Pickin' & Shreddin' guitar thread

TigerTap

Senior
well you get what you pay for.
Epiphone basically runs the gauntlet from cheap shit to pretty good. and hit all points in between. So they’re kinda like Squier, Mexico Fender, and low end American Fender all in one company.

my sons each had a really cheap entry level Epiphone SG special. Same price range as your Squier.
About the same quality level too. Cheaply made. look cheap, feel cheap, sounds cheap. Didn’t stay in tune, etc.

Where as you can get a Les Paul in the $500-$600 range that’s probably roughly equivalent quality to the Made in Mexico Fender. Lots of musicians gig with this level. Look, feel, and sound close to the real thing to get away with in bars and clubs. But much more affordable to put through the abuse of gigging than a full blown American. This where most of my Epiphones call home.

the $800 range is some really good instruments. and fits nicely into a slot in between Mexican and American Fenders. My Tribute Plus Les Paul was just over $800. All American woods and electronics. Came with a hard case too. For my personal taste, it’s the best guitar Epiphone builds. even better than their top end signature models.

Then you can get up near the $1,000 range.
Which is just shy of the starting pricing point of American made Fenders. Really and truly getting a quality axe now. Much less you can see it in the finish. Feel it in the weight and running fingers along edges of the frets on the neck. These almost all come with high end locking tuners, top of the line electronics, hard cases, etc. These are your Epiphone customs and artist signature models.

At this price range, if you buy an entry Gibson instead (Studio, Jr, etc) you’re just a snob paying for the logo on the headstock. Because frankly speaking the top end of Epiphone is simply better than the bottom end of Gibson.

of course if you got money to burn and get up in the $1,750 and above range, those Gibson’s beat the piss outta Epiphones. no contest.

Great writeup @Nutriaitch. Very, very true that the Top Epi's blow away the bottom end Gibsons.

In my opinion, the best bottom end Gibson for the money, used to be the SG Classic, with a dot neck. I got one in 2006, with a Gibson hardshell case for $500 maybe $550 at most. It's a regular SG with P90's. Mine came with a regular SG heritage cherry finish. Not the "Worn/Faded" pinkish red that literally used to come off in your hands. Anyone remember the first run of Gibson faded models? LOL. Nothing fancy, but has a great/mahogany P90 sound.

gpj4wkn7ifdrcug6qdlr.jpg
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
Great writeup @Nutriaitch. Very, very true that the Top Epi's blow away the bottom end Gibsons.

In my opinion, the best bottom end Gibson for the money, used to be the SG Classic, with a dot neck. I got one in 2006, with a Gibson hardshell case for $500 maybe $550 at most. It's a regular SG with P90's. Mine came with a regular SG heritage cherry finish. Not the "Worn/Faded" pinkish red that literally used to come off in your hands. Anyone remember the first run of Gibson faded models? LOL. Nothing fancy, but has a great/mahogany P90 sound.

gpj4wkn7ifdrcug6qdlr.jpg

Never seen a Gibson with dots. Funny thing is my Fender Strat has the Gibson markings on the neck. It is some special edition made in 2005 or 06.

20180625_164448.jpg
 

TigerTap

Senior
Never seen a Gibson with dots. Funny thing is my Fender Strat has the Gibson markings on the neck. It is some special edition made in 2005 or 06.
]

It's the SG Pete Townsend uses & unfortunately destroyed quite a few. Those fretboard inserts on the Strat look nice!

This him at Woodstock in '69
c4d77b55f19441bf72465f310903537d.jpg
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
I never heard of Relish guitars until I stumbled across tish on YouTube. Now I want one. Price is surprisingly lower than I thought it was be.

 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
I never heard of Relish guitars until I stumbled across tish on YouTube. Now I want one. Price is surprisingly lower than I thought it was be.


Oops! It's $3799 and not the $799-$999 their other guitars sell for. I guess I won't be getting one after all.
 

TigerTap

Senior
1965 Gibson Firebird
1965-Gibson-Firebird-III-Reverse-Sunburst-Vintage-Electric-Guitar-wOHSC-263337498837.jpg


Anyone else like Firebirds? Have always liked them. Pretty basic all mahogany guitar, usually with mini humbuckers. Kind of like the reverse Fender headstock. The one design thing I don't like is the pickup switch. It's way out there on the bottom wing.
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
I bought a slide the other day but I have no idea what to do with it. Anybody play slide?

 

TigerTap

Senior
I bought a slide the other day but I have no idea what to do with it. Anybody play slide?


I've played around with them a few times & kind of like you, didn't know what to really do with it, lol. Not sure how to decide when to use the slide in a song.

Skydog's isolated slide guitar Layla solo

Gary Rossington playing slide guitar on Freebird - July 1977
 
Last edited:

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
I've played around with them a few times & kind of like you, didn't know what to really do with it, lol. Not sure how to decide when to use the slide in a song.

Skydog's isolated slide guitar Layla solo

Gary Rossington playing slide guitar on Freebird - July 1977

I found out last night that you can play the whole pentatonic scale on a single string with a slide but you have to deaden the other strings. It's doesn't come intuitively to do that so it's gonna take some work.

Look ad the video I posted of Derek Trucks. Later in the video Eric Clapton plays Layla the regular way but they both come out with the same tune.
 

TigerTap

Senior
I'll have to get a slide & play around with it some more. I love the Trucks video. I do a lot of string muting, due to playing a lot metal/hard rock stuff, but didn't know that you could play a full pentatonic on 1 string.
 

TigerTap

Senior
Interesting guitar by Framus (Germany). Solid mahogany body, solid maple centerpiece & solid maple neck & active pickups. Very pricey though..
kg3by3uwhht4bansrrfw.jpg
 

TigerTap

Senior
Keep going back & forth..

5 current favorite player, no particular order.

Richie Blackmore
ritchie-blackmore-david-plastik.jpg


Jimmy Page
page_dragon3.jpg


Eric Clapton
eric-clapton-performs-on-stage-at-ahoy-rotterdam-netherlands-23rd-picture-id144553389


Michael Schenker
8b6b667a86e0402c9e4323cb7fc3061a.webp


Brian May
brian-may-of-queen-performs-on-stage-at-ahoy-rotterdam-netherlands-picture-id513615850






Gone Too Soon

These are 3 of the Best to ever play guitar, imo.

Duane Allman
Howard-Duane-Allman-November-20-1946-October-29-1971-celebrities-who-died-young-29490187-364-500.jpg


Randy Rhoads
ixsiub.jpg


Stevie Ray Vaughan
srv.jpg
 
Last edited:
Top