Epiphone SG Special Electric Guitar, Cherry

I was very impressed with the quality, finish and playability of this guitar. I've been playing for 30 years and own about a dozen electric guitars of various makes across a wide range of prices. I wanted to get an SG to play some classic rock and have fun with. I didn't expect much for the price, but I tried this guitar and the G400 Pro and honestly preferred the feel of this one. The guitar came boxed with an inner box to protect it during shipping. Although playability out of the box was fairly good, I had to perform a setup to get the guitar exactly as I wanted. I removed the strings, rubbed down and oiled the fingerboard, then strung it with D'Addario 10-46 nickel wounds. The truss rod required a quarter turn adjustment to get the neck profile straight. The intonation and action were pretty much perfect out of the box. I just raised the action a tiny bit to make it more in line with my other instruments. The pickups are a bit darker than a traditional SG and while they sound great heavily overdriven, the clean sound is a bit lacking in character. After a week or so of playing, I replaced the pickups with a set I bought from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009A5JA98/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 These pickups are amazing value for money and sound fabulous. However the pickup frame was larger than the original stock pickups so I had to rout the body slightly to get the new pickups to fit. This was a simple operation which only took me 10 minutes to do with the Dremel. After a bit of work, this guitar now looks, plays and sounds like a professional instrument. It's rapidly becoming my favorite guitar to jam with. I love it!

The finish was excellent, the frets pretty smooth and the fret ends rounded pretty well. You could file down more if you are a stickler for that, but it doesn't affect my playing at all. The setup was good out of the box. Relief was correct, and intonation was pretty good, but not perfect. Action is good for most styles of playing, although you could set it lower. I wanted a bolt on neck so I can tear it down and put it in a suitcase. I was worried it would wreck the setup, but the neck joint is cut precisely, and it went back in place without losing anything, except I had to set the bridge height. I'm not saying anything about tone, because I'm only played on a cheap practice amp. I think it's a great guitar for beginner or intermediate. Granted, from the reviews not everyone has been as lucky as me in terms of setup and quality. I've had this guitar about a year.

This was my very first electric guitar. I purchased it in 2019 and was more then good enough for a beginner like me at the time. Highly recommend for the price

Be forewarned: with some work this is a great guitar. The kill switch on the tone pot went bad very quickly because it is garbage, forcing me to change the pot with a good 500 meg pot. Figuring out how to rewire it was a pain in the ass. Also, the guitar has a mahogany veneer over what may be a poplar body. You can't trust the product descriptions on Amazon because the sellers often lie and Amazon lets them get away with deceiving the customer. Had I known a solid mahogany body was available for $80.00 more, I would have bought it. I decided to buy an SG, mostly for sentimental reasons, because the SG was the first guitar I ever played. I was about 12 or 13 years old at a neighbor's house who owned the guitar. I think the only song he knew was "Jumping Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones. When I held the guitar in my hands I was in a state of awe as I had never held a guitar before. After a few moments of fumbling around, as if by magic I actually began to play some lead guitar that was probably rudimentary, but musically coherent melody. Similar experiences have happened throughout my life, when for brief moments I was able to do the impossible, as though a transmission directly from my unconscious to my conscious mind. My neighbor-friend was in a state of shock because he had never been able to play lead guitar and I who had never even tried to play guitar before was actually playing. After a couple minutes, he demanded I return to guitar to him out of jealousy and fear and never let me play it again. He had turned me on to Black Sabbath which I loved and went out and bought "Paranoid" and "Volume 4". I did not actually begin to learn how to play until several years later, when my uncle gave me a garbage Japanese acoustic guitar that could not be tuned because the bridge was ripping off the face of the guitar. I developed a love and passion for the guitar, especially after hearing Jimi Hendrix several years later, so my guitar obsession naturally shifted to the Stratocaster. Here I am, more than half a century later and my love of the instrument has only grown. I currently have a collection of 27 guitars of all types and makes and this Epiphone SG is the latest addition to the collection. I was not expecting much from a cheap guitar, but figured that it would be a good instrument to modify and transform to a first class instrument, as I have done with many guitars and basses. When I opened the box I was not disappointed and although it felt cheap and light (6.2) Lbs, and likely neither mahogany or alder as advertised the fit, finish and color is over all, excellent which is common for cnc manufactured instruments which virtually eliminate human error. After tuning, I plugged the cable in to my 2 amp system my pedal board divided with 2 independent pedal chains dedicated to each amp, I was pleasantly surprised. It felt great and sounded as good as it looks, I decided that I am not going to change the pickups because they sound great. As I expected, with all cheap guitars, the tuners are absolute garbage which I will change and will make a few other modifications (I bought a roller bridge for under $13.00 delivered from ebay and quality Chinese made locking tuners from Amazon), I am going to make a custom nut out of a brass rod and modify the kill switch on the tone pot to eliminate the excessive noise and replace the plastic fret markers with abalone. Eventually I may change the pots and tone capacitor, but am leaving them for now, because: "if it ain't broke. don't fix it". Its kind of amusing how as much as things change on some fundamental level they remain the same. As my musical tastes matured and expanded far beyond rock and classical music, to Jazz, Flamenco, Indian, Arab, African, Japanese, Chinese and every form and idiom imaginable, I recently returned to listen to Black Sabbath who I had dismissed decades ago as adolescent and irrelevant only to remember why I loved them in the first place and realized exactly how great a guitarist Tony Iomi is and his contribution to rock as one of the originals. While I hate heavy metal, I love Tony's playing. Derek Trucks, the great Slide Player of the Allman Brothers was part of my desire for an SG style guitar and I can tell you that while I would have preferred real mahogany, I am really glad I bought this guitar because cheap or not, it is a great guitar that is fantastic for slide.

