Vintage VS6CG SG Copy

Usual SG set up with two gold finished Wilkinson humbuckers and hardware, 22 frets with trapezoid position markers. Mahogany neck and body I think. Not sure where these are made, but definitely Far east. It's got everything you'd expect to find on an SG (not much), and it all works, so I guess that's a nine!

I run this through a Tascam DP01-FX and a Fender FM25 DSP. I do a lot of recording and play a lot of different styles, so I've got a lot of guitars. This one sits right between the single coil Fenders and the Les Pauls. Brilliant with loads of distortion, doesn't break up like the single coils and not as dark as the Les Pauls. Can get a surprising range of sounds out of it clean, bridge pick up is quite bright and jangly. But this guitar is built to rock.

I bought this guitar secondhand, so I don't know how it came from the factory, all I can say is that it's fine now. Before I wrote this, I read one of the other reviews for this model posted on Harmony Central and I was a bit surprised at his description of the state of the one he bought. Speaking as the owner of genuine Gibson's, I can't find any fault with the build quality or finish on this one or any other Vintages I have come across. As I mentioned earlier, this isn't a new guitar, but the gold plate is holding up OK and the lacquer is beautiful.

Well it's made of wood and it's glued together as well as any other I've come across, the hardware is Wilkinson, the plating and painting I've already mentioned, it quite clearly wasn't just thrown together at the end of a shift and there isn't really that much to go wrong on an SG. I wouldn't gig without a back up whatever guitar I was using.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing 30 years, got all sorts of guitars (all good). I really am amazed at the amount of guitarists who seem to think that anything under a grand is rubbish and that a few bits of wood and ??150 worth of hardware mass produced by Gibson is worth ten times the amount charged by anyone else. I paid ??102 for this and it's a good guitar, if I'd paid ??500 it would still be a good guitar. I dare say that some Gibson guy is going to give me a thousand technical reasons why Gibsons are superior guitars, but when you plug it in and play it, can you feel and hear them? I can't!

I bought mine way back in July 2005 for the princely sum of ??125. Stonking value as that was over 2 years ago now and it has never gone wrong. It is standard SG stuff - 2 vol, 2 tone and 3 way toggle. The Wilkinson p'ups are wicked, although the bridge seems a little thin on clean. Excellent when cranked though. 22 fret rosewood neck and trapezoid inlays. Gold hadware. Wilkinson copy Kluson style tuners of average quality, lovely vintage cherry laquer finish.

The pickups are fantastic. On an overdriven sound the bridge has plenty of bite and power - think Gary Moore on "Oh Pretty Woman". Turn down the gain and you arrive at classic AC/DC. Crank the Bass and Middle and you get Pantera and Type O Negative sounds. The neck pickup is very smooth and creamy - think Parisienne Walkways or Still Got The Blues.
Clean, the neck pickup is fantastic, very Albert King. The bridge seems a little thin but this is easily rectified by adding a small amount of chorus.

This guitar had a pro set-up when I bought it and again after about a year. Plays beautifully on light strings set REALLY low - but no buzz anywhere. Very easy and SO fast. The finish is wonderful and deep in comparison to the Epi G400 and the standard VS6 - more like the Angus Young Sig SG. Had a small mark on the back of the neck hence the low price, but it rubbed off easily with a duster. Two years on and the gold has only just started showing any signs of wear at all - and it's seen its fair share of abuse and held up really well. Fantastic piece of kit. Only thing is, you can't play with a capo as the neck's too thin - they fall off. No biggy though as I never need to use one relly, if I did I'd just use my srat instead.

This guitar has never once gone wrong in just over 2 years, which given the price, is awesome. The hardware is holding up exremely well, except the D string tuner which is a little slow to respond - always was though - even from new and its not got any worse so no big deal. The finish still looks new and the guitar has been abused, dropped, knocked off the stand and was carried around on my somewhat unruly last day of compulsory education. Didn't go out of tune on any of the aforementioned incidents. Pretty good then. I replaced the strap buttons immediately. The factory ones were fine but I always fit straplocks. I can always depend on it. I never gig without a backup coz its tempting fate, but I could if I had to - I think.

