bsman

Either that, or he's saying Gibson sucks. Gibson sucks, because I can't afford one right now!

disney is latin for satan +1,000,000 I recall about 20 years ago, (we were living in Idaho Falls) my wife and I went to the cable company to stop getting the Disney Channel because neither we nor our son thought it was worth the ducats. I thought they were going to report us to the FBI as child abusers or commies! So many people are brainwashed by that nonsense...

I have only played a few epi's I would deem impossible to play ever, even with some work, but most I find simply need better set-up. that may partly be the fault of the store. It's one of the reasons I haven't been in a Guitar Center for years. There's a local shop (Guitar Showcase) that has just as good a selection, but when I take a guitar from the rack I KNOW it's going to be properly set up and tuned.

i trust you're not trying to say that MIC or MIK guitars are built with more care than a standard USA Gibson? I think you'd agree with me that that's not true. I meant as compared with previously. I don't want to bring up the whole "Gibson QA sucks" thing in this thread, or it will reach critical mass and explode...

Elitist really aren't that much better than the run-of-the-mill epi's. What is so wrong with the epi's though? I have heard russ's argument, and it is a valid one. But most other people simply say, "epi's suck" and that's it. they don't back it up with anything. They don't suck, but they aren't gibsons either. Like more and more MIC and MIK guitars these days, they are built with more care, but in most cases, the hardware and electronics (as well as wood) will likely be inferior to what you'd find on a gibson.

They are supposed to be a cheaper alternative, however most believe that they are a pretty good buy because they are pretty close to a Gibson. Only if by that you mean that in GC they are on the wall close to where the Gibsons are. Otherwise, in my experience they are not within a country mile... - note, I haven't played an elitist, so my comments are limited to the run-of-the-mill epiphones

Nothing new here - this is a phenomenon that has been happening in music since at least the Frankie Avalon days. The bubblegum pop/teen heartthrob does not portend the end of music as we know it, simply the fact that prefabricated teenieboppers are still a cash cow for the industry... Nothing to see here - move along!

I can't join... "I used to rock and roll all night and party every day, then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find half an hour a week in which to get funky. "