• Impressive

  
  As reviewed by Tim Henrion on 1/3/2012

  My background: I'm a player with experience building and repairing guitars. One of the things I enjoy doing is purchasing modestly priced specialty guitars like this one and seeing what it takes to get them "up to snuff", ala my more expensive instruments. I was initially very impressed when I checked this one out at my local GC. I was looking for a guitar with P90s and this one fit the bill. I was also interested in the wraparound bridge and the old-school tuners. I have to say that I was impressed with the quality of the workmanship off the rack and bought the guitar without even playing it. The neck and fretwork (usually the bane of any modestly price guitar) seemed excellent for a guitar in this price range so I got it. I took it home and "put in on the bench" to give it a run through. In the end, there was very little that I needed to do to it in order to make it sing. The only thing I really needed to do was knock down a high spot on the 2nd fret on the treble E side. I was impressed that the nut and nut slots were perfectly cut and didn't need to be touched. Poorly cut nut slots and badly dressed frets are usually the first sign of a badly made import guitar. This one had neither. Definitely a keeper. The only other additional thing I'll need to do to it some day is a little filing on the bass E side bridge post slot on the bridge. When strung with .042 bass E strings, the bass side of the bridge won't ..quite.. come into correct intonation. It's so close that it probably doesn't matter except to someone anal about these things like me. If I get bored I'll probably replace the plastic nut with a bone one as well. Some things I noticed (i.e. nit-picking): 1) Like just about any guitar I've bought made in the Far East, the frets needed a cleaning. They were well dressed and did not need a re-dress, they just needed a good scrubbing to clean them up and make them shine. 2) The body is not Mahogany even though it looks like it. It's a nice looking mahogany veneer over what appears to be some type of Asian hardwood (Luan?). Because only the body edges are carved, you'll only notice this if you look closely at the wood grain on the carved sections of the body. Bottom line, 99% of people won't even notice this. Kudos to Epiphone for the nice looking veneer front and back sides. 3) I'm not sure what the fingerboard wood is but its oily and leaves some black residue on your fingertips after playing it for a while. I've never seen any rosewood (including the some Indian 'Rosewood' species) that does this. Sealing the fingerboard with Behlen's Fingerboard Oil solved this.

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• Good rockin' tonight!

  
  As reviewed by roger lipson on 2/15/2012

  Feb. 2012: Just purchased the Ltd. Ed. 50th Ann. 1961 SG Special. All I can say is wow! You have to test run this guitar. Highlights: P90s - Great highs & nice mellow jazzy tones once you roll of the treble. If you want the "Mississippi Queen" tones, you'll get them here. Neck: I have small hands (play Hofner basses and have an endorsement deal) and the neck is amazingly comfortable. Very easy to bend, chord and play for hours at a time. Weight: I compared 3 or 4 different Epiphone SGs, and in addition to the neck & P90s, it was the lightest and is very well balance. It barely feels like I have a guitar around my neck. For this price range, you have one rockin' guitar with classic tones. The same model in the Gibson is well over 1,200. Yea right. Don't think so. I gotta kid to put through college! Cons: Not really, except that you may contemplate swapping out the bridge for a wraparound bridge where each string can be adjusted for intonation...but mine stock bridge seems to be just fine.

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• Best SG I have!

  
  As reviewed by Philip Prescott on 1/24/2012

  I had been eyeballing this one... went to GC and played one... and it really can sing! All my GC had was Red and I wanted the TV Yellow! The GC.com had it, so merry Christmas to me! The pickups sign clean and scream dirty. The neck is a little wider than my other electrics (or so I perceive it to be) and It really makes for some smooth playing. The weight is great. I play mostly for fun, but I will play some live parties once in a while. I have yet to play this one live, but I definitely will be bringing it with me next time! The only con I see is the pots. I will probably be changing them out to better quality pots in the future, but for now they get the job done!

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