Never had a problem with it so I wouldn't know, but it came with a one year warranty.

I have been playing now for three or four years and own four other guitars: Yamaha Pacifica 012 (cheap but awesome)
2005 Fender Standard Satin Stratocaster (awesome, much better than the contemporary USA guitar)
1981 Gibson Hummingbird acoustic
1986 Westone Spectrum GT (wicked guitar but not exciting somehow, despite all the bells and whistles and coil taps etc..)
I play through a Danelectro distortion pedal, Rocktek Chorus pedal, Kimbara Wah pedal into a Marshall MG30DFX. Awesome rig.
I love everything about his guitar except the way the neck tries to commit suicide if you let go. Inherent issue on all SG style guitars - cured by a grippy leather strap and a set of straplocks.
Even though I have all the other guitars, I always come back to this one. It is my most commonly used one, closely followed by the Strat and the Pacifica. This guitar sounds, feels and looks so much more expensive than it's price rivals that I more often compare it to the entry level Gibson SG Special as opposed to the Epis and stuff.

Vintage made this '61 reissue copy in 2001. It is the basic SG design, with all the features of a real SG, but none of the crap you usually get with guitars this price-range... possible Mahoganny body and neck... Gold hardware (read on...) which I don't see on many Gibson SGs, but must be original right?

No accessories at this price, but I don't mind... The tuners are OK, non-locking but OK...

The bridge falls out if you take the strings off, and there is a name on the underside, but I forgot it allready ( it was only this morning I attacked it as well) but was made on Korea...

Pick ups are OK, but give a pretty flat output, OK for effects though.

It sounds good, and consistent... I adjust the pickup height and string height all the time. Good for The Who tone, even if Pete was using P-90s. Rich sound, but the front Pickup can be dull without clever EQ tweeking at the effects stage, then you turn on the bridge pickup and shave your ears off...

My style of music is mostly Pink Floyd (damn, not exactly the ideal guitar) and The Who... and sometimes I attack the SG with a violin bow as well ala Jimmy Page.

I also own a Saga ST10 strat kit guitar for the more Floydian songs...

All this glorious gear is fed through a Korg AX10G, so a dead dog would sound good through my rig!

Shabby setup, but most people own a screwdriver, so nothing you cannot change yourself...

The Gold hardware is not pure Gold obviously, and the gold wears off with Annodomine, or SILVO in roughly ten minutes... then you get the nice silver finish, much more common to the SG.

2 and a half years of accidents later and it still works fine, new switches and pots only...

Never dealt with JHS but they have a website.

Been playing music for 11 years, but the Guitar is only a recent item, last 5 years or so, still I picked it up rather quickly... Before buying the guitar, I should have asked "Is it ment to bend out of tune when you pull on the neck" but then I made an artform out of this so it doesn't matter! PS that is my review below, but being the little 13 year old junky thatI was, I didn't appreciate music enoigh...

You know the story by now...

SG with a hard tail
four crackley pots (2v 2t).
Gold hardware
H/H
tune-o-matic with screwdriver indents for raising and lowering(not your cheap copies here!)
No cheap screwed in scaffness here either (people who by Japanese warped looking SG/Les paul copies with bolt on necks should buy a squier strat and never get past the "Smells like teen Spirit" stage of guitar playing rubbish.

Turn the tone and volume up on the neck pickup and you get that round edged strat tone. Strats over do this, but this has that tone nailed. Do the same with the bridge, and feed it through a slightly distorted amp and "communication breakdown" is yours. Nu metal (rubbish) hair metal (rubbish) and pop rock Busted type weak hearted trashy punked up metal(rubbish) are all do able.

flawless wine finish, Good solid wood ( squier strat bodies are made with 7).

