Comparison between Edwards LP and a Gibson LP Standard

Whitestrat

New member
This is lifted off The Les Paul Forum:

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128232

I thought many would like to know these little details and information.

I thought some of you guys might be interested in this comparison.

I've been asked to do a bit of a comparison between my Recently aqquired Edwards LP, and one of my Gibsons. I used my Les Paul Standard as it seemed closest in spec to the Edwards.

The Guitars:

The Edwards is a E-LP-90LT(LMD) Lemon Drop, Lacquer taste, 2006.

It weighs in at a comfy 8 pounds.

It is fitted with Seymour Duncan pickups, JB at the bridge and a 59 at the neck.

c416_3.jpg


The Gibson is a 2005 Les Paul Standard, weighing in at 9 pounds(ish)

It is fitted with the original Burstbucker pickups it came with.

Lespaulstandard2.jpg


Here are some comparisons from my point of view. These are my opinions, your mileage may vary.

Both guitars are strung 10-46.

The Edwards is slightly lighter, and on close inspection seems very slightly better finished than the Gibson. Both guitars are Nitro finished, but I have heard that Edwards shoots the top coat over poly, whereas Gibson is all nitro. The Gibson is nicely finished, but does have some small blemishes.

The Edwards neck is a bit chunkier than the Les Pauls 60's neck.

The Edwards has a bone nut, the Gibson is plastic.

The Gibson has a real flamed maple cap..the Edwards is a flamed veneer over plain maple.

I personally prefer the sound of the Edwards neck pickup, and the Gibsons bridge pickup.

I also prefer the nickel hardware on the Gibson, but I do like the Edwards, ABR style bridge.

Both of them play very very nicely, the Edwards POSSIBLY edging it.

The Gibson seems toi have slightly better sustain.

The Edwards has the best long tenon neck joint I have ever seen:

longtenon2.jpg


The Gibson has the usual production short tenon.

The neck angle on the Gibson seems better..the bridge is not up so high.

Overall in UK pounds at street prices, the Edwards seem to come in after importing them and paying taxes and stuff here in the uk at about £450- £500.
The UK street price on a new Les Paul Standard comes in at £1400- £1500, but the Gibson does include a hard case...the Edwards comes with a gig bag.

And now some clips.

To try to simplify things, both guitars were run with tone/volume on full into a VOX AD30VT with the gain up. 2 settings were used, boutique clean, and boutique overdrive, both with a little reverb, and the amp was DI'd into my soundcard.

NOTHING was tweaked or changed..the tone may not be great, but both guitars were on completely equal footing.

If you can think of anything you would like to know that I have missed, let me know!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/song...songID=5260471

*sorry, the clips have already been removed. This was quite an old post*

Note, this comparison goes further than the usual "It's a better guitar", or it "sounds better", or whatever. It's interesting that the longer Neck Joint Tenon makes a difference here.

AND, did you know the Edwards uses a BONE nut? wow... That's almost boutique!!! I didn't know that! *thumbs up!!!*

Also, there's another post somewhere on the forum which explains these strange bits on the Edwards compared to the Gibson:

I've owned two Edwards guitars - a Jimmy Page Relic w/Super Circuit and a black LP Custom copy. Both were FANTASTIC GUITARS!!!!

When I first received them, I was a bit disappointed. I've owned a few modern era Gibson LPs and the Edwards didn't feel like that. The Edwards had a much deeper cutout around the edges of the top, a different feel to the wood and finish, light hardware (bridge and tailpiece), etc... I thought they missed the mark a little.

Then I buy an R8 and realize the Edwards was designed after the old stuff. I'm not saying the Edwards is as good as the R8, because it isn't. But it has similar features with the one piece mahogany back, long neck tenon, lighter finish, lighter hardware, more resonant tone, etc...

So in a nutshell, I think the Edwards guitars are freaking killer.

So, I'd say the Edwards guitars are a definate yes for those looking for a good LP clone, but not willing to pay the price...
 
when i first played an Edwards in store, it's something that i know i must have, Gibson fan or otherwise. i deem it a good guitar per se despite its obvious ride on the Les Paul wave. 8)
 
when i first played an Edwards in store, it's something that i know i must have, Gibson fan or otherwise. i deem it a good guitar per se despite its obvious ride on the Les Paul wave.

What puzzles me, is if this is already THIS good, then how much better would a Navigator be?

I'm quite sure the Edwards is either chambered, or weight relieved. Otherwise it won't be this heavy. Would this mean that the Navigators would be closer to the LP Custom Shop Historics??? 8O
 
as with other manufacturers who have already attained a certain standard in craftsmanship, subsequent value adding would steer into the cosmetics. we would forgive this indulgence if the crafstmanship, first & foremost is top-notch. we see that Edwards is a serious contender here.
 
Navigators are beyond historic levels and are closer to '59 specs. They come with BRW fretboards for instance while the current normal historics don't.

Go search thegearpage.net for this. There's a guy that did some guitar shopping in Japan and he was explaining about a shop which placed a historic against the navigators side by side for customers to compare. The guy walked out with the navigator with a new found respect for Asian guitars. Power to us :P
 
woah .. thats pretty close...

value for money for everyone!!

i did try a POT sg vs a gibson 61 reissue sg though ...
i felt the gibson was much better with overdrive , whilst the pot was slightly better in the clean department....

but who buys a SG for Clean COME ON....
 
and wat abt the esp series for the singlecut?
is that a far off?
ive noticed the ESPs have a really thinner body profile.
well looks more comfortable to the body.. i donnoe
any comments?
 
The ESPs are Les Paul styled guitars. They're not clones. It's for people who want the look, but a very different feel. I tried the Sugizo model. Weird sia. Couldn't get used to it. I'm happier with vintage feeling instruments. I personally prefer the 2 extremes. Either something vintage, or something contemporary. Not much for something in between, which is what I feel the ESP to be.

But having said that, I think ESPs are fantastic quality guitars. I think that their M guitars feel better made than most Ibanez RGs.
 
ESP Eclipse models weren't conceived to out-Les Paul a Les Paul; the reason the body depth isn't as thick. love mine 8)

ESPEclipse1.jpg


if you are after a Les Paul tone, the Edwards range is highly recommended.
 
sometimes i think back to my days with my ex epihone lespaul and tokai lespaul guitars... and now with my gibby... i think .. if you want the Gibson Lespaul sound... only one brand makes it la...

i do have to say tokais are kickass gibson copys ... the higher-end range comes pretty close..

if you want a kickass single cutaway, mahogany-bodied,dual humbucker guitar.
alot of people make them better then Gibson...

PRS, ESP, Ibanez etc.. all make models that trounce the gibson in terms of quality and playbility.
they all have their own voicings and signature tones as well. Sub put it very well.. these guitars arent trying to "out-gibson" a gibson...
 
hmm... sometimes the authetic tones do require the genuine article to pull it off; perhaps, this chap is the only one who got away with a fake:

slash1.jpg
 
the one that propelled him to fame (during his Appetite for Destruction days...) isn't a genuine Les Paul- surprise!! of course, he got a Gibson endorsement subsequently... :smt011
 
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