- One of the finest Epiphone's offerings
- Sweet rendition of the iconic SG guitar
- Excellent craftsmanship for the money
- Comes with a lot of pickup switching options
- Almost impossible to supply these days
- Better check out the current offerings by Epiphone
Hello there, back again with another guitar review for you. Does anyone like to own an SG model guitar without busting the bank? Here you are! In this review, we will be looking at an Epiphone G-400 Pro. I don’t know about you, but I have a thing for SGs. I had the chance to play some Epiphone G-400 Pro models during my service in the musical instruments industry, and from the first moment I played one, I just loved it.
Table of Contents
About Epiphone
For those who have never heard of Epiphone, here’s a quick introduction! Epiphone is a well-known guitar manufacturing company that traces its origins back to the late 19th century. The company was established in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey – interestingly, this is my hometown! :)). Initially, Epiphone focused on making traditional Greek instruments, but it eventually shifted its focus to guitars. In the early 20th century, the company moved to the United States and gained a reputation for producing high-quality, affordable guitars. Epiphone guitars became popular among musicians for their craftsmanship and sound. Over the years, Epiphone has manufactured a wide range of guitar models, including archtops, solid bodies, and semi-hollow bodies.
Please consider supporting this blog by buying your gear from Thomann using my links at no extra cost to you, many thanks!
One notable aspect of Epiphone‘s history is its association with Gibson, another prominent guitar manufacturer. Gibson acquired Epiphone in 1957, and since then, Epiphone has operated as a subsidiary of Gibson. This collaboration has allowed Epiphone to benefit from Gibson’s expertise and technology while maintaining its distinct identity. Epiphone guitars are widely used by musicians across various genres, and the brand is known for offering instruments that provide good value for their price. 
The company continues to produce a diverse range of guitars, catering to the needs of both beginners and experienced players. Epiphone guitars are recognised for their versatility, making them a popular choice in the music industry. Epiphone was always one of my favourite brands while I was working in the musical instruments industry. Even their most affordable guitars would sound and play great, almost right out of the box.
Check out my Epiphone guitar reviews
With the extremely high level of competition in the musical instrument industry, guitar brands have been putting so much effort into improving the quality of entry and mid-segment guitars. Recently, Epiphone has also put a lot of effort into making really cool guitars under their “Inspired by Gibson” series. This means that the Epiphone company (owned by Gibson) releases Les Pauls and SGs, which are almost exact replicas of the original legendary models with some step-back features. 
Epiphone G-400 Pro
It is a very, very comfortable guitar for me. It is not heavy and thick, so controlling your instrument is very easy. The only problem is that it tends to be a bit unbalanced (typical SG), so the headstock side feels just a little bit heavier.
In other words, I didn’t experience a severe amount of neck dive with this guitar. Also, since it has a very unique body style and double-cut design, it’s very comfortable to reach higher frets both while standing up or sitting down. But overall, if you have never tried an SG, please do! 
Review
Before we have a look at the specs, let’s hear the guitar in action. Note that this was the first video in which we used a better camera lens and better light in our studio. Also, the focus was spot on, so the guitar looked so beautiful and separated from the background in the video. Here you are: the longer video that we recorded with a Marshall JVM205C valve amp + Shure SM57 microphone.
Sound Demo (no talking)
Epiphone G-400 Pro carries every single property of an original Gibson SG. It also features some modern specs such as coil splitting. Let’s have a look at the specs.
Tech Specs
| Epiphone G-400 PRO SG | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Body | Mahogany |
| Construction | Set Neck (Glued In) |
| Neck | Mahogany, 1960's Slim Taper D Profile |
| Scale | 628.65mm |
| Fingerboard | Rosewood or Pau Ferro* |
| Pickups | Epiphone Alnico Classic Pro 4 Wire |
| Controls | 3-way Pickup Selector, Separate Tone and Volume Pots + Push/Pull Coil Tapping |
| Radius | 304.48mm |
| Frets | 22, Medium Jumbo |
| Bridge | LockTone Tune-O-Matic |
| Nut Width | 42.86mm |
| Tuners | Wilkinson Vintage Classics 18:1 |
As you can see from the specs above, this guitar is built to last, and the materials and components used are top-notch! For this price, I don’t think you’ll be able to find a better SG option. When we tested the guitar, there was nothing we could find in terms of a small- to medium-severity problem. Everything was perfect with the guitar!
Only fools keep their cash in a bank account! Let your money work for you with the most trustworthy broker ever!
Also, please see the beginning of the above video and hear how many different sounds you can get by combining separate splits. It is very smart to implement separate coil-splitting because you can have your neck pickup split and combine it with your full bridge pickup as well as your middle positions. It has many usable sounds built-in, and pots, wiring, and quality of components will never fail you during your performance.
As for the fretboard, the one I played definitely had a rosewood fingerboard. But this has probably been changed to a Pau Ferro board due to CITES regulations. You might have a rosewood board version or a pau ferro board version depending on which stock you are buying from.
I would definitely recommend this guitar as your budget SG model! If this price range is too much for your budget, you can step down a little bit and consider an Epiphone SG Special model guitar as well! Just as a side note, I have recently purchased an Epiphone SG Custom Ebony and already published a detailed review article. I think quality-wise, it’s pretty much identical to the G-400 PRO with fewer fancy features.
Check out my Epiphone SG Custom Ebony review here
Pricing & Availability
Unfortunately, the Epiphone G-400 Pro was long discontinued. It was one of the best Epiphones that I ever played back in those days. But rarely came back to our shop. So those who regularly follow the trends and the guitar market may already know that Epiphone’s guitar line has expanded and overlapped with Gibson, made-in-the-USA models and takes even some space from the authentic versions. For instance, around 5-6 years ago, there were Gibson Tribute models that were made in the USA and were priced around today’s made-in-China Epiphone models. I believe you will still be satisfied with Epiphone’s latest SG offerings; you won’t be able to find a G-400 Pro as a brand-new instrument anymore.
Check out the Epiphone SG models on Thomann here
You may want to check out the used market for this particular guitar. But again, this series wasn’t the most popular or well-known, so I don’t think you will find tons of used G-400 Pro models. Sometimes, there are a couple of listings that appear over there.
Check out the Epiphone G-400 Pro on Reverb here
I hope you have enjoyed this guitar review and found it helpful and insightful! Here on my blog, I will keep posting real reviews, unique articles and content that you can never find anywhere else! So please consider signing up for my newsletter (no spam, completely free) so you will always be the first to know when I publish new stuff here!
Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