I do play live with it. it will last although the pots will be its downfall. I can depend on it.

Never dealt with.

Been playing 4 years now. Electric for 4 months. i wish it had coil taps and a whammy (justnow I just bend the thin neck in or out for pitch bends!

This is an SG copy, so no wild variations on a theme. 22 frets, two humbuckers, volume and a tone for each... do I really need to go on? It's a solid mahogony plank with a glued in neck (initially felt a bit fragile after playing bolt-necks, but seems sturdy enough to withstand a 17 year old's carelessness!) Korean built with non-descript pickups. Mine seems to be the exception that proves the rule- it has nickel hardware, far less tacky and cheap looking in my opinion.

Not everyone has given this instrument a good review, so I assume the quality control isn't great. Not so on this instrument. I PXd it for a horrible Epi Les Paul Standard (worst guitar I've ever owned or played) and I was not disapointed. The neck pickup on it's own is creamy and smooth, with enough output to drive my amp into a lovely warm bluesy sound. The bridge pickup tends to be a little thin on it's own, but injects some treble into the middle position. perfect for rock styles.

The guitar was set up so well I didn't have to fiddle with the action or intonation at all. The pickups were too low for my taste, so I cranked em up. Now, the bugbear... Around the beautifully fitted trapezium inlays, spots of hardened glue. around 6 or 7 over the entire neck. don't effect the playing or sound, but cheapens an expensive feeling guitar. No trouble with it so far, (while my friends Epi's control cavity completely burned out... :) ) and I've had it almost 2 years now.

It's my main gigging guitar, and has withstood several nasty falls and bumps. Everything's fitted to the body solidly, no problems there. I used to borrow a backup when I just had my Squier Stratocaster, but these days I feel happy to depend on just my SG. It's that good.

n/a

It's a lovely instrument, perfect as a backup for a main guitar, a beginner's guitar or just an indulgence. I won't sell it when I buy my Gibson Les Paul Faded DC, in fact I'll probably play it more live. She's a beaut!

Bought 2001, Wine Red colour, mahogany body, abalone inserts, gold hardware, 2 humbuckers, 2 vol, 2 tone. Tune-o-matic Bridge, who-knows-what machineheads oh and it's a set 22 fret neck. SG Styling (pretty similar when compared to a Gibson). Bought it because I didn't want to be a common as muck scummy Strat copy starter pack kid ;)

This was my first electric guitar but I'd played acosutic for a couple of years before then. Currently using guitar through a Zoom 606 into a Marshall MG100DFX, lovely full sounding with neck pickup and raspy tones through bridge pickup.

Guitar is pretty quiet when overdriven straight into amp but can be a little buzzy when through fx box but I think thats just the Zoom. Generally the sound isn't as defined as you'd ideally want, quite muddy when using neck pickup especially. I've compared it to my mates Gibson SG Gothic which is just generally a more pronounced and clear guitar to play, it also sustains for a hell of a lot longer than the Vintage but I'm 99% sure that's because of the pickups in the Vintage which really aren't that great. That said they do fine for heavily overdriven/distortion (Specially bridge pickup) but clean they donm't perform so well. That's why I'm buying a Telecaster in the very near future for clean recording and a bit more clarity.

Generally if you stick to heavy stuff this guitar is fine but clean it's not so great.

Guitar wasn't really set up that greatly, got it from local shop and it was playable but as soon as I got it home I tweaked the intonation (not too bad only minor) and I also raised the action towards the bass side of board cos I quite like Drop D just now and when down tuned I was getting a little fret buzz, all fine now. Didn't need to adjust truss rod or anything the neck is lovely.

Tuners are a bit nasty really they aren't geared very well and g string seems to behave very oddly indeed, maybe need replacing soon.

The materials used don't seem that great to be honest but what do you expect from a guitar at this price? That said the guitar is finished in a lovely stained colour and I found there to be only 1 or 2 VERY minor blemishes in the finish (around the neck joint) which I regard as acceptable at this price.

