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I took this straight to a set up due to the reviews but it wasn't needed. Playable right out of the box! It sounds great and the all black is serious. It's also very light and comfortable to play. A very satisfied customer indeed.

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I may rate and review guitars differently than others. I'm not going to knock this guitar down to a 3 or 4 just because it is not equal to a Gibson Custom Shop SG. This is a $200 guitar that looks great and plays well right out of the box, so it gets a 5. The flat black looks awesome, and I found no cosmetic issues. Fit and finish are fine, and hardware is equal to or better than expected from a guitar in this price range. Pickups are a little blah, but I was easily able to dial in some great tones. Will probably not need to upgrade them. Action is just a teeny bit higher than I like but is definitely easily playable out of the box. A quick neck shim will get it where I like. There is some slight fret sprout but that is to be expected as I am at an elevation of 7000 feet and guitars ship to me via Phoenix, which is consistently 25 to 60 degrees hotter than here. A little sanding will take care of that. Tuners are adequate and better than many I've seen on guitars at this price. All in all, this is a great little guitar. I've got 25+ guitars and needed an SG to complete to collection. This fits the bill quite nicely. Mine was most definitely easily playable out of the box and I have no regrets. You'll have to excuse me now as I need to go practice my duckwalk.

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Although under $200 it really looks like it cost more. Setup was good. Frets weren't sharp, so for the money it is a nice guitar. It didn't come with a truss rod tool so if you do need to adjust the neck you will need to get one. The older I have become the less weight I like slung over my shoulder. This SG is light weight which is fine with me. If I ever gig again this would be the guitar I would gig with.

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I'm fortunate enough to own quite a few nice and much more expensive guitars, but I bought this because I wanted something I could thrash on stage a little bit and not worry about it getting dinged up. I'm debating that choice now because this thing is actually pretty nice for what it is. The setup was close to perfect, just a few minor adjustments I had to make because I use 12-52 strings. Didn't even need to touch the truss rod. Neck was perfectly straight. Pickups sound OK, and would probably have worked just fine for its intended purpose, but I did upgrade it with some Seymour Duncan pups. I also upgraded to Grover Deluxe tuners because I have experience with the less expensive Epiphone tuners not being the best, and this still seems to be the case. The original tuners would lose tune after just a minute of playing. Probably the only negative with this guitar. Overall, being a stage guitar that I can wail on for the last song of my set, I'd give it a 4 out of 5, mainly because it required a tuner swap to stay in tune. Everything else is great or better than you'd expect from a guitar in this price range.

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Got a great deal on a blemed one from zz, still trying to find the blemish!, played really good right out of the box, however would still recommend setup and fret work from local shop, I did upgrade the pickups for some chrome covered humbuckers, looks and sounds awesome!

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I'm a new guitar player, just learning. Mine was decent out of the box, good action. I believe mine was returned and resold, so maybe that accounts for the better set up. The black satin is gorgeous, and the sounds out of the guitar are exactly what I was looking for. Having said that, the toggle switch is shorting out already, after just a couple of months. Overall, I think I'd step up the the better SG, but I'm definitely a SG fan. It's ok for me for learning, but I'll definitely upgrade later.

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I purchased a walnut VE SG. Very nice lines. Great neck. Pickups are very bright!! Tone control has a nice range. Tuners are the weak spot but ok. Very nice fret work and playability. Overall, the nicest Epi special guitare I have ever owned. Thank you zZounds!!!!!

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Well I should’ve listened to the other person who said the fret wires were not filed correctly. My neck was actually bent backwards. Needed Major truss rod adjustment. I get that these are cheap guitars but DAMN the quality control on these things is horrendous. Some people got great ones, and unfortunately I got a complete P.O.S. Now I am debating is it worth the headache of the return process or do I just eat it and chalk it up to lesson learned. Not saying you shouldn’t buy one at all, just beware because you are rolling the dice with your money on this one. You may be lucky like most and get a great one.

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Shipping was fast but when I opened the box the guitar was out of the main box thank goodness it was not damaged okay that said . It’s gorgeous for a 200 dollar guitar no sprouts at all action was fine intonation on D was out just a bit I dialed it in played actually right out the box and yes I’m coming back for a 59

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Arrived with neck so badly bent backwards it was NOT even close to playable. Fret buzz was the most severe case I have ever seen in over 40 years of being around guitars of all brands , types, etc..... As stated before Fret Wires were not filed, just cut off and left razor sharp.Took a ton of attention to get it even somewhat playable and I mean filing and dressing EVERY Fret Wire.This was no ordinary fret sprout from temp/ humidity fluctuation. This was obviously a complete falsehood to put a QC inspected sticker on this and ship it. Neck had to have such a truss rod adjustment I was sure it was going to break while trying to get it straight enough to play. yes it is dirt cheap.......and there's good reason for that, it"s JUNK. For a mere $50 or so more you can do SO much better. This thing is not even close to an SG. Might be shaped like one but that is about it

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read the reviews some good and some bad. i had this model years ago and was sorry i sold it. lite as a feather and rock solid. a little stif on the action out of thr box .]ut a set of EB SUPER SLINKYS ON IT AND WAMMO THE PERFECT FUN GUITAR. i have owned all major brands and this guitar holds up to any of them.. will never sell it again. thanks zZ

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This was my first SG purchase, played a Gibson Standard years ago and fell in love with the action and shaping of it. This cheaper Epiphone version is a great value for your beginner players and with some mods can be a Great guitar.

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I can not believe the chunk that I’m getting from this SG the body needs to be sanded more you can see some orange peel on it but for the price I’ll deal with it the sound quality is amazing I wasn’t expecting it to sound like this perfect death metal chunk

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i played sg's in the late 80's and decided to get another one. didn't want to mortgage the house for a gibson and haven't been too happy with gibson quality the last decade or so. read a bunch of reviews of this guitar and said, what the heck. after i got it i adjusted the action and set intonantion. i was amazed at the tones that this guitar produces. i have all duncans in my other guitars. i'm not touching this one. it sounds that good, clean , crunch or lead tones. it plays very well and sounds fine.

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Mine came with the body sides and beveled edges, painted to try to match the stained front and back.Very disappointing and surprising because the photos did not show that.Had I known I would definitely not have bought it. Makes it look cheaper than the $199 price.Had it been all stain like the photos, I would have bought another, their loss.

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I recieved it a day early .tuned it checked everything it was great set up is right on .sounds fantastic with my 65watt Pyle amp more than happy with my purchase well worth the money .I have already told some friends and one is buying one.thnx zZounds great job .

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After I opened the box and got the guitar out the neck was crooked and strings not aligned with the neck, fret buzz and unplayable. Didn't want to send it back because I really wanted to play so I unscrewed the neck and was able to tighten it down and the strings were aligned. Then I did a adjustment on everything and put new strings on it and it now it plays really well. If you can get passed the horrible setup and crooked neck then its an excellent cheap guitar to play on.

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This guitar, for me, is what made me decide to never buy another new Epiphone. The frets were razors, the machine heads were cheap, the pickups were dull, and after over a year of work and an extra $200 in parts, I have a decent guitar. I will now be buying Harley Benton guitars.