Guitar experts, help?

The basic body doesn't have the same wood, the hardware is inferior.  "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby." I was always astonished that The Beatles, who had more $ than God, played Epiphone guitars when they could have just outright bought the Gibson factory.  That was like settling for Coca-Cola instead of Dom Perignon.       

Similar only in looks. Vastly inferior electronics than an American Gibson. Build quality varies from decent to junk.

Yes and no. It's similar to a Gibson but still not the same thing. That said, there are some remarkably good guitars coming out of China these days.