The finish of the frets is good but the lack of binding doens't make it the most aestetically pleasing neck.

The varnish applied is VERY thick, I've managed to almost break through it a couple of times hitting a sharp desk edge made a nice slice but didn't break to wood underneath - impressive. I was in a bad mood one day and though it at my bed and it bounced up and hit the wall, leaving a dent IN THE WALL not a mark on the guitar! It's a solid, heavy piece of wood.

The hardware is typical cheap copy stuff, a bit tacky but the gold hardware seems to be staying gold for the time being (almost a year of use). I've had to re-glue one of the pots as it came loose, nothing major but a bit daunting for a beginner I would think, probably get it fixed under warranty no bother but I couldn't be bothered taking it back to the shop.

Strap buttons seem fine and solid, don't look like falling out in the future!

I've gigged with it a couple of times but will definately be using it solely as a backup when I get my Telecaster, unless humbuckers are desperastely needed!

Haven't used them, got a 1 year warranty I think.

Generally this guitar isn't great for beginners as a lot of setting up seems to be involved - a professional setup is a must if you aren't confident enouggh to do it yourself. For the price it is a good solid guitar but you can see why it is that price, the corner cutting is evident in minor things like fit of back access panel and poor screw alignment but as a back up this ghuitar would do fine, or as something to stop you wearing out the frets on the gibson.

Overall the price of the guitar reflects the quality.

Vintage VS6CG from Hickies, Reading UK
#189
Starting with one statement- I once had a Squier Stratocaster because it was all I needed. The wiring eventually wore out after 10 years, which is reasonable enough for the price. I decided I could get that rewired, which I did, because I loved it. I then sawed off the top horn, as part of a project to create a Gibson Explorer. I've only just rectified the faults that arose then (btw. Squier was made of Chipboard). However, this was not my mistake. My mistake was to rush out and buy a VS6CG as a replacement.
Basically, I'm assuming you want to buy this guitar because of it's price. Don't. Aim lower for a Squier, or higher for an Epiphone. Both are far more reliable, and are much more capable, than this. Please don't ever feel that this is the next step towards a real Gibson, as it has nothing in common, other that sheer mockery.

Could be from anywhere, I think it had a 'Made in China' sticker in it once. I think it has 22 frets, badly wine- varnished body, with drip marks. Gold finished hardware, which began to come off in a few days. Standard Gibson type controls. Two humbuckers (I'm really not sure about these- they are tonally useless, don't really sound like Gibson humbuckers or even single coils. They are totally indistinct- sounding, only the treble position seems to inject any treble into the sound, and harmonics are awful, no matter what strings you use. Playing this guitar along with an Epiphone makes you jealous of what the other guy's got... if you have a choice between a Vintage and an Epiphone, get the latter and save disappointment). To get a reasonable bass tone, you need to use the middle position with the bass pickup turned half- down, other wise it is just a muddy mumble.
It seems to have sound enough wood, but the resonance is nothing, and a glued on neck on this guitar is more like a liability than a sonic asset. At least it isn't made of chipboard like a Squier Stratocaster...
I'd have loved this with deluxe Vibrola etc.!
The tuners are volatile- looking, I'd invest in a total refit of this guitar in terms of hardware and electronics, if I knew that wouldn't outvalue the instrument. Some truss rod adjustment allen keys came with this, along with the box.

This is not what you are looking for, put it that way. This is a totally indistinct guitar. It is incapable of meaty blues overdriven tones, heavy distortion tones, delayed harmonic tones, or being played totally cleanly.
I play in a band who use U2, Oasis, Stereophonics as idea bases. For those who want older references, Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and... U2. I use this with Boss DD6 digital delay (my review of that is the first one, at the bottom of the DD6 page), a Boss OS2 OD/DS, and not so often now, a Zoom 505 :), which has had it's time.
I just want some kind of tone, some depth to the sound, some meat on it. It just doesn't do this, to the extent that I would rather have a dirt cheap Strat copy that this. Or a '76 Korina Explorer ;).
If you listen carefully, this guitar bares a sonic similarity to a Gibson. That is, if you are one mile away in the Channel Tunnel, with your head in a bath full of wallpaper paste.

