i have a 4 year old epi sg400 mic and i can't fault it (after renewing the electrics and pups ) the workmanship is top notch .I was doing some work on an older mik epi sg on saturday and i would say my mic one is a bit better build wise , it even has a long tennon whereas the older mik is cut flush with the end of the fretboard . i can't comment on the new lp models though , mines is a 2003 ebony std (all electronics and pups changed ) and it has a killer tone when plugged into the jcm800 . You should try out the sg400 , a great guitar for the money , mines sits on a stand next to my strat and it gets played just as much as my strat , the lp stays in it's case , hth

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jeffo... I have one of those Epi LP specials...
http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=16167

Nice guitar... after I completely gutted and replaced the electronics..

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In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

jeffo,
If I may be so bold...if you are going to go with an online place I would recommend Sweetwater. They offer fantastic service and their 55 point inspection prior to shipping can't be beat! That was how my wife surprised me with my Gretsch for our anniversary and man did they do a great job setting up and shipping my guitar. Hope this helps. Plus they go out of their way to get you the guitar you want!
ABS

+1 on Sweetwater. I never bought a a guitar or amp from them but lots of other gear and the service is incredible. I get a call when I order and another one upon delivery to be sure everything's okay.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I played one of these today and didn't wanna put it down... it sounded so good and felt comfortable to play

FWIW I have a 46 year old Epi and she sounds better than when I got her.

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2015 Epiphone Casino Goldtop
2011 Taylor 814ce
2009 EC Custom Shop Merc Blue
2008 Schecter ATX
1964 Epi Granada E444T
Fender Super Champ XD

I've been singing the praises of Epiphone on the Forum since last year when I bought 5 of them.I have mentioned a few times that I tried out an Epi '60 Les Paul reissue a couple of months ago and it was the best Les Paul I've ever played including Gibsons.The MIC Epis have become increasingly better in quality and I'd certainly pick one over a Gibson of the same model because in a lot of cases the Epi surpasses the Gibson in every way especially in value.You can get a perfect Epi Les Paul for about 1/4 the price of a Gibson and it will play and sound every bit as good with most likely better build quality.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

i have an epi sg and it is something else. great guitar for the money! those chinese are showing gibson that they can make guitars just as good as there American counterparts.

Its funny, i recently just bought a Lp Studio because i fell in love with the feel. I decided to swap out the pickups for something 4 conductor. Turns out Gibson decided to start making every connection with cannon plugs and printed circuit boards. At first i was upset because i figured they were cutting corners. The more i thought about it tho, this could be fantastic. If someone wanted to upgrade a pot or pickup, all they would have to do is snap it together. Sadly it doesnt work out to 4 conductor setups, but if gibson started really working on this they could really get somewhere.

this left me with all the electronics and pickups and everything, without soldering anywhere in the harness at all....so if anyone is interested let me know.

More importantly it reminds me of Circuit boards vs ptp amps....to me it seems like a step in the right direction....

better than their robot technology...this is a step in a practical area...

thought you guys would find it interesting.

-Vince

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-Fender 92' Telecaster unknown
- 2007 Gretsch 6118T
- Ibanez 02' AF85 Artcore hollowbody, modded
- Epiphone Firebird
- Line 6 Variaxe 300
- Squire strat (refinished)
- 2008 Fender Supersonic
- Fender Blues Junior (original)

I think both Squier and Epiphone are turning out some great, fun guitars right now.

I started teaching my wife to play and she picked out an Epihone G400 goth. The guitar is fantastic. My only real gripe with the thing is the frets could be a little cleaner higher on the neck. But that said, it's pretty solid and even has Grovers. The stock pickups are pretty awesome too. I was planning to get an Iommi signature bucker for the bridge, but can't justify it as the stock pups are fine.

On the other end of the spectrum, I got a Squier J5 recently. The fretwork is fantastic and pups are great too. (Was planning to switch out, but after I raised them just a touch and set the guitar up it was again deemed unnecessary.) Only probs with that guitar are a slightly loose output jack and that the back of the switchplate cover was scratched up. (You'd have to disassemble the guitar to notice that, though. So it's not even a real cosmetic issue that's visible.) That J5 is shockingly versatile too. I just thought it looked cool and when I plugged it in I immediately heard Tom Petty. When I cranked the gain I got some fantastic harmonics and even reached into Gibbons territory.

Both of those guitars could easily be gigged/recorded/etc. And both were under 4 bills. Crazy the quality that's out there in budget land these days. The times they are a changin'.