Epiphones Are Getting Expensive... but Don't Forget They Still Make This! (Viper Blue)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
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📚Description: There has been A LOT of Talk about Epiphone getting prohibitively expensive. It is important to remember, they still make the budget and mid-tier Epiphones. The mid-level ones are still VERY good for the money just with Epiphone electronics. The new expensive ones are just getting all the media attention right now. This Viper Blue Epiphone SG Custom is a winner in my book for $699 and is a Sweetwater Exclusive color
Epiphones Are Getting Expensive... but Don't Forget They Still Make This
🐕 Episode Guide:
0:00 Intro - Check Links in the Description
0:08 Epiphones Are Getting Expensive!
0:31 Sweetwater's Exclusive Model
1:18 The Flame Veneer
1:47 Other Viper Blue Models
2:04 Case / Case Candy
2:34 Inside Look / Specs
7:11 Clean Tones
9:20 Dirty Tones
11:29 Final Thoughts
12:37 What to Watch Next!
🎞️ Videos Mentioned:
0:08 2024 Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop Firebird V Ember Red
• I Tried the New $1700 ...
0:10 Gibson Headstock Adam Jones 1979 Non-Art
• Epiphone Saved the BES...
1:23 2020 Epiphone SG Standard '61 Maestro Vibrola Vintage Cherry
• Is The New SG Worth It...
1:52 Sweetwater's Exclusive Viper Blue Lineup Gibson Epiphone
• New "Blue" Models! | S...
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Expensive Epiphones have been getting a lot of media attention, but don't forget about the mid-level Epis. They are great guitars!
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Totally agreed on your comment re mid-level Epis. I missed that first Epi alex lifeson, thought the 2nd Epi AL way too expensive while missing the piezo. After watching your coverage, pulled the trigger on that eventually. Now I found that I gravitate toward playing that over my gibson. It is the poly that I hated but I have no worries in tarnishing the nitro when I grab it with moisturised hand in cold dry months or sweaty elbow. Unlike the gibson‘s, the epi neck did flop around a bit over the first 12 mths or so over possibly the humidity swing here in Asia, but it kinda stabilized now. I forgetfully left a very midly damped rag on the 335 in a case one evening, and gave myself a heart attack when next morning it left a cloud of trapped mist under the nitro finish, which it cleared up eventually after a couple of months of dehumidifying with packs in the case. While you keep so many guitars, could you share some tips on how you maintain/store them?
I kind of wish they kept the coil splitting because these probuckers sound great coil split.
Ebony fretboard at $699, new firebird's $1700 Indian Laurel ......
Ebony fret board Epi firebird= $2000😂
Firebird is neck through and a more difficult guitar to build.
Ebony at the moment is a lot cheaper than Rosewood because of the international laws
Exactly! It makes no sense.
It's just a name bro. Blindfold yourself and you'll not feel or hear a difference
I have at least five Epiphone guitars and all of them play wonderful. I use them as my "Player" guitar and they get a fair share of use. I replace the strings every so often and keep em clean and a few I put locking tuners on and they are just a wonderful bargain. I have no complaints of any Epiphone I have ever owned.
I love my Epiphone Les Paul. Solid build and finish. US electronics. Plays like a dream.
One of my guitars has a neck-dive problem. On a whim, I tried a 3in wide strap. No more neck-dive. It's more comfortable, as well. Just a suggestion, I don't have any special knowledge that it will work for everyone.🤘
A 3" wide strap does make a big difference (IMO).
Also, Suede is a little more grippy verses smooth Leather.
It's a remedy I recommend for anyone who plays Norlin-era Les Pauls too. A wider strap seriously mitigates against a heavier guitar.
I have a very neck heavy sg .. never had any problems playing it for 2-3h in a row ... my recommendation is gym.. some say it also has other health benefits, but does the job better than any straps.
Agreed. For years i played live with a skinny strap. Always had a sore shoulder after rehearsals etc. switched to a wide strap and have never been happier!!
