Epiphone G-400 Guitar Review

Gibson's SG style electric guitar is a mainstay in the professional music industry. It has been played by many rock legends, including AC/DC's Angus Young and Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi. The SG ranks highly among classic guitars. Epiphone, owned by Gibson, offers an affordable alternative to the very highly sought after and pricey SG, with all the essential features that make it legendary. It's called the Epiphone G-400. Let's see what exactly this G-400 has to offer.

Features: The Epiphone G-400 is fashioned almost to a tee after the 1962 edition of the Gibson SG. It has a solid mahogany body, and is available in a stark white finish with a black pickguard. The neck of the instrument is also made of mahogany, and is set into the body bolt-free. The inlays on the neck are pearl trapezoids, and the fretboard is made of rosewood. When just looking at the G-400, it's difficult to tell the difference between it and its Gibson made cousin. All of the hardware, including the tuning heads, sharp-looking pickup covers, and Tune-O-Matic bridge all are chrome. Electronically, the G-400 has two Alnico V humbucker pickups, and two volume and control knobs with a three way selector switch.

Playability: The first thing you'll notice when you pick up the Epiphone G-400 is how it feels. The body of the guitar is so light that more weight actually rests on the neck side of the guitar. For some, this is an annoyance. But I personally like its lightweight feel. Also, the neck features a tapered design. As the frets get lower, the neck actually gets thinner. This quality makes the fretboard nice and fast. One more nice quality of the G-400 is that its body style, a near perfect copy of the SG, in addition to the set neck, makes for very easy access to the higher frets.

Sound: The Alnico V pickups have a nice sound to them. They have a fat, rich, humbucking style tone that suits many styles of music very well. Although, it's safe to say that the Epiphone G-400 is at its best when playing hard rock and metal. If you're into distortion, this is not one to casually look over.

Overall: The Epiphone G-400 offers many of the qualities that can be found in much more expensive guitars. All in all, it is an excellent replica of the Gibson SG with similar looks, sound, and playability. If you are looking for a hard rocking instrument on a budget, this one could be for you. The Epiphone G-400 can be found in most music stores for around $400.