Epiphone G-400: Beautiful SG At Not Such A Gibson Price
Pros:
Looks Like A Gibson, Feels Great, Pretty Good Pick-Ups, Price, Etc...
Cons:
None!
The Bottom Line:
The Epiphone G-400 will give you excellent performance at an excellent price. Just like a real SG!
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I love Epiphone, especially for their prices. I'm a pretty big fan of the Gibson SG. The Epiphone G-400 is a much cheaper version. Let's start off by saying that I've played this at stores, yet my guitarist friend Paul has an Epiphone that he customized. He's well into guitar customization. I'll rate the guitar from what you get stock, and also explain what you can have! Here's what I found with the Epiphone G-400.
-Price-
*Epiphone guitars are excellent quality. Much better than any Squier or a lot of other guitars that you can throw at it in the price range. Up at a store that I played it in, the Epiphone G-400 had a price tag of $399. It's much cheaper than buying a real Gibson SG, and also around $300 or so cheaper than the Gibson SG Special. $400 isn't a lot of money to be spending for Gibson quality! YOu get a whole lot of guitar for $400. When you think about it, you're paying the extra hundreds pretty much just for the Gibson name on the headstock, and different pick-ups. However, since you save so much money going with the Epiphone G-400 rather than a Gibson, you'll have money to buy new pick-ups! In Paul's "VPPKATZ" Epiphone G-400, he put in EMG-81 and EMG-85 active pick-ups for $179. It sounds absolutely incredible, and it's still cheaper than a Gibson SG!
-Under The Hood-
*The Epiphone G-400 uses dual humbuckers for its power. They have a pretty nice and versatile tone. It sounds great for a $400 guitar. If you're into Gibson, and really want that Gibson "roar" and tone, then you'll love this guitar. If you want a different tone, Ibanez makes some great guitars with definitely different sounding pick-ups for ~$400. For most people, the Epiphone G-400's humbuckers will be sufficient. It really does sound good. But if you want to really enhance the sound, you can buy a set of Seymour Duncan or EMG pick-ups which will give it that really "expensive" tone which will give you that awesome "WOW" factor. My two person preferences are:
-Seymour Duncan- *Seymour Duncan 59 and Performer humbuckers
or
-EMG- *EMG-81 and EMG-85 active humbuckers
*Both will give you a great tone! That's what I love about Epiphones, you have the room for improvement!
-The Neck-
*I love the feel of Gibson necks. The Epiphone G-400 is absolutely no exception. The neck feels great. It does feel a bit on the heavy side, but that's the kind of feel that a lot of guitarists like, especially Gibson-enthusiasts. The Epiphone G-400 also has those cool looking inlays that give its neck a sharp look. The rosewood fretboard gives it a very warm and beautiful tone.
-The Feel-
*The Epiphone G-400 definitely feels lighter than an Epiphone Les Paul. That's one thing that I do like about the SG guitars, they are light. However, on the other hand, the heaviness of a guitar pretty much means that it is a solid guitar. But the Epiphone G-400 proves itself to be a very solid guitar because of its build quality. It's a Gibson for God's sake! But for the guitarists that do long gigs or somply don't like heavy guitars, the Epiphone G-400 will give you what a Les Paul would, but without the heaviness! The Epiphone G-400 is a very sexy and sleek looking guitar. It looks way more aggressive than the Les Paul. It's like a Lamborghini. Damn, if you have EMG pick-ups in there, it will look so fine! But overall, it's a very fine looking and great feeling guitar.
-The Bad-
*Ummm... Nothing much to say here. You're getting a Gibson SG at a fraction at the price! You'll also have enough money left over to really customize it for optimal performance. How can there be anything bad about it then?!
-The Verdict-
*The Epiphone G-400 really proves it to be an excellent guitar for the price. It's pretty much a Gibson SG for only around $400! That's just incredible. It sounds really good for the price. However, it all depends on the look and tone that you're looking for. You should always look at other brands like Ibanez, Fender, Parker, etc... However, if you're a Gibson enthusiast like a lot of people out there, then you'll fall in love with the Epiphone G-400. Just put in your own pick-ups, and this guitar will be the guitar that you've always been dreaming about! For around $400, you simply can't go wrong!