That helped me with a Epiphone Sheraton, a nice levy strap fixes it almost completely
Sweet Viper Blue SG Custom! Headsup: Theodore Standard (USA) now up in Canada, same price as the new Les Paul Modern Studio ($2700CAD). 3 colors, no centre stripe.
Bought 2 cheap old Epi SGs, 1 P90s. Moved strap buttons to horn - neck dive sorted. Love em.
This headstock is like a mix between Gibson and the old Pre-war Epiphone headstock
I’ve been thinking about grabbing one of those drab green Casinos. Pretty basic just dig the look.
something that works to offset the neck dive for me is the stick on wheel balance weights. Just 2 or 3 ounces is usually enough.
Sweet, sweet clean. Beautiful overdriven sounds. 1st class!
Thank you Donald for giving us a different perspective.
Fantastic looking Epiphone, dont love the headstock but looks pretty clean.
That Ebony Black gloss finish model is beautiful...💘 dark and classy, timeless, always my favorite color for the SG shape.
I have a 3 color burst collection going. I had a helluva time finding an SG. I found a G400 a couple years ago with the flamed maple veneer and it has become my "go to" guitar. The others don't get near the playtime as my fat neck friend. Very nice to see it back. Thanx Trog
I picked this up a couple of weeks back. Played a gig with it over the weekend. No issues. It did have some high frets that needed some work. The neck and action adjustment set up for the way I like it. I did change out the bridge pickup, It seems very dark and muddy to me but that's my opinion. Some might like it. Great price compared to what they are asking for others these days.
the veneer is usually underneath from what I've seen on older ones.
I bought the Viper Blue Sheraton Frequensator and I LOVE IT
1:40 Yeah......I agree. The 2 tone blue looks cool and matches my eyes. 🎸 👀🙄
I just picked up a new Silvertone 1303CM because I was very curious about the quality, and it's lovely, and they sell a gig bag very similar to this for their guitars. Worth checking out, IMHO.
What a trip...I had just emailed my Sweetwater sales engineer Eddie asking him about an SG. Ten minutes later this video pops up. And about 18 months ago, you did an episode about certain years of the Gibson Les Paul studio with ebony fretboards and I literally found one on Craigslist right after watching, and grabbed it and an hour late. I made a video of it with your intro riff thanking you. You're a genius, I wanted an SG with an ebony fretboard, and here it is. Thank you! Now....get outta my head!!!
Edit: Noooo....they're on back order!?!?
saw that too... bummer looks so clean
I just bought one of these. It really is a beautiful guitar! Plays great, QC did a great job, no fret issues, 2 way truss rod adjusts fine. I did the usual things I do when I buy Epiphone's, I replaced the deep cut saddles with un notched saddles, I haven't done it yet or may not but the nut, while it is cut properly is kind of tall, I may sand the top down or replace it with a Bone nut. They have CTS pots in them but I may still replace the switch and input jack with Switchcrafts. I really like the pickups, They have a clear tone and you can hear all the strings ring out evenly
Great looking guitar. Sounds good too.
Still diggin my Bonnamassa with ebony board, Maestro vibes, “in phase” middle position yadda. Got it at a “open case/demo” price.
That's a proper Epiphone, looks great, sounds good and it's reasonably priced
All of them are reasonably priced. You do get what you pay for :)
@@Mr.Goldbar1700 is not reasonable for a Chinese made guitar.
You can get a used Gibson at that point.
@@davids2629 nope, from Gibson you'd get a piece of slab wood with strings with bare minimum specs and no attention to detail, and all of that because of the Gibson name and Made In The USA.
The country where the CNC machine is located doesn't matter
This was literally one of the worst guitar tones I've ever heard until he slapped on some pedals
@@BIG_GUY420 that's why I said sounds "good" and not great, you work with compromises at this price.
Looks and sounds fantastic. I rarely like all 3 positions on of the pickups, but that one is great.
Ive been waiting to see some pictures or videos of the viper blue in action. I wanted to see how blue this blue is. Looks great!
Thank you for the video
I got mine about 2 weeks ago... I like it very much. Going to change the pickups and add locking tuners. Other than that, it was built and setup nearly perfect.
