I'm not bashing Gibsons in any way, or Epiphone for that matter. I play in my church band and had to use the other guitar player's Epiphone Nighthawk. Interesting configuration on those, but just not for me. I had to use my electrical tester on my car because I've been having issues with my brake lights working and not working when I'd hit any bump in the road. So my tester needed a new 9-volt in order to work and the only one I had was in my EMG equipped Jackson. So I took it out and put it in the tester, fixed my light problem, got in a hurry and oops. Forgot to put it back in the guitar. My other guitarist doesn't play on Wednesday nights and I was running late and realized I forgot to put the battery back in. I couldn't find a replacement even though I usually keep stocked up on them and didn't have time to swap it back out so I had to use his Epiphone. I felt like I was cheating on my guitar lol. Time to do some battery shopping! Just a little story I thought I'd share. I love the neck on a Jackson like no other. Playing another guitar really makes me appreciate mine all the more! Not to mention my appreciation for my EMG 81/60 combo. I've always loved the 81's, but I'm so glad I decided to try a 60 in the neck position. I've had it for 6-7 months now and I still get excited talking about it

I've never been a big fan of Epiphone products. Just way too low end for my tastes now. 20 years ago I would have been fine playing one, I guess. Gibson does make some fine playing guitars though. I've often considered buying a SG or a Les Paul, but have always backed down. Why? Because my Jackson RUINED ME!

I can't even shop for a guitar anymore. It used to be fun shopping for a guitar, finding the right rig for the right price. But it's like, now.... none of them stack up to my soloist. Best purchase I ever made. I hear what your saying.

No wonder. With a soloist you'll be spoiled for life. Truly my favorite feeling guitars in every aspect. Seeing how Gibson Les Paul's and such are made by visiting the factory. I was very disappointed. They make "some" fine intruments, but there regular US models are way way overpriced for what you get and I've never played one I was very impressed with playability wise. Aside from their Custom Shop LP's I've played. I was very surprised actually by the craftsmanship of a true custom shop gibson. They're no Jackson IMO but more than what I expected from Gibson. The only thing I could say that could be better on my MIJ Dinky DK2m was the fit of the neck to the body. That hard rock quartersawn maple neck is just flat out amazing, but you can tell the quality of the body and fit was just not on par to the neck. I have to regularly tighten my neck bolts to keep things straight. And I need to find a real floyd rose trem. I haven't had really any issues with mine. You can just tell the quality is much lover then the real deal. Also been checking out the FU(floyd upgrades) trems and they seem amazing but their sales rep or whomever answered my email couldn't tell me squat about whether it would fit my guitar.