Epiphone Elite 61 SG

Made in Japan, not sure of the date. Bought this guitar second hand with Swineshead X-Bucker pickups fitted, the originals came with it also. Briefly, the standard USA pickups are 50SR and 60ST with nickle covers, Grover tuners, other hardware nickle. The top is in book matched African Mahogany, the neck 22 fret mahogany through neck, with a bone nut. This also came with the original Elite series hardcase. This guitar has got all of the features I wanted on a guitar hence the reason why I bought it :-)

I am in a alternative rock band. I chose this guitar for the thick humbucker tone and the light weight body. I'm putting this guitar through a Peavey ValveKing 212 and a series of stomp boxes. My set up seems to be grounded well as I don't seem to be getting too much general buzz noise. My only dislike with this guitar is that the volume controls seem to be more of an on/off rather than a volume control, but I suspect this is more down to the high output pickups that have been fitted. But again this is something that doesn't affect me too much as I have other methods of changing my output volume (effects / playing style)

The action was perfect when I got the guitar. Pickups were positioned fine as well. The only flaws on this guitar when I bought it were a pain chip right on the end of the head stock, and a small ding to the main body. This sort of thing is purely cosmetic and didn't change my views on the guitar at all.

I fitted strap locks to the guitar, as I have done with all of my previous guitars as I do play live. Even though I have only had this guitar for a short while, I can tell the the build quality is very good and I fully expect this guitar to last me for a long time. I don't like the idea of ever gigging without a back up guitar as you never know when you'll get that string break!

I have never had to deal with Epiphone / Gibson support

I have been playing guitar for 9 years. I have owned many guitars over the years including a brand new Gibson Les Paul Standard, and I can honestly say that I prefer everything about the playability of this guitar to the LP. The sound seems more versatile, I am able to get many more tones much easier with this axe. The visual finish on the LP was outstanding, easily the prettiest guitar I have ever and probably will ever own, but simple things like the volume and tone controls felt slightly miss-fitted. And the pickup selector didn't feel what I would classify as a clean solid connector. I had none of the these issues with the Epi SG.

If this guitar was stolen I would definitely buy another, if I could find one that is, as these things are becoming rather rare in the UK now a days.

Overall I am extremely happy with this guitar, its a keeper for sure!

Made in 2002 in the famed Fuji-Gen factory where, I gather, the excellent Fender/Squier JV's were made in the early 80's. This is the Elite model, not the later re-named Elitist, though I'm not sure if there's any real difference between the two. Its in heritage cherry..I think they all were...the finish is poly and looks amazing. The mahogany body comprises 2 piece of very well matched timber, while the vintage style neck is stunning - both in appearance and finish. The pu's and electrics are American and this guitar is an absolute joy to play. I used to own a 69 SG Special and this is way better in every way. I bought it second-hand on Ebay and it came with a very nice Epi Elite case.

Going through a Peavey Bandit...using a Digitech amp modeling/fx pedal. Can't see the point of valves these days..though I know most would disagree. The American humbuckers do exactly what they should and the guitar sounds great. I play a sort of 60's/70's rock/r'n'b style - not heavily distorted - just a little bit of crunch and with a good deal of bite for solos.

The guy who had this before me was, I suspect a jazzer or similar. It was fitted with ridiculously heavy strings (13's??!!) and the action set way too high for me. It says a heck of a lot for this guitar that all I had to do was fit a set of 9's, lower the action considerably and everything was absolutely spot on. The neck remained incredibly straight. Why this guy ever wanted an SG is totally beyond me!

Everything about this guitar is quality. I've heard some guys whining about there being too much/too little glue on the long-tennon neck join and all that kind of stuff. Bedroom bull if you ask me! I'm not bothering taking it apart to look...its a great guitar. It stays perfectly in tune as long as you don't get silly with it...this is an SG remember. The headstock and neck/body joins are delicate...but that's the deal with SG's. You have to look after these guitars.

Probably won't need it.

I'm primarily a bass player though I've recently moved to guitar for a new live project. I've been gigging and recording regularly for over 30 years...no-one famous but definitely time-served! This guitar is exactly what I wanted. I owned a 69 SG Special many years ago...lately I'd been getting by with a Epi G400 special edition with the maestro trem...thats an ok guitar which I still use for recording. However the Elite is leagues better and perfect for live work.

A very nice sg. 2-pc book-matched African mahogany 2 gibson pups,grover tuners which are very good, rosewood fretboard and nickel hardware.

