Gibson Studio or Epiphone Elite?

Re: poly finish (Elite) vs. nitro (Gibson)

RonH said:

I owned an Elitist custom for about 6 months and while it played great, it was much brighter than my Gibson LP. I also ordered one of the MF blowout elitist standards and compared it side by side with my Standard and once again, it was much brighter. So both of the elitist I have had were much brighter and the Gibson LP had that nice warm, wood quality to the tone. That is why I packed up the elitist and sent it back. I wasnt sure if it was the poly finish, pickups or what but there was a difference to me.

Ron

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Cool, I thought it was just me. In addition to my Tokai LP I have a Japanese ESP Navigator LP-500 Les Paul copy. That guitar set me back $3000, and it's just as bright as my Tokai. Maybe it's the finish that the Japanese use...extremely thin, but very hard.

Re: poly finish (Elite) vs. nitro (Gibson)

sorry look at above post

I've got two Elitist LP's (one standard and one std. plus) and four Gibson Les Pauls. The elitists are a little brighter and clearer. Not sure why just yet....could be a host of reasons such as finish, pickups, bridge w/notched saddles/tailpiece, grover tuners. The maple cap in the elitist is a little thinner than the gibson which by itself should make it a little less bright. Might even be the african mahogany as opposed to honduran. I'll know if it's the pickups soon enough because I have a second set of highorders on order that are slated to go into the Std. Plus. I ordered a set with a same specs that I put into my Gibson Classic that are killer. The other Elitist Lp I plan to leave stock for use when playing really clean since it produces a clean sound/tone that is gorgeous....the best of all my LP's. The pups in the elitist lp's are supposed to have the same specs as the Gibson 490/498 combo. I've never had that combo so I can't make a comparison. I will say this though, the pups that come stock in the Elitist cannot deliver really good or outstanding high overdrive or distortion. I tried both guitars in a number of different amps with various pedals and the pups don't deliver the goods when overdriven or distorted. My Gibsons have the Highorders I mentioned, Burstbucker Pros, BurstBucker 2 & 3 and Lollar Imperials. All deliver overdrive and distortion that is superior to the elitist imo. I don't believe this has anything to do with the wood, finish etc. Pretty sure it's the pups.

So to summarize, my Elitists are really great guitars Both have great articulation, reasonance, harmonics and sustain. However, they do seem to be lacking in the the heavy thump/woodyness dept. when compared to my Gibson LP's. As I make changes to my Elitist Std. Plus, I'll come back and post what kind of impact I think they make.

Speaking for myself, I love the overdriven tone of my Elitist Standard--fat, punchy, lots of low end. I love the combined pickup position on Les Pauls and experimenting with various shadings of the volume and tone pots, I've come across some magical tones with the Elitist.

I think you have to judge each guitar on its own individual merits, two specimens of the same model guitar can sound and feel very different. Alot also depends on the individual musician's hand and ears. Keeping all that in mind, I think I really came across a gem with my particular Elitist. I've searched a LONG time to find the right Les Paul and I finally found it with this one. I guess the old saying holds true: no matter how long and how diligently you look for the right guitar, in the end the right guitar is going to find you, often when you least expect it.

Thunder said:

Hey guys,...am I too late to weigh-in on how much I like my Epiphone Special II? :2lol

Just kidding, ....but seriously I do like it

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Yeah...........'Way to go' as you Yanks say..

I have seen many a guitar poser felled with one stroke of an axe (excuse the pun) by someone with the humblest of guitars in my lifetime..

Enjoy what you have and wear your badge with pride..

When the big crunch comes on judgement day on the worldwide stage of guitar players, it's the guy playing the thing who makes all the heads turn.

Phil. :salude :salude

I recently bought an 03 Standard plus elite from a well known collector. Its in pristine condition . I wasn't planning on getting another guitar but my dealer insisted I sit down and play this guitar. Ive owned and played a lot of Vintage Les Pauls and this guitar made my heart jump. I could not buy it fast enough!!! The quality is just stunning and the sound is ballsy old Les Paul for sure. this one im keeping!! I found out that they are getting really hard to find..the Elites are really hard to find. I saw one on craigslist recently for 2500.00! it sold in two days..damn!!

LP studios are great guitars, I owned one for a while, and could have just kept it, and saved a lot of money

but no, I had to have BINDING...big deal

I have the Elite fever! just got a pristine 2002 Elite Les Paul Custom in alpine white with case candy ,hang tags... I truly love these guitars!

I notice the 1965 Casino Elitist looks and sounds insanely good.

Wow! I think this is a record, an eleven-year-old thread brought back to life. :laugh2: