Epiphone G-400 EMG

The body is the standard Epiphone G-400 (like a Gibson SG) with a mahogany body but with EMG pickups. There is an EMG 81 at the bridge and an EMG 85 at the neck, both of which are powered by a 9-volt battery. There is a pickup selector to choose either or both pickups and volume and tone knobs for each pickup.

The mahogany neck has 22 frets with very low-action and no buzzing.

UTILIZATION

It is fairly easy to reach the highest notes on this SG shaped guitar, but not as easy on a guitar with a body meant for total shredding, such as the Jackson Warrior XT. That being said, this guitar does an excellent job of combining the traditional rock 'n' roll look with a tremendous heavy metal punch out of the pickups.

In terms of ergonomics, it is an SG shape, so prepare for it to take a nose-dive when you don't have your left hand balancing the neck.

The battery compartment which houses a 9-volt was poorly designed. After getting frustrated with dealing with the door on it over and over again I just opted to use a little tape on the back.

SOUNDS

The crunch and lead tones from this guitar sound amazing, and it even does a nice job with cleans out of the neck pickup. I play this through a Line 6 POD XT Live into a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier. It can push a lot of gain through this equipment without feeding back.

I play hard rock and heavy metal; this guitar is very well suited for these purposes.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a really cool, vintage looking guitar that packs a modern punch. My only complaints lie with the fact that this type of shaped guitar will take a noise dive that moment the neck is let go and the really poorly designed battery compartment door. It's kind of a shame it's no longer produced, but in all honesty, it makes me feel even better than I was one of the lucky few that was able to snatch one. This is a guitar I'll probably always hold on to, even if I started selling off most of my equipment.