The guitar set up was atrocious. The action looked like it could easily split the neck. The pickups... well look at the last two parts. The lacquer is so bad, that giving it a French name like that might insult the French. It should just be called thin paint. Actually, thinking about the pickup selector, there is quite an unhealthy click when you move it.

Ha Ha. It will withstand live playing if you are the 'staring at your shoes' type. Having said that, exuberance is limited by value. My 'air guitar' is a '76 Korina or Black Explorer, and in my head, I feel nervous about throwing that around. So I might try breaking an amp or two with this guitar next time:), although I 'd feel an idiot if the guitar broke instead, and the amp was fine(most likely situation.
The finish might wear off with a lot of playing, but then that will be a good thing, as I have probably given reason above. I would never play this without a backup, preferably my '76 Korina or Black Explorer.

I sent JHS an email once and was greeted with customary corporate silence. Lovely. Since then, I have no time for them. I doubt they'd do anything anyway, as they are just importers...

If this were stolen, I would be glad, to be frank. I could use the insurance for a contribution towards my '76 Gibson Explorer.

You get what you pay for, except if you get a Squier Stratocaster, when you get more.

I bought this guitar not so much as on a whim as because I was looking for a cheap back up, and I tried it in a local shop. It came with a good-quality gig-bag thrown in, after some discussion and enumeration of its faults. (List is #189 without the bag.)

This is a copy of a '61 SG. It has a brilliant-- sorry, I meant BRILLIANT neck and fingerboard. Gorgeous. Really really. Just begs to be played, and with 10-46's (as standard) on, it's a ripper. Other than that it's just another low-end Korean copy-- plenty of shiny lacquer, very dubious gold plate, nasty plasticky yucky control knobs, efficient tension-adjustable (if a little high-geared) no-name machines, cheap tune-o-matic and stop tailpiece. For #170 with a neck like that you have to accept a little flack.

The wood on the mahogany body and neck is okay looking-- in fact it's really very pretty. This guitar has a deeper, less garish lacquer than the basic VS6 version, and frankly, either this was made in a different factory than the two VS6's I checked or there's some clever selection going on, because this beast is head and shoulders over those, which had some pretty iffy-looking timber, one even having a knot in the neck (!). (and see below.)

If it wasn't for that neck it would score much lower here, and if the rest of the beast was up to the standard of the neck and fingerboard, Gibson would have real problems. But it ain't, so it gets a 7.

This is a cheap guitar, and if you expect it to sound like a real Gibbo, you'll be disappointed.

It's not noisy, which amazes me as there is absolutely no, repeat no, shielding in the cavities, but I've not had the chance to play loud with a band with it, which is where this would really show up.
The neck pup sounds fine, nice and warm, maybe lacking some grunt, but the bridge pup doesn't have much colour.

The pups themselves are okay, I think, but I would probably modify the tone-pot capacitors as mentioned elsewhere to increase the range of sound-- actually, if you did that and swapped out all the pots and caps and wax-potted the pups, this beast would probably sound pretty damn good. It's a great plank, good sustain etc, so it should be able to make a nice noise. Probably not quite Gibbo, but okay.

Oh dear. This guitar should never have hit a shop in the state it was in. John Hornby Skewes, the UK importer, deserve a firm slap on the wrist for it. (And bear in mind that I actually _like_ this axe!)