I play mainly classic rock and blues stuff and it's great for them. I'm sure it's great for alot of other music styles to. The wood is really nice. When played unplugged it has a very open, rich, full sound. The bridge pickup is very bright sounding which I like but I might change it to a gibson 57 classic plus soon but I think their both great pickups. It Really has the Angus Young vibe to it.

I bought it used on ebay but the setup was fine. Beautiful finish.

Seems like this guitar will last for years to come.

Never had any problems so I haven't dealt with them.

This guitar is a rock solid rock guitar, thats why I love it. Good sound and very easy to play. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another one. It's a shame that epiphone discontinued it. It's a really incredible guitar for an incredible value. If you see one on ebay or something grab it, you won't be sorry. I would strongly recommend to try this out before you buy a gibson sg special or something like that. Epiphone's elitist series is fantastic.

Typical SG features and controls, see other reviews for the full list. Overall a very versatile guitar.

I play many styles of music and this axe seems to cover them all with grace and attitude. With this axe, you can get a midsy punchy punk tone, a searing metal tone, a jangly, creamy, stones-type rockabilly/pop tone, a twangy almost country tone, a warm smooth jazz tone, and a creamy, singing blues tone. May seem like an exaggeration, but I've had this axe for 3 years and played in a high school jazz ensemble, my own band (punk, rockabilly, reggae) and a whole lot of solo jamming. With a good amp this guitar can do it all. It really has a character all its own, yet can seemingly do it all.

I bought it used and it needed a setup but afterwards, it was like buttah. Finished beautifully, although I've tarnished the shit out of the hardware with all the sweat from many many shows. But when polished up, it still looks like a beautiful well-worn rocker.

This guitar is very reliable. I've crushed in the input, though, once, and that area is a little weak so I'll have to take off points.

Haven't had to deal.

Overall, this guitar is my main axe and probably will be for a long, long time. Haven't touched my American Strat since I got this axe- even sold the strat! Every other guitar I play, I think: "Gee it's pretty nice, but I miss my SG..." Fantastic instrument at a great price, too bad they stopped making these! What the hell, Epiphone? Well, I got one!

I have many guitars and I have also played many guitars over the last 40 years, and this on ranks right up there with the best of them.

Although I liked the PUP's I did swap them for a Burstbucker #2 and #3. Now, as far as I am concened I have something that rivals any Gibson I own!!!

Very well made and set up right out of the box.

Still ticking with no problems.

Have not had to use them

Like I mentioned above, I have been playing for 40 years and this guitar ranks right up there with anything I am currently, or have played in the past. I had to go through the brand name thing and now I am into the best quality for the dollar and this is it!!!!

It's new, probably last year before discontinued, Made In Japan, 50ST and 60SH USA Epi pups, nice Grovers, mahogany straight through, rosewood fingerboard with bonafide mop, Ebony poly, nice skiny neck (I got dinky hands...) I think this one was listed as a blem because it didn't have an Elitist case. Big deal, I can't play the case. 8 because it's got the heavy brass tail and the wire retainer type bridge, which I would've been sorely disappointed with if I had paid full price.

I play a bunch of dif stuff, Johnny Cash, Tejas inspired rock, fingerpicking, and big band rythm, etc., so I was circumspect but I bought it anyway. I'm too old to be emo. Out of the box and through a homebrew 6L6 Bassman it was fantastic, just kept playing and fiddling and playing and fiddling until I ran out of day. Princeton clean tone can get some really nice jangle, but dirty this's a Texas rocker's dream. Swapped the 500K pots for 1MEG, put in old CD film and foil tone caps that measured about .035, aluminum tail piece and a TonePros bridge. Woof! Before the control swap and the string path upgrades I thought I might want to put in Duncans or Lindy Fralins but the Gibby/Epi love children 50/60's are staying in and I need to build a Vox AC15!

Low E's a little buzzy and the factory Tune-o-matic was the type with that damned buzzy wire retainer; neck is fast and super straight and rigid, frets are tops, factory set-up was actually better than I expected. The abalone Gibson crowned headstock is really sweet. No flaws in the black poly, but it gets greasy kinda quick...

This thing's a rock. I've seen busted headstocks on these but I can't imagine it would happen to this one. If you break one playing live then you've got to be a crackhead, in which case you'd deserve to break it.

