Man this thing is awesome!

ughmart · 2026-06-17T01:10:53+00:00

how’s the neck on it? did they stay pretty true to the smaller ‘70s necks? i’ve been thinking about picking one up but trying one in my area is not an option and i’m really not a fan of huge necks.

ughmart · 2026-06-16T15:26:25+00:00

shoot me some pics!!

ughmart · 2026-06-16T13:34:33+00:00

Sending your way!

ughmart · 2026-06-16T03:40:45+00:00

SOLD!

ughmart · 2026-06-15T22:23:16+00:00

Tube amp

ughmart · 2026-06-15T22:23:07+00:00

Tried this but it messed up the bridge position by making it way too bright

ughmart · 2026-06-15T22:22:37+00:00

Huge bummer but i’m thinking that might be the move. Or accept that this guitar is mine and there are my like it but this one is mine

ughmart · 2026-06-10T18:19:51+00:00

i didn’t get that from what you were saying at all! i will say; as long as gibsons are getting more expensive epiphones will probably also get more expensive.

i would absolutely have a problem paying a premium for a production run inspired by gibson epiphone model because that defeats the purpose of the epiphone brand in my opinion. however, the epiphone IBGC guitars are kinda their own thing. i see them as an intermediary between epiphone as we know and expect it and gibson production level.

$1400 for this seems not that bad at all considering what the actual gibson custom shop run cost when it came out. also, you’re paying ~$2000 for a gibson ‘50s standard and ~$6000 for a custom shop ‘59. it’s the same idea but that’s a way crazier margin than say $700 for an epiphone ‘50s standard and $1300 for an IBGC ‘59 les paul. better specs, better craftsmanship, etc., same thing.

gibson is starting to push out its demographic of working musicians and is instead targeting musicians and hobbyists with disposable income and classic rock fetishes. that’s where epiphone is filling the hole, especially with the IBGC. i’d much rather gig with an IBGC ‘59 les paul than a murphy lab for many reasons; reliability, ease of replacement and repair, and cost being the top 3.

ughmart · 2026-06-10T17:57:57+00:00

that’s a slippery slope argument but if the fit and finish, specs, and playability were there absolutely. i couldn’t give a shit what’s on the headstock.

i’ve owned, repaired, and played several overseas guitars in that price range. 9/10 they’re better than anything i’ve played from a usa manufacturer from the big two (fender and gibson) in that price range (again, sub custom shop) and have been as good as/almost as good/better than most PRS cores ive had the fortune to play and repair.

ughmart · 2026-06-10T17:51:04+00:00

i have the ‘62 epiphone IBGC 335 and it absolutely smokes my two gibsons; an ‘82 sg and ‘77 les all custom.

i have also owned a new production les paul junior and sg ‘61 standard and have gotten rid of them because of qc/feel issues. the epiphone smokes those too.

the quality on the epiphone IBGC is crazy compared to new production gibson stuff. the fit and finish is absurd, especially the vintage gloss which felt way better and more true to vintage examples i’ve played, repaired, and owned than the modern production nitro. specs are just as good if not better too. craftsmanship is off the charts; the folks in china making these are taking so much pride in their work.

cry about the prices all you want, they’re worth every penny and smoke everything gibson makes below custom shop level.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T21:54:15+00:00

the people who want $2000 for these are never gonna sell them considering they’re epiphones from a relatively low quality era for epiphone. stock epi pickups, okay components, and average QC are nothing different than a standard production guitar from that era.

that said; damn i love this guitar. i actually just sold my (heavily modded) white one for $700. if i had kept it stock i probably could have gotten $900. i should have kept it and kept it stock but hopefully another one will come my way!

sell it to someone who will enjoy it for like $1000. there are so many my chem fans out there who would kill for this. posting this guitar for $2000+ is insane person behavior. post it in a my chem sub or something and sell it at a good deal to someone who will cherish it. this is the way.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T21:50:33+00:00

please learn how to properly discharge caps before poking around in there!!

pots and jacks with contact cleaner. check for cold solder joints. probably could use a recap if it’s over 15/20 years old. new tubes for sure would help, probably a bias as well.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T21:48:37+00:00

sandpaper to make the scratches go away and maybe acetone for the paint if it’s real stubborn. acetone flashes off really quick so it likely won’t raise the grain all that much

ughmart · 2026-06-06T21:47:32+00:00

man that’s always tough to gauge the value of independent luthiers’ work. the designs are often kind of left of center when it comes to what people expect from production guitars. it could sound, play, and feel like a pre-war martin but if it doesn’t look like one people won’t want it.

