epiphone sg g-400 'custom shop' ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter suprstar
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suprstar

suprstar

It aint ez being green
It's a cherry finish guitar with 2 pickups, whats with the 'custom shop' thing? I might get one this weekend. Is it any different that a normal g-400? I cant find a lot online about it..
 
I don't know about the custom shop, especially in the Epi line, but generally I'm happy with the Epiphone I bought last year. The main complaints as a player's guitar are the stock pickups and pots. The pots suck because the range isn't very consistent on them, and the pickups are toned decently but don't seem to capture and deliver the sound like a better pickup does. For the price, the mid-level Epiphones seem pretty decent for what you get.
 
Hey suprstar, it might be that the pickups in the custom shop guitars are upgraded-I have an Ebony G-400 and its a great gigging and recording guitar. I have replaced the stock bridge pickup with a DiMarzio PAF Pro and I can split the coils for more variety in the tones. Some people complain about the SG style guitars being neck heavy but I use a decent leather strap on the G-400 and there is no problem.

I had a Gibson SG back in the 1970s that had issues with the neck and wouldn't stay in tune at all. My G-400 is incredibly stable tuning-wise, and that is with some wicked string stretch as well. I say go for it!

I just took a look at my Epi Firebird Studio and its also a custom shop-I installed mini humbuckers and its got the steinberger tuners, much better than those old banjo tuners from the old days!
 
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I went ahead and got it, I like it a lot! It plays a lot better than an epi LP I had a couple years back. I got a good deal on it, and I always wanted a cherry finish SG! I jammed around on it last nite til my fingers were sore :D

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I think the Epi SG-400 is a good guitar. Like mentioned already, put some good pickups and pots in it and it'll be really good guitar. As good as a real SG? Probably not ever, but good enough to have a blast with and you might not cry if you drop it or something.
 
suprstar said:
It plays a lot better than an epi LP I had a couple years back.
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The Chinese children that build these are getting better at honing their craft.

I played some Epiphone models in the late '90s and wasn't very impressed with the sound or the overall feel ('sound' meaning it was weak and the pickups lacked separation of strings and clarity, 'feel' meaning the LP models didn't feel like a unified instrument, more like parts of one thrown together is the best way I can remember it). The guitars they are making now I think are pretty decent for the price. I like my 335 enough that I bought a hardshell case for it and find myself polishing it every few weeks, which I hadn't really planned to do considering the company it keeps.
 
Drop some good pickups inside and replace the switch and pots and that guitar will be kickass.
 
I might just do that, what pup's might you guys recommend?
 
The DiMarzio I mentioned is a good replacement-I wouldn't go with p'ups that are too hot-they can sound muddy if they are too overwound. Greg mentioned the P-90s which are very good as well-I have a Les Paul Melody Maker from 2003 with a single bridge P-90 and with some overdrive it screams!! You can find P-90s that are humbucker sized from several companies. I have several guitars with a Humbucker in the bridge and a P-90 in the neck, together they combined to give a solid tone-the fullness of the P-90 and the bite of the Humbucker.
 
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