Well guys,

This is a bit of a surprise to me, but I've decided to get an Epi G-400 SG copy. It's on order and should get to my local GC next week.

Kind of a weird feeling. Totally NOT the guitar I pictured myself buying. I hope against hope that I can pull of some reasonable instro-surf with it as well as psychobilly/rockabilly stuff. I purchased a Peavey Vyper 15 amp as well. Again, hoping that I can get some of the diverse range of sounds I'm looking for out of this set-up.

Why go with the SG you might ask? Well, with my particular finger issue on my fret hand index, the neck just felt the best. That is the main reason. Other than that, I felt that the value to be had for $349 was quite exceptional. Much better than the $299 Epi LP 100 IMHO and on par with the Epi LP Standard which goes for $429 or more. What a difference between the LP 100/G-310 and the LP Standard/G-400's! Not just in the set neck vs. bolt-on, but in just the overall fit and finish. This mind you is coming from a noob, so I'm sure there are even more differences to the trained eye.

Other guits I tried out extensively: Epi LP's; Ibanez various inc. semi-hollows; Mexi-strats; and Squires. The semi-hollows that I looked at felt ridiculously bulky and had no weight to their sound. Sound-wise I felt the same about the strats/squires. Just too thin!

Again, I hope I don't regret my decision (I'm terrible about buyer's remorse!). I think that for punk, metal, blues, and classic rock I will be sitting pretty with the SG clone. The instro-surf and rockabilly are the only ones that I wonder about. Also, hope that it sounds good clean. It seemed okay when I fooled around at GC but again I'm a noob.

Having said all that, I am looking forward to getting it and quite frankly, if it doesn't do EVERYTHING that I want, then I guess the wife will just have to agree to another guitar down the road a little bit.