Epiphone 1961 Les Paul SG Standard

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APRIL 2022 GUITARIST
EPIPHONE 1961 LES PAUL SG STANDARD
The guitar is available in two colours:
the Aged Sixties Cherry you see here and
which more or less typifies the SG; and the
rarer Aged Classic White, which was more
often seen on Custom versions but did
make its way onto Standards, too. The term
‘aged’ really just means a slightly matt look,
and of course these Chinese-made guitars
are finished in polyester rather than the
traditional nitrocellulose of Gibsons vintage
and modern. They both look great, though,
and at this price it would be unfair to get
picky – especially when you factor in the
premium hardware and electronics.
A couple of final points. The SG carries
the excellent 60s ‘small’ headstock design
that’s so much more elegant than the
previous rather lumpy outline. All plastic
ware is black, and the bell-style truss rod
features the famous ‘Les Paul’ script. One
tiny thing, though: the pickup surrounds’
end pieces (where the mounting and height
adjustment screws sit) seem a touch wider
than on original vintage SGs of the era
and almost every other guitar fitted with
humbuckers. It could just be a perceived
difference, however – we’d need to take a
ruler to an original ’61 to be sure.
Feel & Sounds
As mentioned, the SG’s 22nd-fret neck join
offers total access to the fingerboard. The
standard 43mm nut width and medium
C-section profile – with a depth of just
over 18mm at the 1st fret and 20mm at the
12th – is a wonderland for exploration.
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The SG bears the usual Gibson-style
control layout of two volumes, two
tones and three-way pickup switch
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