Details, well, the action was okay, but, wait for this, the neck had considerable negative relief (ie it was bent the wrong way) which made it a true buzz-bucket. Slackening the truss rod fixed it, but......The tone pots were loose; removing the knobs didn't help as there wasn't enough of the tone-pot thread showing for the (washerless) nuts to screw on, and when I removed the back cover and withdrew the pots I found that larger-size _nuts_ (not washers) had been used as packing. Duuuh. Replacing these with washers fixed it so I could tighten the securing nuts, but dearie me, lads. Did they run out of washers that day? The jack socket was also loose, but at least this tightened up okay. The intonation was generally okay, though the A string was sharp, but adjusting the tune-o-matic fixed that. However, when I did so I found that the body plugs for said were not driven fully home, so I had to do that too. Oh, and the nut is cut too high, and -- wait for this-- the pup surrounds are from an arched top guitar such as a Les Paul, and so show a gap between the plastic and the (flat) body of the guitar. Jeez! Oh yes, and the pups themselves are set parallel to the tune-o-matic and not the frets-- very weird. I don't think there's a single screw in it that has actualyy been driven straight.

The pups were not adjusted at all IMO. They are now.

The neck, fingerboard etc are damn good, and the frets were well finished.

Overall finish is very good, nice glossy lacquer, somewhat thicker than an original, but that's okay on a solid. There was quite a lot of what looked like rubbing paste left in tight corners, so points lost there. The gold looks rub-off, but I can't tell yet; the plating is quite uneven though.

The guitar has a 5-piece neck, but it's not like the neck on the original Gibbo SG I used to have; the main length of the neck is in three pieces, there is a heel-piece glued on, and the headstock is one-piece, scarfed on. Interesting. Having said that, the neck is the best feature of the guitar-- very, very nice. However, I should add that both the standard VS6's I looked at, which had a lighter, more garish finish, had this fault-- the three laminated bits of wood making up the elength of the neck were _not central_, being about 1/8 inch towards the treble side. It sure looks bad, even if it's just as strong.

Finally, the scratch-plate and pup surrounds etc are fitted with gold screws. Yuck yuck yuck. Somebody should tell them the originals had black screws-- and looked the better for it!

Live playing-- maybe. However, this is basically a '61 copy, and the originals were famous for neck-joint trouble. Handle with care and it will probably be fine, but I had to score it low on this topic because of it. However all similar guitars are going to be the same, and this plank is as robustly constructed as an Epi, or for that matter a Gibson.

Gold plate will probably wear off, but I don't know yet. The tuners and bridge are okay.

I wouldn't use it on a gig without backup, no.

Not had to find out so far.

I've been playing over 30 years, have several guitars, and have in the past owned a Gibson SG Standard and and Gibbo SG Special. I bought this axe becaue I fancied a cheap backup electric to keep at my mum's to play when I go to visit her-- she lives a long way away and guitars don't like planes-- and I saw it in a shop window. Impulse.

It's like this: The Vintage VS6CG I have has got a truly lovely neck and fingerboard, and the wood, lacquer finish, tuners and pups are okay. The rest.... Hmmm.

If JHS read this stuff, they sould shape up the quality control. I think it's unfair of them to expect small retailers to sort out these problems. So, although I wish I could in view of the price, I can't recommend this axe for a beginner-- this amount of setting-up is ridiculous on a new guitar. I used it as a bargaining tool to get the price of the axe down, but knew I could fix its problems in about 10 minutes. If you're not experienced in setting-up, don't buy one of these unless you know it's a good one. Get an experienced player to really check it over.

Having said all that, once given the once-over, this is a very nice guitar. Maybe better than very nice-- I'm still warming to it, having only had it just over a week. If playability counts, this is well worth the money.

I like-- sorry, I LOVE the neck. It's a real beaut. It is also noticeably better than the two standard VS6's I tried. Pick it up, close your eyes, you're playing a real SG-- and I know, I've had a couple.


I don't like the appalling set-up, the icky plastic knobs, the ridiculous parts-bin pup surrounds.

If it were stolen I'd probably go for an Epi.

Just updating the previous review to say - change the capacitors,if nothing else

Ok,an easy mod which seems to have "broadened my tonal spectrum" (ponce). First raise the poll screws to taste,on the bass side in my case.

