Rob Hanson's Videos about Greco Models: Part 1- • Greco Les Paul Model H... Part 2- • Greco Les Paul Model H... My Greco with the stock pickups: • The Greco EG 800 (Les ...
Since you guys pointed out the flaws in this comparison, I did a more recent one with a stock Greco VS a stock 2020 Epiphone. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gvd-OULTXPc.html
Personally, I think anyone that claims to be able to heat the difference in a veneer top laminated over whatever compared to a maple cap either has super hearing of they are full of crap! Just my opinion.
there's a video here on youtube of some dude making an electric guitar out of pieces of scrap wood and a fender neck, and although the wood type did make a difference while unplugged it was such a minimal thing that the moment you amped that thing up it was irrelevant and you could just use any wood and it would work just fine, in the end, the electronics and your sound chain are what mattered the most to get a great sound.
Agreed, these guys on youtube are just running with a sales pitch. There is nothing more the top major brands due that make them that expensive. Except having to pay more for labor.
In my opinion, Gibson is also overpriced guitars. I had a Les Paul Standard and is not the guitar I expected for the price. The same thing with Martin. Very espensive guitars. People are paying for the logo and brand. There are many options today as the same level of quality under $1000.
I paid $1999 for my Lp Standard 2017..its phenomenal..but.. $2k invested into a say...Wolf or Benton would likely be a better playing guitar with that much invested into upgrading electronics, pick ups, plekking, nut, tuners and so on but 15 years from now you see the latest and greatest you have to have..go to trade in you Wolf that IS AMAZING or a Les Paul Standard and you will then find the only reason..the ONLY reason you would be better off with the Gibson..resale! No one wants a 15 year old North Korean guitar.. People want 15-20... Hell...60 year old Gibsons!.. But not too many are looking for a 15 year old Harley Benton.. But if its done RIGHT..Id be more than happy to not spend the GIBSON $$$ and have the Benton or Wolf !
The Greco sounds great...very full. Excellent instrument. With the Gibson you can hear a lot more of the highs and treble. They both sound great. I think the pickups in the Greco produce that very rich, deep tone of an older generation of the Les Paul.
Epiphone guitars have gotten much better recently. I bought a Sheraton pro II with pro bucker pickups and its excellent. btw that Greco sounds excellent.
The gibson definitely has that extra bit of oomph in the sound. That's why I went with a 2008 trad+. And I found it for pretty cheap. And I gotta tell you, this one's something special. When you find a really good gibson, there's nothing quite like it.
Great video! I have a 1972 Greco SG that I bought new 46 years ago. I have changed the pickups but it is still and excellent guitar that I am happy to keep in my collection!
Markos Nika No shit. Obviously you know nothing of wood quality. We dont have near the old growth we had before, the older the wood the more stable it becomes. You dont just want to use any kind of maple for a neck you want a specific species of it, and again, the old growth.
Markos Nika ...yes you can...and no wood is not all the same...build a guitar from a bradford pear tree...it’ll fall apart... I also want to know how older growth wood being more stable is fantasy? Anybody with half a brain who works in construction knows some of the best buildings were made with older growth timber which is much more rigid than younger growth. Now if youre saying wood doesnt affect the tone then Id like to hear why you think thats fantasy? Which will then be followed with a response using physics on why it completely does.
Greetings fellow North Carolinian! Alot of these vintage "Lawsuit era" Japanese guitars were made very very close to their American counterparts (Thus the lawsuits) and are fantastic guitars for the price, but because there aren't many left, you can get your hands on one but you may not be able to for long, so get 'em while you can. Great video, keep up the good work, I can't wait to see your channel go BIG!
I've owned 2 Epiphone Les Pauls and A vintage 1980s Cort Les Paul copy. My first Epiphone Les Paul was a Standard I paid $375 for it and although it was a beautiful guitar, I was never really happy with the sound and one day I got desperate for money and I sold it. That was in 2001. Last year I came across a beautiful vintage Silverburst Cort Les Paul copy and it played beautifully. Well my wife needed some dental work done so I sold it. I also have a Squier Strat as a backup and that made things a little easier. I more recently came across another Epiphone Les Paul and I fell love all over again. This time with a Plus Top Pro with Probuckers and coil splitting capabilities. I paid a little less than $300 for her and she's gorgeous! That being said, I would love to have my Silver Cort Les Paul copy back in the family as a backup.
