Gibson ES-335 Vs. Epiphone ES-335! Is the Gibson worth the extra $$$?

[@kh2716]

I just picked up the Epiphone 345 with Varitone - I didn't even know they existed until my guitar tutor mentioned them. Just as I was about to drop 3 nearly 4 times as much on a Gibson and it is completely stunning and plays so well.

[@rickwilliamson9371]

Thanks for the video and all the information you provided. As a suggestion, since this is a comparison video, I'd like to see it edited so that each section is back to back. For example, play the Epiphone clean bridge then cut in the Gibson clean bridge. Then the Epiphone clean middle position, then cut in the Gibson clean middle position, etc. I think hearing each section back to back helps one to hear more clearly what the difference in each guitar is. Thanks!

[@claytonjones705]

Very good idea Rick! I’ll actually try to work on that going forward in future comparison vids! Thanks and thanks for watching!

[@billreynolds2221]

What you're paying for (primarily) is the difference in America vs Chinese labor cost. The Gibson may be worth $500.00 based solely on materials and I'm being generous to Gibson.

[@cesarccoronel1156]

16:47 epi bridge clean 17:46 epi bridge overdriven 18:34 epi middle o.d. 19:27 epi clean middle 20:54 epi high gain neck 21:49 epi high gain bridge 22:52 Gibson bridge clean 23:22 Gibson clean middle 24:31 Gibson clean neck 25:07 Gibson neck overdrive 26:36 Gibson high gain neck 27:24 Gibson high gain middle 28:03 Gibson high gain bridge

[@claytonjones705]

Love this breakdown! Thank you!!!

[@cesarccoronel1156]

@@claytonjones705 you are welcome . But I guess I missed the epi overdriven neck . Or it wasn’t recorded ? Or maybe an error from the guy who uploaded it ? Well in any case let me now if I am wrong or not. Cheers .

[@KawazukiYama]

I think the tone is rolled off on the neck when playing the épi middle

[@lawrencetierney3697]

I currently have 3 Epi's a 335 (Cherry Red), a Les Paul Standard Pro, and a 335 Lucille. I love all three and Epiphones quality control has greatly improved over the years. The simple fact is that I do not play at the level that justifies the cost of a Gibson and the Epi's fill that slot of being reasonably Priced and have the Great Playing Quality that a person at my playing Level (Beginner +) can appreciate.

[@scs_one]

You are halting your progress, instead of having 3 guitars of questionable quality, better to buy one that feels and plays great, giving you advanced level of playability, Epis are good for advanced player who don’t really care about playability

[@lawrencetierney3697]

@@scs_one; I Understand where you are coming from, however when I feel like playing a certain style of Music say Rock, I will pick up my Les Paul, when I feel like playing Jazz or Blues I pick up one of my 335's.

[@garmac6174]

I’ve been playing for over 50 years. I’ve had and do have all kinds of electric guitars (pedals and amps). I can get the right “tone” for any genre with any guitar. What’s the “secret”? Set your amp as “flat” as possible but boost the highs slightly. Turn volume(s) all the way up on guitar. Turn the tone(s) down to 6-8 on guitar. First (or only if you only “clean”) pedal in rig should be an EQ. Amp should set so there’s very, very slight crunch/overdrive when playing hard with vintage HB output pickups. Adjust overall EQ up with vintage SC pickups to match HB overdrive/crunch level. Adjust overall EQ down with high output pickups to match vintage HB crunch/overdrive level. Adjust EQ band settings accordingly. 800 hz is where the midrange magic happens. 200hz is where the muddiness is. 3000hz is where the “ice pick” is. DON’T BUY ANOTHER GUITAR OR AMP - BUY AN EQ PEDAL - IT’S A CLOSET FULL OF GUITARS IN A BOX. Oh yeah, add in all pedals as desired between EQ and amp.

[@ryanfulldark2775]

Had em both, the Gibson is just a more lively guitar. That being said, the Epi is a very good instrument

[@rockhaze]

Be specific, what does "more lively" mean?

[@mrcarloselche248]

@@rockhazeI know what he means. The tones ring out more, breath more , better vibration. Gibsons are usually lighter and made of better selected woods plus different pick ups. If you can, visit a Gibson garage and play them all and compare. I did in London. Epis are great but Gibsons are simply better and more satisfying to play. Does it justify the higher price? Maybe not but once you compared them you will understand the differences

[@tickedoffsheikh8587]

Great job. Can you say what year model are you reviewing? In terms of dimensions hiw does it measure up against the Gibson? To my layman's knowledge of guitars it looks '59ish, the horns. Keep it up.

[@bigmikeyz0071]

It's just the $699 epiphone standard es335 vs the Gibson USA satin finish standard es335. The USA es335 has three finishes satin, gloss, and figured. Pricing is $2999 for satin dot neck, gloss with dot inlay is $3499, and figured with block inlays is $3999

[@claytonjones705]

Hey there! I know I’m a bit late to this reply but they’re both brand new models, which would make them 23/24 (same specs either way) depending on date of manufacture. Thanks for watching!

