Originally Posted by: SvanholmHow much does every part of a guitarr matter to make it great.
What is the different between, lets say, a Epiphone Les Paul and a Gibson Les Paul?

Is it the wood, the pickups, the strings, the neck?

A little bit of everything. What I mean is that selection of woods and their grain pattern and and grain features such as whether they have knots, etc..

Some guitars are have inferior electronics such as weaker pickups, cheap selectors and crappy pots. Some are made with higher end bridged and tuners than others.

Some are based on the construction such as how many plys the neck is and whether is neck-thru or glued in or bolt on etc.. Then there is also the quality of the fretting and quality of the body finish. And much more.

With the Epiphone and Gibson Les Paul there it is more a matter of marketing and Quality control in my opinion. The Quality of a Gibson is superior to an Epiphone. But I think when it comes to the Gibson and Fender brands in this regard it is more of marketing issue because the price difference are such a huge factor. Don't get me wrong a Gibson Les Paul is far superior than an Epiphone Les Paul (I own both) but a lot of that is more in the market than in the features and quality of the components your upgrading to when you get the Gibson.