I Was WRONG About Gibson vs Epiphone

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]What is going on everybody? So, I'm going to show you the real reason why a Gibson and an Epiphone will never actually sound exactly the same. It's technically impossible. Here's the thing.

[00:00:17]I missed a huge thing the other day. I got it completely wrong because I misunderstood what the myth was. So, a few of you viewers pointed it out to me in the comments and I went back and measured and you are right. So, I have always thought that the myth around these two guitars was that the distance between the two pickups was different. That's actually incorrect.

[00:00:48]That That is the case on the SG as opposed to the Les Paul, but that's not the issue here. It's actually a bigger issue than that that makes these guitars very very different. And you're going to say, "Well, that's not that big a deal."

[00:01:06]But it is and I'm going to show you why.

[00:01:09]And then as an extension of that, kind of like like if you put humbuckers in a different guitar like a Strat, why it will never sound like a Les Paul. This is pretty much the main reason. So, I'm going to show you the measurements and then we'll talk about the reason. This is I already I pre-marked this so it would be easy to see on the camera. So, what we're going to do is we're going to measure from super scientific here with a yardstick.

[00:01:38]We're going to measure from the 12th fret, okay? We'll do do this a couple different ways. We're going to measure from the 12th fret to the center pole pieces.

[00:01:50]Right? We'll center that right up so that's where where they are, okay? To where they met they line up. All right?

[00:01:57]Then we're going to come over here to the Epiphone.

[00:02:00]And we're going to do the same thing.

[00:02:02]And what you're going to see is the neck pickup is about 3/16, not quite a quarter inch further away or closer to the neck, okay?

[00:02:17]And the bridge pickup is about a quarter of an inch or about 3/16. I guess it's about the same distance, but everything's shifted towards the neck a little bit more. So then we measure this another way. This is less accurate because depending on how the guitar is set up, but it is huge. So here is our saddle to the center of our bridge pickup.

[00:02:45]Here is our saddle to the center of our bridge pickup. It is very very Hang on. I slid.

[00:02:56]It is very very different. Uh real quick, editing me. Uh I'm looking at this and I know that there's going to be also people that jump in the comments and be like those those measurements weren't accurate, blah blah blah. I lined them up as best I could. It's hard with the camera to show you like the angle. So if I show you from this side versus from this side, I mean it's going to look like I moved it just because of you know, the wide angle lens and etc. But to actually measure it, it's about a quarter of an inch. So I just wanted to to clarify that because when we're actually trying to do it with the camera, it just it's just the perspective of you know, the distance from it and all that. You know, if you were here in person, you would see what I saw.

[00:03:38]Now, obviously, when you have the bridge pickup that's closer to the bridge and you have a bridge pickup that's further from the bridge, those are going to sound different 100% of the time.

[00:03:54]So, let's I'm going to show you the science this. It's very cool. Uh I'm going to show you the science to this and how this works. So, here is how this works.

[00:04:04]We're basically doing the same thing between the Epiphone and the Gibson uh that we do between a Les Paul and a Strat.

[00:04:12]We're not changing the scale length cuz the scale length is the same between the two guitars, but we're moving the pickup within the scale length with which has the same net effect. When you pluck the string on the guitar, okay, it's a transverse wave that travels from the nut to the bridge from the nut to the bridge back and forth until it stops, right?

[00:04:30]But, when we pluck that string, there are what are called nodes and anti-nodes because of the motion of the string. And so, when we uh hold the octave, that's the middle, and let me show you a picture of this.

[00:04:47]So, here is a picture of these nodes and anti-nodes that are happening all along the string. And you see they divide, they divide, they divide, they divide.

[00:04:56]Now, where you put the pickup is key. Because if you put the pickup in one of these anti-nodes, this dead spot, the tone will be eh.

[00:05:07]If you put it in the middle uh of the node, the the sound will be different. If you move it anywhere along that line as it changes, the sound will change. And a quarter of an inch or even less can make a big difference.

[00:05:24]So, this is why like a Strat for example will never sound the same as a Les Paul even if you put the same pickups in it.

[00:05:32]Let's say you make it a set neck. Let's say you make it out of mahogany, etc. Because the scale length is different.

[00:05:38]Because those nodes and anti-nodes fall in completely different places for both guitars. Well, the same thing happens between the Epiphone and the Gibson.

[00:05:47]Those nodes and antinodes fall in different places. Now, somebody's already warrior keyboard warrior hearing that that only happens on an open string, but you are wrong. And here's why, because when you fret the note, all of a sudden, let's say you fret the note at the 12th fret.

[00:06:06]Excuse me. [clears throat] Then, the nodes and antinodes just shrink.

[00:06:11]That's all they do. They're still happening.

[00:06:14]Right? So, if you fret the note on the third string on the third fret or on the fifth fret, the seventh fret, the 10th fret, all of those nodes and antinodes are continuing to happening happen. They're just shrinking and growing. And so, that just means that instead of that pickup being in the middle of that node, now it's moved here. Well, if the pickup is moved in a different spot, then it might be here or here. It still is going to sound different. Right? Because those nodes and antinodes are just shrinking relative to where that pickup is, the sound will be different if you change the position of that pickup. It's a really interesting thing, but that's really the main reason why this is important. And I'm glad, thank you, because I'm glad somebody brought this up, because uh I was totally wrong about it. I For some reason, I was thinking SG Les Paul, and I totally missed it. So, thank you.

[00:07:08]I think two or three viewers brought it up in the comments.

[00:07:11]It was a huge mistake to make, and I appreciate it. So, I'm glad we're able to address it, cuz it's a big It's a big deal.

[00:07:18]So, when you think about comparisons between guitars, like uh Gibson versus anything scale length. So, PRS, uh you know, the 25-in scale length, the 25 and 1/2 in scale length, the 24 and 3/4 scale length, um even a Mustang, like a 24, right? Anytime you change the scale length, uh that is going to throw out the window all variables of a guitar sounding super similar because of the placement of the pickups.

[00:07:46]And same thing with uh you know, there's lots of other reasons, too, right? Like why an SG sounds different than a Les Paul, but that's also effectively doing the same thing, moving the pickups closer together or further apart. You're doing sort of the same thing, as well.

[00:08:02]Really, really interesting stuff.

[00:08:04]Anyway, thank you for pointing it out. Again, I appreciate it. I admit when I'm wrong, and thank you for allowing me to be able to correct it. If you have questions about this stuff, get in the comments.

[00:08:15]If you want to buy pickups, go to dylantalkstone.com.

[00:08:18]You can put them anywhere on the scale length you want, and I promise they will sound good. Thanks for hanging out.

[00:08:23]We'll see you in the next video.