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tjon901 « The SG for everybody »
Published on 05/17/11 at 12:12The Epiphone G-400 is a budget priced version of the Gibson SG produced in Asia by Epiphone. 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.
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.
OVERALL OPINION
The Epiphone G-400 has all the same pieces that a Gibson SG has. The only difference is that it was made in another part of the world. In a blind sound test no one would be able to tell the difference between an Epiphone SG and a Gibson SG. If you are looking for an SG and dont have much money to spend this is your best bet. If you go any cheaper than this you will start getting into guitars with bolt on necks and this will not give you the classic SG sound.
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.
OVERALL OPINION
The Epiphone G-400 has all the same pieces that a Gibson SG has. The only difference is that it was made in another part of the world. In a blind sound test no one would be able to tell the difference between an Epiphone SG and a Gibson SG. If you are looking for an SG and dont have much money to spend this is your best bet. If you go any cheaper than this you will start getting into guitars with bolt on necks and this will not give you the classic SG sound.