Gibson's always responded to my queries in the past, tho I've never sent anything in for warranty work.

About a decade of lazy playing on regular Epi's, Washburns and other pedigreed underdogs. While it's still new I pro'ly won't reach for my Sheraton much. If it were stolen I'd replace it, it's the best I've bought. If I could find another new one for the price I'd strip it hit it with nitro and put in P94's or Fralin's retrofit P90's.

This Epiphone Elitist '61 SG has a very nicely bookmatched two-piece mahogany body with a one piece mahogany neck. There are two US made Gibson pickups with the following resistance: the lead pickup is 11.2k ohms and the rhythm pickup is 7.2k ohms. Controls are typically Gibson. The body is finished with a transparent cherry red polyurethane. The neck inlays are mother of pearl and the headstock logos are green abalone. A bone nut topped the fretboard. The tuners are chrome Grovers and the guitar is strung with a set of .010's. This guitar weighs between 7 and 7.5 pounds.

I play rock, blues, metal, and some clean textural music. This is a rock guitar through and through. This Elitist SG has a lively tone when strummed unamplified. The body has noticible resonances, especially for E notes. Pluck either E string and the other starts resonating with lots of harmonic overtones. Amplified through an ADA MP-1 preamp (with a Marshall power amp into a 4x12) yields a distinctive midrange growl from the lead humbucker with lots of bass. Actually, there is a surprising amount of bass response for such a light guitar. With a metal sound setting on the MP-1, this guitar will have you "chunking" with palm muted chords for hours. The rhythm pickup has a much cleaner and rounder tone with less output than the lead pickup. I found the middle p.u. setting with both humbuckers on gave a very usable out of phase sound that was distinctly different than either pickup on its own. The guitar is slightly lacking in top end brightness when compared to a Les Paul Std or humbucker equipped strat copies. I don't consider this a problem and wanted a guitar with a unique sound.

The poly finish on this guitar is easily one of the best applied paint jobs I've seen on any guitar. The surfaces are mirror flat and spotless. A lot of care went into the polishing and buffing. The frets looked nicely dressed with an oval crown on each. The abalone inlays are very high quality with lots of shimmering colors as the viewing angle is changed. Unfortunately, the flattery stops there. This guitar was not not set up after being built. While the neck did appear to have the correct relief for the string gauge, the strings were quite far off of the neck. The nut grooves were cut far to shallow on the lower strings and slightly too high on the high strings. It appeared that there was no effort made to intonate the guitar: the bridge saddles are in two perfectly straight lines like the bridge had just been taken out of the box. The lack of intonation combined with the distance of the strings from the frets made it impossible to play an in-tune chord above the 3rd fret. This is going to need some pro work. Rounding out the negative points is the loose(!) crown inlays at the 5th and 7th frets. In each case, the narrow part of the inlay sticks up .011 to .012 inches proud of the fret board. Mother of pearl is SHARP as I found out the first time I tried to play chords at those frets. This oversight in the constuction and inspection is both unacceptable and inexcusable for an upper end guitar. I give a 10 for the finish and a 1 for passing on such poor quality with the intonation, string height, and inlay problems. This yields an average score of 5.

The guitar seems very solidy built and poly finishes are usually (almost) bulletproof. I suspect this poly finish will resist scratches much better than the nitrocellulose finish on my Les Paul. I always play gigs with backup guitars just in case of string breakage.

I have not contacted the company.

I've been playing for 23 years and own a dozen guitars. With the exception of my 2002 Gibson LP std, I feel that Gibson quality does not usually match their price. This is the reason I chose the Epiphone Elitist SG which supposedly combined high quality with an import price. I purchased new online with what I assume was a closeout price special since Epiphone no longer lists this model in their catalog. I would not have chosen to purchase this guitar if I played it first due to the issues mentioned above. This guitar will go to the shop to fix the problems as I feel the great tone is worth salvaging. I would certainly replace this SG with another from Epiphone if it were stolen.

Made in Japan, bought the black from Musician's friend. You can read the other reviews to see the features. I give it a 10.

I play everything from punk to blues to hard rock to metal. This guitar suits everything perfect. It has great tone and sounds great either clean or distorted.

The action was a bit high, but nothing intolerable, I adjusted it after my first string change. Also, one of the pickups was a little high, once again, not a big issue. When the guys at my local music shop checked it out, they were amazed at how straight the neck was, and couldnt believe the quality for an epiphone.

