gibson sound like the cheapest Epiphone

I bought one, the exact same as the one Rob is holding, from Andertons. it arrived with a cracked neck. I phoned them and the NEXT MORNING a replacement guitar arrived. Can’t fault the service from Andertons. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Having a hard time focusing on what they're saying cause the mug keeps teleporting around.

you should do cheapest squire vs George Forman grill

I miss when andertons used to do fun stuff like this, it's been a little heavy on the commercial side of things recently.

I’ve been a session player for over 4 decades. I had two Gibson LPs, a custom and a studio. In ‘94 my kids bought me an Epi LP (Korean) for fathers day so I’d have something to have laying around I could play on. I put Duncan PAFs in it, changed to pots and stuff to switch craft, and a set of NOS ‘58 caps in it. I ended up selling the gibsons because I never used them and the epi plays SO much better! My epi has been in countless studios, a few countries and all over the US with me. I guard it with my life, not just because my kids gave it to me, but it’s an extension of me. It’s my go to…. Gibson should be ashamed. I wouldn’t mind paying a few grand for a guitar, but to me, they just aren’t worth it!

the building guitar idea is brilliant ! As other people are saying in the comments, trying diy guitar kits would be really fun to watch. Thanks again for the great videos, cheers!

21:55 Alright Lee you said it. I want to see a blindfold challenge where Rob plays a LesPaul and an Ibanez with the same pickups and have Lee guess which one is the LesPaul.

Back in the early 70's while our group was playing a club in Kalamazoo, we called up and got a tour of the Gibson factory. Our guitarist played a 1968 ES-335 and they were happy to accommodate us. They made both Epiphone and Gibson in the same factory at the time and the same people were making them. I was amazed at how much hand work went into them and then I understood why they were so expensive. But the same fellow who was setting frets into Gibson necks and dressing them was doing the exact same thing later on for the Epiphone guitars that were brought to his worktable. So back then, the workmanship was the same because they were done by the same people. They had more machine use on the woods done on the Epiphone guitars and less hand-work, but there was still a LOT of handwork done and it was all done by the same guys.

I have the very same Epiphone while my daughter's fiance has the same Gibson. We both prefer the Epiphone. Welcome to the family boy!

lol!! love the mug disappeared and placing everywhere.

Awesome, now need Squier vs Fender comparison

Ricky Gervais and Frank Lampard Jr. talk guitars.

My brain says Gibson My wallet says epiphone

Cheapest FENDER vs Most expensive SQUIER

Cheapest Chinese-made chainsaw vs your neighbour's really expensive fence panels.

That coffee cup breaking effect will never not get a chuckle out of me

The point that Rob makes (at 30:50 onwards) about “the engine of the guitar” being the wood it’s made from and the techniques and workmanship of its construction is bang on. I’ve been playing over 40 years, and long since acquired the habit of trying out a potential new guitar without plugging it in to begin with, just to hear (and feel) what the actual guitar is like - THEN I plug it in and see how well the pickups translate that; if they suck then I can easily change them, but if the guitar itself (the wood!) sounds crap then there’s nothing I can do but give it back to the vendor and say “thanks but no thanks”. A big part of the economising (apart from labour rates) is the choice of timber out of the bulk consignments that any guitar factory will buy from a timber merchant (and that they in turn will buy from the forestry company). The likes of Gibson probably reject over 90% of the timber it buys either sell it on or use it for tooling. At the other end of the market, a Chinese factory will use almost all the timber they buy in a batch and only reject the really crappy stuff; but amongst all that stuff they DO use, a small proportion of it will be good enough that even Gibson would have used it. SO … my suggestion is to go to a big music store (like Andertons!) and try out a dozen or so “cheaper” guitars of the same brand and type (like Epi Les Pauls, as here), but just play them acoustically; you’ll probably find at least one that’s just been “lucky” with the timber and really sings - get it set up right, upgrade the pickups and maybe the hardware too if needs be, and you can end up with a really brilliant guitar for a lot less money!

Since you own a guitar company I think it would be the funniest thing ever if you got a DIY kit and tried to make a guitar yourselves.

At 14:00, be extremely careful widening the split pot for the guitar knob with a screwdriver or some other tool. You can EASILY break half of it off.

Love the comical sideline you did with Chappers’s mug! 🤣

So, I can finally afford a real Gibson. Here, lemme play Smoke on the Water for ya...

Epiphone or Gibson...doesnt matter to me...i still play shit on both...sadly 😭

I've been waiting for this video for like 213789978 months or something

Thank you for the credits. Rory is a legend! Makes these old guys actually funny

Thank you for this video guys, a couple of years ago I bought a Gipson LP studio after doing some research and this video was the final thing that convinced me to get one...love it

someone was having fun with editing that cup

most expensive solid state amp vs cheapest tube amp

i love the way you evade your own questions and answers !!!! i can bet this statement will not see an entrance to your product in this regard !