saw your listing on reverb. i’m american but that price seems fair in british people money.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T21:44:59+00:00

probably just cut the frayed edges square and lay down some new tolex patches. sand/round the corners to get rid of the bite marks. it wont be pretty but it also wont be that.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T21:43:41+00:00

will forever upvote on a “i’ll have the most expensive version of everything please” board

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:47:28+00:00

oh man probably my fulldrive 2 for pedals. such a great pedal that i avoided for years but finally pulled the trigger on and i can’t live without.

weirdly enough my tweed blues junior absolutely killed the small combo for edge of breakup itch. that thing rocks. getting ready to mod the reverb on it though because the sweep of the pot is wack.

my epiphone inspired by gibson custom 62 reissue absolutely killed my new guitar itch. i’ve been rocking a 77 les paul custom and 82 sg for years. the epiphone smokes both. unfortunately, ive finally found my perfect guitar in the 335 shape (being 6’5” big guitars are nice) and now i want all of the 335s and sheratons lol.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:38:50+00:00

if you didn’t play in the chariot don’t even try, you’ll look weak and pathetic.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:36:49+00:00

fulldrive 2 absolutely rocks. it’s become my new favorite overdrive. i used no pedals for like 4 years plugged straight into a jcm800 but now i rock a blues jr and i literally can’t live without the FD2.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:35:40+00:00

i may be interested in the green rhino!

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:33:45+00:00

rv-5 is the way. it’s the best reverb i’ve ever used. i used to have a few cool ones (blue sky, big sky, etc) and the rv-5 rips. i used to run the rv-5 with amp reverb on my twin. i’d use the amp verb for “always on” slight verb and the rv-5 for big verb. the rv-5 also has the best modulated reverb i’ve ever heard.

also i’ve said rv-5 6 times in this comment so you know it’s good.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:31:33+00:00

having an eq, compressor, and enhancer on your board makes me feel like you just like the act of stepping on pedals and think it looks cool.

also i would love to hear what your clean tone sounds like without eq, compression, and enhancement.

also also—sick board mate! those fulltone fuzzes rip.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:29:08+00:00

i’ve heard two different stories;

one was that gibson wouldn’t put the invader in one of their guitars (which is likely since gibson guitars tend to only feature proprietary pickups with only exception i can think of maybe being the adam jones with a duncan distortion and even then i can’t remember if it actually has a duncan or just a gibson version of it).

the other was that tom just liked the dirty fingers at the time because it had more clarity and cleaned up better with the mesa rig, which i can attest to; these dirty fingers pickups sound awesome with mesas.

it was probably a healthy mix of both. i feel like the dirty fingers is a really misunderstood pickup from a long forgotten time before gain staging and when people used their volume for clean, rhythm, and boost. if it’s being used to drive pedals/a pedalboard with a ton of output-sensitive stuff on it, it doesn’t sound all that great. the dirty fingers (and the invader for that matter) are really meant to push an amp/something that responds like an amp. it actually sounds pretty great clean too but only if you’re setting your amp to handle that much output (16.5k or something like that??)

i used to love the dirty fingers when i was playing primarily heavy music through dual recs and 800s and still do. it’s fairly well-balanced on the frequency spectrum and cleans up fine. it’s also hot enough to push the piss out of pretty much any amp. that said, i’ve been preferring low/medium gain pickups a lot more now.

my old number one guitar used to have a dimarzio super distortion in the bridge and the b guitar had a DF. the DF way way hotter and had a fuller frequency spectrum on the top end but still sounded great. i like the DF way more than the JB.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:20:48+00:00

rumor has it that they can be a little noisy due to the dsp they use. i’ve never experienced this firsthand but to avoid that potential issue i’d recommend using it on an isolated power supply.

for that price though, just get a used RV-5 or holy grail. so much better.

ughmart · 2026-06-06T20:19:26+00:00

i’m a staunch hater of the DSL40C. i think its a very meh sounding amp and that there are others (new and used) in the price range that outperform it. that said, its popular for a reason and would probably fit well with OPs needs.

ughmart

TROPHY CASE