• Fantastic guitar, shockingly affordable

  
  As reviewed by FREDDIE SCHWAB on 11/9/2011

  I recently acquired one of these up and have to say I'm absolutely astounded by it. This is an exceptional guitar for the money (actually, low cost aside, it's just a great guitar!) I have a Gibson SG Standard as well, which cost nearly 4x as much. The Gibby is a beauty, for sure, but is it 4x as good? Simple answer is "no". I love them both. This guitar has some significant upgrades over it's lower end counterparts (i.e. G-310). It has a set, thin neck, not a bolt-on! It's very fast, which is great and as others have noted, it does indeed have a rosewood bound neck (unlike the plastic binding on my Gibson). It has Grover-licensed 14:1 tuners which are very nice, albeit heavy (I'll get to that later). The pups are decent, although a little muddier than my Gibby. It has a very nice warm sound to it and plays as crunchy as I like, when desired. The finish on the guitar is great. I got the heritage cherry version and it's beautiful. There were some minor imperfections at the heel of the neck, but they're not really noticeable unless you look very closely. One thing about SG's in general, is that they sometimes tend to be neck-heavy. My G-400 is a heavier guitar than my Gibson and certainly more neck-heavy. I suspect this is partly due to the Grover tuners vs. Kluson's on the Gibson. That said, the G-400's definitely less-balanced, but still easily compensated for. There may be some variation from guitar to guitar, so I recommend playing one in the store before buying (one should with any guitar, honestly). Mine simply felt great from the get-go. To sum things up, this is a wonderful guitar for any experience level. Even though I have the Gibson, I still spend equal time on the G-400 and wouldn't ever think of parting with it. I'm still amazed at how much guitar you get for $350-400. It's beautiful, plays and sounds great! It's a keeper!

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• Epiphone Pride is Gibson's Shame

  
  As reviewed by James Bishop Brown on 8/23/2011

  Went to the local GC and stopped by the aisle with a bunch of Epi's down in front at waist level, and then 8 different Gibson SG's; Faded, Tribute, Standard, and a couple others I can't recall ranging in price from $700 - $1300. I played them all with only the most expensive one to be marginally interesting. The lower priced models were so awful, all one has to do is touch the neck and return to the display. I can't believe Gibson is putting their name on these things. I have an Austin at home with GFS pups that would put 3 of these guitars to shame. Then out of the corner of my eye I see the Epiphone Limited Edition 1966 G-400 hanging off to the side. I pick it up, so far, so good, I eyeball it. Like what I see, trad. cherry, my idea of what an SG should look like. The pickups looked a little off sitting so low at quite an angle but that is just due to the pick guard which I really like. The neck is fat but it feels good as do the frets. I can't tell you about the sound, but acoustically it played well and two days later I ordered mine. I have been playing a lot of really nice Epi's lately. I have been converted. The 57 Les Paul Jr. in TV Yellow, the Nighthawk, The Les Paul Special w/P90's, and now this. All these guitars for around three and a half bucks! Epiphone's workmanship demonstrates pride, Gibson needs to take a look at what Epiphone is doing and get the act together!

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• Awesome Guitar, Love It

  
  As reviewed by Jack on 1/28/2011

  Guitar Center had a grand opening sale at their Louisville store and I picked up a beautiful silverburst model. I grabbed one of the unopened boxes, got it home, opened it up, inspected it...flawless finish. Setup was decent, playable anyway. Intonation was almost perfect, action was a little high for my liking, but not too bad. Hooked it up to my Vox amp and played all the notes up and down the neck, again - flawless, very nice neck. I dialed in an AC/DC type sound and rocked out for an hour. Very impressed with this guitar. The Alnico Classic humbuckers sound great as well, definitely keeping them. This model has been on my radar for a while, but I wasn't planning on buying one this soon. The grand opening sale price was just ridiculous though and I couldn't pass it up. This is a great guitar and not just for the price. I prefer it to the Gibson Faded SG. The Gibson Standard SGs I've played are slightly better however, having a higher quality finish and better hardware. Still I am very pleased with this guitar and I have a feeling it's going to be my primary player. The Gibson Standard is a 5 star axe, this one is the next best thing 4/5.

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