You and the Captain have great chemistry. I enjoy the back and forth.

How come you guys never demo the cleans when comparing guitars? The only cleans we get is from Lee for about 20 seconds, then the rest is just loading the guitar with gain. It's hard to get an accurate comparison between the two without hearing anything clean

with each of these videos I grow increasingly impressed with the mug. keep it up guys!

You know, you two are such a treat to watch. I have had many hard times in my life and watching you two and the other guys on the team like Rabea danish pete and company have seriously pulled me through.

Your camera man, producers are pretty creative with all the editing they do, adding the crazy funny stuff....very entertaining in all your videos, hahaha!

According to Epiphone website specifications for the Les Paul Tribute Plus, the Fingerboard material is "Rosewood w/Mother-Of-Pearl Trapezoid Inlays." So, they aren't plastic inlays. Also, the Epiphone contains all American Gibson hardware, from the pickups to the capacitors to the knobs.

Cheapest guitar in the store vs most expensive coffee in Starbucks

Honest shout out and hats off to whomever edited these videos. The random revisits to earlier hilarious moments in the video are spot on. Also, thanks to the Cap and Rob for showing me a bunch of licks to learn XD

This is one of the best guitar channels of RU-vid! :D

No offense but to always demo these guitars with distortion only hides the comparison. You should always demo the guitar with no effects first so we consumers can hear the quality and options the pickups can produce. The feel of the neck, radius and entire weight matters also. Let's not forget that Gibson also "owns" Epiphone. And Epiphone is the reason that Gibson is still in business to this day. It Doesn't take a rocket scientist to follow the money..

LTD vs. ESP... please :)

There's something in Captain's playing that makes simple chord progression just sound killer..!!

Always great vids guys, hard decision as I am a fan of older Epiphone guitars. Great to play guess where the Mug will be next. Cheers

Mostly I got from this that the Hughes and Kettner sounds pretty crap at full volume but the rolled off volume semi-clean/crunch stuff sounds really really nice.

Am I the only one that watched the whole 36 minutes video? They make such a great couple, love you both, great videos

We need an updated episode of this for 2020 With Chappers and the Captain!

His groove around the 19 minute mark sounded AWESOME! epiphone makes great guitars for players on a budget, I've had great experiences with epiphone and with decent amps and peddles you can have it sounding just as good as a Gibson.

9:56 never gets old

can y'all do the same for fender and a squire strats

The editing just makes me laugh so much, I've learned not to drink anything whilst watching to avoid spraying it all over my monitor! 😂

2:32 Pete rocking that "Just stepped out of an old Rembrandt painting' vibe

I think your right. You can clearly hear the difference. Its like when comparing an new acoustic guitar to one thats 40 years old. The tones are just different. All across the board. So the Nitro cellulose finish allows more sonic resonance throughout the tone woods. Kind of crazy really.

"Lets see which sounds better!" *never plays either instrument clean or with little gain*

Great shoot-out! My main gigging axe is a mid-90's Epiphone LP Plus-Top (3-color sunburst) with Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups, but I also have an early 2K's Gibson Studio Vintage Mahogany in worn brown. In tone and overall quality they are equivalents in my eyes/ears/hands. However, the Eppy is a lot prettier.

I have a 1968 les Paul custom black beauty original of course and everyone that plays it falls in love with it One great guitar

cheapest guitar+most expensive amp vs most expensive guitar+cheapest amp

I love the absolute madman that edits your videos, so much shenanigans.

Awesome comparison! I remember learning the bulk of my guitar on a Tribute plus!

Very good video, I really like the way your compare those guitars! 🙂

Awesome!! This was really helpful. Now, why not do a comparison between the Gibson LP Studio and the PRS S2 Singlecut?

You two should also start making guitar tutorials together! Would be great and really helpful for many!

Hello from Canada! Love the reviews.

Man I loved this! Thanks 🙏

After over 6 years I still love my Epiphone LP standard. I’ve played on Gibsons, and yes they do feel and sound a bit better, but I still feel that the sound is mostly dominated by the hands of the guitar player and the quality of the amp.

Slash said, amongst other Les Paul players, that every LP he has that had the headstock fixed sounded better when it came back from the repair shop!

I have a REALLY heavy, REALLY dark Midnight Sapphire Epi 1960 Tribute Plus I got last year, swapped the nut for a Tusq XL, and everyone that hears plays it can't believe the tone lol, it's funny how this guitar just drops jaws. I love it, and I don't give a fork if it says Gibson on it. Have also tried to hold/play every '60 Trib I see in order to gauge weight....... and I have a hard time finding one as heavy. Guess it was luck getting a fine slab! 🙏🙏🙏

I enjoy your videos ..... Keep up the good work....

