Jack Dotson Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 Hello all. First time poster here. I've been a Fender guy for a long time, but the other day I played an Epi 61 reissue SG elite model and was blown away by how well I liked the feel of the neck. Unfortunately it's an 04 model that's been hanging for a long time and dealer wants $699 for it when I know MF blew these out a few years ago for $599. Anynow, I started to take a hard look at some affordable SG's and ran across the Gibson SG Special in worn yellow finish. They also have an SG Faded model, so these are not the same. I've seen and played some of the faded models and did not like the unfinished feel of the neck. Are any of you guys familair with both and can you tell me what the differences are? I do see the SG Special has neck binding where the faded model doesn't and it list for over $1500 while the faded list for just over a grand. I'm ready to make a move on the worn yellow, but not if it's just unfinished and rough feeling like the faded version are. Your help is appreicated.
littlekenny Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 with the faded version you can feel the wood grain and it has no lacquer finish on top.Now i'm not sure on the Worn finish but i think it has paint and lacquer finish just the color is slightly different to make it look older.
Jack Dotson Posted April 20, 2008 Author Posted April 20, 2008 with the faded version you can feel the wood grain and it has no lacquer finish on top.Now i'm not sure on the Worn finish but i think it has paint and lacquer finish just the color is slightly different to make it look older. Thanks for the response. Can anyone confirm this?
Jack Dotson Posted April 20, 2008 Author Posted April 20, 2008 I just talked to the guy at MF and he said there is a difference. He said the worn finish is smooth and you can't see through the paint. He said is just looks old where the faded shows the wood and you can feel the wood grain as well. Sounds good to me so I went ahead and put one on order. I'm hyped. Six hundred bucks for a guitar that list for almost $1600. :D/ I acutally like the yellow teles, maybe I'll like this one as well.
littlekenny Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 when is it due to arrive? make sure you post some pics when it comes.
Jack Dotson Posted April 20, 2008 Author Posted April 20, 2008 when is it due to arrive? make sure you post some pics when it comes. Not sure. I'll have to wait until I get a shipping notice, but hopefully it will go out tomorrow and I should have it by Thursday or Friday. I also have a set of Duncan Alnico II pick-up's due in this week for my American Tele Deluxe HH so it's going to be a fun week. I'll post some pictures when it comes if I can figure out how to do so. New to this forum so I haven't tried posting any pictures yet. I might have to to ask you guys for some help, but I figure there are probably allot of people who are as curious about the differences as I am. BTW, did you also notice this model comes with binding on the neck?
guitar_randy Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 Good question there. I thought they were one in the same
Reynolds_wRap Posted April 23, 2008 Posted April 23, 2008 where do you see the neck binding? I am just curious I was looking at photo's and didn't see any neck binding.
littlekenny Posted April 23, 2008 Posted April 23, 2008 if you look at where the body and neck meet you can kinda see it.
LPDEN Posted April 25, 2008 Posted April 25, 2008 I think both a very good deals, especially when you consider where prices have gone even on their vintage counter parts. On faded and worns alike I usually prefer cherry, but I will admit I can be a sucker for TV Yellow. And it's ok to dig in on the faded/worn issues to get that sound you desire as well as doing set-up treatments without worrying about ruining a vintage example.
Jack Dotson Posted April 25, 2008 Author Posted April 25, 2008 As it turns there was an error with billing on my MF card so it wasn't shipped and I'm glad it didn't. I got a chance to see the worn models at GC and they look just like the faded to me, which I don't really care for. I'm seriously considering an Epi Elite model. My local dealer has one in Cherry with case for $699, but it's been hanging for at least a couple of years and it's not one of the latest Elitist models; it's an Elite (anyone know what the differences between these two are?). I think this price is a little high. I offered $600, but he said no. Do you guys think this is a fair price for an Elite and what is your opinion of these guitar in general? The 61 reissue is really the model I want, but I don't want to pay what Gibson is asking for them.
LPDEN Posted April 25, 2008 Posted April 25, 2008 As it turns there was an error with billing on my MF card so it wasn't shipped and I'm glad it didn't. I got a chance to see the worn models at GC and they look just like the faded to me' date=' which I don't really care for. I'm seriously considering an Epi Elite model. My local dealer has one in Cherry with case for $699, but it's been hanging for at least a couple of years and it's not one of the latest Elitist models; it's an Elite (anyone know what the differences between these two are?). I think this price is a little high. I offered $600, but he said no. Do you guys think this is a fair price for an Elite and what is your opinion of these guitar in general? The 61 reissue is really the model I want, but I don't want to pay what Gibson is asking for them. [/quote'] Jack, I know one example is not repesrentative of the line, but I played an Epi Elite LP and it just didn't measure up. The Pickup toggle switch crackled severely, the plastic cover around the output jack was not flush and the 1 tone knob felt as if someone put lock-tite in it and 1 volume know when turned was uneven. I found it off the display wall to be unplayable. The only thing it had going for it was the looks. Yes, it probably was an anomaly, but for the money on that particular one I would buy an Gibson LP Studio instead and not think twice about my decision.
Jack Dotson Posted April 25, 2008 Author Posted April 25, 2008 I went ahead and pulled the trigger at the dealers asking price. It turns out one of the guitars was actually an Elitist and the other was the older Elite. The Elitist, which I bought, has a serial number which starts with F4 so I think it's a 2004 and the Elite was F2. He showed me his cost and it was $626 so I thought his asking price was very fair after seeing his cost. Before making my decison I stopped by GC and played a Gibson SG 61 reissue and a SG Standard to get a reference and it was an eye opening experience. The Gibson 61 reissue at GC acatully had a small run in the paint right on top of the guitar and G string was raised noticably higher than the other strings, but would still fret out even with a light attack. Appears the nut had been cut too deep. The SG Standard was actually allot nicer, but it would also fret out and I didn't spend allot of time trying to determine why. I expect more from guitars at this price. I tried a 2nd Gibson 61 reissue at the dealer I bought the Epi from and it had a beautiful set-up and I couldn't find a single flaw. It was about as close to perfect as you could want. I looked the EPI over very well and it was absolutely perfect as well. I also looked the older Elite over and found a small gap between the body and neck right were they meet. It was very small and I couldn't tell how bad it was because of the little plastic piece, but it was there. Both guitars played and felt pretty much the same, but the Epi was noticably heavier. It was also heavier then the Elite which felt to be about the same weight as the Gibby. I think I prefered the sound of the Gibson P/U's a little better, but to be honest I'm not sure. I know they have different pick-up's, but both guitars sounded pretty darned close to these old ears. The Gibson was a fine instrument and I would have been proud to have owned it, but at the end of the day I really believe the Epi was just as nice at just over a third the cost. He said he would let me have the Gibson for $1870. I've owned some nice guitars over the years and the name does mean something to me, but I just coudn't justify spending this much more for a guitar that was practically the same. Especially considering I'm just a home hacker. Anyhow, just thought I'd share my experience with you guys. Your responses and assistance/advise is appreicated. BTW, it also came with a pretty decent case which has an Elitist logo printed on it.
LPDEN Posted April 25, 2008 Posted April 25, 2008 Congrats Jack! Sounds like you did the legwork necessary to make an informed decision! Here's to many happy years together for you with your new Epi Elitist LP!
Jack Dotson Posted April 25, 2008 Author Posted April 25, 2008 Congrats Jack! Sounds like you did the legwork necessary to make an informed decision! Here's to many happy years together for you with your new Epi Elitist LP! Thanks Denny.
LPDEN Posted April 26, 2008 Posted April 26, 2008 Thanks Denny. You bet! Post up the pics when you receive it!
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.