SG clones?

[Fresh_Start]

Hamer, Heritage, PRS, and lots of others make clones of Les Pauls, 335's, LP Jr.s, etc. Does anybody make a good quality clone of the SG? Or are the Epiphone and/or Gibson new production models consistently well made?

Just curious

Chip

[thespricket]

I remember Rondo had a fantastic SG, it was a dead on copy. Now they make those stupid look Valkyrie things. They look awful, never mind how they sound.

there arent any more available as new, but im sure you could find one on ebay. You could probly score a Jay Turser or some other old sg clone on ebay as well.

[sosomething]

Edwards, Edwards, Edwards. Comparable to Gibson USA in every aspect but price by all accounts, including my own.

[tubeman87]

^ Nice! I really need to get my hands on a Edwards, they look so freakn' good! I would have to agree with sosomething Edwards would be the way to go as far as modern SG copies, if you looking for vintage Guild made some great SG copies in thier S-90 and S-100 line in the 70's

[sosomething]

The S-100 was my dream guitar when I first started out purely on the basis that Kim Thayil always played one.

[tubeman87]

^ They (along w/practically all Guilds) are really under rated guitars, great all around players.

[mrturtle_91]

ESP Viper is close to the SG. The body is a slightly modified shape though.

[stevie_bees]

Not much help, but Gordon-Smith in the UK make excellent guitars, including an SG.

[3th3r]

Reverend:


Vintage Guitars


Jay Turser

[3th3r]

Gordon Smith:


Greg Bennett


Westfield Electric

[3th3r]

Agile:


Spirit (by Gibson)


Signature (by Gibson)

[3th3r]

And finally, the most expensive SG clone...
Navigator

[Pete Galati]

I bought an Epi SG Elitist a few years ago. Made in Japan, instead of Korea. Nice guitar, but if Edwards guitars had been available, and I knew about them, I probably would have gone with one of those. If you can find an Epi Elitist SG used, I think they stopped making them, but they're decent guitars.

[some_dude]

Jaydee Guitars

[3th3r]

Jaydee Guitars

Of course, how I could forget the famous Iommi #1!

Here is Jaydees newest Iommi

[Fender_Punk]

Squier made some SG copies around the time School Of Rock came out. My friend had one.

[PFDarkside]

**** I've got some red SG GAS now!!!

[PoorMan]

I really like Burny SGs. Mine is currently my fav guitar.

[Fresh_Start]

Several of the clones are neck-through construction instead of set neck. I've read criticism of the Gibson neck joint for SG's, especially the "short tenon" variety.

Do you all think that neck-through changes the tone a lot? (I'm reasonably sure that it would boost sustain.)

Chip

[sosomething]

Several of the clones are neck-through construction instead of set neck. I've read criticism of the Gibson neck joint for SG's, especially the "short tenon" variety.

Do you all think that neck-through changes the tone a lot? (I'm reasonably sure that it would boost sustain.)

Chip

Surprisingly, neck-through construction has little to no effect on sustain, all other things being the same. This is especially true on guitars of relatively simple construction like SGs. Of course there are always exceptions but in my experience I find this to be true.

The biggest difference between the two designs in terms of sound is in the midrange characteristics. Neck-throughs can tend to be more focused in the upper-mids, with a more immediate note attack. Set-necks can tend to have a softer attack and more emphasis on lower midrange.

There is something to be said of the large, flat soundboard an SG body provides. A good SG should be quite loud acoustically and have a lot of forward projection unplugged. I can't comment with authority on the tonal difference of long tenon vs. short, though I have owned SGs of both type. The first was a mid-90s SG Special (short tenon) and my current SG is a 1963 Junior (long tenon). I definitely prefer the tone of the Junior to the Special, and it is far more resonant, but there are just too many other differences between them for me to attribute it all to neck construction.

FWIW the Edwards guitars have the long tenon and traditional neck joint construction the same or similar to pre-Norlin Gibsons.