“Not entirely true. Gibson offers the same models under it’s Epiphone brand, made in China”
If it is an Epiphone it “AIN’T A GIBSON.”
A few Epiphones are Gibsons, and in my experience, they're great guitars.
Some of the artist model Epiphones that are made to the specs of 'old' (generally 1960s era) Epiphones are made by Gibson in the USA and simply labeled Epiphone. It gets confusing because Gibson will often issue several similar guitars.
When "Epiphone" issued Casinos about three years ago to honor John Lennon and his use of a 1965 Casino, it made 1,965 Sunburst and 1,965 'sanded-to-the-wood" "Revolution" Casinos, all built to 1965 specs, down to the 14-degree headstock. They came in a brown case with John Lennon's self-portrait on the case and ran, at retail, around $3,000. All of them were made in the USA by Gibson.
However, Gibson also made some "Inspired by John Lennon" Epiphone Casinos made in Asia that ran, at retail, for about $1,000.
It's the same thing with the $15,000 "John Lennon's 70th Birthday" J-160e "Museum" that Epiphone's making. It comes from the Gibson custom shop in Memphis.