Running Blues

Epiphone SG Special

Epiphone SG Special Cherry Red

The first of my many guitars to come!

Bought this little devil in early 2008 with my army allowance along with a Roland 20X Cube amp and some miscellaneous accessories, like wires, adaptors etc. Back then, I wasn’t actually looking for a specific ‘sound’ on the guitar since I knew nuts of it, so I chose the one which reminded me best of one of my guitar heroes – the SG model.

Angus Young was (and still is) one of my favourite guitar heroes for his work back in AC/DC, and I wanted to have a guitar that looks much like the one he has. Since the Gibson SG models are obviously out of my budget and the standard SG model that Epiphone offers is a little bit pricey (retails at about $600 here), I chose the SG Special for its good pricing and look. I also managed to get it first hand, fresh out of the box from a very helpful Swee Lee Music Company employee (who I believe no longer works there, pity).

It was on this guitar that I learnt how to play most (if not all) of the songs that you hear in our setlists now. It was also on this guitar that I brushed up on certain skills which I otherwise could not have done (easily) on an acoustic guitar – Stuff like hammer ons and pull offs, pick scrapes, full step bends etc etc.

Musically, this guitar is VERY solid for its price. The two stock humbucker pickups that come with the guitar offer a very mellow clean sound on the neck pickup and a trebly twang on the bridge pickups. It is excellent for rock and metal songs and the sounds you can get out of this guitar when plugged into a distortion box is incredible. The maple body really enhances the sustain and harmonics of the guitar, giving you a very rich lead tone for a low low price.

I’d highly recommend this as a starter guitar for any beginning guitarist.