 |
 | Electric Guitars |  | | Bass Guitars | | | Acoustic Guitars | | | Guitar Amps | | | Effects Pedals | | | Keyboards | | | Microphones | | | PA Systems | | | Mixing Desks | | | Studio | | | Software | | | Accessories | | | Books & DVDs | |
| Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Forums |
|
Epiphone SG Special Limited Edition with Zebra Pickups
Review of the Epiphone SG Special by The Man in the Jar
The worn cherry finish on this low-cost pretender certainly looks the SG part, and the lack of a scratchplate and the zebra open-coil pickups add the right air of quiet aggression. Let's see...
Features of the Epiphone SG Special Limited Edition
Tuners - Chrome covered types (rather than sealed) with large tuning knobs (rather than the traditional "peg" type usually found on a SG. With all budget guitars there must be some corners cut to achieve the price point required. I'd rather see small savings made everywhere on hardware rather than large savings on pickups and electronics. These tuning machines work well and are accurate and stable, so Epiphone lose no points here.
Headstock - The usual Epiphone variant on the Gibson style. This one is nicely finished in matt black and bears the legend "Special SG Model". The truss rod cover also bears the SG moniker.
Nut - Black plastic, tidily done.
Neck - The maple neck is a tiny bit slimmer than a Gibson SG Standard but the overall feel is spot on SG. The Worn Cherry finish gives a silky feel under the hand, making this a very comfortable and fast neck to play.
Fretboard - Dark, smooth rosewood with flat white pearl dot markers in place of the traditional SG "crown" markers.
Frets - Medium thin and nicely polished.
Action - Perfectly playable from the box but there's room to take it down if you prefer.
Body - Authentic SG slab body that hints at evil intentions. This one is made from a laminate of alder and maple rather than the traditional mahogany. I expect this will brighten the tone somewhat. Unusually for an SG the neck is bolt-on. In practical terms this simply means that there's no nice rounded heel to greet you when you arrive at the 22nd fret, a feeling familiar to all Fender users.
Bridge - Standard Tune-o-matic and stoptail of a good quality chrome finish. As this is an entry level guitar, beginners should be made aware that if you take all the strings off, both the bridge and tailpiece will drop to the floor. This original Gibson design relies on string tension to hold everything in place, so change strings one at a time.
Pickups - Two mean-looking zebra stripe open-coil humbuckers that look like they mean business.
Controls - One volume and one tone with a three-way selector switch. A cost cutting departure from the usual two volume and tone controls that will admittedly reduce the tonal variations available from this guitar.
Strap-buttons - Medium size strap buttons, one on the bottom edge and one on the back of the body on the heel. Because the neck is bolt-on, the neck-plate covers the heel. This means that the strap button's fixing screw also acts as one of the four screws that secures the neck. Because of this the button is not central but finds itself at the top right corner of the neck-plate. I found this actually produced a slightly more natural playing position when the guitar hangs from its strap.
Output Jack - On the face of the body behind the controls.
Finish - This guitar does look very pretty and the satin sheen finish feels very sexy under the fingertips. There are a few tiny cosmetic flaws to be found if you want to pull out your magnifying glass, but at this price that would be very churlish behaviour indeed.
Sound of the Epiphone SG Special Limited Edition
I set the SG up through a clean amp to begin with and was immediately impressed by the individual voices of the pickups. The bridge pickup has a lovely clean brightness which is accentuated by the tone woods of the body. Similarly the neck pickup is lent a clarity of resonance that brings out a gorgeous blues undertone. Stick 'em together and you get ... Jazz! No, really. It's a sound that just begs you to vibrato your 9th chords - Nice!
But you didn't buy an SG to play jazz, now, did you, Angus?
When overdriven these pickups start to cook nicely. Using the bridge pickup alone it's easy to dial into that classic ACDC SG tone, probably the best known of the SG voices. The neck pickup delivered darker tones for heavier overdrive sounds and with some judicious tweaking of eq I could approach the Sabbath brand of metal overdrive. When switched together the pickups are delivering a lot of power. This gives a big, big metal sound which benefits from a touch of treble boost at the amp's eq.
Overall Impressions of the Epiphone SG Special Limited Edition
This SG hits the perfect balance of compromise to achieve an excellent physical and sonic performance at a low cost. The money saved on sealed tuners, the pickguard, the set neck and the extra volume and tone controls has been wisely invested in the pickups. It's the best Epiphone SG I've come across in ages, largely due to the voicing of the pickups. The fact that the guitar sounds great on clean settings means you'll be building your house of metal on secure foundations.
If you fancy owning an SG (and who doesn't) but can't afford Gibson's big-boy prices, then this spunky little guitar comes highly recommended. Given a change of strings and a 30 minute set-up you'll have yourself a little gem at a bargain price.
Buy the Epiphone SG Special Limited Edition
Visit the iMuso Guitar Forum
Departments |
|---|
| Electric Guitars Bass Guitars Acoustic Guitars Guitar Amps Effects Pedals Keyboards Microphones PA Systems Mixing Desks Studio Software Accessories Books & DVDs Home |
Resources
Track
TNT Parcel Reviews
of Electric Guitars
Other
Equipment Reviews
Learning
Resources
Other
Shopping
Bands to See
Studios to
Use
Copyright Musik Produktiv MMV - Home of Electric Guitars Online