Great value for a guitar. And you can live your AC/DC dreams on a budget! It arrived on time and in good condition. Be prepared to make some adjustments to the instrument. Here is a list of the things the guitar needed when it arrived: Intonation: The intonation was off on four strings. Very easy fix if you own a tuner and a small screwdriver. Truss Rod: The truss rod was completely loose, I had to turn it a full turn before it "caught". Then another 1/4 turn to get it just a hair off dead straight. String Action: The strings were a full 1/8" upon arrival, the truss rod adjustment got it down to 3/32", and I had to lower the bridge to 1/16". Once at the proper height, there was no string buzz at any point on the neck. Pickups: The pickups were a little high, which caused the guitar to sound harsh and muddy. After adjustment to Gibson factory specs it was much better. The pickups seem very "hot", so you may want to lower them below Gibson specs. Tuning: Tuning was off, which is to be expected. The frets were very shiny and smooth. No rough ends. There is one spot in the finish, like a speck of sand under the clear coat. It's a little bump, but only visible if the light catches it just right. The guitar is very thin, light, and comfortable to play. The tuning machines are the cheap parallelogram-shaped ones, but they get the job done and I see no reason to change them. The volume and tone knobs are very responsive. The Kill-Pot is really cool, but not something I will probably ever use. I've been very impressed with the Epiphone "Special" models. I own a Les Paul Special II, and Special I P-90 as well. They are fun guitars to play. Do not be discouraged by the price. Neither should you be afraid of the bolt-on neck. It's a cost-cutting measure that you won't find on high-end Gibsons, but Fender has been doing that way since the 1950's. These are great playing guitars with an iconic look and a sound all their own. So, go ahead and get your "Angus" on!

WoW! for a sub 200 dollar guitar this packs some serious awsome sauce! Is it anything like my jackson custom shop USA no but that does not mean it is a bad guitar i think the guitar is under priced to be honest this plays more like a mid teir guitar and sounds like one as well. But what suprised me the most about this guitar was how fathful it is sound wise to the real deal. However you can tell by look it is is not a gibson SG the Epiphone SG rocks a high gloss cherry clear coat finish witch IMHO looks so much cooler than the dulled aged cherry finish look on a real Gibson SG. As far as weight of the instrament goes it is a weee bit less heavy than my jackson and since Gibson SGs are solid built im going to go ahead and say it weighs less than a real gibson as well i could be wrong on that though. You can always tell a good guitar by how well it sounds when played when its not pluged into an amp. this sounded almost to nice to be true for the asking price. The pick ups seem okey The hardwear seems to be good i hear people say the tuners on this are bad quality and the guitar wont keep its tuneing. I havent experianced that yet and i broke this thing out of the box set it up tuned it once and shreded the shit out of it and it kept its tuneing. So i will up date this after 1 week and tell you if thats legit in my case. Quality control seems good on this guitar no scratchs chips or nicks on it no loose fittings no bowed necks frets are even neck action was no fret buzz it was good to go out of the box once i tuned it. Can you gig with this guitar is it road worthy yea i think it would hold up if cared for properly. Just remember when and if you get a guitar it is at the end of the day only your partner in crime a super nice guitar wont make you sound like the next big thing it will help but in the end most of your player unigue tone/sound comes from you and your hands. Someone who is experianced can make anything sound good someone still learning the ropes may not be able to do that just remember it is 40% equiptment 60% you the player for the price this guitar is a great pick up for a back up guitar or for a newbie who wants to start down the awsome road to becomeing a musician. [UPDATE ON THINGS] after 2 weeks of ownership and weather tempture changeing from 50 degrees to about below 30 it seems to still be in tune even though i only tuned it twice. all withen the first 2 days of ownership so my verdict on the tuneing issue is at least for me my tuners are good to go i see no need to replace them who knows maybe i got lucky like a golden ducky hehe!