@@Arkoudeides. maybe, but as the video shows the Japanese early on in the guitar building hay day on the 70's-80's-90's the Fuji gen gakki Matsumoto and his Luthier's to very much pride on THEIR workmanship and it shows deeply if you have EVER played Japanese guitar you would know what pride and attention to detail went into these high quality instruments ! I know Korea's catching up to Japan in quality but still my Japanese strat is of much higher quality than the Korean one I have but apples to apples and Lucas is playing Les Paul and I don't have a Japan Les Paul like his but I do have the Gibson Les Paul Jr and a USA AXL bull dog jr and the Gibson is better but only because the Gibson was ACTUALLY built in Gibson's Boseman Montana plant which usually only build acoustic Gibson guitars like jumbo, humming birds ECT but since they used this special wood to build these Les Paul Jr.'s out of jarcoba Spanish cedar that the Montana plant had it was built by those guys and it's superb guitar on everyway EXCEPT the finish is too thin and they didn't use grain filler on this wood in order to encourage free resonating wood vibrations I guess but other than that it's just great especially since I only paid $200 fit the Gibson it's hard to complain but any how sorry for the run on sentence but I really like guitars of all origins😉
There is a difference but it's minute details that are just plain simple to understand when presented with reasons and I will try to tell you the difference that I have experience with in my Korean vs USA guitars, OK!? OK, so the Korean guitars are built and sanded but Asian people with slightest bit smaller hands and since they have smaller hands than the average sausage finger American they can get into details and shaping the neck of the guitar more accurately to the shape of THEIR hands and the fit is more controlled and comfortable than say the average Gibson American Les Paul studio, jr., standard ECT which tend to have bigger fatter clunky necks that just DIDN'T get the attention to feel and comfort THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE but that's also due to the pressure on workers to produce more more more instead of trying to get a quality product they are pressure to keep up with like Chinese production numbers which hurts the quality big time (but hopefully Gibson new CEO will fix that stuff) so the Koreans just take more pride in their attention to detail because the hardware and components are almost equal, honestly i THINK if the Koreans at the PRS SE Asia factory and the Chinese at the epiphone factory,Japanese at the Fuji gen gakki and then Gibson's factory put THEM all together with the same exact wood and metal and plastic and pieces of hardware, basically all the same parts and tools everything being of exact equal the findings would be on order of best to worst 1 being best it would be a tie for all 3 Asian factory being first and then Gibson crapping the bed, but looks i said before Gibson has new management so there's hope to bring the USA back to its glory day but until the market crashes and resets the only logical (economy wise) would be to buy the best guitar for the money and since foreign company's are producing such it is no wonder why they are pushing Gibson into a corner . But on another note have you seen the Gretsch jet club 5426 brand new from fender for $299.00 !?! At that price I just couldn't say NO, and the way it resonates unplugged is impressive and the finish is very sharp and classy with no spots or anything and the pickups sounds awesome it's just amazing that China can produce such quality guitars for this price and THEY nailed the tone on these pickups, sounds just like Neil young when I play his songs for electric guitar you can't go wrong with the Gretsch jet club 5426 check that out too😉
Where the money is likely to be spent and which countries economy benefits from spending the money. I personally go with what I can afford but sometimes it's nice to know I'm helping keep u.s. companies alive because most people buy cheaper Japanese, Chinese or Korean made products.
Epiphones do have maple caps. I refinished and replaced the binding on a standard. I could clearly see the line between the maple and mahogany. The cap is plain though with a flamed maple veneer on it.
SOME do. Most don't. I have a 2007 Epi Standard Plus Top. It has a mahogany-ish body with a cap of the same, very porous wood, followed by a very pretty flamed maple veneer.
I have an Ibanez les Paul 1973 that is far better than my Gibson’s Studio and traditional. Japanese guitars from the 70’s are amazingly well crafted. Mine looks brand new, even being older than myself.
I prefer the tone of the Greco. It's much mellower and warmer. I thought the Gibson tone was only better when you started playing metal riffs. The harshness in the upper-mids and lack of low end body created a better metal tone. But for a clean or overdrive tone, I like the Greco better. Maybe that's the pickups you put in it, I don't know, but considering the price difference, that's quite a remarkable comparison!
Really good video and comparative!! I have thought about buying a guitar shipped from Japan but always scares me how they will be packed and treated in on the way.
You can buy a brand new Agile 3100 series ,solid maple top. High quality, Built in Korea , from a dealer, with a warranty, or take a chance and buy one off eBay or Reverb ect. , And the guitar shows up with a neck like a ski jump. Then you gotta hassle with The seller. No thanks, been there, done that! $425 for a new Agile 3100 ,done. If you don't care about a solid top but want a Insane maple top, sc 550 Harley Benton for about $300 US . They are built in Vietnam , very good workmanship. I bought a H.B. custom 24 also built in Vietnam, first guitar I ever bought that didn't need any adjustments to it . Perfect set up. Oiled The fingerboard ,took it to a gig that night, tremolo stayed in tune ,sounded , played, and looked killer. Wish I could say the Same about other brands I've bought including from the big F&G!! Like someone else wrote , the CNC doesn't know what Country it's in!
Can confirm regarding Agile. Excellent Korean guitars and you can order a custom guitar which is comparable to a Gibson Les Paul Custom for under $1,000. The headstock looks a little weird but other than that, it's as good as the real thing.
My Agile arrived in 100% condition and the setup was even to my request (I play jazz with 12 flat wound D'adarrios). No complaint here and I even accepted a blem (there was orange peel on the back) and saved $100.
