I got a mex fat strat and i think its a really solid axe. Sure it doesnt beat the gibson :) but its also less then half the price! As far as the difference between the mex and epiphone gibson les pauls, the standard fender sounded much better, and yet i like gibson les pauls better so figure that out! I assume its the fact that mid to low level guitars have less consistency with them. As far as tunning, i play rock about 12 hours a week and tune once per week or weeks...but like i said, you may get one where its a different story. I also think that the maple neck is faster, cuz i have a rosewood and ive tried both, but its deffinity not a big deal to me at least.

try em out but i think its a safe bet