[@emilloffler1216]

My fairly late model Epiphone 335 Dot has a fabulous sound. Defitinitely live performance level. It was made in the Samick factory in Indonesia.

[@nedludd3641]

That was blooming good. It told me everything I wanted to know. It would be interesting to compare the Epiphone with some of the Epiphone Signatures. I've got the Emily Wolfe Sheraton which I am very happy with. I wonder what you are getting with the Noel Gallagher, Jared James, 1959 Custom ES355? The Ibanez AS93 is superb.

[@JohnSmith-n3y4o]

Surprisingly this may be one of the most distinct differences in sound of any Epi/Gibson I've heard. That Gibson absolutely sounds fuller. If you can't hear it, get the Epi, friends!

[@raymondfryar1533]

I've been happy with my epis. for a long time now I guess because I'm a cheap bast. and because Gibson has been putting out really nice epis. Besides that I could listen to him play all day.

[@claytonjones705]

I really appreciate that, friend! Thank you! There will be more on the way…

[@GuitarsRgood7]

Both sounded great. I want to try them both side by side next time I'm at a store. By the way, your company logo is really good looking!

[@Santaheckler]

I have both brands. Epiphone has a less extreme headstock angle which from my experience gives it better tuning stability, especially since I do bends near the nut often. That doesn’t imply the Epiphone is better overall, just a note (pun) that makes a difference for people that don’t like coming out of tune in the middle of a song.

[@MrRudolf8]

Hi, twa's very good presentation but not well comparision. You had to changing offten beatween two guitars. About your opinion lm agree with you. Epi is litl darker, Gib is mor ilumineted sound, more sweet tune, a higher attac. About chosing; l'll take Epi and placed Gib classic 57 pu.

[@6806goats1]

Get the Nashville one.

[@Jose-FernandX]

Being objective the Epiphone is way more worth it going for it.😊

[@larryjenks31]

It's all in the pickups. Swap a pair of Gibson T-type pickups into the Epiphone and you'll get the same tone.

[@thefamily6221]

Hey bro the paddle sounds great, what does the guitar sound like? Please somebody do a Review, with the guitar no paddles. If you’re going to use the Paddle used them last (at the end of the video).

[@tomnelson5815]

paddles? you mean pedals?

[@edwinmartinez9787]

Your not too smart but the right way to do this is one lick clean with Epi then with Gibson so you can tell the difference then go to the next lick same thing back to back. What you did is not good playng just Epi for how long you play it then pick up Gibson by that time you can't tell so please common sense thank you for the try. I played a 335 Murphy Lab and a 335 Epi so very little difference in tone not worth $6500 more

[@Ziraffe2]

Hey - You say the Gibson has T-Top pickups - are you sure you don't mean Calibrated T-Type, which btw. have 5 alnico, not 2. Keep groovin'

[@MountainMusicExchange]

I think I did correct myself on that one with the T-Type pickups but did not catch the error on the Alnico V magnet! Good ear and thanks for watching!!!

[@JerseWhat]

I have to disagree with a lot of the comments on here re the closeness between the two guitars. They look identical and yes the Epiphone is a really great guitar for the money and sounds similar, but there the comparison pretty much ends. I had an Epiphone 335 and now have a Gibson 335. The Gibson is more articulate and resonant. Don't get me wrong, I could not believe how good my Epiphone was (£299 about 6 years ago, although now sold) and yes it sounded very good and I did gig with it a few times until it developed a sound problem mentioned further on. Whilst yes US labour costs will be higher (for the Gibson), the quality of the components is superior in the Gibson, as indeed it should be. Also the fretwork is far more superior on the Gibson. Within 6 months of owning the Epi, I kept losing the sound intermittently, which I thought was not surprising for the price, but still meaning it needed a repair soon after purchase. It also sounded more muddy than the Gibson. My Gibson ES335 is a super guitar, sounds so loud unplugged, plays absolutely unbelievably, and sounds awesome end of. Also the quality of the woods will be superior (again as they should be). Is it worth 6 times more than the Epiphone (law of diminishing returns), of course not, but it is a far superior guitar, but then in all fairness to the Epiphone, it is an unfair comparison. If you can stretch to affording the Gibson without having to sell the car or risk divorce, then buy the Gibson. Final concluding remark would be, if £500-£600 is your budget, the Epiphone 335 is an unbelievable guitar for the money.

[@HorizonMelt]

I much prefer this style of playing to demonstrate sound. I don't get as much out of guys noodling and demonstrating their chops, especially over background music. I get more out of a variety of short phrases all over the neck.