Epiphone has good build quality, but I'm a Gibson convert. After years of exclusively playing strats I bought my first Epi 6 years ago, and then next a year later - nether felt as good as the Fender but the minute I bought my first Gibson I understood the quality gap with Epiphone. Its minimal on the high end/low end stuff but it's there. My Mexican Fender Players Deluxe remains my favourite though, so well built and I just love strats even if my SG standard is an incredibly beautiful playing and sounding guitar
@@goodknight37 good wood is negligible tonewise unless you have canine sense of hearing. The vast majority of of your sound quality is going to be the based on the quality of the electronics in the instrument and the amplifier that you're using. Unless you happen to be playing an accoustic guitar then wood quality matters a lot more. Solid body guitars ,not so much. Especially if you use a lot of distortion. Other factors would be intonation, strings, tuning machines, the nut, and the frets. Of course there's also the player.
Spotted Saint I’m not just talking about tone. I’m talking about how an instrument will hold up over the years. The Epi LPs I’ve had simply didn’t. I have had an Epi Dot for about 15 years now, there isn’t one piece of Epiphone hardware left. I swapped it all for Gibson. I love that guitar now. But should you really have to do that to a new guitar just to make it reliable?. The construction, other than the maple neck, instead of a mahogany neck, is very similar to the way that Gibson makes their 335. Not long ago, Epiphone wouldn’t tell you how their Les Pauls were constructed. That’s because each factory was constructing them in different methods and they would use whatever scrap wood was available to them to construct the bodies. Oh, I really appreciate your advice on wood. I’ve been a carpenter for 25 years and I’ve been playing for the same 25 years also building guitars/ amps/pedals , but I’m sure your experience trumps mine because after all you are on the Internet
I focus on the clean sounds unmuddied by overdrive effects In the clean mode the Gibson is brighter and cleaner, but you still have a difference in pickups between the two. It would have been great if both had the same pickups. Thanks for the comparison. I will check them out.
No, it's a _comparison._ It would have been _great_ if they both had _stock_ pickups, which would have been a _valid comparison_ of the sound of the two guitars, not a comparison of Gibson's stock pickups against $300 worth of Bare Knuckle Customs.
Just bought a 2009 epi gold top with p90s made in unsung Korea and I'll put it up against any Gibson or any other Lp. It has full size alpha pots, not the best but far from the small Chinese crap pots you mentioned. I definitely got lucky. 450 bucks from reverb. Killer guitar. Japan is good but Korea is the new Japan 😁. I am very happy with my epi and I have a shit load of guitars including Gibson's, fenders, Korean schecter, etc.. nice video by the way.
Setup , tuning , and the intonation ... all the notes being in the right spot , and maybe ease of playability, does it stay in tune the way you tuned it ... are all more important to the sound than the pickups ! It’s one of my recent breakthroughs around 8 yrs in with no lessons .... idk how I got to this video ... I’m a strat guy
Played one of these at a guitar show in Mill Valley, they are awesome, blindfolded you couldn't tell the difference! Should've bought that one. Played it on one of those little Fender Tweed amps. Bitchin' sound.
A friend received a Gibson Firebird for Xmas. He’s still having problems with the bird nest wiring. Now his epi dot is having problems. I purchased an epi Les Paul special (used) for my son for $67 at GC. He lost interest so I use it for recording. Great guitar. I’ve recorded a few songs with it. As a bass player, the epi is only guitar I have and need.
Ugh... yes, does the maple cap effect tone? Sure. Does the wood of a guitar have a substantial impact on the tone? In my opinion, no. That should only be a make-or-break kinda thing for the most elite professional musicians. For a typical hobbyist, the biggest considerations for tone is Amp > Pickups > Strings [matters more for clean tones] > Everything else. And those first two make up like 75% of the tone. I'm not disputing the used Greco is a better value guitar than a new Epi; I just think the tonal consideration on the wood of a $500 guitar is trivial.
Alright, here ya go, did this in 5 minutes on reverb. reverb.com/item/35359093-greco-eg-700-cs-1977-japan-vintage-electric-guitar ($599.99 Shipped, accepts offers) reverb.com/item/34131201-greco-eg-700-eb-lp-fujigen-electric-guitar-ref-no-3056 ($717 Shipped, accepts offers) reverb.com/item/27843104-greco-japan-eg59-50-lp-model-electric-guitar-ref-no-2545 ($767 Shipped, accepts offers)
Thanks, I have an Orville melody maker, Orville by Gibson Les Paul standard and a Burny Les Paul Jr. As well as as 2 1981 Ibanez AS 50's All superb, yay Japanese craftsmanship.
Awesome video man! You are doing the good work of getting the Greco name out there more. I just got a EGF-850 and it's better than any Gibson I've ever played
Many thanks, In the process of modifying a 1977 Greco Eg 600 Peter Frampton Black Beauty with Triple Pups. P-Rails, Super Vee Blade Runner, 920D harness, CTS Pots, Grover locking tuners, Switch craft switch, etc...let you guys know how she comes out.
How about buy a good older Korean epiphone and put gibson pickups in it....I'm pretty sure they used the 1/4 inch flame top in earlier models...mahogany body and neck...mine is a 2003
The MIK guitars are often wonderful as is. But, as you point out, you could always change the pups with Gibson, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, etc. pups to spice it up, no doubt. Maybe even add some tricks like extra switching on the pups (coil tapping, splitting, phasing, etc.). So many possibilities these days. Seymour Duncan has a lot of cool pups and switching offerings in particular IMHO. Their P-Rails can give you HB, single coil and P-90 tones, all in one pup. I have a set on a Fender Telecaster thinline, sounds amazing.
