Is the Epiphone Limited Edition 1966 G400 Pro a Good Guitar for Blues

Rich Cuellar

New guy here. I just bought a new cherry red Ltd. Edition "1966" G400 Pro from GC, and I gotta say, for the price I was shocked at how good the quality was, especially being built in China. Fantastic guitar for the money ( I paid $350 out the door). It even has binding on the neck and a rosewood fretboard. I compared it to the Gibson SG they had there, and while great, the differences just didn't justify the huge price increase for me. The Epi played and sounded almost as well as the Gibson. I generally try to avoid anything made in China, but this guitar is far from cheap Chinese junk. I looked on Epiphones website and Im not seeing this particular model being listed anymore. Anyone know why? I know its "limited edition" but I thought that was just a sales gimmick. Is the Pro considered their top of the line? Either way, Its a truly beautiful guitar for the money. Id love to hear from other owners of this particular model!

Hector

Happy New Guitar Day!

(and welcome to the forum)

DrBGood

Great intro !

Your 1966 G400 is not better or worst than other G400 of the same year. It's only cosmetic differences between one and other. Pickups are either named Alnico 5 or Classics, which are actually the same pickup.

In recent years, China has been coming out with really good craftmanship on guitars.

There is no such thing as a Custom Shop at Epiphone, it's all marketing.

Rich Cuellar

My pickups appear to be Alnico Classic. I wonder how this guitar is gonna hold up over the years? I understand they used lower quality materials than a Gibson equivalent, which is understandable for the price, but I worry about the quality of the frets and fretboard holding up over a number of years? It wouldn't seem worth it to have it refretted.

DrBGood

I wonder how this guitar is gonna hold up over the years? I understand they used lower quality materials than a Gibson equivalent, which is understandable for the price, but I worry about the quality of the frets and fretboard holding up over a number of years? It wouldn't seem worth it to have it refretted.

An image is worth a thousand words ...

2003, 2004 and 2005 still going strong.

1995 ...

1995 ...

Rich Cuellar

An image is worth a thousand words ...
2003, 2004 and 2005 still going strong.
1995 ...
1995 ...

Good enough!!

plankton

I have a '66 Pro in TV Silver and it's one of my favourites. It was my first experience with the SG style and totally sold me on them.

Your guitar should have Alnico Classic Pro pickups, which are a little bit different to the regular Classics. Most notably the bridge pickup is not as hot and they have A5 magnets while I believe the Classics are A2.

It is out of production, the Epi "Custom Shop" can only produce so many limited edition guitars at a time. :rofl:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/SG/1966-G-400-PRO.aspx

Col Mustard

Welcome to ETSG, and congratulations.

You picked an excellent instrument. Epiphone guitars are not built out of the same
elegant grades of wood as Gibsons are, but what you get for your money is a fine
practical instrument to play music with. Spend the money you saved on expert setup
and a good case. Then rock.

IMHO a well setup Epiphone is a much more useful guitar than a badly set up Gibson
that cost five to eight times as much.

The good Doctor has picked some even lovelier than normal Epiphones, and they look
elegant and probably play like buttah... Many of the normal grade of G-400s are made
of different layers of different wood, laminated together... but this does NOT harm the
tone IMHO. It just makes them affordable.

I have only one Epiphone right now, an ES-339 which I have grown very fond of.
Enjoy yours, it ought to last a lifetime.

Girl_Rock

Welcome to ESG! Nice guitar!

HackeIommi

This is a beautiful catch! HNGD man!

Fillypino Fried

Wait, I posted on the wrong thread. D'oh!

Congrats on your new gear, though! I found some guy selling a '66 G-400 Pro in white with a hardcase for real cheap, but I didn't get it on time.

Beery Swine

I generally try to avoid anything made in China, but this guitar is far from cheap Chinese junk.

If it's on principle, I can understand this stance, but quality-wise I'd honestly rather have an Epiphone than a Gibson. I don't like the headstock angle of Gibsons, they're more prone to breaking, plus the Epiphone headstock is thicker and has nearly a volute from where the extra thickness of the headstock meets the neck.
Also I'd rather give Gibson as little money as possible as of late, even if they still get my money from an Epi purchase.

DrBGood

There is a huge difference between made in Asia guitars for a specific brand, like Epiphone or Squier or PRS, and a back alley business making the cheapest possible copies of expensive guitars.

Many of the normal grade of G-400s are made
of different layers of different wood, laminated together... but this does NOT harm the
tone IMHO. It just makes them affordable.