I've had loads of real Gibsons! I just bought a 2014 Ephipohone Les Paul Trad off my brother. The Ephiphone is beautifully made, all top guality components and has a very lightly sprayed finnish rather than a 'Poly finish'. Action is on the frets and the guitar sounds and plays brill. Feels like a hand made guitar! A great guitar in its own right? A shining example of the quality and craftsman/ woman ship from the Chinese factory!

This is literally the first video from these two that I have seen that I did not want to punch at least one of them in the face. Great comparison!! Very well done.

yes and yes on the gibson head stock angle - tuning issues . i solved the problem with a tone pros roller bridge and string butler on the head stock at last i have good tuning stability

I love the idea at the end of your video to go to a Guitar Factory, do you a crash course and then build and demo a custom guitar. I am really curious how it would come out and anticipate the thrill of seeing the superior quality in the guitar that you two would make. How can I get an anderton's t-shirt? I'm sure no one has them here in the U.S.

I honestly never see the real point of these comparisons, because I believe that you will have drawn your conclusions before you even play them. The other thing is that you get what you pay for, but I will say in Epiphone's case, when you get a guitar like the Les Paul Pro, it's better than its cost. I was always a Gibson fanatic when I was young, and I had a 68 SG Standard. I sold it, and with the money I got for it, bought an Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop, an Epiphone SG pro, and an Epiphone Sheraton II. I love these guitars and do not miss my SG at all. They look great, play great, sound great, all through my Fender 65 Twin Reverb or Roland Jazz Chorus 120 amps. I plan on buying more Epiphones in the future for my cheap guitar collection, because they have the biggest bang for the buck. I also have a Fender Mexican Strat and Tele, also great values. Unless you can really afford it, most of us working players who just get the weekend bar gigs find guitars like Epiphone a Godsend.

The coffee cup thing is funny...

I went this route. I have a Epi Les Paul 1960 Tribute plus (that comes stock with Gibson USA PAF type buckers). And my Gibson is a Les Special TV yellow P90 beast. Im super happy with both.

Lee I'm guessing the "grunt" missing from superstrat style guitar with gibson pickups is that the scale length is different, so the les paul is going to be a warmer tone

Before Gibson acquired Epiphone, Epi were way above the Gibson brand.

would be nice to see some vids of the captain and chappers now with Lee's current playing ability.

I love these guys! This challenge is similar to the head to head of the Squier Affinity Strat and a Fender Strat that cost over 4 times as much. The difference was not that great, both are great guitars. The Fender might last longer (ie the pickup selector switch) and had greater consistency from guitar to guitar as their QC is better, but if you upgrade the standard pickups in the Squier for about $100-150 it would be very difficult to distinguish the two in a blindfolded I prefer single coil to humbuckers since the sound is cleaner. If you want to add more "fuzz" you can do that with a pedal.

I liked the epiphone better. It had more range of sounds, from clean bell like tones to an overdriven classic rock one, and in fact made the guy on the right sound like a better guitarist than he sounds on the Gibson. What makes these types of comparisons useless is that the two guitars weren't setup the same pre recording, they're using two different amps, different electronics, and one guitarist is more "athletic" than the other, and has a bias, judging from previous videos. These obstacles need to be addressed, if these tests are to be meaningful.

I would love to see this done with squire and fender.... blindfolded

I laughed so hard when Robs volume knob fell off because the second I got home with my epiphone custom pro blackback the same exact thing happened to me lol

I bought the exact same Gibson LP Faded 2017 (it is basically a Les Paul Studio) for 400€ second hand in perfect condition and it is one of the greatest guitars I have ever played. Clearly that one is better than any Epiphone on this planet, you can clearly hear it in the video. The 490R & 490T humbuckers are lovely.

That epi has “mother-of-pearl Trapezoid inlays” according to the Epiphone website.

At least Les Paul head stocks break less than their coffee mugs.

Total beauty in red.! Danke Achim.! Now i know.! You are top notch.! (Vibes Andy.!)

I can’t unsee the teleporting mug and now keep watching it bounce around the room in each new shot 😂 totally distracted from everything else

My personal opinion is that the Epiphone sounds better. The Gibson was good, but there was just something about the Epiphone that made me want to hear more from it.

It has the USA pickups in the Epi, but what about the pots, are they the little ones or the big pots?

When Chappers plays the epiphone all i can hear is Matt Heafy and Trivium in the background 🤘🏽🤘🏽

Great review. I had them both - which is why I play Telecasters.

The Epi sounds amazing! But the poly neck is pretty tacky!, half hours work with 1200 grit and 0000 wire wool and problem solved!

