AboutDave Dixon Expertise Guitar player since 1987. Studied at Musicians` Institute. Worked as guitar/music teacher since 1991.
Experience Since joining AllExperts I have been getting rated with 9's and 10's from most of the people I've answered questions from, so I guess that I must be doing something right. Not all that many people can be wrong.
Questions about theory, technique, equipment, players, history, etc. welcome - just about anything in fact. The only things I prefer not to answer are requests for transcriptions, or equipment assessments/valuations.
thanks for taking your time to answer my question!
I've been wondering whether you deem it justifiable that Gibson charge much higher prices than their spin-off Epiphone. Do you think it's all down to Gibson having a better renown? Or does Gibson really make higher quality guitars, i.e. better handling, material and sound etc.? Did Epiphone with their elitist series catch up on Gibson? Or is quality at the end merely a matter of taste? What may sound crap to some might sound odd yet nice to others. I personally can't make out big differences, maybe because I'm not that experienced yet. Is it true that many musicians use really cheap guitars to record albums because those have the sound they've been looking for? I hve a Cheri acoustic guitar that didn't cost too much but to me it sounds no worse than the pricey ones. Am I just deaf or ignorant, as a friend of mine suggested? Or could it be that I struck a bargain?
I'm looking forward to your reply.
Thanking you in advance
Tass
Answer Hi Tass,
Thanks for your question.
The pricing of guitars is staring to get silly these days, especially in the vintage market.
Gibson have produced excellent guitars for years. Epiphone also had a string reputration, but maybe not in the same bracket as Gibson/Fender. Some years ago, Gibson bought Epiphone, and used that as a lower end brand - I believe in get into another market sector, where their arch-rival Fender were making inroads with their Squire brand. That, as much as anything, may be the cause of the lowering of Epiphone's status.
As for justifying higher prices...yes you can sometimes get a guitar for less money that plays really, really well, but that's more likely to be a lucky strike. One thing which gets compromised on in cheaper brands is quality control, so you'll generally find a lot of 'average' quality instruments, some real stinkers and a few gems from within the same batch of instruments. Higher cost/quality guitars check quality every step of the way and ensure that only the best possible product reaches the end consumer.
Also, Gibsons (and the other high-end manufacturers) use top quality tonewoods, which can be in short supply and herefore very costly.