True enough, all valid points. Another option for anyone who wants to buy new is to grab a Wolf guitar made in Korea. Wolf made many of the Korean Epiphones before Gibson moved production to China.
@@schlomoincognito4023 I saw a demo of one of those Wolf LP's on Max's channel. Sounded pretty sweet, especially considering how inexpensive they are (but then pretty much anything sounds killer in his hands lol).
I played a Gibson Studio, cost $1,000, the frets cut my fingers, I purchased an Epiphone LP Prophecy, upgraded with Gibson Deluxe tuners, Gibson 490 pickpups, Gibson bridge and tailpiece and Gibson hardware and switch. The Prophecy plays like a dream and the finish looks better than the Gibson Studio. I am happy with my choice at half the cost and this guitar will last longer than I am going to be alive.
Who else thought that Greco sounded better than the Gibson? The Greco pups (although you did say they were replaced) had just a little more clarity in the higher gain stuff imo. Cool demo man. I own several Gibsons & I've owned a few Epi's before but I've never played a Greco.
Dude! You made me pick up my phone and go to reverb to look at some of those Grecos. I agree with you completely on Japanese vs. Chinese craftsmanship. The Japanese take a lot of personal pride in everything they manufacture. This was very helpful and informitive. You quite possibly, may have shaped a purchasing decision coming soon. Thanks. God bless you and yours. Happy New Year.😀👍
Can definitely hear the tonal difference (Greco is a bit softer in the highs and mids but has more bottom end) but the quality in both (Sound and build) is fantastic!!! A decent 70's Greco LP in Australia is about $1000 and up. Still 1/3 of a Gibson
I just picked up a mid 70’s Greco EG650 for $700NZD. It’s awesome. Has the Maxon pickups (I believe they are direct copies of a Gibson PAF style pickup) plays better than any Gibson Les Paul I’ve played, but I still prefer my Gibson SG a little over the Greco. As for tonal differences in this video, I found the Gibson to sound better (to my ears) on the clean settings, but the Greco handled the gain much better. Wonder what pickups he put in it. They sound pretty good.
The "pancake body" is one of the least desirable changes Gibson ever made to their Les Pauls in the 70s and was done so to utilize smaller pieces of mahogany. Some pancake bodies were actually mahogany sandwiching a piece of maple and then with a maple cap ontop of that, making them also some of the heaviest weight les pauls ever and not in a good way. All that extra glue between each sandwiched piece added more weight and killed sound transfer and resonance in the body. I'd prefer a 3 piece non pancaked epiphone over a pancake greco or gibson any day. Japan is not vastly superior to korean or even chinese builds, a good guitar is a good guitar, a lemon is a lemon, anyone anywhere can make either one.
Angelo J Richetti I own an Epiphone L.P. ,Knowing that there is an upgrade , still low priced as my Epiphone, is a plus ! Why do you have to shoot Rob Hanson video down ? I bought my guitar because it played great. I need something now that sounds like the real thing without that OUCH ! price. This or a TOKAI sounds like I may be able to buy one in some dive guitar store or pawnshop for a great price. I am thankful for You Tuber's for letting us in on these great hidden gems.
SouthernBoy honestly, almost every mij lp copy I’ve played plays, feels, and looks better than any Gibson I’ve played. played a Fujigen recently that was miles better than any Gibson I’ve ever played (even customs). Gibson needs to step up their quality.
I agree the Gib sounds clearer & maybe a little brighter but the clarity of each note stands out just a bit more on the Gibson, Greco makes excellent guitars and they sound phenomenal, just a little darker, maybe the pickups add to the difference a bit.. Japanese guitars are extremely good
I picked up a Epi 1960 LP Tribute, Maple Cap, 57 PAF's, refretted with SS fret wire, level, crown, polish, replaced the bridge with a roller bridge, did a setup and Bam, what a sweet guitar! A friend of mine who owns, many Gibson Les Paul's said it plays and sounds like a top end guitar, with great sustain!
I'd argue that my Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro II sounds better than any stock Gibson Les Paul. Granted, I replaced the stock pups with a Pearly Gates neck and a Custom Custom bridge from Seymour Duncan. And, because I specifically love the sound of those pups I think it sounds better than any Gibson. Also, I prefer the Epiphone Headstock (Fight me losers) to the open book Headstock Gibson uses. The main difference between the two anymore is the feel of it. A Gibson feels better in hand to most people.
@@tantibusking7095 reason why I said any DECENT epi, to be more specific standard ir custom. Lets say You spend $400 on the guitar and $200 on new pickups it's still half the price for the cheapest Gibson. Quality is way better on Gibson bit for that price tag honestly I don't see how is it worthy
@@taokichavez9319 I completely agree, but a vast majority of guitarists will choose the feel of the guitar over the sound. They would cite that they can change the tone with amps and pedals
On the first strum of the G chord in the tone test, I love the mid range of the Greco better than the Gibson. +1 for the Greco. But it may just have to do with the pickups, i don't know. Plus your dist tone sounds awesome! Great tone! Thanks for this demo.