How about a Strandberg with broken headstock ;-) !!!

i have a 1961 les paul with paf pickups, a guitar ive had since 1965 when i was 18, i semi retired my gibson and bought a epiphone les paul plustop pro and i am absolutely delighted with it, believe me, there isnt a great deal of difference in sound between the two, but there is in the price, i rest my case.

i think the editor had more fun editing rob's mug than the video itself XD XD

ok since the point of this, is after all , helping people decide . Im going to give my personal experience in case i might help someone. (this is quite long but i really hope it helps someone) 6 months ago , after watching tons of reviews and trying tons of les pauls at different local guitar stores , i decided to buy the epiphone tribute plus vintage sunburst , and it was a hard decision for me back then , because i am a die hard gibson fan , and i have a pretty solid idea of wich gibson i would absolutelly love to have over 4000$ , but at that moment and time my top budget was 1300$ i saw the gibsons on that price and read their specs , and wood wise ,pick up wise , gear wise etc in general the tribute plus had top notch hardware , hten i heard them all my options for les than 1300$ on youtube , and i just kept loving the epi tribute plus sound , so i said fuck it and bought it online. so the guitar came , visually astonishing TRIPLE A top (nicee) took it to a band rehearsal as soon as i had it , pluged it in ,and tryied out different sounds and channels , the sound was ridiculously good , after 4 months i was loving the guitar A LOT , BUT as the audiophile i also happen to be , i had the little itch on my head of: it sounds great but would a 1000$ gibson wich were on my budget too be better? would i get a better sound? i hate that about me , because if you are loving how a guitar sounds , why would yo be concerned about if there was a guitar on your budget that would have sounded slightly better , welli am, so many many fellow musicians have told me that the main employee in one of my local guitar stores is true expert in guitars his personal guitar collection is currently over 30 guitars he has been in important local bands , he is 60 years old now and has been playing for over 40 years , so i came to his store woth my epi (store where i had been asking for guitars 4 months before) and as soon as he saw me he said , sup dude what happened you went for an epi , there where somo nice gibsons for 1300$ specially on the used market , and i told him nah im sorry , call me stupid or noob , but i just like to buy guitars new , i want to e the first to have them on my hands , he answered nah i understand , i was just like you when i was younger , (im 27 but guess im a kid for him) and he said , well its a pitty you didnt took longer to decide because i happen to have this 2000$ gibson standard T that i bought for my kid , but he happens to be more into telecasters than les pauls so i had it for me , it sounds amazing but , i have 6 lespauls already and they are of a bit higher quallity (over 4500 $ gibson les pauls) so i was going to offer you buying it from me for 1400$ i know it is slightly over the 1300$ budget you had but its quite a bargain for such a good gibson guitar wich i only used once so it is new. And i answered tell you what , try my epi tribute plus , if you tell me this gibson is sincerelly better , you have my word im selling the epi to your shop for 500$ and paying the difference , he agreed , he took my guitar, pluged it to this epic sounding mesa boogie mark V amplifier and started trying it, after just a couple chords i saw him stop and put a weird facial expression , he looked surprised , he then started to try diferent sounds and channels, started to play with the tones a lot , all of the sudden he stands up and rushes to grab the gibson , unplugs my epi, plugs the gibson , tryes it for a couple minutes , unplugs it , plugs the epi tryies it again , stops playing and tells me: dude , i am speachless with this freaking epiphone , dont you think changing it for any gibson under 3000$ dollars because it is giving me better sound than my gibson standard t gt , and i like how that guitar sounds , i tell you man , i would confidently go to a studio and record an ep with this epi , amazing bang for the buck you got here man, you can be happy. so thats it opinion from a player who has been playing for 15 years (me) the best les paul guitar i have ever owned BY FREAKING MILES ( and is my 3rd les paul , 1 prs and another epi(epiphone les paul custom) before) and the sound is amazing opinion from the most respected guitar player in my city , a known guitar collector , a guy with over 40 years of music and guitar playing on his back: as good or even better than any gibson (new) under 3000$ so there you have it if your budget is not high this epiphone is a no brainer! hope i helped someone and sorry for the huge text

Rob when will Chapman guitars website be up and running?!?! I'm dying over here man!!

I have the Epi 1960 Tribute plus in Black Cherry finish and a friend here in Canada owns a pretty big guitar shop and he couldn't get overthrow nice my guitar played and sounds.i got mine in 2014 and still lobe it's a fab guitar!

"...Luthierness..." I love it! Too effen funny!

Hey, that is a realy nice comparing. mmh i'd like to see gibson vs hakstrom. that will be interesting btw in quite the same price range and an higher price gibson vs. a hakstrom ultra swede. sorry for my bad english i am german. the hughes & kettner sounds realy nice, that is german crafting work ;-). greets.