MetalBear421 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 New SG owner here (Epiphone G-400) with a question that's hopefully not too 'noob'. I recently bought my aforementioned Epiphone G-400. It's great aside from when playing I've found it unusually easy to bend any note on the guitar via normal gig-intensity neck pressure - be it pushing, pulling, lifting. I've not experienced it on any of my other guitars and was wondering whether it was just a G-400 trait or the symptom of a problem with my particular guitar? The issue is more prominent when using the guitar from standing with a strap, and near the headstock can come come to a rise of nearly a semitone. I was wondering if any SG players would be able to shed any light on it? This is my first set neck, and as I say I've not had any trouble with my other bolt-on guitars (Charvel, Yamaha 'V', '70s Les Paul copy). I've had a search for anything on this topic and as far as I can tell nothing's been mentioned previously. Any help would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Hmmmm.... have no real experience with the G400s other than trying an acquaintance's a few times, but did not notice the neck being particularly "flexible," as it sounds your is ....or perhaps you just have the strength of 10 mortal men??? Only thing I noticed was it being more "neck heavy" than my Epi LP, but not terrible in that regard. The 400 is set neck - does the neck appear to be fully set into the body???..any sign of finish "cracks" at the joint area, denoting a loose joint, perhaps? I dunno, just grasping at straws, here..... is your truss rod perhaps completely loose or broken? If the problem is THAT easily noticeable, sounds like something ain't quite right...but, as stated above, I'm not particularly G400 savvy. Hopefully more knowledgeable sorts will help ya out, here....good luck, as it doesn't sound like it would be fun to thrash a guitar that is that sensitive to normal playing pressures/movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 New SG owner here (Epiphone G-400) with a question that's hopefully not too 'noob'. I recently bought my aforementioned Epiphone G-400. It's great aside from when playing I've found it unusually easy to bend any note on the guitar via normal gig-intensity neck pressure - be it pushing, pulling, lifting. I've not experienced it on any of my other guitars and was wondering whether it was just a G-400 trait or the symptom of a problem with my particular guitar? The issue is more prominent when using the guitar from standing with a strap, and near the headstock can come come to a rise of nearly a semitone. I was wondering if any SG players would be able to shed any light on it? This is my first set neck, and as I say I've not had any trouble with my other bolt-on guitars (Charvel, Yamaha 'V', '70s Les Paul copy). I've had a search for anything on this topic and as far as I can tell nothing's been mentioned previously. Any help would be much appreciated. I know this is a technique some players like to use 'for effect' by pushing the headstock forward while holding the guitar body still. I'm not sure how much of a change in pitch when doing this is 'normal' but I'm not happy to try it on my own guits to find out. Cringe! However, if this pitch change is happening without you consciously trying to do it, I'd take your SG back to the store and compare it with other/similar guitars they have in stock to see if it really is a problem or whether it's something you are doing. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I'd take your SG back to the store and compare it with other/similar guitars they have in stock to see if it really is a problem or whether it's something you are doing. +1 and Welcome to the forum! Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoop Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I wouldn't recommend doing that to the neck a whole lot, but it's nothing to do with your guitar being faulty, just the design of the SG in general. It's mainly to do with the fact that the neck on an SG is set right at the last couple frets, so there's a bit more leverage on it than with a Les Paul or similar guitar that has the neck set at roughly the 16th fret. This is also why SGs can feel like a very long and plank-ish guitar if you're not used to playing one. When I had my G400, the pressure of my hand resting on the headstock turning the tuning machines was enough to change the pitch of the strings, so I'd have to tweak the tuner, then take my hand away so my tuner could register the actual pitch, and I could tune the thing accurately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat-o-steve Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Right on, Swoop! This condition is very common, and not only on SG's. Some Gibson's with the slim taper 60's necks are easily pulled out of tune from hand pressure. I've even owned Fender's where the maple neck was made from such a rubbery piece of flexible wood you could do the same thing. Sometimes it is just the design of the guitar, like an SG is prone to this. If it is a softer piece of wood, sometimes as the guitar ages it will stiffen up. On your SG, your neck mounts to the body right at the last frets, and has only a small tennon of wood inserted into the body, which has been made thinner to mount the neck pickup. Although some SG's can be worse than others, most all of them will have this "trait" to a certain degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Right on, Swoop! This condition is very common, and not only on SG's. Some Gibson's with the slim taper 60's necks are easily pulled out of tune from hand pressure. I've even owned Fender's where the maple neck was made from such a rubbery piece of flexible wood you could do the same thing. Sometimes it is just the design of the guitar, like an SG is prone to this. If it is a softer piece of wood, sometimes as the guitar ages it will stiffen up. On your SG, your neck mounts to the body right at the last frets, and has only a small tennon of wood inserted into the body, which has been made thinner to mount the neck pickup. Although some SG's can be worse than others, most all of them will have this "trait" to a certain degree. Yup....good points.............Some guitars need time to age..Some of my solid body Epis sound and play much better after years of aging..SG necks are thin as well..I use the bending technique on occasion...Townshed did it a lot.. It may be that you will have to adjust to these traits, if you can.........As per aging, I had an Epi SG 3 pickup, new, the wood was too fresh.....after ten years it 'solidified' a lot...I have a 1972 Epi solid body electric...solid as a rock............