Epiphone SG Special

transparent dark red finish, originally 1 vol 1 tone, 3 way switch. two humbuckers...they were ok. action is tight and intonation was set percectly for standard tuning. tuners kind of blow but i play pretty hard usually...

souned ok but needed massive amounts of tweakage to really get the balls out of it. i tend to play some intense shit and it never had balls until i threw in an EMG 81/85 set. now it just has one master volume and a three way pickup switch. redid all the wiring since it had 500k pots and the EMG's came with recommended 25k pots.

action is decent...im not picky about action, as long as its reasonable..im happy

i havent thrown this one yet and i dont think the neck could take it since the bolt on neck doesnt feel as strong as other bolt ons.

this thing is my main fiddle,. since the pickup change this sunna bitch rips.

Made in China 2003 Epiphone SG special. 21 fret maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. I'm not sure what the body wood is, seems substantial though, and is finished in a really nice gloss black, very good job throughout. It has a simple 1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way pickups selector switch layout, that controls 2 passive open coil humbuckers. The bridge is a tune-o-matic with stop tailpiece. Just a basic SG style guitar with simplified electronics.

Sonically, this thing can cover lots of ground, and fits my needs perfectly. I play anything from jazzy lounge type stuff to rock(from soft to heavy, grinding stuff, to noise) and it will do anything i need. This thing is quiet, not really much pickup noise from it at all, even at high volumes, which is always great. The variety of sounds it can make are plentiful, it can go from being dark and bassy to bright and snappy, even with the simplified pickup scheme. It can get muddy, but you can definitely find ways around that. Just tweak your amp, pedals, whatever you use.

The action on mine was pretty good, a tiny bit higher than i like but that was easily adjusted. The pickups were the right height, even and sounded good the way they were. The bridge was fine, i didnt haev to adjust it at all, and the finish was terrific, very nice looking guitar. Not really anything wrong here at all. Sure there are better looking guitars out there, but for the money, this thing looks great.

This guitar is very durable. During any given show i play, it is bound to be thrown around, dropped, slammed into something, etc., and has been numerous times. The thing is, it just keeps going. I have yet to have it give me any problems. I accidentally slammed it face down on the floor during a noise freakout, and the jack got indented into the body a bit, but it was easily fixed and played through the whole performance in that condition. The finish has been holding up quite nicely too, there are only a few dings, and this thing has been subjected to lots of jarring and blows to the body and neck. You can depend on this guitar, and i have used it on a gig without a backup, and i will again. Nice.

never dealt with them

Overall, this instrument is a good, solid beginner through intermediate guitar, and would be vital to even an experienced player. You do get what you pay for in most cases, and the simple electronics and hardware reflect that. But the amount of abuse this thing puts up with is staggering, and it is still holding up great. I'd reccomend it as a starter guitar also, it is inexpensive and has a good amount of simple features for a budding guitarist to learn on.

made in 2003 with 2 humbuckers 3-way switch. 1 tone, 1 volume not really any but doesnt need any

Ive dont have any problems with feedback even with the amp cranked and the gain at ten. the pups are a little too midrangey though. im glad to see epiphone has actually done stuff to make the product better i.e. non-microphonic pickups

The action was a little bit high but that was quickly adjusted. It came in tune out of the box which was good. The pickup selector does suck shit when switching (the bridge pickup will go off until i switch off and back on again but thankfully never when rocking out)on the bridge pickup occasionly though but only when switching pups. also the tuners are better i barely ever have to tune it.

I dont think i would use it without a backup but it is very durable cause i always accidently hit it against the walls and its is never damaged.

it definetly owns my peavey raptor it sound and overall quality.

Made in CHina. it's 2004 this yr. i got it not too long ago.
22 frets
i think solid top.
1 tone 1 volume
H/H pickups. uncovered.
cheap woods
SG body and pewter in colour
tune o matic with stopbartailpiece
the neck was pretty thick. i cramped up my thumb once when playing the f blues scale.
one cable and truss rod adjustment tools included

i like to play blues and heavy distortions thru my ZOOM 3030. which is out of production efx. i use a Fender bullets amp. this guitar unfortunately is a bit noisy. a slight buzzing. aside frm that it has a thick phat sound when distortion is on.
suits me..

just bad. noisy pickup selector. action wasa like an acoustic guitar.

yes i would depend on it. cos it seems like i fixed it up myself

never tried

good begginer guitar. let's you try out everything on a Gibson without worrying abt damaging thousands of dollars worth of goods.

Read the other reviews for specs on this. I will say it's got a really light body made out of crap wood (glued together maple/alder looks like plywood) and a thin neck, crappy electronics. 1 Volume control, 1 tone control. Simple which I like.

