Are Gibson LP lovers snobs?

[D'Mule]

I detected a bit of distain by some in a parallel thread regarding Gibson introducing some lower cost guitars (under a different name). I have often heard the same feelings regarding Epiphone. Why is this emotion so strong?

I don't see the same sentiment at the Fender Forum regarding their guitars. I just purchased a fairly modest priced telecaster ($450 MIM 50's classic) and it seems that folks at that site would applaud you for trying one out. No one claims it is the same as a Custom Shop Nocaster, but no one disses you for buying a cheap copy either. Really, no one seems to care that it was made in Mexico. In fact, I think there is a feeling there that it can be a great starting place from which one can then customize/alter the guitar and make it into a fine instrument.

I have never heard anyone here applaud someone's effort to take an Epiphone and make it into a real player. Is this because we don't accept the fact that Gibson makes any entry level guitars? Are we subconciously concerned that any consideration of lower priced guitars lowers the value of our own guitars? :ahem

 

[Bengal]

D'Mule,
We? No, not I. But it goes on and not just here. Go to Jemsite forum and post that you love Korean made Ibanez. Or go to the ESP forum and talk up LTD's. It will happen there...

Why does it happen? Here is my theory. People who shell out lots of K's for their Gibsons couldn't even consider the possibility that a Korean made Epi could be a good guitar. Why? If they did, they would look like a fool for buying the Gibson one. There is alot of "Gibson-its" here. If it doesn't say Gibson, don't step to me with it. It's a high horse and alot of people here ride it. Someone will get props for buying a faded double cut for 500 but someone who buys an Epi Custom for 600 will get slammed. Who's QC is better? Lately, it's a toss up. I've played some great guitars from Korea and Japan. The US does not have the market cornered on great made guitars. Some also forget that..

I don't know why it doesn't happen on the Fender Forum. I know what you mean, those guys there seem pretty open minded for an internet forum...

 

[hoss]

I don't know why it doesn't happen on the Fender Forum. I know what you mean, those guys there seem pretty open minded for an internet forum...

Maybe because a USA Fender costs less than half of a Gibson Standard.

 

[refin]

Choosing a guitar is all about tone and playability.
I have some vintage pieces,some USA stuff,but also a handful of Korean and Japanese guitars...even a couple of Chinese guitars.There will always be a few who say USA All The Way,but then you have Ry Cooder and David Lindley playing those gosh awful Teiscos,Kents,and Silvertones....and getting beautiful sounds.
I have had imported guitars,specifically Japanese,that have not only been up to par to American stuff,but superceeded it----but this is not a thread to pit one vs. the other.Who can diss a guitar that sounds and plays wonderfully? No matter where it's made,it either speaks to you,or it doesn't.Most of the jams I've done in the Jamzone have been on imported stuff.
It's funny----the same mentality doesn't seem to carry over into amps.Someone can buy a great sounding tweed copy or reissue(or even a kit!) and no matter where it's made,if it has the tone,it's accepted.It would be totally snobbish for those of us with original tweed collections to look down our noses and say,"Hhhhhmmmph! Not the real thing!"
I've said it before-----would you rather hear Tony Iommi on a D'Angelico or Chet Atkins on a Silvertone? :lol

 

[telecast]

Maybe because a USA Fender costs less than half of a Gibson Standard.

Yeah, and there's definitely something wrong with that picture.

 

[phil47uk]

I have never heard anyone here applaud someone's effort to take an Epiphone and make it into a real player. ? :ahem

Well I for one have on many an occasion D'Mule and usualy get my posts moved in the process. :spin

I agree with you that sometimes the Fender forumites can sometimes appear a little more sympathetic and better behaved than some you may meet in here. But on whole there are some very nice un-biased and helpful people who frequent the Les Paul forum as well.... Now let's see....Who are they now? :hmm ........................ :spin :spin

Off course there are snobs. Arseholes, call them what you will in all walks of life.
But of course it should appear very evident by the content of their posts with regard to other peoples questions regarding their choice of instrument etc..

I suppose. If we were honest with ourselves, we'd all be guilty of being snobs in one form or another, whether it be ones choice of car or their top of the range golf clubs. The cut of their suit etc. It's a part of human nature I'm afraid.
It's all just a case of debating issues with those you think can be beneficial to the particular question you happen to be posing and either ignoring those who are incapable of stringing a sentence together, or politely..as in my case Having some fun and arguing the toss with them.

I don't think you'll find on the whole, many people knocking budget range guitars in here when making comparisons. Not unless they completely stupid.
I think you'll find the hostility tends to rear it's ugly head when the subject drifts to say Epiphones Vs Tokais, when the forum is obviously about Gibson Les Paul guitars. Which is a fair enough and valid point.

Phil.

 

[GeeJay]

The main trouble starts when you get a post like this.....

I just bought a (insert brand name here) Les Paul and it's just the same as a Gibson, but only xx% of the cost. Gibson is all about hype....

Some of the low(er) cost Les Paul copies are fine guitars in their own right and there are some copies (Poole for example) that are fantastic. But they ain't Gibson..