Why are you going to change the pickups?
No need to change the pick-ups. Change your speakers on your amplifier, and use an pedal instead.
My amp is really good and not the problem. Friedman Runt 20 w/Creamback. I just want something closer in tone to my other guitars which all have more vintage sounding PAF pickups.
@@KimmeUpickups absolutely change the sound of a guitar despite what Glen Fricker said.
My Epiphone Standard 60s SG clearly has a veneer on the back, too. You can see from the side that it's a two piece body. The control cavity is exactly the same.
So it makes much sense that they obviously execute the same production process here as with the standard SG.
I polished the acryllic inlays with a special polishing paste for plexi glass and I also polished the fretboard with a special sponge.
After using F-One oil for the fretboard it really looks and feels very nice. Don't forget to polish the frets!
You will get a very good high quality guitar for a reasonable price. Thank you for this video, Trogly!
That blue is fantastic for sure! Gratz on the new toy!!!
I really like the headstock Mr Trogly
Did you add reverb at the end of the clean section?
Congrats Jeremy! Smokin axe!
It’s nice.
I have a ‘10 Korean Epiphone 61 Les Paul (SG) and after a set-up/pickup-replacement it’s really nice … heavy, but nice.
Gig bag looks like something for tennis. This would look really good in trans black.
I have the LP. Same case! Nice guitar. I usually put my choice of pickups in all of mine,(8) but this one stays stock.
I just got one of this same exact Sweetwater Epiphone SG's. I really like it. I am glad that I bought it.
I remember in 1999 when I bought the "new" g-400 Custom it was $419 . That is $780 in today's money and it wasn't an Ebony fretboard
So i recently purchased a gibson 61 standard at gc assuming it was the same sg i had already played 3 times, it wasn't. I got it home, two flat strings, A and G, low E buzzing at bridge they fixed the intonation, but not the buzzing, it also vibrated or resonated strange to me. I returned it, then bought the 61 standard sg epiphone from marketplc for 580.00, only issue is high action
Gotta be an easy to counter neck dive,small weight in rear of guitar or something, change where the straps connect.
This looks GREAT!! I absolutely LOVE that neck! Is it me, or is there a touch of metal flake on the front of the body? Also, for the neck dive - would it help to have one end of the strap tied around the base of the headstock? Kinda like they did on my dear old brother's "folk" guitar, 50 years ago.
Thank you for this episode! I have one of these and love it. As a Gibson snob this was my first Epi, and I continue to be pleasantly surprised. And let’s not forget how awesome Brad at Sweetwater is to deal with.
My favorite Epi is the Sheraton. I had a 62 which is not only the year I was born, but the first year they produced it in cherry red. Les than 75 were made in that color between 62 and 70. In 89 I moved across the country with what I could lug on a greyhound bus. I gave the guitar to a friend. Found out he trashed it. Both him and the Sheraton are no longer with us. I miss them both.
Nice playing in the demo Trog!
Thanks!
Salutations Austin!
Nice Exclusive SG Custom!
The ebony fretboard is a particularly great specification on these instruments.
I like the finish on this SG, do they offer it in any other colors?
I just recently added the black version of this instrument to my collection, however, it has gold hardware instead of the chrome hardware and pickup covers, it plays well and sounds really good, but I plan to upgrade the pickups to the coil splittable ones so I have a few more options than the standard set, however, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the stock set of pickups.
Thanks for reviewing this instrument!
Please have an excellent and awesome day!
☀️✨🎸
The distortion when the selector switch is in the middle position sounds a bit muddy to me. However, individually, each pickup sounded great (in my humble opinion).
those pickups sounded surprisingly good
the epi alnico classics are head and shoulders above the ProBuckers. I actually grabbed a pair used because it was by far the cheapest way to get a set of decent gold PUs (as they are in the epi sg custom ebony) for upgrading a project guitar and I really like them in there.
That’s how it’s done. Looks great, has great bones so upgrading the pickups is worth it and if you don’t want to pay for a fancy case you don’t have to.
