Toying with the idea of owning a "hardtail" guitar (no tremolo bridge) for the album of 432Hz-tuned guitar music I'm embarking on, I thought about my first electric guitar, a Japanese-made SG, ordered from the T. Eaton catalogue in 1970. However, my preference for maple fretboards makes the Gibson SG a poor choice.
Then recently, I saw an advertisement on the local buy-and-sell website for an Epiphone SG (Gibson's "overseas" manufacturer) commissioned in 2009 by a large Canadian retailer which they called the "Negative" (because all of the colours are reversed) - and it comes with a maple fretboard. And, by all accounts, handmade - in Asia.
I contacted the owner, Jack, and he was nice enough to bring the instrument over to our little apartment. Imagine my surprise when I find Jack and his family are originally from mainland China,
and so is the guitar! Imagine my further surprise to find that it is very possibly the best SG I've ever played...
Thank you Jack!