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tjon901 « Lefty budget SG »
Published on 06/24/11 at 11:29The options for left handed guitars are very limited and it is very hard to find mid level lefty guitars. The Epiphone lefty G-400 is a good guitar even though its color options are greatly limited compared to the right handed examples. The design is based off the early 60s version of the Gibson SG with the small batwing style pickguard. The G-400 has been produced for over 20 years and has been a standout of the Epiphone line. It is less than half the price of a Gibson SG but it is more than half the guitar. The G-400 comes with Grover tuners on the headstock of a 22 fret neck with a rosewood fretboard. The fretboard is bound with rosewood instead of plastic. It is made from mahogany and has a veneer for the cherry finish. It has the classic Les Paul electronics setup with dual humbuckers and dual tone and volume controls with a 3 way toggle pickup selector. I am glad they chose and early 60s model to do instead of a later one because with the small early 60s pickguard you can see much more of the pretty wood.
UTILIZATION
With the dual cutaways of the SG design the upper frets are very easy to reach. It has the Gibson 60s profile neck which is the preferred profile for guitar players. In the 50s Gibson necks were very large and referred to as baseball bat necks. In the 60s Gibson switched to a slimmer neck design. This slimmer design is what the G-400 has. One problem SG's is that the neck is mounted far out on the body and with the body being thinner than a Les Paul the guitar is slightly neck heavy. When you are standing up and playing the neck may want to drop down and you may find yourself holding the neck up.
SOUNDS
The guitar has the classic SG sound. With the mahogany body you get a full sound and since it is slightly thinner than a Les Paul you get more high end bite on your sound. The medium output humbuckers provide the ideal tone for the classic rock sound. So many classic tones were produced with SG guitars. AC/DC has used them for decades as has Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. If the pickups are not heavy enough for you a set of Seymour Duncans can really wake the guitar up.
OVERALL OPINION
Finding a good lefty guitar is a pretty hard thing to do and finding one that you can afford is even harder. Epiphone is better than most companies but their lefty selection is limited. I am glad they make all their major models in left hand orientation. It is only fitting because one of the most famous SG players Tony Iommi is left handed himself. If you are looking to be like Iommi and want to play an SG left handed this is pretty much your only reasonably priced option.
UTILIZATION
With the dual cutaways of the SG design the upper frets are very easy to reach. It has the Gibson 60s profile neck which is the preferred profile for guitar players. In the 50s Gibson necks were very large and referred to as baseball bat necks. In the 60s Gibson switched to a slimmer neck design. This slimmer design is what the G-400 has. One problem SG's is that the neck is mounted far out on the body and with the body being thinner than a Les Paul the guitar is slightly neck heavy. When you are standing up and playing the neck may want to drop down and you may find yourself holding the neck up.
SOUNDS
The guitar has the classic SG sound. With the mahogany body you get a full sound and since it is slightly thinner than a Les Paul you get more high end bite on your sound. The medium output humbuckers provide the ideal tone for the classic rock sound. So many classic tones were produced with SG guitars. AC/DC has used them for decades as has Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. If the pickups are not heavy enough for you a set of Seymour Duncans can really wake the guitar up.
OVERALL OPINION
Finding a good lefty guitar is a pretty hard thing to do and finding one that you can afford is even harder. Epiphone is better than most companies but their lefty selection is limited. I am glad they make all their major models in left hand orientation. It is only fitting because one of the most famous SG players Tony Iommi is left handed himself. If you are looking to be like Iommi and want to play an SG left handed this is pretty much your only reasonably priced option.