Howard Roberts oval hole models which ones
 

How do these sound acoustically and of the versions which is the best. epiphones Gibson’s the lawsuit models. I played a lawsuit version locally wanted around $1k. I liked it but it got me thinking. Gibson $1600 is the starting range Epiphone a bit more. They can go over $3k There is no doubt some of the late 70’s Japanese guitars are on par if not superior to some of Gibson’s 70’s era guitars.

Been a while since I played one. The least expensive are the Korean Epiphones, followed by the Japanese copies by Ibanez, Electra and others, followed by the actual Gibsons of the 70's. Most valuable are the original Epiphones of the 60's.

Played a few Gibsons and some of the imports, none seemed all that lively acoustically. Probably best to consider tham hollow body electrics. Never played an original 60's Epiphone so that may be a different matter.

The original Epiphones had solid spruce carved tops but still didnt have much acoustic punch, and tended to feed back when amplified. They're basically electric archtops.
All of the Gibson HR's had laminated tops and were basically an ES175 variant.

I'd like an HR but I wouldnt expect it to play any better than my ES175 and would be more limited by the single pickup.