Fender vs. Gibson!

[LowEndWonder]

You a Fender man or Gibson man.

[t_ross33]

I love the lushness and grind you get from a Les Paul, but Fender necks feel more natural in my hands.

That said, I'm not above owning some of each It's all about balance.

[oldguy]

Own a Strat and a FrankenTele, and a SuperReverb amp
Saving for a Les Paul style, can't afford the real thing at this point in time.

[duhvoodooman***]

Lemme see--two Epi LP's, a Dot, and a Valve Jr. amp vs. a Strat, a Tele and a Blues Junior amp. So I guess I'm marginally more of a Gibson guy. Until the next purchase, at least....

Seriously, I really don't have a preference of one over the other, so I'm not gonna vote. They do different things, IMO. :

[Spudman***]

I generally have dabbled more at the Fender end of the guitar pool but have pretty much sworn off of them and Gibsons. In fact I've never played a Gibson that made me want to have it. I've found the quality and price points from Ernie Ball Musicman to be more than competitive.

[oldguy]

Uh-oh. Two Epi LP's and a Dot vs. a Strat, a Tele and a Blues Junior amp. Looks like a dead heat here! :

Plus the Epi Valve Jr., don't forget that one..... close to the Gibson.:

[duhvoodooman***]

Plus the Epi Valve Jr., don't forget that one..... close to the Gibson.

Yeah, I caught my own mistake there and edited my response, OG. When I start losing track of what I have, does that mean I have too much gear??

Nah, just means my CRS disease is acting up!!

[oldguy]

Yeah, I caught my own mistake there and edited my response, OG. When I start losing track of what I have, does that mean I have too much gear??

Nah, just means my CRS disease is acting up!!

Just means ya need one more Fender.......

[marnold***]

All of my guitars are more Fendery. The main reason for that probably is, since I'm a child of the 80s, I'm a big fan of "Super Strats" very few of which were actually Fenders.

[sunvalleylaw]

I own a Fender, a Fully Fat Strat copy, and a slightly Fenderish amph. But, I want a Les Paul style too. I agree with DVM that they do different things so I am not going to vote. If the question was which product line by brand name only, I'd be forced to go Fender. Their amph line seals it. Plus, if I was buying a Gibson style guitar, it would be by someone other than Gibson, like Agile or Epiphone. Ok, I guess I will vote - Fender.

[duhvoodooman***]

Plus, if I was buying a Gibson style guitar, it would be by someone other than Gibson, like Agile or Epiphone. Ok, I guess I will vote - Fender.

You probably know this, SVL, but Gibson makes Epiphone. Depending on model, an Epiphone is to a Gibson what a Squier or MIM Fender is to a MIA Fender....

[sunvalleylaw]

Ya, I so knew, but the name isn't Gibson, and I was being lawyerlike in my narrow interpretation of the vote options. Squier would also not be Fender by the same logic. :-) Also, my vote would stay the same.

[Spudman***]

To be more exact Gibson does not make Epiphone. Gibson makes Gibsons in the USA. Epiphone for many years have been made by Samick. Now they are made in China in a factory whose name I can't remember.

Same goes for Squier. Fender USA is made in USA. Squier has been made in many different factories over the years from Mexico to USA (yes Squiers were made in the USA for a short while due to a plant burning) to Korea to China to Japan to Indonesia. To my recollection none of the overseas plants were actually owned by Fender. Fender contracted the manufacturing much as everybody else does from these overseas plants.

So in a way it is correct to say that Epiphone is to Gibson as Squier is to Fender. Both sub brands were acquired by the dominant company, but Epiphone was a US based guitar firm initially whereas Squire has always been an Asian guitar brand inspite of it initially being an American based string manufacturer.

[robert43]

To be honest I like the Fender bass jazz & Presison , but with guitars I like the Les Pauls & SG

[tot_Ou_tard]

Can't we have more choices ?

That said, I'd be happier with a strat, tele, 335, 330, 320, jazzmaster, or jaguar than I would with a lester.

[duhvoodooman***]

To be more exact Gibson does not make Epiphone.

"Make" was a poor choice of wording. The point I was making is that Epiphone is a Gibson "brand", produced and marketed under their auspices/control, as opposed to being a separate company. While I was quite certain that SVL knew this, I thought his statement that "...if I was buying a Gibson style guitar, it would be by someone other than Gibson (italics mine), like Agile or Epiphone" might be misleading to someone else reading this thread who was not aware of what the Epiphone-Gibson relationship was. Your description is indeed more exact, Spuds....

[wingsdad]

To be more exact Gibson does not make Epiphone. Gibson makes Gibsons in the USA. Epiphone for many years have been made by Samick. Now they are made in China in a factory whose name I can't remember.

Gibson opened its Gibson Qingdao factory October 2002 as an Epiphone-only plant, with Chinese line personnel managed at the top levels by transplanted Gibson USA staff. It's an overt attempt to convey & market Epiphone as a Gibson product that just happens to be made in China with the Epi brand as opposed to Gibson USA product made in Nashville, Memphis or Bozeman, MT.

EDIT:Then there's the Elitist series of electrics...Epiphones of 'mixed' bloodlines, as it were...Gibson USA parts in an Asian or even American candy shell. And the Masterbilit acoustics are another exception.

They'd had an Epiphone Korea office since 1992 to oversee manufacture of Epiphones by Samick and Aria. Samick-made Epiphones from 1992-2002 are identified by an 'S' preceding their 7 or 8 digit serial number starting with an 'S', while Aria-made Epis of that era bear an 'R' at the beginning of the s/n. The first one or 2 digits indicate the manufacture year. For example, my 2001 Samick-made Sheraton II's s/n is S01XXXXXX. My '04 Epi LP Standard is made by Gibson Qingdao.

As for the poll/topic question? Strange as it is that this is under the 'Basses' sub-forum...While I have 2 Epi's, Fender's my preference for electrics & basses. I consider my G&L ASAT a Fender Tele because that company was Leo Fender's 'new age' Fender company he created with George Fullerton, just as he'd started Music Man for the same reason and gave it up to Ernie Ball. The guitar's serial number starts with his initials (CLF), its certificate is signed by Leo's wife.

[LowEndWonder]

Iv'e tryed them all and I always navigate back to a Fender Jazz! :

[pie_man_25]

for me, fender bass over a gibson bass, any day, though I like the looks of the thunderbird and EB-3, but their sound is really muddy and balance very poorly, not to mention the price of a real Gibson as opposed to an epi. I only have a fender jazz, and I kinda like it that way. versatile, well balanced, except when sitting down, and great playing. though If I could get one of john's fenderbirds with 2 "mirror image" P-bass pickups I'd probably play that, but for now, Jazz pwns.