EPIPHONE POWER PLAYERS SG

“EPIPHONE IS MAKING LEGACY GUITARS EXCITING FOR NEW PLAYERS”
O
kay, before we take a deep
dive into this guitar, we need
to get the obvious stuff out
of the way  rst. This guitar
is built with a very speci c
player in mind, and frankly, we aren’t
it. This guitar was designed for the
youngest of players, putting us
a comfortable two feet taller than the
intended audience. So with that in
mind, we won’t judge this devil-
horned six-string on whether or not it
will replace our beloved SG Standard,
but instead, we aim to  nd out
whether it ful ls the brief it has set
out for itself – is it a good  rst guitar?
Now, the Power Players SG is up
against some pretty stiff competition
in this rather crowded end of the
market. Fender, Jackson and Ibanez
all off er well-received mini shredders,
and unfortunately for Epiphone, they
are all more aff ordable – though
granted, they don’t all come with
extra accessories. That said, Epiphone
might just win when it comes to
playability, and the retro charm of
this classic design most de nitely
stole our hearts.
Despite its size, this guitar doesn’t
feel cramped at all – even for
a grown-up’s hands. Sitting with this
SG was surprisingly natural and the
fret spacing didn’t mess with our
muscle memory too much. The
D pro le neck is nicely rounded,
with a smooth  nish, and we
can see it being a hit with rookie
players. It’s easy to play for hours
and hours without placing too
much strain on young  ngers.
At the heart of this colourful
SG is a set of Epiphone branded
humbuckers – more speci cally,
the 650R and 700T. These
no-frills pickups deliver the exact
sound you expect to hear from
this devilishly pointy axe, with
the tone being equal parts warm
and present, and you’ll be glad to
know there’s just the right amount
of output to get things cooking.
We need to give a quick shout out
to the overall aesthetic of the Power
Players range and, in particular the
SG. It’s our belief that Epiphone is
trying to make the – sometimes –
stuff y world of legacy guitars fun and
exciting for new players, and we fully
endorse this bold look. All three
colour options – Lava Red,
Dark Matter Ebony and Ice
Blue – hit the mark for us. Our
review example was  nished
in the snowy Ice Blue, and
while it may look more at
home on a guitar of
Californian persuasion, we
think the handsome curves
of the SG wear it well.
In fact, Gibson, if you are
reading this: hurry up and
make the SG Standard
available in this  nish
for us older kids!
AT A GLANCE
BODY & NECK: Mahogany
NECK PROFILE: SlimTaper D
SCALE LENGTH: 577.34 mm / 22.73”
FINGERBOARD: Indian Laurel
FRETS: 22, Medium Jumbo Bridge,
Lightning Bar Compensated
Wrap Around
PICKUPS: Epiphone 650R/700T
Humbuckers
CONTROLS: 2 Volume, 2 Tone
FINISH: Ice Blue (reviewed),
Dark Matter Ebony, Lava Red
£249
EPIPHONE POWER PLAYERS SG
For young ones about to rock
TOTAL GUITAR DECEMBER 2022
88
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