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I bend the neck on all my guitars that don't have a whammy bar, even my acoustics. That "technique" is just another part of guitar playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Yes, as already stated, just something that is definitely inherent in thinner necks. My LP Classic has the thinner 60s "Flat D" neck shape, but under "normal" playing I don't experience the pitch change, as I'm too busy making "Dramatic Poses" to put any pressure on the neck. I used to do similar trick to get "whammy bar" effect, but was mostly just for "Show", along with playing lead while git behind neck, bending lead notes and reaching "behind" my bend on the fretboard and wiggling the string. Looks good to the Audience! I know this is a technique some players like to use 'for effect' by pushing the headstock forward while holding the guitar body still. Reminded me of this clip by "Granian". He domonstrates the technique very efficiently... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_sPb-b2ZZI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hehe, you beat me to it animal, I couldn't find the video fast enough. That guy's really got the neck bending technique down, hasn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalBear421 Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Wow, thanks for the great responses everyone – much appreciated. I wouldn't recommend doing that to the neck a whole lot, but it's nothing to do with your guitar being faulty, just the design of the SG in general. It's mainly to do with the fact that the neck on an SG is set right at the last couple frets, so there's a bit more leverage on it than with a Les Paul or similar guitar that has the neck set at roughly the 16th fret. This is also why SGs can feel like a very long and plank-ish guitar if you're not used to playing one. When I had my G400, the pressure of my hand resting on the headstock turning the tuning machines was enough to change the pitch of the strings, so I'd have to tweak the tuner, then take my hand away so my tuner could register the actual pitch, and I could tune the thing accurately. Right on, Swoop! This condition is very common, and not only on SG's. Some Gibson's with the slim taper 60's necks are easily pulled out of tune from hand pressure. I've even owned Fender's where the maple neck was made from such a rubbery piece of flexible wood you could do the same thing. Sometimes it is just the design of the guitar, like an SG is prone to this. If it is a softer piece of wood, sometimes as the guitar ages it will stiffen up. On your SG, your neck mounts to the body right at the last frets, and has only a small tennon of wood inserted into the body, which has been made thinner to mount the neck pickup. Although some SG's can be worse than others, most all of them will have this "trait" to a certain degree. Glad to hear someone else has had a similar issue. I suspected it might have had something to with it being set so low on the neck. Hopefully that's the root of the problem and I'm just being paranoid. Thanks for the help both of you. Hmmmm.... have no real experience with the G400s other than trying an acquaintance's a few times, but did not notice the neck being particularly "flexible," as it sounds your is ....or perhaps you just have the strength of 10 mortal men??? Only thing I noticed was it being more "neck heavy" than my Epi LP, but not terrible in that regard. The 400 is set neck - does the neck appear to be fully set into the body???..any sign of finish "cracks" at the joint area, denoting a loose joint, perhaps? I dunno, just grasping at straws, here..... is your truss rod perhaps completely loose or broken? If the problem is THAT easily noticeable, sounds like something ain't quite right...but, as stated above, I'm not particularly G400 savvy. Hopefully more knowledgeable sorts will help ya out, here....good luck, as it doesn't sound like it would be fun to thrash a guitar that is that sensitive to normal playing pressures/movement. I, of course, do have the strength of ten mortal men . Hopefully with what Swoop and Strat have said there isn't a truss rod issue. Would there be a rattling or something perhaps if the truss rod was snapped? (Not experienced one myself.) I've not noticed any neck warping visually - although the mid point of the neck does seem to a slightly higher amount of fret buzz than I'd expect... On the topic of cracks there is a crack around the neck joint but I've given it a thorough look and it looks like a finish crack to me, which is why I didn't mention anything. It's not following any grain and doesn't budge in the slightest when I apply pressure to the neck. Would there be any way to perhaps sure up the neck or reduce any amount of neck 'flexibility'? The strings currently on the guitar are a slightly heavier gauge than I'd use typically. Could that affect it? Thanks for the help again everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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