New Epi Firebirds

NelsonP

WezV said:

NelsonP said:

Bellycaster said:

Am I missing something?

This Guitar is under £600.

Epiphone Firebird Vintage Sunburst | guitarguitar

Are these new ones at £1600+ a different level of craftsmanship?

The new ones have CTS pots :-)

At a point almost everyone agrees CTS pots are not the upgrade they once were.

Can't wait for the £2k+ 'custom' version.

With Alpha pots :-)

Bellycaster

The old ones had 9 piece laminate through neck and CTS pots, IIRC from Trogly review.

The pick ups and switchcraft stuff seem to be an upgrade, but the price shift is looney tunes like most have said.

dazzajl

I won’t be buying one of these, they look lovely but at that price, off the top of my head, I’d rather go Maybach, Rivolta, PRS S2 or SE or Gordon Smith.  

That said, if someone loves these and wants to spend their own hard earned on one and it brings them happiness, good for them. 

Offset

dazzajl said:

That said, if someone loves these and wants to spend their own hard earned on one and it brings them happiness, good for them. 

All it will bring is buyer's regret.

* EDIT ...and after the panning here, I'd be surprised if anyone 'fessed up to paying £1700 for one in a NGD post...

stonevibe

I'd buy an ESP LTD Phoenix if I wanted an F-Bird-type guitar with good build quality. It's not the same vintage style but a great guitar.

I already own one of the first-run models, and the build quality and hardware are top-notch. Ebony board, TonePro hardware, Seymour Duncan pickups, and a super thin finish you can see the grain through, plus a satin finish on the back of the neck.

Jonathangus

2000 for the Gibson Epiphone.

Offset

I must admit I'm genuinely looking forward to reading a review of one of the £1700 models to see if fit, finish, QC etc etc is in line with the price - and comparable to some of the other really great guitars available at this price point.

Kalimna

Offset said:

I must admit I'm genuinely looking forward to reading a review of one of the £1700 models to see if fit, finish, QC etc etc is in line with the price - and comparable to some of the other really great guitars available at this price point.

Hold on a sec. Sensible comments like that have no place in this thread!

Offset

Kalimna said:

Offset said:

I must admit I'm genuinely looking forward to reading a review of one of the £1700 models to see if fit, finish, QC etc etc is in line with the price - and comparable to some of the other really great guitars available at this price point.

Hold on a sec. Sensible comments like that have no place in this thread!

Sorry - I don't know what came over me :-)

NelsonP

Offset said:

I must admit I'm genuinely looking forward to reading a review of one of the £1700 models to see if fit, finish, QC etc etc is in line with the price - and comparable to some of the other really great guitars available at this price point.

Me too. Only Fender American Pro Strats, Teles and Gibson SG standard 61s to beat. Should be an easy win for the Epiphone.

rlw

I trust that of all the detractors in this thread, there are none who own a CS Fender or Gibson, moaning what's the difference between the run of the mill model and the fancy CS one.

Alun

Lovely looking guitars, just wish the stoptail version had two pickups. 

StefB

Alun said:

Lovely looking guitars, just wish the stoptail version had two pickups. 

Be too expensive if it did.

timmypix

rlw said:

I trust that of all the detractors in this thread, there are none who own a CS Fender or Gibson, moaning what's the difference between the run of the mill model and the fancy CS one.

That's not really the same, is it?

There has been no announcement of a new factory or anything like that, so we have no choice but to assume that these are built in the same Epiphone factory as models that cost a thousand pounds less, with very similar specs. So there's a huge price hike but nothing in the marketing about an improvement in quality. 

Now there may be arguments that the Fender or Gibson Custom Shops aren't that different to their mainline factories, but they do make a fuss about them being built in a separate facility/production line, with more time spent on the build and more care taken selecting the components.

These Epiphones don't have that. These aren't Custom Shop Epiphones. These are regular Epiphones with Gibson Custom Shop branding attached to them, with Gibson USA Firebirds very cleverly discontinued so as to make these appear like an "affordable" option compared to Gibson CS.

So to explain things in the terms you've laid out, this is like buying a run-of-the-mill Fender or Gibson USA model at CS prices because it has a CS sticker on it, and the model you'd expect to pay that money for has been conveniently discontinued to reduce your options.

timmypix

I commented on a post by gibson_garage_guitars (employee at the Nashville branch) on Instagram asking if these are indeed built at the same factory as all other Epiphones and he confirmed they are.

I continue to be stunned.

dazzajl

timmypix said:
...........this is like buying a run-of-the-mill Fender or Gibson USA model at CS prices because it has a CS sticker on it, 

To be fair, that's really not far off the reality of the situation though.

DrJazzTap

The pricing is ludicrous. 

rlw

I have no issues with the pricing or the guitar.  I'm sure the price in the shops will be a bit less fairly quickly.

The guitars look good and as long as they are made properly and sound right, I can't see the problem,   Just because you can get a similar model for less, by the same company, doesn't mean these are overpriced, as I referred to above.

Presumably the standard model is made as cheaply as possible and the new ones aren't - they have Gibson pickups and decent wiring, custom colours and so on.   As long as people moan about the quality of the cheap ones, the expensive ones will be tarred by the same brush.

Or is it more a case of  'ooh, I fancy one of those but it's got the wrong name on it'.................

And really, if Gibson is trying to raise the profile of Epiphone, this is the way to do it.

Moe_Zambeek

First discounts appearing. 

https://www.coda-music.com/epiphone-1963-firebird-loch-ness.html

robgilmo

I wonderif Epiphones new price regime has anything to do with them now sporting a Gibson headstock? I wonder if Gibson said 'yeah sure, you can have the headstock, but it will cost you' , lets face it, in a lot of cases it was only the headstock seperating the two.