Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

J

Jethro_Dull

New member
I've purchased several guitars since last December and one of my biggest surprises arrived yesterday. It's the first Epiphone I've ever owned and I bought it by accident. I put a bid in for it on eBay, assuming I'd be outbid, and wound up winning the auction. Anyway, I've owned two Gibson SGs in the distant past. I had assumed, I guess incorrectly, that Epiphones were junk. This Eppie is made in the USA and plays nicely. It's a sweet (and lighter colored) addition to my little collection. Anyone else own / owned an Epiphone and, if so, thoughts?

Epiphone SG.jpg
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I own an Epi G-400 Faded. DD and a 59 in the neck. New nut and bridge. Me and my dad are gonna add either a set of Triple Shots for both pups or a coil split. Sounds great. The Epi G-400's are surprisingly well put together. It looks way worse in person. The body is really scratched up and there's a whole lotta buckle rash from the previous owner. I also added about a pound in weight with some lead weights in the pickup and control cavities, bringing it to about 7.5 pounds right around my Hamer Echotone.

epiphone-vintage-g-400-worn-cherry-466042.jpg
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I've got two right now. An SG and an EB3. The SG feels pretty good but needs a real setup, and some different pickups to go in before that. I'm going to most likely buy some Dream 180s for it and start it down the road of being all pearloided out like I want.

The EB3 has some build issues. Luckily I have a Korean one. The electronics suck, unfortunately and it neckdives like a beast.

All things considered, they're cheap but useful pieces. I'm not positive that the overall playability, as least from my point of view, would have been added from being a Gibson that I wouldn't have also got with new pickups and some massaging of the internals and some hardware. They aren't plywood, they're set-neck and they both look like what I want.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I had a Black G-400 that I got New on ebay for like $279 a few years back. I put a C5 in the bridge and that guitar was pretty killer. I was very impressed. I had to flip it for something I wanted more, but I really liked that axe
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I own a 2000 Czech Epi LP Standard. With new electronics, it's as good as any Gibson imo.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I got really lucky one time. I walked into my local Sam Ash, and picked up an Epi AJ-100 for $100, just to check it out, and it turned out to play and sound no less than a $1500 acoustic.

I even put it up against high end guitars, and I liked it more. It also didn't sound like my main acoustic, a 2001 Martin D-28. It just sounded like a good Gibson acoustic. Usually, these cheap things sound plinky and dead, but this one had the resonant and woody Gibson sound. I bought it for $100, and use it for every alternate tuning, while keeping my D-28 in standard tuning.

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I later found out that it was a guitar specially made by Epiphone for the Sam Ash salesman who sold the most Epiphones, and they accidentally sold it to me! LOL
 
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Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

^^ I remember when you got that.

As for the SG in the op, pretty sure that's a G310, which has always been MIK/MIC. In any case, if it sounds good and plays good, it is good.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

Jethro_Dull said:
This Eppie is made in the USA and plays nicely.
Click to expand...

I like my G-400's a lot. They always seem to benefit from a PU upgrade, and after that can hold their own. A lot of guitar for the money.

BTW, your guitar was made in Asia, set up in the USA.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

Jethro_Dull said:
I've purchased several guitars since last December and one of my biggest surprises arrived yesterday. It's the first Epiphone I've ever owned and I bought it by accident. I put a bid in for it on eBay, assuming I'd be outbid, and wound up winning the auction. Anyway, I've owned two Gibson SGs in the distant past. I had assumed, I guess incorrectly, that Epiphones were junk. This Eppie is made in the USA and plays nicely. It's a sweet (and lighter colored) addition to my little collection. Anyone else own / owned an Epiphone and, if so, thoughts?
Click to expand...