Lucas Fowler, would've been great to see the Greco up against an Epiphone Les Paul? If you don't own an Epiphone you could've borrowed Angelo J Richetti 's. Gotta admit the Greco sounds pretty good. Cheers!
Yes Greco do sound good that’s why Gibson sued them and won btw. Because these guitars actually do infringe on Gibson’s copyrights. Epiphones do not because they’re owned by Gibson. See the difference? One is ( to this day) an illegal guitar the other is not. You wouldn’t like it, if it was your invention that was being stolen now would you. Give it some thought and maybe you’ll see why you shouldn’t be praising these guitars.
In this video in my opinion there is more than a negligible diff. The Gibson sounded better than the Japanese Greco. The Gibson had better bite and sounded less muddy. Great video...thanks!
This guy was really on point, and made a lot of sense to me. Since I don't like Epiphone Les Paul, anyway, for 2 main reasons. 1) The headstock is huge and ugly-looking 2) It's freaking heavy than the real Les Paul. Thanks for these video, man...your time and effort for making your videos are greatly appreciated by your viewers...:)
Why do we always have to go down the either/or road? Gibson sets the standard for Les Paul guitars. They are copied because they're great guitars. I have an Epi that I love. It plays and sounds fantastic. I have played Gibson's that I love. My advice, after 43 years of playing is to enjoy the instrument that inspires you to pick it up and play it frequently. This Greco sounds and looks like a really nice guitar. That doesn't mean that all others are crap.
Just bought an Epiphone LP about a week ago.... It's "okay" but in need of many upgrades. Peeled the pickup covers off along with most of the plastic and top-wrapped the strings. Did a full setup and now it plays better. Pickups, pots, switch and jack replacement coming soon though.
Lol! who buys Gibson because of where they are made? Anyone (me included ) buys Gibson for Its 'coolest of the cool" factor. That is why they can charge insane $$ for that Headstock that reads Gibson, The guitars themselves aren't that much better than a Epiphone and some are downright terrible.
@KesselRunHero I only buy Mexican Fenders and they are great your right but there is a bit of difference in build quality and parts, and If a Gibson was made in say Korea but still had the Gibson logo on the headstock they would still sell for a good price. I bet if Gibsons were made in Japan They could still fetch their current prices ( not custom shop), perhaps not right away but after they were confirmed as being of good quality. (things like that takes some time). When you see some of the copy companies like Tokai, Burny,Orville and others starting to reach the $1000 price range ya know most don't care where their made, and I say most..not all of course. If I could choose to buy a guitar and $$ were not an issue I would always go American made but I think to many that American made isn't as much of a concern as it used to be. The World market is changing so fast and very soon we will even see a quality Chibson That no one will be able to tell the difference, I know your probably loosing your shit right now, but just wait.
I’m impressed! I liked the Greco sound better to be honest. I sure like the price point better too! Great demo and commentary, which had me subscribe....keep up the good work. Are you planning to do a video on amplifiers? I could really use some pointers (not from a salesperson) on getting the most out of my guitars.
I'm not bagging on your video, but when it comes to where a guitar is made, it doesn't matter so much these days, because a CNC machine doesn't know what country it's in. Most foreign made guitars keep the cost down by using cheap electronics and hardware. I'm sure your '77 wasn't made with a CNC machine, and maybe at the time Japanese guitars were better than Chinese. Anyway, my point is where a guitar is made outside of the country doesn't matter as much as it used to. Epiphone is putting out some quality instruments these days and with some upgrades you can have a guitar as nice as a Gibson except for the finish. Epiphones use polyurethane and Gibson uses nitrocellulose. But to be honest I've never heard or played a Greco.
That is definitely true, a CNC machine is the same in any country. I really like the "soft-tooled" feel of instruments that were done mostly by hand, like these old Greco's. The quality control tends to be better from Japan than from China, in my experience. Korean QC seems to be pretty consistently good as well. Like I said in the beginning of the video though, nothing wrong with Epiphone, I have an Epi Flying V on the wall behind me :P
@@LucasFowler true. Chinese QC is only there on the more high end guitars (500 dollars ore more) QC in Japan is always there. Samic and Unsung plants in Korea are great for QC too.
Do Hoeijmans it’s not always just QC that keeps Chinese guitars down, It is the cheap materials that are provided to the Chinese factories in combination with the inexpensive labor to keep costs down. And yes, these older Grecos and Orville’s from Japan ARE better, you gotta try one. Al you have to do is see one and touch one and you’ll know.
If you think about it,maple top won't affect anything if you compare with veneer top,myself I do prefer a guitar without any top glued on the main body.