This guitar even arrives in a nice box, double protected from Musician's Friend with a larger outer box loaded with packing to keep the prize awaiting inside safe. The inside, another Epiphone box by Gibson. Opening it reveals a masterpiece to the eyes, seemless paint job in cherry, easy on the eyes (no, not the girl who packed it at the plant, the guitar!). I wanted an SG for a long time, but they were so costly I grazed past it to other models for an intermediate like me getting back in the ranks. This thing looks and feels like the Gibson original, it's light, easy to hold, sits perfectly on your knee, tunes awesome, sounds great, and when I put it through my distortion pedal, I thought I was hearing Metallica... of course, then I woke up. The neck plays fast and the pickup switch gives you the ability to have the full two pickups on for rhythm, the back one on only for lead with a twangier taste, and the front one for a heavier-bassier tone. The full two pickups boring down with some strong bar chords are my favorite. My friend who is an officianado grabbed it and made it sound like a $4,000.00 guitar, then handed it back to me with a sneer and said that he could make anything sound good, but the axe I got for $169 was "okay." In his eyes, that really meant he had to say that so I didn't get a swelled head. Together with a SG model hardshell case from Amazon (off copy) with black velvet style interior, it looks delectable. Buy this one first, then move on to something more expensive, but you don't really have to. Save the money and buy yourself a ticket to the Bahamas, but don't forget to take the SG with you... you may need an Epiphone portable amp though for the beach so people don't even dare kick sand in your face. They may even buy you a Pina Colada, but don't be a dummy and spill it on this masterpiece.

Pros: Very very pretty finish That sexy AC/DC rocker styling On a budget - less than $200 Epiphone - a brand who will stand behind their products, includes limited warranty, and are generally easy to deal with. Excellent sound for rhythm guitar parts (muddy chug chug) Killswitch Engage sounds FIRE with this baby. Cons: Quality - less than $200 B string catches somewhere on the nut or above when bending anything over a half step, string makes a popping sound that is incredibly metallic and with throw off your ear-to-hand. At least it does for me. I’ve tried shaving the nut slat, three different strings at three different gauges and it’s still happening. If this is for a beginner who is simply in love with the styling of an sg and is not after tone, rigidity, or high quality materials, then this would be great. Tuning keys are supposed to be locking, but I have to tune after every song. (Granted I do a hell of a lot of bending which could contribute, but this is notably worse than my others guitars of similar or a bit higher quality. I have all the way from an $89.99 acoustic bass from Amazon, to a $3500 Gretsch.) For me this is basically wall art.

Avevo ordinato questa chitarra per avere un "giocattolo" in più, oltre alle più importanti Fender e Gibson, e non mi aspettavo niente di particolare. Subito un piccolo settaggio dell'action e dei pick-ups: suona benissimo!!!! Il suono pulito è pieno, presente e con molto sustain: bellissimo. Il distorto è davvero notevole (con distorsione dell'amplificatore Fender) e nulla ha da invidiare a chitarre più costose... Manico scorrevole e dettagli ben curati. Insomma un'ottima chitarra ad un prezzo bassissimo!

Very good guitar...versatile...a must buy

Achetée pour apprendre la guitare et la coupler avec le jeu rocksmith 2014, cette guitare est juste superbe. Très bien finie, ultra simple et équilibrée, elle délivre un son qui me convient tout à fait. il y a deux micros et un interrupteur à trois positions. bref une guitare électrique idéale pour un débutant qui ne veut pas racheter rapidement une autre guitare

Bought as “Used Like New". Arrived quickly. Item is in brand new condition including all accessories, manuals etc which were in new from factory condition. In other words, the item was brand new. I can only echo most of the other comments on here and say it is fantastic value for money. The finish is stunning, and it plays great straight out of the box after a little tweak, I have lowered the action by adjusting the bridge screws. Intonation is spot on, no adjustment necessary. Doesn't have quite the same sustain as more expensive Epiphone SG and Gibson models, probably because of the bolt on neck but that's about all the notable difference there is. The 'killpot' feature is great fun although musically probably pretty useless. For the price I got it for (£106.00), should it have been no good as a serious musical instrument, it still would have been worth buying to put up on the wall.

Super schnelle Lieferung. Super amazon support. Und die gitarre ist gut verpackt und in bestem zustand angekommen. Sah sogar besser aus als die im gitarrenladen. Zur gitarre an sich: Sieht auch für den preis super hochwertig aus und das ist sie auch. Hier wird qualitativ viel geboten. Und es ist ein echtes arbeitstier, stundenlang spielen ohne das sie sich verstimmt kein problem. Sound ist super, vorallem für rock oder metal richtung. Klare kaufempfehlung. Vorallem für diejenigen die noch nicht soviel geld für eine gitarre ausgeben wollen bzw noch am anfang ihrer karriere stehen ;-)