One hole in my guitar collection is an SG. Three years ago I had a chance to get an entry level Gibson SG for $500 and I didn’t do it – that ship has sailed AND sunk. A used Gibson SG Standard is around a grand, and that’s double my $500 “budget guitar” cutoff. However, I can score a brand new Epiphone SG for $499. I sat down with one recently and spend a little quality time. Let’s do the review…
The Good
It should be no surprise that the guitar looked fantastic – Epiphone guitars look almost identical to their Gibson counterparts. This leaves some to assume that they’re also the exact same quality, which is not true, but for $499, this guitar is a good value. It looks great, it played good, the fretwork was good, everything was as it should be. I’m hoping that in a year or two I’ll be able to find one of these used for $350 or $400. The best thing I can say is that the fretwork on the guitar I played was good enough that I wouldn’t feel the need to do a level/crown. I’d just adjust the action/intonation a bit. Of course, your mileage may vary.
The Bad
As I’ve made a point of on the YouTube channel, the Epiphone ProBucker pickups are good. They’re good pickups. A guitar with ProBuckers doesn’t really need a pickup upgrade. Sadly, the Epiphone SG Traditional Pro does not come with ProBucker pickups. Nope, it’s got the Alnico Classic Pro pickups, and I’d describe them as, well… I mean, if you have a great amp or a good modeler like the Pod Go, they’ll be good enough. To me, they lacked the clarity of the ProBucker pickups. A bit muddy, dare I say. Not terrible… but not ProBuckers. Again, with a great amp, you might be fine.
The Ugly
The finish was not 100% perfect and flawless, but for around $500 I don’t know that it should be. To me, the biggest issue with this guitar is that it’s an SG. I want an SG, but there’s a reason I don’t have one yet – the way the guitar is built, that first fret seems pretty far away. Almost like playing a bass. That’s not the fault of this guitar – all SG guitars are like that. You like it or you don’t, and I don’t. It’s not a very balanced guitar, either. But if you want an SG, you want an SG
Conclusion
I think it’s a darn good guitar for $499. If I had one, I’d swap the pickups and hang it on my wall. It’s iconic. Epiphone makes great looking guitars and this is one of them. I’ve heard it said that the Epiphone SG is nothing like a Gibson SG, and having played both, I’d disagree. The Gibson is a bit better and it’s triple the price (at least.). It’s not triple better. I’d recommend this guitar to someone who wants an SG.