I have a handful of Epiphone Les Pauls, and I love all of them. Granted, two of them are from the Japanese made Elite/Elitist line, but my Chinese and Indonesian Epi's are great as well. I love the Epi's so much I sold my Gibson LP Standard. I heard MAYBE a 5% difference in tone, but the Gibson was about 5 times the price of my average Epiphone. I've upgraded the pickups on a couple of my Epi's and they sound phenomenal. By the way, Epiphone's ProBucker pickups are really good. Having said all that, the Greco's were made in the same factory where the Ibanez Artist guitars were made - and they did (and still do) fantastic work there. That's also where the Epiphone Elite/Elitist Les Pauls were made.
I have a Epi Elite LP Custom... traded two guitars to get it...14k gold plating on hardware..built in Fugi factory..with Elitest case...I guess there were some legality issues over the Elite naming that's why they're Elitist now... since I got this LP...I haven't had a Gibson I played feel and play as good. The Gibson yearning is gone because of the quality of this Elite Epi.
I love Japanese guitars and Greco was a name i remember. Roll of the dice for me. Have a '06 Epi LP Std +, CSB. Bought new in '07. Yeah, love the vintage burst more but the Epi's been great for over 10 years now.
An Informative video. The Greco looks great. However I have some thoughts about this. I myself work in the quality sector of a large multinational manufacturer and also as a side to this, own many guitars across the price spectrum including a Gibson USA Les Paul and an Epi LP Custom. Firstly, Gibson Made in US vs Epiphone Made in China and supporting local US economy etc. Epiphone is an OpCo of Gibson USA so basically, by buying an Epi, you are still benefiting Gibson's profitability and bottom line. I'm sure Epiphone's profitability plays a part in feeding the wider Gibson USA machine. Secondly, the Epi has been spec'd to be a more cheaply made instrument than it's US counterpart. That is the whole point. Its got nothing to do with being made in China or any other country for that matter. i.e. Gibson Epiphone China are following the "recipe" or "design brief" that Gibson gave them to manufacture Gibson designs at a lower cost price point. Thirdly, I'm not sure I entirely buy into this whole 1970s Japanese copy guitars being so good. A lot of those "law suit" Ibanezes that people hype on about were actually quite shite. Yes there are good examples but I can guarantee that there is a fair share of crap out there too. The quality revolution in Japan was a long process and there was a lot shitty stuff produced out of there in the 70s and perhaps even the early 80s. Don't buy into the hype. In conclusion, in the world that we live in today, I don't think we can generalize about country of manufacture.
The tone of both guitars are quite similar. Greco sounds darker and the Gibson sounds slightly cleaner and tighter. It’s personal preference but both are great … price is awesome on the Greco!
I hate to prove you brand snobs wrong, but you could make one of those Les Pauls out of plastic, smear it with dog shit; and it wouldn't sound any different, providing you supply it with the same pickups. This has been tested with sophisticated computer software. The tone and sustain are NOT affected by the material the guitar body and neck is made of. period. ( that only applies to a solid body electric guitar) God Bless yall. I'm not trying to be a dick. Peace, brothers.
Ok computer software is not really convincing. Not denying your claim, I actually think it sounds like an interesting experiment. What pick ups would you recommend and what breed of dog should i obtain the shit from?
@@ronnieDshman18 I don't think the pick-ups matter so much, but you should definitely use Shit Zu shit; and make sure you smear it equally on each guitar.
Your Slither rendition needs a little improvement but not bad. IMO when treble is high it turns fuzzy to me and I don’t care for it, it could be the setting of the amp but the Greco has a more mellow sound in that aspect and just from listening to this I would buy the Greco with no problem; I prefer the mellower sound of it.
you are mistaken the body is made from birch and the top is Sycamore thats why they were cheap then due to the wood they use im not saying that you have crap guitar but you should do some research
This is an EG-800, one of the more expensive models of the time. It has a pancake mahogany body and a solid maple top, with a 3 piece maple neck and an ebony board. The less expensive models like the EG-500 and EG-600 would have a Sycamore top. I have an EG-600 that has a Sycamore top, though the body is made of mahogany, just many pieces of it.
I preferred the sound of the Gibby but not by much, for the money, the Greco is the way to go for sure. 👍for posting this video.Edit: 2 months later: listened again, cleaner The Greco sounds better but dirty I prefer the Gibson.
Dave Carpenter - Do you realize your comment is entirely false. Les Paul was experimenting at the Epiphone factory as he refined his concept for a solid body guitar but no finished prototypes were ever made and nothing he was working on even remotely resembled a Les Paul. As a matter of fact what Les did create more resembled an Epiphone hollowbody. The ORIGINAL LP was made at the Gibson factory about 5 years before Gibson purchased Epiphone.
Thank you Lucas! Love your comparison alot. I completely agree, Im not a big fan of Epis either. A few years ago, i discovered the value in the MIJ guitars. I was very fortunate, and found a lawsuit late 70s el Degas les paul custom, and it is now my nuber one electric guitar. (i play alot of acoustic)
@@sugarlife485 I haven't played an orville or greco, but I've had now 15 gibsons and 6 tokais. If you spend the same dollars on a guitar, the tokai will be better. E.g., if you're going to spend $1200, you can get something like an LC230 (a les paul custom version) and it'll be better than anything except perhaps an actual les paul custom. Maybe even. But if you spend $3k on a tokai H-series guitar, it'll likely be made better than a $4k les paul custom. Gibson is just a fast process guitar now, but with good paf-type pickups. Their hotter output pickups are gross. Tokai's pickups are every bit as good as gibson's. Tokai isn't the promised land, though. Their production guitars sometimes suffer the same issues as gibson (bridges out of place laterally, neck stability / body hump. There's no magic with gibson, they're just making a lot of guitars. You want magic, buy a used collings. They're not magic, either, they're just made better.
