hey man hope this helps:
1) the main diff between the epi firebird and the gibson is that the gibby is a neck-thru design, meaning the neck and body are one-piece of wood, then the rest of the body is two wings that are glued on the main central section. the epi is a set neck like any other ordinary guitar.
2) what this means is that the gibby will have better sustain (which is not v impt to me as the improvement is slight, only the owner or anyone who has played the guitar extensively will be able to tell.) whats more important is that the firebird has mini-humbuckers, which are very bright pickups and the neck thru design keeps the singing highs that firebirds are known for, but also gives a solid fat warm and middy tone. play both side by side if you ever have the chance and the diff between the epi and the gibby is like night and day.
3) the hardware on the gibby is better. eg. the nut on the epi is plastic, gibby is bone. pots are better, the switch is definitely much better and reliable and the bridge and tailpiece are chrome on the epi but nickel on the gibby.
does this justify the diff in price? only you can answer that man cos i know people who actually prefer the epi firebird to the gibby. i have owned both and i can safely say that to me the gibby was a better sounding and playing guitar, but i ended up changing the pickups on it anyway, and then the gibby firebird really became a monster! unbeleiveable sweet singing tone! endless sutsain! still...its a BIG diff in price, eh?
