As I mentioned in my previous reviews, I am an Australian guitar teacher and my students often come to me for advice regarding gear purchase. A student who has been learning acoustic guitar with me for about three years decided last year to extend the lessons to electric. The student really liked rock and wanted to play in the style of Clapton, Zepplin, ACDC, Hendrix etc. Budget was limited to AU$600 or about $US450, because she (I bet you thought it was a "he"...) already spent AU$1,500 on a Maton acoustic (an outstanding Australian brand)a few months earlier. I gave her a demo on my StratPlus and on my old Les Paul copy which had the pickups replaced with original Gibson humbuckers. She immediately decided that she preferred the Gibson sound.
Since she is of slight build, she was likely to buckle under the 100 or so pounds of a Les Paul or copy thereof (I exaggerate of course, but believe me - after an hour on stage, those beasts certainly FEEL like 100lb). With that in mind, I suggested for her to check out the SG clones.
She went to the local shop and narrowed it down to a Samick SG and a G-400, and asked me to check them out before she committed to either.
Years ago Samicks were made in Korea and were reasonable beginner's guitars. The one I was looking at was made in China and was nothing short of appalling. The finish was so poor that I didn't even bother taking it off the rack. The $AU299 asking price was $299 more than it was worth.
The Epiphone G-400 was a different story. The overall quality was more than adequate. The cherry red paintwork had a few minor blemishes, but it was generally well finished. From a distance you couldn't tell it apart from a Gibson SG. All the SG Standard features were there, 2 covered humbuckers - one in the bridge and one in the neck position, lead/rhythm switch and a separate tone and volume control for each pickup. The rosewood fretboard had trapezoid inlays. The bridge was of the fixed tune-o-matic type. The picture at the top of these reviews shows a G-400 with a tremolo arm. I would stay away from those. Epiphones have never been famous for their ability to stay in tune. Add a tremolo and you could be compounding the problem. The tuners on this one (three per side) were of the vintage type and looked fine. Picking it up, it felt light - a bit too light for me - but I knew it would be ideal for my student. The neck was fairly narrow and the back of the neck was smooth. Everything about the instrument felt right.
I plugged it into the shop's Marshall MG-30. I got fairly clean tones from channel one. A little muddy, but a reasonable approximation of a Gibson. But then, few people buy an SG for it's clean tones. In overdrive mode it was a lot better. The tones were not as well defined as a Gibson's, but still pretty fat and the sustain was surprisingly good. The output of the pickups was not as high as the Gibson 490T/490Rs, but overall the G-400 was well worth the AU$590.
Since she bought it, the only complaint my student had was that the G string (why is it ALWAYS the G string?) was going out of tune. The problem was solved after she ordered and I fitted a set of Grover locking tuners. Her next purchase will be 2 Gibson pickups, which should take the guitar's sound closer to the one it is based on.
The Epiphone G-400 is about one fifth of the price of a Gibson SG, but it is far, far more than merely one fifth the guitar.
If you are fully committed to the SG's looks and sound, buy the Gibson, but if you need a second guitar or are not yet sure where your style is heading, the G-400 is sure to please.
If you are in the market for a beginner's guitar, you may want to read my review on:
The Squier Stratocaster.
Thinking of taking up bass guitar? Please checkout my review on the
Ibanez SRX300 Bass Guitar.
