I have wanted a firebird for a long time.but I can't see 1500 bucks for a gibson. Samick is certainly better known across the Atlantic, for example. Now this guitar is not found (or so) in France. I prefer very much to his sister the Epiphone G-400. ( I was guilty of that for many years until I grew up.) If you want a very funtional good sounding guitar at a reasonable price. Used for 11 years, it remains as a fairly versatile guitar, I started with and surpass many guitars in its class. Speaking of tokia, There (is/was) a tokia firebird on t neck. This guitar is very durable in any normal setting (Live or Recording). Man, I never thought i would be considering the purchase of a korean les paul knockoff.after owning an Electra in the 70's (what a horrible guitar.tuners, sound, fit, playability.you name it, the Electra sucked in it). Samick has a reputation for being a lot of guitar in very little money. So if they build their acoustics with the same attention to detail that goes into their electrics, theyre probably alright guitars. the birdseye maple top is really unique and you would have to get a "les paul elegant" to get that in a gibson. Cant say Ive had a lot of experience with the Samick acoustics, but I can say that their electrics kick butt. They have all had the Duncan Design HB's, which are some of my least favorite. I really like Samick guitars, but for me the necks are too thin for my preference and the pickups are usually a little on the bland side. The samick les paul is cheap enough (300 bucks) that i won't have to sell my '66 strat to buy it. Out of about 10 guitars I've owned in the last 5 years I've had only 4 of them that needed no work, 2 of them were the Samicks. I really don't want to part with that guitar even though I would make alot of money off the sale. I have had the strat since i was 16.it was 10 years old (that should give you an idea of how old a fart i am.). I have been offered a real good price for the strat. I was going to sell my strat ('66 model) and get a les paul. Thanks for your input guys.i really appreciate it