I play electric lullabyes and heavy metal sludge. This guitar rules for some of the songs I play. I put .09 strings on it and I usually keep it tuned down 1.5 steps. With the bridge humbucker, it'll rip you a new one. You can play really really fast and heavy with this because the action is great. I get a decent clean sound with the pick up switch in the middle setting. I've never cared much for the neck pickup setting on this, or with any gibson, when I think cool neck pickup sound, I think fender single coil. The sustain on this SG is awesome. It feels better to play than any SG I've ever tried including gibsons top of the line. If you want a heavy sound, definitely consider this one. However, if you're trying to steal some classic rock musician's sound, get a mahogany bodied SG. I will say that the electronics really blow on this, either my switch or my pickups have cut out from time to time. You might want to switch all electronics to gibson. I recently did because I became annoyed, and I put in a 500t in the bridge and a 496R in the neck. This setup will kick your ass. The stock pickups, aside from being possibly undependable, sound really good for a $100 guitar though.

Action is superior to almost any other Gibson or Epiphone. The finish is not the best, but I like the way it looks, black. It is the most comfortable guitar I've ever played, has an incredible neck. With thin strings tuned down I can bend notes to sick levels and add sick levels of vibrato.

The neck is set really well. The body and neck will never fall apart. However, my output jack broke free, so I had to cover the original hole with electric tape and drill a new one. The electronics cavity was just a little thin i guess, and the wood is like plywood, so it broke. The electronics lick my sweaty balls, I had problems switching pickup settings, don't know if it was the switch or the pickups. I had to re-soldier the wires to the output jack twice. Since I changed to gibson pickups and electronics, these complaints are null.

Don't know.

I've been playing for about 8 years. I own a 50s reissue strat with lace sensors, an Ibanez 7-string RG with EMG-707s, a fernandes Raven Elite, tons of fuzz pedals, a few phasors, a boss metal zone, A peavey duel 212 with ruby tubes and a peavey envoy solid state. This guitar won't ever get lost. If it's stolen, the thief will be killed, and the guitar reclaimed. If the guitar is destroyed, I'll buy another. I love the sound, the fit, the action, and the sustain. It needs to have better, more durable electronics, but for $100 I'm impressed with what it's got.

It was made in China. There's a 3-way switch, a volume knob, and a tone knob. There are two humbuckers. Obviously it has a S.G. body shape.

It suits my music styles great. I play anything from classical to metal. This does a good job for classic rock to metal. I run it into my danelectro talk box (sweet pedal!!!) to my danelectro milkshake chorus, to my danelectro hash browns flanger, to my danelectro PB&J delay, then to my dunlop crybaby 95Q wah pedal.I use either my Marshall MG10CD (this amp rocks!!!) or my Zoom Fire-15 (Sweet!!!). The guitar is not that noisy. It has a rich, full sound. This guitar can make pretty much any sound.

The action is AWESOME!!! The pick-ups sound gret. Everything was set-up great and ready to go. It didn't have any flaws, whatsoever.

This guitar does seem like it will last. The finish does kinda come off from a guitar strap but only on the corners where no one can see them. The strap buttons are very solid. I can depend on it and I would use it at a gig without a back-up. The paint kinda wears easy.

never needed it

I've been playing for about three years. If it were stolen or lost I'd probably look into another guitar something a little better. I love the 3-way switch but sometimes it doesn't workand my back pick-upwon't work right. I tried a B.C. Rich warlock guitar for $100 But this one is way better.

Standard Features covered by previous reviewers. I did not like the cheap tuners that came with it. But then again at this price range I cant expect much.

The sound is good for the price paid. Pickups are a little noisy when played. Pretty silent when not. Bottom end is a tad too strong and when playing clean the sound tends to get muddy. On overdrive and distortion, leads sound pretty good. Good for power chords crunch. Sustain is surprisingly good.

Finish is surprisingly good for this price range. Everything looks well made and solid. The body is very light. This guitar will be good for girls coz it will not break their backs.

Action is a tad high and intonation a lil off, but all serious guitarists should adjust their own axes anyway. No significant buzzing. Notes on the highest E string of the highest 2-3 frets were sort of muted.

The guitar looks solid as a tank. It should hold up.

Never dealt with them.

This guitar packs very good value at $150 each. I feels like a guitar in the $200-250 range. Good starter rock guitar. It has that classic look and sounds much better than entry level squires and yamahas. I would recommend it for beginners or players who want a cheap practice guitar to trash around.