I thought everyone owned an Epiphone, at least at some point in their lives. Mine's not an SG, it's an LP Studio in the matte brown finish, nicely understated, which suits my normal playing environments perfectly. Build-wise they are excellent instruments, but except for a few limited-edition models virtually all of them need a pickup upgrade. Some would say that makes them little more than a down payment on a real Gibson, but I've seen plenty of Gibbies get their coils swapped out, and for $350 new for most Studios plus about $150 for model 59s, you're not even halfway to a Gibson Faded LP.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

Liko said:
I thought everyone owned an Epiphone, at least at some point in their lives. Mine's not an SG, it's an LP Studio in the matte brown finish, nicely understated, which suits my normal playing environments perfectly. Build-wise they are excellent instruments, but except for a few limited-edition models virtually all of them need a pickup upgrade. Some would say that makes them little more than a down payment on a real Gibson, but I've seen plenty of Gibbies get their coils swapped out, and for $350 new for most Studios plus about $150 for model 59s, you're not even halfway to a Gibson Faded LP.
Click to expand...

Gibson stock pickups surface a lot on this board. An Epiphone anything would take off soaring with hand-me-down Gibson pups. If I wasn't particular on the look I wanted, I would have already tried to get a set.

If someone has experience with a Nighthawk, I'd like to hear from ya. That's one guitar I have been hunting for a while, but I refuse to buy a guitar unless I've tried it first and nobody carries Nighthawks in my area.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

oh, I forgot the original thrust of my post:

Ya'll think Epiphone does as good with LPs as they do with SGs? I see a lot more Epi SGs that get favorably talked about around here than I see LPs, which may mean anything, including that people have Epi LPs and don't care for them as much.

I have no clue why SGs would end up a higher quality instrument as opposed to LPs. Maybe there's just less SG to mess up? The flat top on them maybe?

I have lower expectations out of an SG, personally. Maybe that's why they're seen as good cheap deals.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

jon the art guy said:
I have no clue why SGs would end up a higher quality instrument as opposed to LPs. Maybe there's just less SG to mess up? The flat top on them maybe?

I have lower expectations out of an SG, personally. Maybe that's why they're seen as good cheap deals.
Click to expand...

Probably both those reasons, plus Epi SG's are pretty inexpensive to begin with. They're at $350 retail now, used to be $300 and even less new. Used, they often run half that, so it's hard to go wrong, and not be pleased. I have some of their set-neck LP's and like them a lot, especially the Chinese ones, as they're more consistently made, with better PU's, pots, and hardware. Epi LP Std's with Probuckers are nice guitars, sound pretty good.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I know a wounded animal when I see one. I shot this one in the head for $125.00 including shipping (see photo at beginning of thread).
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I have 2 Epi LP-Jr's, and an SG-Jr. I paid less than $300 for all 3 of them. The SG is the best sounding guitar I have right now. And as a bonus, the bolt-neck SG's don't neck dive.

THey had plywood SG's and "real" wood ones at the store when I got this thing. I got this one for the "plywood price" because of the badly matched wood "stripes" ($99) I meant to repaint it for years, but the "stripe" has kinda grown on me. Plus it sounds good so I don't wanna take it apart anyway...
So yeah, Epiphones are better than they used to be. I had a few of their Strat copies back in the 80's & 90's, those were...not so good. THe new ones, are really good.
 
Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

2012-12-25 08.02.07.jpg agree totally on being a very good base to improve upon. Has CTS pots, orange drops and coil split JB and Jazz, the only original bit is the switch which has needed some attention twice in 4 years. The switch supplied in the original upgrade kit was the right angle unit which would fit a Gibson but not an Epi, will replace it next time it plays up. Neck pickup died recently due to poor contacts, a bit of solder and she's all good again.
 
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Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

I have quite a few Epis, three SGs and three LPs, two Wilshires, and a 1960s MIA Sheraton, and I love them all. They are as good as (and in some cases way better) than all of the Gibsons I own. Excellent guitars.
 
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Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

An MIA Epi? The only recent ones that I know of are the Wilshire Anniversary models so good on you if that's the case.

I just picked up a G-400 Custom on the cheap the other day, needs a little tweaking and maybe a few minor repairs but it is a very solid guitar. I've had a bunch of Epi's and they have all been decent guitars, the one that has stuck around is my white Wilshire that I love but that's not a knock on Epi I go thru guitars a little too quickly regardless of brand.
 
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Re: Surprise. Surprise. Thumbs up for an Epiphone SG.

No surprise. Lot's of dudes say good things about g400's.
 
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