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2025 IYV IVSV-300 Cherry Red Solid Body 6 String Electric Guitar.
I thought I had reviewed this one. I was intending to do an aftermarket report on this model so it's going to be a review and aftermarket report.
I guess you could say that this is actually a nice copy of an SG standard with a vibrola type tremolo, with a bright and attractive cherry finish. The main difference is that one of the horns, the top one, is further forward than the lower creating a slightly offset double cut as opposed to the symmetrical Gibson or Epiphone versions.
The reason I got this was because of all the SG copies in this price range, which is about 200 bucks, it was the only one with a vibrola and I'm not sure why but it's what I want on an SG. I've had SGs in the past but never with the vibrola because they were rarer and more expensive.
Another reason why I didn't have an SG for quite some time, maybe two decades, is because it's a guitar that I admire but never considered it as playable as a tele because of the infamous neck dive and the sound doesn't always fit what I normally play. I'm basically a telecaster player who likes the idea of having an SG around but wouldn't be using it enough to justify buying a Gibson or even the Epiphone equivalent which is about 150-200 dollars more than the IYV-300.
The dimensions are like an Epiphone or Gibson with 24.7” scale and the lighter body seems to reduce the infamous SG neck dive. It may be because the double cuts are asymmetric and so the body sits further back on the thigh. Combined with the way it sits, the position of the body contours, I find that there is some neck dive but it's easy to control because of the balance of the asymmetric cut and the way it sits on the thigh.
Now, looking past the cosmetics, it looks and feels pretty solid. It doesn't have the look of a cheap guitar and the chrome parts look substantial. The vibrola tremolo bar and mount are quite solid and stay in place.
The tuners are average, they basically work and I don't see them as being as good as the Epiphone even though they're in the same price range (of some of the models). The pick ups are surprisingly good as I've heard those described as microphonic but that's not obvious here. I see them as sounding darker than the Epiphones that I’ve played and certainly more than the SGs that I did own in the past.
The neck is quite good. In fact it's probably my favorite part of the guitar. The longer scale, due to the way the body sits, is what originally turned me off along with the neck dive. Given my arm length and hand size, it always felt like I was having to reach far out as opposed to a Tele, which has a longer next scale but because of the design, feels shorter. In the case of the IYV, it feels pretty good and the string spacing is quite comfortable.
Keep in mind I'm talking about the ergonomics in relation to my body so a taller or shorter person might find the comfort level much different.
The neck has a standard SG feel, slightly wide and pretty thin and as a result feels very easy to play. It's a fast neck. The only flaw is that the fret brass does seem a little cheap although I didn't necessarily feel a lot of sharp frets and it was easy to smooth those out. The vibrola bridge and nut sits kind of high so initially the action on the guitar was too high. It was easy to bring it down, however if the neck pulls up further in the future due to age then I probably won't have much room to adjust any further.
When I say that the frets seem cheap, what I mean is that I did have to level the frets on this particular model and it seemed like the brass came off awfully quick; I found it I had to level with a very light hand. So that's something to keep in mind that if you do have to do some fret work on it, start off light and get a feel for it so you don't overdo it.
But that's a problem for a later time, right now the action is pretty good and after some work with the nut, the action up to about the 8th or 9th fret is excellent. Also, I’ll be using this guitar for working in a modified D tuning so there’s a lot less stress on the fingers.
Given the price point of about $200, it's to be expected you have to do some setup, and in the case of this guitar the setup was probably a little more extensive than I would recommend for a beginner. Others may have bought one that has a nice setup or that the setup in the factory survived the various travel and packing and shipping, so I won't say that all the guitars of this model line will require as much setup as the one I got.
In fact that's often a point in reviews that reviewers should be more careful about because they're dealing with one guitar and you can't necessarily extrapolate the qualities of the entire line from that one copy.
On the other hand, the qualities of the instrument in terms of the ergonomics along with the surprisingly nice sounding pickups and the nice solid vibrola made it worth putting in the effort to set it up. Plus I wanted an inexpensive SG copy so it could sit in a rack and be played occasionally without worrying about whether I can justify the investment.
The IYV works well as a second ( or third) guitar and sounds good enough that I haven't had the desire to even buy an equivalent Epiphone. Properly set up, it's easily as good as one in the same price range and it's certainly the most inexpensive vibrola model out there.
Getting back to the playability for a moment; If you're capable of setting up the guitar, or willing to pay for a setup, my feeling is you're going to have a good guitar for the price. The playability and the ease of the neck profile made the guitar feel more than good enough for my collection. Frankly, once it's been set up right it's as good as an Epiphone.
I've had the guitar for approximately 6 months now and it has been played pretty regularly as it's a nice studio recording guitar for certain types of rock numbers. I haven't found anything annoying yet and my initial impression that it's a nice comfortable guitar that's got better balance than an actual Gibson or Epiphone SG still stands.
Going back to the pickups a bit, the best pickup is the bridge pick up. The neck pickup is okay but it's a little muddier than I prefer, although for certain types of numbers, when you crank the treble up it reminds me of the old San Francisco psychedelic sound. That’s not as useful a sound these days but nonetheless it's nice to have it there and the middle position is quite good. However, the reason it’s a keeper is because of the back pickup which is very good.
So, my initial judgment would have been that it's actually a pretty good guitar If you're willing to devote the time to setting it up. In fact, the frets needed to be leveled means that this setup was more extensive.
If I were to make this a pure aftermarket report, I would say that after 6 months the guitar is still in my collection, and I have no desire to replace it because it basically has what I want in a light use SG. Since it does that, and the price was right, I'd have to say that for the right person it's an excellent guitar that just might stay in your collection for a while.
Al Handa
July 9th, 2026
Core Specifications
Body Style: SG-style Solid-body (Right-handed)
Body Material: Mahogany (Some international variants note a Basswood top)
Neck Material: Mahogany with bolt-on construction
Fretboard: Jatoba wood
Scale Length: 24.75"
Pickups: H-H (Dual Humbucker Configuration)
Bridge: Tune-O-Matic with a vintage spring-steel vibrato unit / tremolo arm
Controls: 1 x Volume, 1 x Tone, 3-way Pickup Selector
Hardware: Sealed die-cast tuners, metal output jack plate
Nut Material: Bone or hard synthetic