I bought 2 for friends. I own US Masters Le Grand, Heritage H150 Ultra HRW, Rickenbacker 360, ESP H-1000, Ovation 1861 Balladeer and several others.

I do not own one personally. I would not get a SG special since I have moved beyond the starter guitar stage.

China made SG Special. You guys know the features. 2 Humbuckers, a 3-way switch and 1 volume and 1 tone knob. Stop tailpiece bridge. Basic tuners but effective and strong enough. I give it a 5 in this cat. not because I am unhappy but because as it was designed and as I like it...it simply doesnt have alot of features.

Ok...so I am NO expert and wont claim to be, but im not too bad either. I play in a Indie rock/punk band. I run it through a Marshall AVT50H head and a 2x12 Marshall cab (model 1922). I bought it new and right out of the box it played great, esp. for its appealing price. Right away it sounded halfway descent. The pickups were a little scratchy sounding but not too bad. I even played it through a less expensive Peavey combo and it sounded alright. I have since switched out the bridge pickup w/ a $60.00 Seymour Duncan. It now sounds pretty descent. All scratchiness was eliminated. The main reason I bought this guitar is because of its incredibly thin neck and that right there sells me. I have a Gibson Les Paul Special and a Gibson SG-X (both real Gibsons) and of course they sound better...but the playability I like alot more in the Epi. I played my first show w/ it last week and it did great! My rating is a 6 or 7 with the stock pickups and a 9 with the Seymour.

As I mentioned above (I guess I should read ahead next time) the action is great. Much better than two other Gibsons i own. But thats my opinion. It was set up very nicely. Finish...looks good and havent noticed anything yet, but I dont really care what it looks like as long as it sounds good.

The hardware seems ok...the only thing that really concerns me is the nut being plastic. But for the price what do you want. That is an advantage of a higher priced instrument. But nothing has gone wrong with it yet.

Havent had to deal with them yet.

If stolen or lost I might buy another. My SG-X is essentially the same thing but with a chunkier neck. Thats why I bought this one, its hella-thin. But all in all definetly AN EXCELLENT VALUE AND GREAT ALL AROUND GUITAR!

Either 2002 or 03,(not sure which) Made in China. 22 fret, Volume and tone controls, 3-way switching between regular, treble and rhythm. I thought it was odd because it has a Les Paul-looking switch. Has stopbar tailpiece and tune o matic bridge. good open coil humbuckers (2). non locking tuners, came with a cable and hex key to adjust the neck I suppose. cherry finish.

Smooth action neck, well adjusted everything. That's epiphone for you, I guess. No Blems, but fingerprints REALLY show up. But I suppose compared to my previous guitar, a 1964 Strat copy w/humbuckers for some reason that sounded like they were made out of some type of vegetable, almost anything would sound better.

I think this guitar could withstand just about anything. Finish is wonderful, it should last for ever. Strap buttons are great, I would use it on a gig w/o a backup. I'll have it until I die (probably).

Bought from Guitar Center. Staff was friendly and helpful. The store's coverage includes unlimited repairs, and 60-day price guarantee.

I have been playing for most my life, actually (I'm 14 yrs old). I own a peavey amp, danelectro overdrive pedal, and BOSS acoustic simulator pedal. everything compliments the guitar. I compared it to the ibanez gax30, strat and yamaha pacifica. the strat was good but expensive, the pacifica was CRAP- only position's 1 and 5 worked on the switching, and it had horrid sound. the ibanez was alright but I don't really like the brand. I settled on this because I really like the style, playability range and brand go get it because it's a wonderful axe.

unknown year. bolt on neck, 2 hums, one volume, one control. toggle switch. wood unknown?? but doesn't look so bad. this one i acquired , its like new, has block inlays instead of the dots. has 1/2 decent tuners, not great, but not the plasticy new styled ones.

pickups are noisy as hell, with lots of feedback. what to expect from an entry level instrument though? through a good amp, its sounds good. through a cheaper, smaller amp, well, it's pretty bad.

set up is nice, asthetically it's nice looking. the 2 extra controls as the g 400 has are better.

i've had several epiphones before, i've owned gisbons, fenders, etc...this was a throw in on a trade, it's ok, but im not going to play it, it's more for a beginner. epi. guitars have poor toggle switches on them. i'm not sure how this would hold up.

terrible customer support. i've tried to reason w/ them in the past.

if you are just starting out, its a decent guitar. otherwise, i'd say step up to a g400, which with new electronics etc.. can be a good instrument. i doubt that anyone would up grade this thing.it looks nice, plays ok, but, hell, it's a beginner guitar, that's about it in a nutshell.