Not exactly true. The way you write it, make it sound like it's made of plywood. A run of the mill G400 is usually made of two wide pieces of hardwood and two smaller ones to complete the contour curves. That wood not having it's grain pattern matched, looks better with a thin piece of veneer on top of it. Those top and bottom laminates are very thin, but nonetheless real wood. Very expensive furniture has that kind of final layer.

Rich Cuellar

If it's on principle, I can understand this stance, but quality-wise I'd honestly rather have an Epiphone than a Gibson. I don't like the headstock angle of Gibsons, they're more prone to breaking, plus the Epiphone headstock is thicker and has nearly a volute from where the extra thickness of the headstock meets the neck.
Also I'd rather give Gibson as little money as possible as of late, even if they still get my money from an Epi purchase.

I definitely prefer Made In The USA goods for a number of reasons, but Im really impressed with the Chinese made Epiphones and have no issues with owning one. The proof is in the pudding and the quality for the money is exceptional. On the other hand, I recently purchased a used 2017 Gibson SG Special T and its magic. It has a certain "mojo" I can't pinpoint. It immediately became my prized possession.

SatansGwitar

New guy here. I just bought a new cherry red Ltd. Edition "1966" G400 Pro from GC, and I gotta say, for the price I was shocked at how good the quality was, especially being built in China. Fantastic guitar for the money ( I paid $350 out the door). It even has binding on the neck and a rosewood fretboard. I compared it to the Gibson SG they had there, and while great, the differences just didn't justify the huge price increase for me. The Epi played and sounded almost as well as the Gibson. I generally try to avoid anything made in China, but this guitar is far from cheap Chinese junk. I looked on Epiphones website and Im not seeing this particular model being listed anymore. Anyone know why? I know its "limited edition" but I thought that was just a sales gimmick. Is the Pro considered their top of the line? Either way, Its a truly beautiful guitar for the money. Id love to hear from other owners of this particular model!

I sold my Epi '66 g400 pro earlier this year when I switched to Gibson guitars. Being a previous owner of two of that exact model, and based off your photos, that neck is actually Pau Ferro not Rosewood, the older '66 G400 version with black binding had rosewood but Epi changed it for the current versions. And for some reason the bevels near the neck on new Epi g400s changed as well, its a bit cut off for whatever reason. Great guitars no doubt, tho I personally preferred the Epi G400 pro over the '66 version for sound and build reasons, the pushpull coil split feature was cool too, enjoy it man! I've no complaints over Epiphone guitars other than superficial cosmetic stuff and inconsistent product descriptions from their site versus retailers but good stuff, and yeah they'll outlast you probably, they're not sensitive like Gibson guitars, nothing cracks polyurethane finish and the parts are cheaper to replace if needed.

SatansGwitar

An image is worth a thousand words ...
2003, 2004 and 2005 still going strong.
1995 ...
1995 ...

Ah jeez, i had that middle brown one once, a nice guitar, think mine was Walnut satin worn or something like that with that amber switch knob. loved the pickups too Alnico Pro's (IV or V's?) good axe. I only traded it due to its weight, the one i had weighed like a Les Paul and those Grover tuner heads i swapped out with screw on Kluson tips and it only helped a bit. A pretty guitar regardless and great sound too!

DrBGood

Ah jeez, i had that middle brown one once, a nice guitar, think mine was Walnut satin worn or something like that with that amber switch knob. loved the pickups too Alnico Pro's (IV or V's?) good axe. I only traded it due to its weight, the one i had weighed like a Les Paul and those Grover tuner heads i swapped out with screw on Kluson tips and it only helped a bit. A pretty guitar regardless and great sound too!

Alnico Classics.
What year was yours ?

Clifdawg

All I can say about the Epiphone G-400 Pro is that I saw a white "1966" model hanging in a local store and thought it was so sexy that I bought it that day. Loved it so much I ended up getting a Gibson SG later. I sold the G-400 for a steal to a guy trying to get his new church band up and going, and the Gibson has been the only one in the stable since.

The only issue I ever had with it is that one of the finicky push-pull pots went out. I gutted it and installed a wiring harness and humbucker-sized P90s from Guitarfetish in it for something like 90 bucks all-in. Those pups sung like a chorus of angels in that axe.

Honestly, miss it. There were things about it I actually liked more than the Gibson (although, as a whole, I prefer the Gibson).

Miranda Myrand

Is the Epiphone Limited Edition 1966 G400 Pro a Good Guitar for Blues

I just bought a new Ltd. Edition 1966 G400 Pro. Thoughts...

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