Better Guitar

player opinions

Name: Ben Gourley
Band: Livewire
Model Year: Unknown
Price Paid: £150
Performance
I bought this guitar 2nd hand off of eBay for £150. What a bargain! I replaced the strings and set it up nicely, and it sounds and plays brilliant. It plays really well and is easy to get a nice low action on. The high notes are easily reachable as well.
Performance Rating: 9
Sound Quality
The humbuckers have a really nice warm tone, as opposed to my Strat with single coils. It works well with any effects. I’ve played it through various products and they all sounded great. The pick-ups have hardly any buzz to them as well.
Sound Quality Rating: 9
Construction
The overall product seems solid, but I picked up my SG by the neck, and part of the nut snapped off, which is VERY annoying! Other than that, no probs, apart from the finish is easily scratched/dented. Tip: don’t dent it!
Construction Rating: 6

Name: Dan DeLuca
Band: -----
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: $400
Performance
This guitar is the 2nd best to what I have played, but its got great pickup, and it’s lightweight. It’s good for performing on stage, because of its lightweight. It’s the perfect guitar for playing Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Rat. The paint job isn’t all that great, but it still looks good. If your thinking about buying a gibson SG, but you think it’s too expensive, go with the Epiphone G-400.
Performance Rating: 8
Sound Quality
The pickup is great. If you think the pickup sucks, you don’t deserve to play even a Fender Squier. The two humbuckers have clear and loud sound to them.
Sound Quality Rating: 9
Construction
Its solid body gives it great tone, and you don’t get that buzz when you hit the top string really hard. Its frets are good size, and it has got room so you can reach the 20th fret with relaxation.
Construction Rating: 10

Name: Jake
Band: Killed In Action
Model Year: ----
Price Paid: $400
Performance
This guitar rocks! It is super light and the action is just right. The neck is fast, and the guitar stays in tune well. Sure, it’s not the same as a Gibson SG but it’s the next best thing.
Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
I put Gibson pickups in the guitar recently and it sounds like the real thing through my Marshall half stack. The stock pickups that were in it were great, they gave good clean sound and gave an AC/DC crunch that only an SG can produce.
Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
The guitar was well worth the money. I play live with this guitar most of the time and it has never failed me. The finish looks great and it is still in perfect condition since I bought it.
Construction Rating: 10

Name: Fredde
Band: Twang
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: $400
Performance
The reason I bought this guitar was that I needed something thinner and lighter than my Les-Paul. Sure the “LP” is the greatest guitar of all time but it’s quite heavy and clumsy. It’s just a lot easier to jump around with this guitar. On stage this guitar rocks! Off stage it’s second only to the “LP.” The double cutaway body feels smooth and so does the neck.
Performance Rating: 8
Sound Quality
The Alnico V Hot Humbuckers sounds great. What else is there to say. A friend of mine complained about the lack of sustain. But that’s something I couldn’t care less about.
Sound Quality Rating: 9
Construction
Considering how much cheaper a Epi is from a Gibson, I think this is a much better buy. Sure the Gibson has better quality but it’s not like the Epi falls apart after a gig. The only thing I have to complain about is that the paint work seems sloppy at some places. But I couldn’t care less. The important thing is how it sounds and feels, not how it looks.
Construction Rating: 8

Name: Greeni
Band: Dime Store Rock
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: £800
Performance
This is the best guitar I have ever played. I had it customized before I bought it, so it isn’t exactly the same as a standard Epiphone SG. But it’s near enough. I haven’t had the neck changed so the playability of this guitar is Supreme! I had the body art customized but it’s still the same Epiphone SG underneath.
Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
I did have the pickups changed to Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II’s but the Epiphone pickups in the guitar when I bought it were still unreal. I just had to get them changed for live work. This guitar through a Marshall stack is unreal. I hardly get any buzz at very high volumes.
Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
This is a very solid guitar although it has had a few bashes on the road, the neck paint has cracked a little, but the rest of the guitar has with withstood a lot. The guitars frets were perfect when I bought it although the inlays on the neck could look a little better.
Construction Rating: 8

Name: Brian
Band: -----
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: $400
Performance
This is an excellent guitar, creating a nice blend of superior feel and output at an economic price. Compared to other guitars of similar price, the G-400 cleans up. The slim neck profile and double-cut body provide for great ease of playing. To me, the playability is comparable to guitars 4 times the cost.
Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
I was slightly disappointed originally with the sound of the SG. The humbucker pickups lacked the clean sound of the single-coil pickups that I was used to. They have a crunch sound that is rarely found in a guitar with single-coil pickups. By adjusting the height of the pickups from the strings, I was able to create a nice mix of a clean tone with a Sex Pistols-like crunch.
Sound Quality Rating: 8
Construction
I was quite disappointed with the construction of the G-400. Although it has a solid feel, the face plate has flaws. The output plug hole is built in a way that the plug can easily puncture the face plate when downward pressure is applied. The wood in this area is very thin. It cost me $50 to fix this. However, the sheer beauty of the clear-coat gloss finish makes the fragility a minor issue.
Construction Rating: 4

Name: Simon Johnston
Band: Flee
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: $425
Performance
tone from the mahogany body. The humbuckers could give a bit more output but they are quite satisfactory.
Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
There is a a lot of buzz and feed back on high gain settings but you can get some good metal/punk tones out of this baby!
Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
It is built very well and the set neck works very well also.
Construction Rating: 10