in my opinion, the older epis were defitnitely up there especially the jap models. the korean one is not too bad as well but like some have said here, changing the pickups and some mods works. i have heavily done some mods and changes to my epi black beauty, its still not a gibson but for what it can do now, no one will complain and it works. Gibsons have always been the brand to go after and thats not wrong either, give me one and i will take it with open arms also, but....looking at the price differences, especially in Singapore and the quality of some of the gibsons here, im not so sure the money is absolutely worth it.
at the end of the day, play smthing that you are comfortable with, having a gibby or an epi in your hands does not make or break you.