Japanese Guitars: From the past #1: Epiphone Japan Lacquer Series SG

Note the LQ series Epiphone script

Time to look back at some (maybe all?) of the guitars I have had in the past few years.

This is the guitar that started me down the slippery slope of road MIJ guitars. I got this in early January 2008 at Ikebe music in Shibuya. I had seen a few of these online at great prices but they were clearing these out as they do in Japan with stuff that doesn't sell quickly enough.

The LQ series had much thicker necks than the Elite/Elitists and the older domestic Japanese Epiphone yet this one was well balanced with no "neck dive".

I used this for a few years when I was in a gigging band. Nice Fujigen construction with great feel and stable tuning. The pickups were good generic PAF copies from Fujigen. I ended up putting in some Seth Lovers in which suited the guitar a lot better.

The LQ models have a thin lacquer finish which makes them lighter and also makes them easy to damage. I am not sure what kind of lacquer it is as I never tested it but suspect it is either thin nitro or acrylic or a mix of the two.

I ended up with a few of SGs at one point including an amazing Bacchus Vintage Series SG so sold the LQ. No regrets but I always keep an eye out for more LQ series guitars as they are under appreciated and can usually be had for a bargain.