For the neck volume pot I've added a 0.022Uf,microfarad capacitor(available from Maplins/Radio Shack) in parallel which should give me total capactitance at about 0.069Uf, and swapped the Bridge vol pot's cap out for a 0.0010Uf

...technical,huh..no it's easy,2 minutes with a soldering iron and the thing can go from a deep boomy pushing round bass tone with the neck to a telecastery clanging treble at the bridge. The Bridge mod may be a bit extreme for some but,the tone controls do work,after a fashion and can take the bridge back to normal levels. I like these mods and the tone has improved a lot, while still falling short of Gibson,I bet this thing would see off an Epi now.

Definitely a 10 for a bottom end guitar,but the tone pots actually suck the volume down a lot when turned down (they did before the mod) so if I was that worried about better tone i'd change these too.

Small point here as well,the neck needs some more releif and it appears that the truss rod nut was glued to the neck,almost making access to the allen bolt impossible. It has to score badly for this,as I've seen lower priced guitars which were better in that area. The rod is actually adjustable so it gets 5.

As before.

As before.

As before.

Bear in mind I've only had this 2 days, (2 days of 4+ hours a day playing) if anything much changes I'll post again.

Beleived 2001/2002 model,dark red "dried blood" colour,set neck 22 fret,2 humbuckers [7.9k and 8.9K DC resistance,if you're interested],3 way selector usual SG specs,the pots and caps are to Gibson specs,only, using cheapo bits so pots are 500K,caps,0.047 Microfarad. Hardware is gold,this looks flimsy and is starting to wear off the tuners already -more on that later.

The shop owner said these are made of Basswood...no reason to doubt this basswood is an Ok tone wood.

Sounds as good as an Epi Sg/Special for twice the price, no comparison to my Gibson but does make a decent attempt and has a good range of sounds...like I say we're talking Epi competition not Gibson competition.

Play all sorts of music from blues/jazz,rock'n'roll,blue rock and some metal.

Used through a small Marshall type (Park) and a Vox Cambridge...sounds better through the Cambridge. Yes, you can get countryish to metally with this guitar,BUT, it's best put through a processor,run this puppy through a good pedal or even a Zoom 505 and you can do Eric,Angus or Toni impressions till your cows come home to roost (sic).

Here's the nexus of the good and bad.

After reviewing the standard model the other day, I went to another shop and found this,the custom model for #149,down from #200.

Yes,this guitar is shopsoiled,actually it has makers defects and is second(ish) in it's build.

Bad :

Tuners loose, both the rear mounted retaining screws and some of the front mounted "screw bushes",some of which are slightly cross threaded,there are minor marks on the headstock and at the neck edges.


Stop bar not on properly,so the intonation was out. The nut looks like it's cut too high.*

Neutral:

Pickguard "picked" already,well it does it's job.

Pickups needed adjustment to taste,set a bit low.

Bridge is not as "heavyweight" as my old LP copy,or similar,the saddles look flimsy, the bridge needed to be raised a couple of mm at the bass side.

Neck seems a bit chunky at first and some of the frets were a little unpolished,ie,they had construction marks on them,but these will polish or wear out quite quickly.Frets are quite low and may not last more than a few years,but,you can say that about a lot of more expensive guitars.

All the electrics are bargain basement components,but,work well..i expect a few fritzes in a year or so,but, may be wrong..soldering seems OK,better than a Gibson in THAT department!

Good:

Neck profile is decently Gibson,frets are all well cut(no rough edges) and the nut is cut quite well* despite looking high,they just forgot to take the material off the top of the nut which makes it look "wrong".Those wonky tuners have adjustment screws in the end and you can vary the effort needed to turn them,so tighten them up slightly and you improve tuning,not perfect it,improve it. Intonation is acceptable all the way up the neck.

Since this was a blemished guitar I don't mind these small ish faults,the general playability makes up for it and I have seen an Epi LP Special for sale in another shop at #355 with similar hardware and almost as many blemishes- rip off merchant.