Epiphone MIJ also exists made by Fujigen. (renowned as OEM of Greco and Ibanez etc.) However, these are few in the secondhand market recently. Overall, the Japanese made guitar of the 1970s uses good wood material for price. For example, Brazilian rosewood, ebony etc. were used for inexpensive guitars, especially in the mid-seventies. Ironically, in the 1980s, wood was adopted commensurate with the price, but the manufacturing technology was matured.
Well I was actually learning something at the beginning but when you got into the details about the Epiphone Guitars you were totally wrong about the electronics and parts they use maybe you should do a little research before you make those kind of comments because you didn't have a clue what you're talking about most of the Epiphone guitars have Gibson parts and some Epiphone things Gibson took from Epiphone when they were bought out by them they designed guitar input jack that doesn't spin designed by Epiphone as well as their new toggle switch that doesn't wear it out like the old Gibson and they use same humbucker Alnico pickups that are double wax dipped with the same German wire Gibson uses and they're lock tailpiece was also designed by Epiphone... Watch Dr. Epiphone Will Jones (prolly afake name hahahahaha) Has great detention to detail in his videos on Epiphones
Are you sure about the pickups? I really heard a difference between a Gibson and an epiphone, I was playing the epi through a vox valvetronix and the Gibson through a katana. Reasonably similar amps, I thought the Gibson was miles better than the epiphone. Although the Gibson wasn’t perfecr
the greco seems to have real good clarity, no buzz or anything, the only big difference is that the greco has a slightly more bass sound to it, the Gibson is a little brighter but that may be do to the pickups, id love to get my hands on a greco lol
And BTW, I think the Greco sounded better to me, more warmth. Mind you I don't think Gibson really knows how to even make a vintage style PAF anymore, not since Tim Shaw was doing them in the 80's. Greco's are a great bang for the buck, especially if you are a gigging musician. Who in their right mind would bring a 2k guitar to some shitty dive where drunks and crack addicted thieves are rampant?
I have a 1980 Aria Pro II LS-500 and a 1998 Orville Les Paul Standard. They’re both amazing guitars I tend to like them a lot more than my Gibson Les Paul Standard. I’d like to note that Orville is Gibson Japan, or was. Construction is closer to that of a 59 Les Paul.
Most epi les pauls Flame tops have a maple veneer on top of a plain maple Cap not mahogany as you suggested. I think that’s only the epiphone Les Paul custom pros that are a mahogany body with the maple veneer… And I think the Gibson Les Paul custom’s are actually all mahogany body.
If you look on Epiphone's site, they will tell you whether the guitar has a hard maple cap. Usually the more expensive models and signature models do. Notice in the description of this one it says "AAAA Flame Maple Veneer Top" www.epiphone.com/Products/Les-Paul/Ltd-Ed-Les-Paul-Standard-Plustop-PRO.aspx "Classic Les Paul Mahogany Body and Maple Veneer Top" www.epiphone.com/Products/Les-Paul/Les-Paul-Standard.aspx But on this Joe B. Model, they make sure you know: "Mahogany, Carved Hard Maple Cap" www.epiphone.com/Products/Electrics/Les-Paul/Joe-Bonamassa-Les-Paul-Standard-Outfit-Pelham-Blue.aspx Traditional Gibson Les Paul Customs from the early days that were painted white or black were all mahogany. Later on they started adding maple caps to those as well.
Timmy Mulls. I don't really understand. I'm pretty sure that Gibson Les Paul Customs have maple caps on a mahogany body and I've never seen an Epi with a maple cap, Standard or Custom - look in the cutaway of a Gibson, that sliver of maple where the binding rises to the fret board - it's not there on an Epi, ever. It's veneer. I admit that I don't usually examine Epis, the electrics (look inside) are low grade disgusting and the p/ups are (get what you pay for) too shit to bother with - everything out of sight stinks so why are they going to gift people lumps of unseen (and unappreciated) maple? When will the Epi Les Paul buyer want to crank out some Blues Breaker stuff or try out his Paul Kossoff? I hate the headstocks and I hate knowing what Epiphone were before Gibson gutted them. I think all those Epi fans that say it's better than their Gibsons need their ears tested or maybe try using an amp that doesn't sound like a dogshit miniature wasps nest that's as cheap as the guitar and possibly try playing something that isn't max. dirt. All guitars sound the same when you use too much gain. But it's not illegal and Epis are decent value, you can play nice things on them, I wouldn't refuse one on a desert island.......so.......just that I'm always going to suspect that the Epi fan skimps on a decent amp , like those horrible "Starter guitar/amp/strap/tutor book things" that unlucky kids get for Christmas with a stinking little plastic "Marshall Stack" that runs on AAA batteries. Get what you pay for - buy your teenager a US Springsteen Telecaster and a J45 and don't moan when he leaves it on his bed or around the house. Only use a belt to thrash him if he wants a solid-state modelling and apps-ready amp before he's learned to play something through a reverb-only twenty watt valve job. He'll thank you for it in time to come. IMO - because I'm a snob.
