Honestly, they are both awesome guitars. The gibson has better electronics, neck binding, a bit better tuners, and a thicker neck profile. The Epiphone is extremely well constructed though. No sharp fret edges, top of the frets are level (rare on cheap guitars, and very desireable for those that want low action), and it feels awesome. I cant get over the finish either, I am SO glad that I got it. I got a smokin' deal from Musicians Friend on it too. $350 (including tax and shipping) with a new Epiphone hardshell case. I actually talked the representative into giving me an additional 10% off as well, so it came out to $315! HAH! Amazing value. I HIGHLY recommend this guitar to anyone that is in the market for an SG. You are going to have to set it up (ie lower the strings and set the intonation), but you will need to do this to any guitar that you get. I had to set my Gibson up the same way. If you looking for the Angus young sound, the bridge pickup is a little darker sounding than the 498T on my Gibson SG Standard. You may want to upgrade to a hotter pickup. The epiphone pickups are not bad at all though, they are more vintage sounding. I am upgrading the bridge pickup to an Angus Young Signature in a few days, but I am leaving the neck pickup alone for now. I'll be changing the cover on the neck pickup to "nickel" in order to match the Angus though. It should sound awesome!
