Epiphone 1961 Les Paul SG Standard
12
GUITARIST APRIL 2022
EPIPHONE 1961 LES PAUL SG STANDARD
instrument. Gibson created a striking,
heavily chamfered 31mm (1.25-inch)
mahogany body and mated it to a mahogany
neck that joined the body at the last of its
22 frets. On the originals, the body and
neck were each one piece of Honduran
mahogany, now a restricted species, so
our Epiphone has a two-piece body of
unspecified mahogany, while the neck is a
single piece of the same. The fingerboard is
Indian laurel, a most attractive rosewood
alternative and rather nicer than the
indifferent ‘ginger’ stuff so often found on
instruments these days.
Les did have a point about the SG’s
sturdiness, or lack of it. Even though the
guitar features a long tenon that runs deep
into the body, the routing for the neck
pickup removes much of it, leaving the
instrument vulnerable at that point – just as
it is at the headstock, that other notorious
danger area. However, this very lightness of
construction made it a stunningly playable
guitar, and lent it a set of tones quite distinct
from that of its heftier forbear.
The SG Standard also carried over the
bound 22-fret fingerboard with trapezoid
inlays in faux pearl, just as we find here.
Epiphone has retained the beautifully
1
2
dimensioned medium C-profile neck, and
our guitar is also faithful to the original with
its small pickguard – later 60s versions, such
as Angus Young’s, featured the larger one
that covered much of the body and offered
cheaper production since the pickups were
mounted on it. Due to the guitar’s pointed
top horn it was not practical to mount the
strap button there, so instead we find it on
the back, by the heel. This has always made
the guitar’s balance on a strap something
of a compromise and, with the unusual
22nd-fret neck join, helped to push the
fingerboard off to the player’s left (on right-
handed instruments). However, we’ve never
heard Angus, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton
or any other famous SG player complain
about it; they simply worked around the
problem and got on with playing.
As we’ve seen with several of the
Epiphones we’ve looked at recently –
notably the superb Joe Bonamassa ‘Lazarus’
Les Paul and BB King ‘Lucille’ models
– Epiphone has gone to town on the SG’s
hardware and electronics. Our bridge is the
excellent LockTone tune-o-matic that stays
in place with or without string tension and
is said to offer better tone transfer to the
body and pickups. Tuners are Epiphone
Deluxe, based on the Kluson ‘keystone’
tuners found on the originals. Pickups are
the excellent Burstbuckers, a 2 at the neck
and the slightly beefier 3 in bridge position.
These are controlled by CTS tone and
volume pots, and Mallory capacitors, while
the output jack is by Switchcraft.
3. The SG’s control cover
shows the longtime
kinship between the
two great companies
4. The pickup rings’ end
sections are a noticeable
smidgen wider than on
standard surrounds.
Note the neck join
1. The small 60s-style
Epiphone headstock is
far more akin to Gibson’s
and so works well here
2. Attractively grained
Indian laurel is a great
rosewood alternative.
Note the pearloid
trapezoid inlays
3
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
Epiphone has
gone to town on
the SG’s hardware
and electronics
GIT483.rev_epi.indd 12GIT483.rev_epi.indd 12 17/02/2022 18:5517/02/2022 18:55