@@geoffreyallen888 Korean and japanese makers have made all kinds of stuff. Some of the epiphones were made on contract and barring current production (which could be anything), the older guitars could've been made to spec however gibson wanted, or based on what a typical factory would do. Adding a maple cap with veneer in top is not a particularly expensive thing to do. It may actually be cheaper now (because it allows for a thinner mahogany body blank). Most of the japanese les paul copies are veneer over solid maple if they are good quality, and a lot of the higher end (a strange term, think $500 new) cort guitars that are carved top are maple veneer over plain maple cap. It's not man hours cutting the maple caps, and never really has been - even gibson started with carving machines long before they came up with the les paul design.
As an amateur builder, I'm a big fan of the older guitars with laminated maple necks. The ones I've gotten (ultimately, they end up cycling through and out) seem to be better on average than mahogany for stability (esp. with respect to things like body hump). Not likely the case if the maple was one piece, but the laminated types do well, even two piece necks are very stable in maple. Same pickups, same scale, same hardware and pots, I can't hear a difference between maple and mahogany necks, and nobody honest can, either. Certainly can hear changes in the other things (scale, pickups, pots, hardware).
You need to try the Elitist Les Paul by Epiphone. It's USA Flame maple top, routed overseas,(I think) but it is built in the USA. I have two Gibbys but I fell in love with the Elitist. I did add a Tone Pro's bridge and tailpiece....and Sperzal tuners. It goes for $1200. +. Older ones are close to 1800. Mine is a 2002 .
I have to give you a huge thanks man ! After watching this vid I forced myself to look into Greco guitars . I’m very happy to say that after A LOT of research and I mean A lot , I’m currently awaiting the arrival of my very first Lp style guitar a 79 Greco EG 900 . With that said I’m also looking at picking up the same planet tone pickups . They sound absolutely amazing ! I’ll also be looking to potentially upgrade the pots and wiring to a 50s wiring . What are your thoughts on this ? Have you done it to yours ? Again, thanks for all that you do !
I left the original pots in my guitar and just changed the wiring over to 50's style by moving a couple tabs. I love those Planet Tone pickups, they rock! I would leave the stock pots and wiring in a 900 unless something was failing. You have a great guitar on the way!
Just discovered you, cool vid! One bone to pick though is the thickness of Epiphone polyurethane. It depends on the person who shot it. I have a bunch of Epi Les Pauls and the poly is paper-thin on all of them (did I get lucky?). None of them have the "dipped in plastic" look. FWIW, Fender started shooting Strats with it in 1967. ;)
I dont know but I just bought a Epiphone LP standard Gold top and I didnt even change the pickups. Music is music just like a motorcycle is just a motorcycle. Dont matter if its a Harley or not. Get it.
I also bought a epiphone but a plustop pro in cherry sunburst got lucky and it was the same prize as standard and the probucker pickups are really good
frantisca I definitely prefer the Planet Tone pickups. I didn’t realize how much better I liked them until I was cutting this video together. Gibson will be getting a new set of pickups soon!
Lucas, great video. Now I still have 2 Gibson Les Paul. A 2005 Worn Brown Studio which was modded by the original owner But, I had the guitar tech I use put it back to the serial number specs. Now my 2015 Les Paul 100th Anniversary model is also stock, even with the robo tuners, which I really don't like that much but if I stay in regular tuning, it's cool but again, I like Jimmy Page so he has a lot of different turnings that he uses so I always use my 2005 Les Paul for that but that guitar has great distortion sounding pickups so it does help out since there's no need for that pedal. I do have 4 Epiphone Les Paul's [ 3 From the Epiphone Custom Shop] & 1 Epiphone SG 400 Pro with Push-Pull Volume control's which helps. Now out of all my Epiphones I have, my 1993 [Made in Korea] Les Paul with a bolt on neck, tobacco sunburst finish [with solid wood - 5 pieces glued together, no veneer] which is only 1 1/2 inches thick is gonna be the one I keep. I put all brand new [from 2017] & ''Better'' Epiphone Electronics into it, so it does sound amazing for an Epiphone. Since the Jr High Schools in my city will not allow the music departments to take fund's & purchase any guitars, I'll be donating the SG & 3 Les Paul, plus a few Fender Squier Strats that I have modded out with better pickups & refinished the necks & headstocks. Because 2 of the 3 Jr High's have a music department, they should do okay. I've already donated a Fender Bass, so now they can start some programs to teach the younger kids how to play guitar. Now with your video, I've seen some Greco guitars on Reverb too, so when I'm ready, I'll be buying one so thanks for playing yours here in your video. I also have a question for you, I'm thinking of getting a couple pedals & I wanna get a auto- wah wah so I don't have to use my cry baby wah wah pedal. Can you recommend one? Thanks buddy.......
