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Epiphone SG Special

 

Review of the Epiphone SG Special by The Man in the Jar  

This cherry red lovely gives you the opportunity to strut your SG stuff for around £100. 

Features of the Epiphone SG Special

Tuners - These are chrome-covered machines, rather than sealed, and have large tuning knobs rather than the traditional snot-green "tulip" 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.

Headstock - The usual Epiphone variant on the Gibson style. This one is nicely finished in gloss black and bears the legend "Special SG Model". The truss rod cover also bears the SG moniker.

Nut - Black plastic, tidily done.

Neck - The mahogany neck has that lovely Gibson chunkiness about it, offering an authentic SG experience. The gloss cherry finish continues up the neck making it very comfortable and fast to play. To reduce costs the neck is bolt-on rather than the traditional SG set-neck construction. This doesn't affect the looks from the front but does alter the playing experience in the higher register - the bolt-on arrangement leaves a square heel rather than the smooth contoured heel of a "real" SG.

Fretboard - Dark, smooth rosewood with flat white pearl dot markers in place of the traditional SG "crown" markers.

Frets - Medium fat 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. The cherry finish is solid so no grain shows through to give a hint on how the alder and maple are laminated.

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 black 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 certainly looks the part with the deep cherry finish. The quality is high for a Chinese-manufactured instrument.

 

Sound of the Epiphone SG Special

The bridge pickup through an overdriven amp channel delivers classic heavy rock tone with a slightly brighter edge courtesy of the lighter tone-woods in the body. The neck pickup delivered darker tones which I preferred to run clean for blues or even jazz tunes. When both pickups were run together the sound fattened nicely and this is the position I would choose for most rock playing, with maybe a tweak of high-end eq from the amp.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Epiphone SG Special

A guitar of this nature sells itself on the reputation of the far-more-expensive model upon which it models itself. As such the buying decision hinges on looks and price. The price is definitely right and the looks are 90% SG (when you consider the headstock and the lower knob-count). But this SG wannabe has a decent voice to add to those looks, and as ever on a budget guitar, the pickups can be upgraded at a later date to nail the style and sound you need. 

If you fancy owning an SG (and who doesn't) but you're a wee bit hard up, the Epiphone SG Special should be on your shopping list. 

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