I think Epiphones are nice looking guitars. From the looks of them they look well built. Some people really get "into" the details of "oh this Epi Les Paul is the elite model and it's better than the Tokai Love Rocks Les Paul" or "the standard Epis aren't made as well as the Tokais" or whatever. I'll bet you most of us wouldn't really care about the tiny details...and then some of us MIGHT. Overall though I think they look well made. I haven't played one in an amp but I have picked one up and played it unplugged. Don't know how the pickups sound but thats easily remedied. I'd change them all out anyway since I love my Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickup. Even if the pots inside were crappy I'd swap those out too if I had to. And the tuners if they weren't Grovers. Thats kinda the fun of having a less expensive guitar to mess with. You'd still save a bunch off the full retail price on a Gibson even if you changed all those things.
I had the same intentions when I bought my Made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster.
I swapped out the pups with Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials and did the treble bleed mod. I thought about the Callaham tremelo block but for all intents and purposes my Strat sustains well and sounds like heaven. Why do I want to change that?
I'd consider an Epi definately. I'd love to have an awesome tiger maple top with a nice honey burst finish.
Guitars/Bass - MIM Fender Classic 50s Strat, MIM Fender Standard Strat, Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Epi '56 Gold Top Les Paul, Martin DSR acoustic, Sigma Martin Auditorium electric/acoustic, Squier Jazz Bass.
Amps/Cabinets/Modelers - Model 2558 50 watt Marshall Silver Anniversary Jubilee combo w/ Celestion Vintage 30s, 4x12 Marshall cabinet w/25 watt Greenback Celestions, Fender Blues Junior w/ a couple of Billm mods, Line 6 POD 2.0, Roland Micro Cube
Pedals/Effects - Cry Baby Classic Wah, Boss TU-2, Boss NS-2, Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Ross Compressor, MXR Micro Amp, Danelectro FAB Echo, Danelectro FAB Chorus, Danelectro Chicken Salad, Marshall Guv'nor Plus, Marshall Echohead, Duhvoodooman's Zonkin' Yellow Screamer, Digitech Digiverb, Digitech Bad Monkey, Dunlop Fuzz Face, Homemade Loop Bypass pedal, Duhvoodooman's Sonic Tonic (Maxon SD-9 clone +), Voodoo Labs Superfuzz