[@bengtthulin6026]

The Epiphone is ok but the Gibson has better tone all around ♥️👍👍🤠

[@rockhaze]

I don't know how that could be considering both are the same design and materials. I think it's in your head because of the Gibson logo.

[@BHJ7115]

Go play a custom shop you will see. If you don't, then you are playing the right guitar.

[@bengtthulin6026]

@@rockhaze no actually the pickups and pots are different.

[@greenmanalishi82]

The materials are different.. The maple laminate is a completely different count. The pickups while not bad on the epiphone are cloudy clean sounds.. I have both a Gibson and and inspired by model es335 Epiphone. The Epiphone is Awesome for the money..But it’s just not close to being the same minus a logo…That’s the objective truth..You may like one more than the other..But the fact is they are not the same..The Gibson feel/tone is on another level.

[@rockhaze]

​@@bengtthulin6026 No, they are not. The Epiphone has custombuckers and 500k cbs pots. Please research the products instead of repeating what your friends say.

[@cromBumny]

Epiphone doesn't have to pay Americans livable wages, insurance, PTO and 401k, also doesn't have yo concern itself with environmental regulations.

[@aperezdeal]

@ cromBumny to be fair Gibson doesn’t pay most of its employees a “livable wage” but Gibson owns epiphone and a greater than 50% of Gibson’s 990 million yearly revenue is from, you guessed it epiphone sales.

[@marccarter1350]

Woods on the Epiphone are fine, the running gear is awful. I replaced everything on my Casino's. I think they are doing a Epiphone custom Shop build, same body, but upgraded to USA parts.

[@TheNifster]

"Worth" is only what people will ultimately pay. And there will always be someone who will pay more than others will. In this case, there are thousands who will and can afford to drop 3k on a new guitar - regardless of what some one else thinks its worth it or not. Most are married to a dollar value.

[@milwaukee_69]

As far as for me I get what I can afford and if the stock pickups doesn't give me the sound I want then I will put Seymour Duncan in it and get te same or close to the Gibson as I can possible. Gibson is way too pricey for me.

[@Sunday952]

I pick Gibson because the way I am too

[@FrankBuyers...guitarista-iu3zg]

Content creators are beating this Vs crap to death all basically the same videos over and over again

[@LeopoldShitzalot]

They beat everything to death

[@philippehendrickx1109]

Indeed.. it’s like comparing an ikea table with a high end ( custom made) table. They may look the same and you can use them in the same way but they are a very different thing serving different purposes.

[@FrankBuyers...guitarista-iu3zg]

@@philippehendrickx1109 go be stupid somewhere else thats ridiculous

[@FrankBuyers...guitarista-iu3zg]

@@philippehendrickx1109 get over it Gibson fanboys epiphone baby ..no one wants Gibson anymore

[@xxx-jigsaw-xxx213]

@@FrankBuyers...guitarista-iu3zg I do....

[@junlee993]

돈있으면 당연히 깁슨을 살 것이다. 에피폰? 테스트하면 모른 다지만 차이가 있다. 그리고 혹여나 중고로 판매 했을 경우 에피폰은 교통비 빼면 아무것도 남지 않는다.

[@thefamily6221]

Please before you even get started my request is, please play it clean

[@georgecaplan11]

Get a Wolfgang SA 126 instead

[@HALWASRIGHT]

Nope.

[@JoelBiger]

ES 335 Epiphone ? - Very grid choice ! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHatmpppgMyamassi=apnJF5UXtPd8KH4T

[@TexasBlues-123]

I think that particular Epiphone headstock design suits the ES-335 better than the Gibson design. On SG's and Les Paul's I think that the Epiphone headstock looks too bulky. It's always put me off.

[@ianmason2296]

Sire H7 will give the epiphany a run for its money

[@dewey7330]

Has he ever picked the Epiphone? I’m guess no.

[@freddymclain]

do yourself a solid and look at an Eastman T-185- far out ahead of both the Gibson and the Epi.

[@HALWASRIGHT]

Played a few Eastmans and they were meh. Prefer the Gibson much much more.

[@stuartkennedy4570]

The Gibson is brighter

[@BlueberryStinkFinger62]

I'm staying with my high end Epiphones not interested in Gibson..

[@tucki666]

Gibson all the way

[@wiggygfe]

Agreed, if you don't mind spending a lot more money. Epiphone is best value bang for buck by a considerable mile

[@eliazardelugo9467]

Gibson vale verga... suena mejor la Epiphone.

[@thefamily6221]

You’re playing is just fine, but this is a damn mess. I love to hear the guitar, even when you’re so called clean I still hear the dirt

[@claytonjones705]

I hope you’ll forgive me as I’m still working out the kinks on getting everything recorded. Next videos should have cleaner cleans. Thanks for watching!

[@maverick_trail]

How many times you gonna say that in the comments? Don't like it? Make your own demo.

[@dago00]

Colossal difference gibson wins.