Oh,yeah no faults in the finish seems nice and shows a little grain through the "Old Sg" colour. Just watch out on these,or any,low end guitars that all the screws are tightened.

Don't play live just now,seems a tough axe...as with any set neck guitar,especially SG Types,beware of not letting the thing fall over or crack,there goes the neck.Finish on the tuners is thin and i expect it to wear off in a lot of places,and quite frankly,don't care.

I guess the trusty Yam goes to a gig with me if i ever get there again.

I've been playing too long to bother with absolute tat [18-19 years if you must know how old a fart i am),and though it's a little bit ho-hum,I've played enough piles of shite in my life to be able to tell a nice guitar. Currently own,Gibson,Yamaha,Kramer,Fender and Cheri guitars.

Not sure I love the Gold hardware, I bought this to preserve my Gibson from fretmelt,it'll do as good a job,if not better than most copies.

Heron Music seem like a decent shop,the guys are honest and don't seem to treat people like morons,a lot of cheap/good and cheap and good gear in there too.

This thing is value personified.

Good looking SG 61 reisue style copy. with the smaller scratch plate. Cherry red, but you can see the wood grain. gold hardware, 2 humbuckers with 2 volume + 2 tone on a 3 way switch. Mahogany body, rosewood f/board + maple neck. Tune-o-matic bridge. 22 frets.

Ive been playing a couple of years + am trying lots of different styles. The humbuckers make good sounds on there own or together. I use a Marshall G50RCD + sometimes a zoom gfx 707 + a danelectro dan-o-wah.
Makes a good sound on all the settings i have tried distorted or clean.
Good variety + great for the price

Set up was fine when i bought it from the shop, but after a while i needed to adjust the action. but all is good now.
The humbuckers seem a bit loose but ive never needed to do anything about it. The output jack sockets bolts kept on falling off, but thats what happens if u cant be botherd to thighten it.
Everything else was fine. nicely cut, all the machanics work etc.

Ive never gigged, but when i play for long times it dosnt go out of tune + the strings never break. I havent broke a string yet. only to restring it. Everything has lasted perfectly fine so far + even though it is quite light, it is solid + reliable.
I wouldnt gig without a backup, because i have another guitar.

I think i got a 1 year warrenty, but ive never dealt with there customer support. yet

I have a squier strat also. i bought this because the money was burning in my pocket but i hardly use the strat now (just put stickers on it)
Looks good, sounds good, feels good, hmm good.
I probably wouldnt get the same thing if it was stolen because i like change + i now have a lot of money to spend on a more professional guitar. It would have been good with a trem bar but the bridge is excelent + it never goes out of tune by just playing it.
Really good value for money.

Made 2001, Wine Red colour, mahogany body, abalone inserts, gold hardware, thick varnish! 2 humbuckers, 2 vol, 2 tone. Like an SG really!

I play quite a wide variety of music, none of it particularly "heavy", so really you wouldn't think this was my kind of guitar - BUT it has a great warm sound, and is somewhat less "muddy" than the Epiphone copies I tried out. You can play this thru any amp and it sounds surprisingly clear! The pick-ups are good and the basic Danelectro distortion I recently fell in love with(!) gives it a real bluesy rock twang.

This guitar came with a full basic set-up. The finish and hardware seem good.

I bought this as a back up, and now I use it all the time (how many times have I read that on this website!?). I would always use two guitars for live work, but I can't imagine this will fall apart too readily. The hardware and stuff are good.

no contact

I like this guitar (as you can tell) - but one word of warning, it is somewhat "head heavy" - the neck is a great piece of wood, but the weight of it "unbalances" the guitar. This doesn't bother me (in fact, I expected it!) but for anyone buying "sight unseen" (or "unplayed")you should take this into account. Apart from that, this is a great budget buy, and, as I said earlier, loads better than the equivalent copies (and cheaper).
If stolen, I'd probably buy something else, but only 'cos I like a change now and again.