:2cents

 

[D'Mule]

Yeah, I wasn't so much thinking about Tokais. I have never seen/played one in person so have no valid opinion (and I suppose I would be biased against them, being the loyal Gibson fan that I am). I was more interested in the slam against Epiphone as an entry level Gibson guitar. I know this isn't the Epiphone forum, so no one really has to talk about them.

Wouldn't it just blow people's minds if Gibson Corporation decided to discontinue the Epiphone brand name and just call them them "Made in Asia" Gibsons!

 

[Bengal]

Wouldn't it just blow people's minds if Gibson Corporation decided to discontinue the Epiphone brand name and just call them them "Made in Asia" Gibsons!

That's one thing I have always respected about Gibson. They kept that name for USA made guitars. No mistaking anything there. Fenders you have to look for the small "Made In ###" stamp, among other things. Gibson did it right on that one...

 

[grinder965]

I can assure you most are not....not even close. The "Title" of the Forum is pretty specific. I think it's pretty simple...Wanna discuss EPI's?..go where they discuss EPI"s.

 

[reverbbb]

Yeah, and there's definitely something wrong with that picture.

+1

 

[sliding-tom]

I am a total Gibson fan, I have seven of them, but I also own a few "oriental" Gibson-style guitars, which go from "good working guitar" to excellent in their own right. I dig 'em all. And one thing you mustn't forget: a Fender-style axe is easier to build or copy than a Gibson-style. I made myself, what people might call a "Frankencaster" and this is one of my main guitars. But when it comes to more complex construction, like on Pauls and ES models and the like, it's not that easy as buying good parts and put them together.
I have a Japanese ES 335 copy that's really great in its own right but that doesn't mean that all "oriental" copies are as good as Gibsons.
I am not "snobbish", on most gigs I have at least on copy on board.
The quality on some of these "oriental" axes is just very very good.

 

[GuitarDean]

Well, I admit it, I'm a total guitar snob, and Gibson is my brand, the rest are all just runner-ups to me. Now, there are some fantastic runner-ups, but they are still runner-ups. :dude

 

[Gibson4ever]

I may be a snob, but it is for tone, vibe and quality, not just USA LP's. I do however have a very strong bias toward USA made guitars with lots of good reasons.

In regard to the MIM Fenders (especially the 50"s & 60's Classics) they may be more exceptable than an Epi LP because they are closer to the real deal. By this I mean the MIM Teles & Strats use Alder and Ash bodies, maple necks and maple or rosewood fretboards, ect making them more like a USA Fender. I even think a lot of them are cut here and sent to Mexico for paint and assembly. Epi Lp's are made of Alder/poplar/basswood or something like it with a thin veneer of maple on top not a true maple cap. This makes it a totally different guitar in my opinion (I think early Epi's may have had the right wood but I'm not sure).

I actually think the idea of the Epi is a little deceptive because it is marketed as a korean made LP but there is nothing obvious in the stores that says what it is made of and that it is not really close to a real LP. I have also heard this too many times at Gibson's best friends store GC "yeah this is just like the USA Les Paul it's just made in Korea to save money, but everthing is the same. Just look at the top, it looks just as good as the USA one." Now I know I'm not falling for it and probably nobody here either, but there are a lot of people that walk out thinking they got the same guitar with the same construction material as a USA.

 

[Colo Springs E]

Tony Iommi

I've said it before-----would you rather hear Tony Iommi on a D'Angelico or Chet Atkins on a Silvertone? :lol

,

 

[sinner]

I think jealousy is an issue here, at least some of the time. Some guys play better than you, but can't afford an expensive guitar, or are not the type to allow themselves to spend that kind of money on a guitar. Their personality just does not work that way. It's a different view about money and guitars and tools, what is luxury and what is necessity.

I want tone and playability, looks, and I want a Gibson. This means I still have to search a good one out, the name alone does not guarantee that. I've worked and waited a long time to be able to buy Gibsons, USA Fenders, and CS Fenders. Does this make me a snob? Can that question be answered by another question: You have a choice of a great Squire or Mexican Strat, and a great CS Strat. The CS cost double or tribpe, but you can afford it. To you it looks better, has a better vibe (that cannot be seen by anyone but you). Like I said, I can afford it, so I go with the CS. Same for a Gibson--a great new Epi vs a great new Historic. Man, I want the Gibson--it's been a part of my musical consciousness for too long, the longing, the history, the tone you hear your heroes play. I'm sure others also feel this history, but like I said above, their personality does just not go along with the sentiment about guitars.

 

[kink56]

YEP!!!

 

[dlmorley]

I can assure you most are not....not even close. The "Title" of the Forum is pretty specific. I think it's pretty simple...Wanna discuss EPI's?..go where they discuss EPI"s.

An Epi is a les paul

 

[GeeJay]

An Epi is a Les Paul COPY... :bonk

 

[D'Mule]

Sinner,

I agree jealosy sometimes appears here. But usually by trolls that knock Gibson vs. the cheaper copy. I hate that!

No I don't think anyone is a snob for buying Gibson (I'm not a snob am I? :wha ). I just am surprised by the strong feelings that some have that there is no place for an entry level LP.

I think we on this board lose some less experienced players from the discussion that maybe can only affort low cost LP now, but could step up to buying a historic Gibson down the road (as we all have). How is this a bad thing?