Epiphone Double Neck
At less than half the price, the Epiphone double neck (aka G-1275 SG) makes a compelling argument versus the Gibson double neck.
But how do they cram all that killer guitar into a $1,200 price tag? They make ‘em in China! And, with any Epiphone, the components (pickups, tuning keys, etc.) just won’t be as good.
What did you expect? You’re paying less for an Epiphone Double Neckthan you would for a single Gibson Les Paul… a lot less!
You still get all the functionality of the Gibson Double Neck except that the Epiphone double neck actually has 3 toggle switches. This means that you can have each neck’s pickups set independently, but on the Gibson, whichever pickup you select stays the same for both guitars. Click here to see what I mean.
I recommend buying this guitar online since you can save some money this way. If you do, I also recommend a licensed dealer, not eBay. There are too many parts (and dollars!) on this axe to take any chances!
Also, you can pretty much expect that the setup of the guitar after shipping is going to be jacked, so plan to take it to a shop for setup (or do it yourself).
Some buyers have said this guitar is actually a little darker (red) than pictures online, so be aware of that too. I’ve never seen this on any I’ve played, but it’s been reported.
Playing the Epiphone Double Neck
Of course, this guitar is heavy, and I do not recommend gigging this monster without a backup! As with any double neck guitar, this axe is very “neck heavy” and it will droop to the floor if you don’t keep an eye on it. You can sort of remedy this by using a nice wide leather strap when playing live or standing with this guitar… this will also help with the back pain!
The neck on the 6 string is small and rounded, which is good because you have to make a reach for it, especially if you’re standing up with it onstage! The neck on 12 string is a little wider (to accommodate all 12 strings) but not so wide that it feels weird.
One of the most important things is getting the output right between each set up pickups… especially live. A great way to piss off your sound engineer is to have two different levels coming from the same guitar! Expect that you may need to adjust the height of each pickup until you get it just right.
The tone on the 12 string is spectacular: bright, shimmering, and just something you don’t hear everyday. I prefer using the neck pickup because it sounds a bit more subdued, but the bridge pickup is good if you want to accent the highs. Switching to the 6 string, the sound reminds me of playing an SG. No surprise here, if you cut this axe in half it would be an SG! Recording with the 6 string is a little tough because it just feels so different than any other 6 string, but recording with the 12 string is a real treat because the neck is nice and high. It’s also a beautiful sound that’s more rare than your average 6 string.
The quality of this guitar is a mixed bag, and you’ve got to decide for yourself. On the one hand, this is a ton of guitar for the price. But on the other, the pickups, body, toggle switches, tuners, and electronics will be of lesser quality than the Gibson Double Neck.
If you can live with that, by all means go for the Epiphone G-1275 SG. But, ah… you may end up spending $1,200 and feel like you should have paid twice that for the “real deal.”
The decision is yours, but rest assured that whatever you decide, you will have your hands on one hell of an axe that few guitar pickers ever have the privelege to enjoy!
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