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MGR/Anonymous « Epiphone G-400 SG »
Published on 06/01/03 at 15:00Purchased this for £230 from Sound Control music store in Sheffield (price is a bit higher now); I was turned onto the SG by Tony Iommi and the feel and sound of it suits me better than any other guitar.
It has the nicest neck of any guitar I've ever played - my Mexican Fender Strat comes close but nothing, even a £1000+ Ibanez, can touch this one. I know they all have a tendency to be very varied, and this one according to guitar techs I've spoken to is a very well made one as they go, but on the whole the G-400's I've played are very good.
Epiphone pickups really suck, so I had a Seymour Duncan SH-5 and SH-1 combination fitted which always blows me away; also the "Vintage" (read, "Cheap") tuning heads are sh*t, so have some Grovers (like me) or Schallers put on that screw down from the front as well as the back fitted instead - this makes the sound and tuning stability miles better as well.
Other thing is, the pickup switches can be a bit dodgy, but that's a matte of ten minutes to sort out on the workbench.
As I said, mine is very very good - has a FANTASTIC slim-taper neck, and the neck-to-body joint is really nice too, though I think they're doing the joint differently now. Balance is good, but the neck (mahogany) is a little heavier than the alder body. Everything else is great - fabulous paint-job on mine and the fretboard is all vey well-laid and stays that way if you use lemon-oil on it when re-stringing.
Bottom line, as a totally stock (no modifications) guitar, some aspects do suck as I mentioned, but anyone who is serious about the guitar and wants to keep it will have them altered anyway. Easiest description I can give is, the guitar itself get a 5, but because they need to keepthe price affordable, the hardware and things that are added on are not of the same quality. As mine is now though, a definite 5.
My advice - get this baby set up with the pickups, tuners and good toggle switch that it deserves (and maybe a set of Schaller straplocks, as the strap button is on the back of the neckjoint) then it will reward you.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
It has the nicest neck of any guitar I've ever played - my Mexican Fender Strat comes close but nothing, even a £1000+ Ibanez, can touch this one. I know they all have a tendency to be very varied, and this one according to guitar techs I've spoken to is a very well made one as they go, but on the whole the G-400's I've played are very good.
Epiphone pickups really suck, so I had a Seymour Duncan SH-5 and SH-1 combination fitted which always blows me away; also the "Vintage" (read, "Cheap") tuning heads are sh*t, so have some Grovers (like me) or Schallers put on that screw down from the front as well as the back fitted instead - this makes the sound and tuning stability miles better as well.
Other thing is, the pickup switches can be a bit dodgy, but that's a matte of ten minutes to sort out on the workbench.
As I said, mine is very very good - has a FANTASTIC slim-taper neck, and the neck-to-body joint is really nice too, though I think they're doing the joint differently now. Balance is good, but the neck (mahogany) is a little heavier than the alder body. Everything else is great - fabulous paint-job on mine and the fretboard is all vey well-laid and stays that way if you use lemon-oil on it when re-stringing.
Bottom line, as a totally stock (no modifications) guitar, some aspects do suck as I mentioned, but anyone who is serious about the guitar and wants to keep it will have them altered anyway. Easiest description I can give is, the guitar itself get a 5, but because they need to keepthe price affordable, the hardware and things that are added on are not of the same quality. As mine is now though, a definite 5.
My advice - get this baby set up with the pickups, tuners and good toggle switch that it deserves (and maybe a set of Schaller straplocks, as the strap button is on the back of the neckjoint) then it will reward you.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com