Havent had any problems with it, I can't wait until I start playing live to use it on stage.

No problems, so I can't vote here.

I've been playing for about 10 years, on and off, although very seriously the past few years. I wouldn't buy a new one if it got stolen, I'd just murder the guy who stole it and take it back, yes, this guitar will drive me to MURDER!! But yea, I would probably replace it. I love it's look and it's sound. Perfect 10.

Normal Gibson/Epi Stuff. Two Volume Two Tone Threeway Switch. Being a
Fender Guy This Seems Super Flexible To Me.

Play mostly classic rock,country rock in our band. Closet Blues player. I'm finding alot of usefull tone. Rich creamy tone I'm loving
it. As mentioned above i've been a Fender guy for a while but I wanted
Humbucker equiped guitar. Weight was also a big factor. I couldn't find anyone locally with an EPI 61 in stock. So I put all my faith in
the opinions stated on Harmony Central. I'm realy impressed with the sound. Very flexible Love middle position being able to blend pickups
with seprate volume controls is great way for me to find what I need.
Play through Black face deluxe reverb or peavey delta blues 210 with old TS9 and Boss compressor. Some days I'll run through my POD not often. POD mostly P.O.S.

Most others found set up to be good to great. Mine came almost unplayable. Had to have set up by a REAL PRO. Although hard for me to belive I was going to open a box and have a set up to my liking anyway. Finish very good but not perfect. Still looks better than any newer Gibson stuff I've seen around. Hardware all looks top notch and functions well. And this guitar stays in TUNE.

Time will tell. I've seen some scary sights dozens of broken headstocks and more than a couple neckless SG's. Have to get straplocks. Hopefully with a little care this thing will last forever.I'd never play out without a backup.

I've been playing on and off for about fourty years. Recently hooked up with an old friend and trying to get a decent band together. The price is rite on this guitar. A quality product. Too bad we in the states can't produce an instrument of this quality anywhere near this price. I got what i wanted a light weight,quality,humbucker equiped guitar with lots of useable tone for $800.00 Thanks to ALL that take the time to review what they use. Without your input who knows how many purchases I'd have made in vain. THANKS

Made in Japan, bookmatched African mahogony body with set mahogany neck: 24 1/4" scale rosewood fingerboard with pearloid inlays and 22 low-wide frets, bone nut, nickle hardwear with grover tuners, two USA made humbucking pickups, two volume and two tone controls, three way pickup selector. Mine came in Worn Cherry - this colour is available in Europe but it's not (yet?) on the epiphone homepage!
Features? This is a very basic ROCK guitar - what you see is what you get!

I play in a cover rockband, stuff from the 60s, 70s, 80s, a bit NuRock, too. My amp is a Diezel VH4 through a TC Gmajor into a 400 Watt Marshall cab from the 80s. This guitar rocks! I own a Elite Les Paul Standard Plus (fantastic instrument, I baught it in the USA, reviewed it, too), a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat and a German 60s Strat Clone. The SG has a bell-like, resonant sound, the neck pickup is very clear with heavy distortion, it sings and howls. As the neck pickup position is a bit closer to the bridge, it has a little more edge and transparency than my Les Paul neck pickup. The bridge pickup has a tight bottom and sings and screams, depending on the attack. Overall a suprising characterful sound. Much more than I expected!

Absolutely flawless. The worn cherry finish fits this guitar very well. The glossy necks on Les Pauls and SGs sometimes tend to be sticky, the worn cherry finish gives the whole guitar a smooth, silky feeling. The neck was set up PERFECT, the action was low right out of the box, I adjusted it even lower - no buzzing, no dead spots on the fingerboard, perfectly dressed frets. Guys, let's be honest: Gibson should send their techs over to Japan to learn what perfection means! (I played a new gibby gold top a few days ago, it had fibres in the clear coat of the finish - you would never find that on an Epiphone Elitist!)

This kind of guitar was established 1961 and has survived guys like Pete Townsend and Angus Young. Will it last?

I had a question about my Les Paul Std. The answer from the customer suppord came quickly. Beside that I never dealt with them.

I play guitar for about 22 years. I don't buy instruments for the name on the headstock anymore. ( I used to, in the past...)
Of course I compared this guitar to others, who would not do that? This guitar has everything I was looking for: TONE, perfect playability, flawless construction and finish. (And il looks cool, doesn't it? ;-)) You can't get wrong with this guitar.