Epiphone SG Classic Worn P90 a Budget SG that is Worth Upgrading!

I love SG style guitars. They are so easy to play and light weight. They for me and most players only really have two downsides (although I am sure folks will argue there is more, but this is my list).

The first is I am always nervous I am going to do something that will end up causing a break at the headstock. I as a result I am super careful in my handling of the guitar.

The second is sometimes the neck weighs more than the body and you get head or neck dive. This is when you wear a guitar strap and when you place it naturally on your body the center of gravity is not where it normally should be. It is more towards the headstock somewhere on the neck. As a result, the neck takes a dive.

I have become very appreciative of the Epiphone models of the SG. I think they are well made for the price and a great handling guitar. You can get Gibson SG Tribute guitars for about $700 to $1000 used. The very cool thing is you can get an Epiphone version to the Gibson tribute series called the Epiphone SG Classic Worn P90. This guitar new goes for $429. Here is the great thing – the used version of the guitar goes for between $274 to $380. I picked mine up in this video for only $325 and it is in great condition.

The guitar only comes in two colors. Faded Cherry as my guitar is and Faded Inverness Green.

With the Epiphone SG Classic Worn P90 you get a guitar that is a no-frills version of the Gibson and Epiphone SG. Meaning the finish is purposely not shiny and as I discovered the back of the neck could use some smoothing out.

It does have a mahogany body and set neck. The frets can be high but can be easily remedied.

I am not going to argue the merits of the electronics and guitar. They are actually pretty good for an affordable guitar. I am confident that many players have the guitar unmodified, and they absolutely love it. For the sake of the video I wanted to see what they guitar would be like by adding about $250 in upgrades.

In this video I took a used Epiphone SG Classic Worn P90 and ordered pickups and a wiring harness to upgrade the guitar to the level of a good Gibson SG.

I wanted really good pickups but at a budget price. I found Red Rock Guitar Pickups out of Michigan. I was able to order a custom set of Alnico 2 P90 pickups with my choice of color of covers for $100 + Tax and Shipping. They focus on P90s and Single Coil Telecaster pickups. The prices of the pickups induvial or in sets is ridiculously reasonable. The quality of the pickups I received we as good/quality as any I have ever purchased from big name companies like Seymour Duncan.

The link for Red Rock Guitar Pickups in in the description of this video to their Reverb Store:

For the wiring harness I could have built one but I do not carry most of the parts in my shop and to buy them in just the quantities needed the end price would have been 2/3s of what this harness cost me assembled.

I ordered an Emerson Custom Prewired Kit
for Gibson SG Guitars. Here is how Emerson described the harness:

This kit's premium components include precision-made potentiometers, a 3-way switch, two Emerson Custom Bumblebee Paper in Oil Capacitors, and a Switchcraft input jack. They have been prewired and soldered so you can drop them in your guitar with minimal work. Emerson Custom uses a unique '50s-style wiring with this kit to give you optimized tone.

I purchased the kit for $155 and it was here a few days later.

The link is in the video description:

The Epiphone Worn SG has good bones and is worth the investment. The pickups and wiring harness combination are both high quality and should last a lifetime time of use in the guitar. They are both on par with Gibson level components and take an affordable Epiphone brand SG with a set neck and make it capable of producing tones and sounds comparable to a MUCH more expensive guitar.

The only surprises I had with the project was:

That the Epiphone pickups were installed with a metal plate that had wings so you could attach the pickup to the pickup like a humbucker pickup. I ended up removing the plates from the bottom of the two Epiphone P90 pickups and attaching them to the bottom of the Red Rock pickups.

The old wiring harness had smaller metric components and as a result the holes in the4 guitar were smaller and the US sized components did not fit. I needed to use a hand reamer and open the holes for the four pots and output jack up just a small amount so the new harness would fit.

The link for the tool is in the video’s description:

[brandondavidson]

Can't go wrong with P90s. I love sg's. I'm a strat guy at heart, but an sg is my second favorite guitar. Great video as always, bro. Much love from Indiana and stay hydrated fam ❤️ 💜 💙 ♥️

[matthewhenning]

I have the Inverness green model and it’s amazing! I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Widow in purple and a PRS CE SE Sandblasted 24 in a satin black and purple color! Those guitars are amazing as well! I love the collection that I own!

[danielbreaux]

Wow! You went all out with nice pots and caps! I love p90s and there are certainly some great ones out there with underwound and overwound in accordance with your tastes.

[larustatrust]

That wiring job was CLEAN good job bubba 👍

[donaldpruitt]

I had this guitar new in 1968 new Gibson sg special has p90s looked just like this one even same color 👍👍👍 ...it was a great guitar ...my 2nd guitar I ever owned ....my first was a Supro

[kevinmackfurniture]

I have the Tommi Iomi version of this guitar and its absolutely Killer. Classic worn version doesn't come in Lefty, but im not complaining.

[birdman]

sweet guitar brother!
hey man if them stock epi p90s need a good home hit me up...

[UncleDickey]

NOT WORTH IT WITHOUT A BOUND NECK. USELESS WITHOUT IT. SEE HOW GIBSON RUINS EVERYTHING.