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Epiphone G-400 SG Custom Guitar

 

Epiphone G-400 SG Custom Guitar reviewed by The Man in the Jar

These are looks that no red-blooded guitar player can possibly resist when encountered in the flesh.

Features of the Epiphone G-400 SG Custom Guitar

Tuners - Sealed gold Grovers with kidney knobs.

Headstock - A beautiful bound black face with "broken diamond" inlay. This is the Epiphone adaptation of the Gibson classic paddle. The truss rod bears the legend "Les Paul Custom" (as does a small plate at the body end of the neck).
History note: In the late 1950's the original Les Paul shape was not selling well so it was discontinued. The new SG shapes were duly introduced. Les Paul was involved with the design process but continued to champion the original Les Paul shapes. In 1961 Gibson removed his name from the headstock and officially designated the range as the SG. 

Nut - White plastic, tidy and accurate.

Neck - This is an authentic, mahogany, SG profile neck which means it's a bit chunky in the hand. If you're not used to this you'll have to allow some playing time to acclimatise. The Antique White lacquer makes for a lovely smooth playing experience, especially when a little sweat is added to the equation. Expect the usual unrestricted fret access that comes free with every SG.

Fretboard - This is rosewood that's been bound with antiqued binding.

Frets - Medium small, well polished.

Action - Good and low, very playable.

Body - Classic, slim, contoured SG plank of mahogany. It's a brave guitar designer who would consider f*cking around with this. The Antique White finish (which is really a clotted cream kind of yellow) really looks lovely with the gold hardware. It's the kind of colour that Naughty Girls wear on their wedding day (remember me, Sally?).  

Bridge - Classic tune-o-lovely with where-do-you-think-you're-going tailpiece. All present, correct and resplendent in Gorgeous Gold.

Pickups - Three gold covered pickups squeeze into the space normally reserved for two with leg-room. The whole set-up seems to look at you the way a cream cake does when you're on a diet. 

Controls - The SG is famed for its inherent simplicity, but the Custom requires a spot of thought to set up pickup configurations. The three way switch is labelled Rhythm and Treble in the time-honoured tradition but this isn't the full story. Selecting Rhythm activates the neck and the middle pickup, selecting Treble gives you the bridge and the middle pickup, the middle position activates all three.
Individual volume controls are provided for each pickup should you want to extract one pickup from the mix. All configurations are controlled by one master tone control.  

Pickguard - Three-ply white-black-white in the classic minimalist SG design.

Strap-buttons - Adequate sized buttons are situated on the bottom of the body and behind the heel. This guitar, in common with the other G-400 Series that I've tried, hangs neck-heavy on the strap. Make sure you use a leather strap with a rough underside to give traction against your shoulder. 

Output Jack - Set on the face of the body. 

Finish - This guitar is gorgeous. It really looks and feels like the quality instrument it is.

 

Sound of the Epiphone G-400 SG Custom Guitar

The three pickup configuration gives bags of tonal variations when used in conjunction with the volume controls for each pickup. For this you sacrifice to some extent the simplicity of knocking the selector switch to radically alter your tone mid-flow. This is because the middle pickup is always engaged (unless you roll back the individual volume to zero). This arrangement effectively smoothes out the brash treble attack associated with many famous SG users. Even with the middle pickup rolled right back I found the pickups had a mellower voice than their non-custom cousins. By way of compensation for reduced simplicity you get an awesome tonal richness when all three pickups are engaged - real heavy metal class.   
 

Overall Impressions of the Epiphone G-400 SG Custom Guitar

This is one sexy, triple-decker ice cream of a guitar with the '60's styling and the iconic association with Jimmy the Page adding all the sprinkles you'll ever need. The extra mid-range richness is a real bonus. Run your lead breaks through a treble boost stomp-box and you've got yourself a classic rock and metal workhorse that will cover all the bases and make you more attractive to the opposite sex and some special-interest members of your own sex. 

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