Crazy how bad the veneer looks on the cherry and how nice it is on the blue.
+1
Totally, also if you don’t need it, lack of case is actually better for space reasons. Hate how much of my closet if filled with cases😂
And yes, the veneer on the red one looks terrible
@@Dzamora612 Yeah for real. A decent backpack case is so much more useful than a hard case. Being able to carry all your stuff in one go into rehearsal of gig, is what it’s all about. 1x12 combo in one hand, pedalboard in the other and guitar on my back.
So long as I don’t have to carry it all for much more than about 100m!
Evening all!!! Love that color!! Sounds great too.
Nice you can see the woodgrain 0:34 Harley Benton has a sparkly blue Gotoh equipped version.
Gleen Fricker reviewed and plays it still. I bought the single cut equivalent. Stellar guitar all Gotoh hardware pickups sound awesome too.
Cheers from NZ 😎🎸🤘
SG neck dive can be cured by using a sueded-back leather strap. Just a little friction fixes the issue easily.
If you hang a boat anchor from the back, not only does it cure neck dive, it stops your SG from floating away
The sides definitely work with that shade of blue. The red? Not at all.
I have a question: When was the first blue Gibson or Epiphone made?
1966 - Gibson's Pelham blue based off 1960 Cadillac colour,
Hey Trogly. Is is possible the QR code is JUST the serial number? when i scan it, it only gives the serial number. no link to any product page.
Thats a very nice looking and sounding guitar for the price. Well done, and enjoy!
Hey Trogly, i don’t know if you do requests, but i would love to see you review the new button Univox hi flier by Eastwood!!!
I bought the regular SG custom in ebony and it was/is the best epiphone i bought. That fretboard is lovely, the fretwork is fine, not great not bad either. Sounds fantastic. Very light and comfortable.
Beautiful!!!
Cool guitar but I'm really into those new guild polaras.
Definitely going on my wish list.
😺👍
With this flame veneer it looks ok. Think the mahogany veneer looks cheap. I rather see a honest 3 piece body than trying to mask it.
Had the inspired special with p90. Other than sharp fretends and high action it was good.
This sounds great and looks outstanding. For $700 that's a heck of a lot better value than the signatures. You could spend $300 or so on some upgraded pickups and still come in at 1/3 the cost of an SG Custom from Gibson. The QC even looked pretty good, delamination around the truss rod screws notwithstanding.
Congrats Jeremy on your wonderful new SG! Nice looking guitar and sounds pretty good too especially for the money! 😊
To me seems reminiscent of the rare cobalt fade G400 deluxe pro, but with some different accoutrements.
It reminds me of the original SG Supreme
I dig it
Nice guitar.
This is beautiful. Wish there was some exclusive Epi runs in Europe, haven't seen any yet.
I saw Thomann were doing the blue quilt LP custom a few weeks ago, might still have some
@@brooksieteb Oh, you're right, found it. Odd that they don't advertise the fact that this seems to be an exclusive finish for Thomann, maybe it's a test run to see if demand is there?
@@wonderbox7333 Yeah it's weird how it's gone under the radar. It looks amazing, if I didn't have an Ebony one, I would be getting that
2018 slash sig was peak epiphone
I'm a Strat guy but I bought a 2021 Lucille model a couple of years ago (decent guitar) and I'm over Epiphone.
expensive? this is alot of guitar for 699 for sure. worth every penny. beautiful finish as well. great guitar. the gibsons are the ones that are getting expensive in every model!! personally id prefer the ebony i dont like blue guitars. the weight i dont like i like the heavier. i have a squire strat that weighs more.
To correct neck diving issues, just move the strap button from the neck heel to the top horn of the guitar, Tony Iommy style ... Both of my SGs have had that mod over the course of 15 years & it has been a genius solution.
It should be standard.
Looks crap.
@@ChrisShortyAllen Then do it on the back of the horn, it's also good
I laughed hard at the neck dive test. :))
LOVE ALL OF YOUR CONTENT, ITS ALL EPIC ♥️♥️✌️✌️✌️
dude i failed. i would have NEVER caught that back veneer 🤦🏻♂️. thanks Trog 🤘
A blue SG really is a thing of great beauty...
