What's up with Epiphone? $1500 Adam Jones Les Paul Custom & Greeny

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Epiphone Greeny
Epiphone Adam Jones Custom

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[SteveSterlacci]

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Epiphone Greeny
Epiphone Adam Jones Custom

[vinniesworld]

The thing that surprised me with the Adam Jones is that they went with the Custombucker (which on its own is already $270) and a Duncan Distortion, when the Gibson Adam Jones Standard (not the custom shop version) didn't. I think for someone that wants a 70s style lp custom with top shelf electronics, and particularly if they wanted a silverburst, this one seems almost like a no-brainer.

[LivinginLosAngeles-reyx]

As long as America continues to pay anything and everything for all consumer goods today, it won't stop.There is no incentive for businesses to lower prices if everything sells.

[joec]

I noticed yesterday while browsing on Sweetwater that Gibson discontinued the Tribute series on ALL models. Your thoughts seem to be spot on. Epiphone is going to offer 2k or less price point while Gibson are 2k plus. I think it makes sense on a business level. We'll probably see more offerings from Epi at a higher costs then the current. Would be great to see more open book head stocks as well as nitro finishes on higher end Epi.

[srwaite]

Good stuff, Steve! You mentioned that all of the Inspired by Gibson Epi guitars you have played since 2020 have been incredible. I’ve had the same experience. I still can’t believe how good these guitars are for the money. Great value! (Disclaimer: I’ve been a Gibson customer since 1978).

[joekaras]

They sound nice Steve. I bought an Indonisian made Schecter. I am blown away by how good it is and sounds. There are so, so, many different makes out there today. Some of which Im sure build for many name brands in thier factories.

[tedjohnson]

My only bitch is if you’re going to use these guitars to fill that niche then they should be plek’d. For this price point I think that’s a fair request, and if they did that I’d almost forget about the price. Almost.

[Zoso]

I've been an Epiphone/ Gibson fan for a long time. I love the new "Inspired by Gibson" stuff. I own several, including the Adam Jones Veil of Bees. But for $1500, I'm gonna start looking at LTD or Schecter for my next guitar.

[chrispetro]

Here is my take, when Gibson was buying up all these companies and trying to get into other markets it turned out to be a bad move. The other companies weren’t doing well and the Guitar side of their business was funding the failing ones. That’s when we saw the collector series come out which were guitars anywhere from 6K and up. Plus they increased the prices on all other Gibson‘s. Once they declared bankruptcy and got rid of all the failing businesses and got back to just making guitars the prices were still a bit much for people to swallow. But Gibson had to stick with those prices, because if they lowered the prices of their guitars they would be admitting they were screwing everybody for years. So I think in response to that they started increasing the quality of the Epiphones to gain back some of the market. I too have one of the Gibson inspired ES 335s and it is an amazing guitar. But what has always been peoples issue with Epiphones, the headstock, it’s not as attractive as the Gibson headstock . So I think this is why they’re creating these high-end Epiphones with Gibson headstocks. $1500 sounds like a lot but when a Gibson version of the same guitar is anywhere from double to triple that price people will be willing to pay it to get a quality instrument with the headstock they want.

[Jimmy-ey]

I picked up an “Inspired by Gibson” Epiphone 335 dot today and honestly the difference between it and the Gibson 335, which I also tried at the store today, was negligible. The quality of these new Epiphones are outstanding for the price point!

[richgreene]

we are living in the golden age of guitars with so many awesome options across multiple price points. i would have loved to have this many options when i started playing in the late 90s. my options were to spend a thousand plus on something or spend sub 500 on a questionable import.

i own a couple of gibsons but some of these high end epiphone have impressed me when i picked up and played some of them at the stores. im not thrilled about spending that much on a chinese guitar but at the same time if it feels and plays great it doesnt matter where it comes from.

[perrybright]

Took the words out of my mouth. Pricing themselves out of the market. There are so many options out there and great quality at a low price.

[Datimdavis]

These newer Epiphones are amazing. I purchased one of the Matt Heafy epis last year. It is a GREAT guitar - and Matt is very focused on affordable guitars for his fans. I do not own the current Adam Jones silverburst but do have the very first AJ Art guitar. It too is phenomenal but this one offers a couple of extras (like MOP inlays, THE Custombucker, etc) that more thank justify the price.

[chrisforever]

Thanks a lot for this video! First time that I heard that someone explains where those prices come from.
On my way to the "real deal" (my Custom Shop Les Pauls) I bought various Epiphones (and I still own the Epi Joe Bonamssa Black Beauty 3 PUs and never give it away!)
and they all were great guitars.
Epiphone made a huge step forward in quality and I think: YES - that costs money for various things in production and better components!
And as we all know life is more expensive than 5 years ago!
But we all want the prices of the not so good ones?
I really like what they doing - but as long as we see Epipiphone as an budget-brand people will cry: So much money for an Epiphone?
Greetings from Germany!

[DavidMacVicar]

Brilliant moves by Gibson. Not only are they elevating Gibson into luxury, but they are moving Epiphone into the space WHERE Gibson lived a few years ago. I don't agree with it - but it's obvious to see where this is going. It is all about margins.

Throw the Gibson headstock on the Epiphone, people rejoice, and boom, we are spending $2K+ for a Chinese import (I am in Canada)

[smallbuj]

In Canada they cost 2100$ because of the xchange rate... It's plain ridiculous for an Epiphone. I always wanted that guitar but I can't justify spending that kinda money for a guitar made in China.

[BrianOboylemusic]

Epi has come a LONG way I love em… great value in some of them

[MotoMatt]

I went on a limb and bought the AJ. I’m glad I did. The thing is absolutely sick. Plays so well, and the tone is

[geneevans]

I have an epi lp classic. Bought it back in.2005. That guitar is incredible. For 500 bucks, Plays great, feels great, sounds great. For a Chinese guitar, I’m impressed. Epiphone has been killing it since 2004. As far as lps go. If I was still playing live, that would be one of the main two. Right now, the 59 epi is a great guitar. Everyone is hung up on the signature models. The only epi signature model that is really worth a shit imo is the Richie Faulkner V. Everything else is basically who can out slash slash. You know what I’m saying. And right now it’s Kirk. I have a standard. 2020. Love it, feels like Gibson, plays like a Gibson, sounds like a Gibson. I’m keeping everything stock. The burst buckers sound great. Covers all ranges. I know you hate these guitars, but the tributes are awesome for what they are. Especially the 2017 2018 models. I have a 18 but want a17 because that sound is gold. The guitar companies put sig models in people’s head and it took hold. Yeah les Paul is a signature, but a signature upon signature? RDJ explained it perfect in tropic thunder.

[bretspangler]

Great video, I have been considering getting a Greeny, the Gibson version is twice as much and you get the funky finish I do not want, nitrocellulose is historically correct but never a great finish and does not age gracefully. I have about a dozen Epiphones now, all great guitars. I have the Inspired by Gibson Korina Explorer which I really love and play a lot. The one thing I don't like about Les Pauls is their weight, most of my guitars are much lighter, and my SGs and Firebirds are nice and light. I have 2 Les Pauls, a 60's standard, and a Custom Koa, I was considering buying the Greeny pickups and dropping them in one of my LPs, I really don't need all the specs, but I do like the quacky out-of-phase tones you get with a lot of OD and distortion.