The Affordable Epiphone SG Special
June 29, 2007 by Jo Minor
At a list price of 249.00, the Epiphone SG Special is indeed an affordable electric guitar. Epiphone is owned by Gibson, and produces guitars with similar features as the higher priced Gibsons but at a lower cost. The result is near-Gibson quality at a price almost anyone can afford, and the SG Special is the least expensive of the Epiphone SG’s.
The Epiphone SG Special has that great Gibson SG body shape with double cutaways and pointed curved horns. It has dual open coil humbucker pickups for a variety of screaming, growling sounds.
The SG body style is a Gibson innovation that dates back to 1961. Gibson was already producing Les Paul style guitars with Les’s endorsement, but they felt they needed to create a new, futuristic looking guitar as an alternative. The double cutaway body and slightly smaller size and weight made production costs a bit lower. Gibson intended to put Les Paul’s endorsement on the new style, but he didn’t like it, so they came up with the name, SG, which stands for “solid guitar.”
The Gibson SG began to sell, and was soon almost as popular as the LP models. A lot of people can’t afford a Gibson, guitar, however, so Gibson decided to acquire the Epiphone company to use for marketing a lower priced guitar line. Epiphone guitars are made with Gibson’s quality standards, but with a few corners cut to save on factory expense. One such change is that the Epiphones are made with a laminated coating on the body that is easy and quick to apply but does not provide quite the sound as the time consuming finish used on the Gibsons.
The affordable Epiphone SG Special is an Epiphone SG designed for excellent value. For the brand new player, there is also the option of getting this guitar in a complete beginners’ electric guitar package. The Player Pack retails for $415 and includes a 10 watt Epiphone Studio amp with an 8 inch speaker.
Advantages: The Epiphone SG Special electric guitar has a great classic look and sweet sound, though possibly not quite as sweet as the real Gibson. Still, for under $250, it’s a great buy, especially for a new player. The sustain is good. The alder body provides good tonal balance, which makes a variety of sounds possible. It’s a good guitar for blues as well as a variety of rock sounds. The cutaway shape makes all 22 frets easily accessible. The Tune-o-matic bridge is designed so that you can adjust the height of each string individually and get the tone you want.
The neck is smooth and fast, like an SG neck should be. The quality of workmanship is generally very good for a guitar of this price. If you should happen to get the occasional lemon, the folks at Epiphone are very easy to deal with and will make sure you are well taken care of.
Disadvantages: If you like the looks of an SG with a pickguard, you’ll be disappointed with the looks of the Epiphone SG Special. The laminated finish shows scratches and fingerprints, so you might need to polish it frequently. (Some people like scratches though. Scratches show that you really do play the thing, and play it hard.)
The guitar has only one tone knob and one volume knob, so you are somewhat limited in options. You’ll probably want to get better strings for it than the ones that come stock. You’ll also probably need to have some adjustments made before bringing it home. Some buyers have had problems with the pickups and with the pickup selectors. If you are wanting a guitar with a whammy bar, you will have to look elsewhere.
Specs:
- Laminated alder and maple body
- Available in cherry or ebony
- Maple bolt-on neck
- 24.75 inch scale
- 22 Frets
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Dot inlays
- 1.68 inches wide at the nut
- Chrome hardware
- 650R open-coil humbucker pickup at the neck (for rhythm playing)
- 700T open-coil humbucker pickup at the bridge (for treble, or lead, playing)
- Tune-o-matic bridge
- Stop bar tailpiece
- No pick guard
- One volume control
- One tone control
- 3-way switch for choosing either pickup or both
Amp and package specs:
- 10 Watt Epiphone Studio amplifier
- 8 inch Electar Labs speaker
- Master volume control on amp
- Boost switch
- Gain control
- 3 band EQ
- Headphone jack
- Package includes quartz tuner, instructional DVD, strap, cable, picks, and gig bag.
Musician’s Friend has a thorough article that explains all the special features of Gibson SG style guitars, as well as the different models of Gibson and Epiphone SG’s, so that you can make an informed choice when buying an electric guitar. You can read all about it here.
At this webpage, you can access a variety of articles telling more about Gibson SG guitars and the famous players who use them.
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3 Responses to “The Affordable Epiphone SG Special”
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i have this guitar it is the nicest guitar ever!!!!!!!!!!
i just got this guitar at a guitar store for 169$ and it is the best guitar i have ever owned amazing quality it is better then the 200 dollar one
dose anyone know where to get a pickgaurd for this guitar. its a great guitar but i h8 the scratches