I didn't know this one existed, I just woke up and saw that...
I'm ordering one right now...
Thanks 👍👍
Nothing wrong with that! I'm more ok with flame maple veneer than the ribbon mahogany veneer
Nice!
Looks like a darn good guitar for the money.
I got lucky buying my Epiphone prophecy V, was just before price's shot up...but to be honest, the build and craftsmanship on these newer Epiphones is 100 times better than they were say 10 years ago.
I have the epiphone Les Paul viper and got a hard case for it I didn't care for the case that came with it
For 699 not bad. Throw in your favorite pups and upgrade the pots and jack would be a pretty sweet guitar
Is it just me thinking these (flame) veneer epi SGs would have looked even better with some burst finish? Would probably hide the diffeerece in wood grain between the beveled edges snd the top veneer)
Remember when guitars used to come with a hardshell case?
And up until the early 70's, a family could buy a house, car, and appliances all on one income. Those days are long gone. Whats your point?
hardshell cases are outdated unless it's a Gibson :)
I reckon saran wrap would give the epiphone sg more protection than that gig bag.
The blue finish is beautiful
This is a very nice SG. I like this.
Nice SG Ebony fretboard looks nice fair price and not satin or Indian Laurel 🤘👏👍
Is it REALLY mother of pearl inlay on the headstock? I always thought these were a fake decal…
Yes, it's real MOP on the headstock
Trogly playing Jack Johnson? Been listening to the Curious George soundtrack with your kids i see.
when epiphone says mahogany what does that mean? is that the same as when gibson or prs say mahogany?
no, it isn't the same quality. It will most likely be a wood "within" the mahogany family of woods. I couldn't say for certain any further but you can see the grain differences
@@Trog thank you for your reply. it makes me feel that there is really no way to evaluate the price of a guitar from the "specs", as mahogany may as well be called wood. but thankfully there are guys like you out there who help to demystify it.
the pickups, wiring, frets, tuners, nut and bridge may be open to analysis, but the actual core of the guitar (which I'd argue is 5 times more important than all of the other stuff combined) is basically a mystery.
it also makes me wonder if there's any validity at all in the questioning of certain epiphone models being priced > $1,000 compared to others in the $500 range. yes they both have "mahogany" but there's literally no meaning to this. and then the comparisons of cheap epiphones to Gibsons above $2,000 also become dubious.
I do suspect that above a certain price (say $2400), the additional cost is for looks and small things that don't matter as much.
I agree with rybones1311who points out the bizarre use of laurel for fretboards on some of the highest priced epiphones. the cheapest epiphone sg I know of, the sg special satin e1has a rosewood board!
ps I have a 1991 gibson sg junior reissue that came stock with mini grovers. at first they looked goofy to me, but they've held up well and are a bit lighter.
Looks like a tennis racket bag.
I've heard alot of good things about EPI these days..it's really cool cause in the day they were garbage..the signature ones people really praise...I appreciate your reviews sir..thank you...
Interesting
Now this is how Epiphones should be done. It's actually at a price I'd consider just to have a nice fun blue SG to play around with instead of risking damaging a more expensive guitar for daily use.
Donald, Congrats on the new SG, very nice Sir.
👍 😉
why dose epiphone not do fret nibs? newer chibsons have fret nibs..i like fret nibs..lol seeing the epiphones prices next to the Gibson was a sobering reminder how out of reach they have gotten. the epiphones are being asked to fill a huge gap in quality and price. it almost seems unfair but they seem to have it worked out somehow?
These are probably more expensive because Sweetwater doesn't make enough on the regular model. Margins can be pretty low on entry level stuff.
It’s got a “big sound” and harmonics are really great!!!
WINNER🧢🔥❤️🔥🌶️😎
People complain about the Epiphones with high prices, but it's like if Mexican Fenders were branded as Squier. My Korina V cost more than "a Fender" but which ones?