The madness of loving SGs...

imalrightjack

I love my 1974 SG, new wenge neck and all (and I love the neck pickup sound):

danny_777

I'm not an SG guy, but I've got one coming from Anthony Ryder, made from the same old-stock mahogany that my Ryder LP is made from. That's the best, most resonant guitar I've ever played, and Anthony says this SG is "very special", so I'm really looking forward to it!!!

menamestom

I love SG's.  My one Gibson slot in the lineup is currently taken by a Midtown Standard, which I like.

But I do wonder whether I should trade one day for an SG.

Kvaksalver

Frank Zappa is my SG hero! Blonde headstock and Vibrola...

Barquentine

I'm getting an intense craving for another SG.

gjonesy

I bit the bullet on a 50th anniversary model recently - no regrets

Philly_Q

gjonesy said:

I bit the bullet on a 50th anniversary model recently - no regrets

Which model did you get?  I know the Standard 24 was a 50th anniversary model, but I can't remember which others there were.

Exorcist

Nothing wrong with the neck P90 in a special! Sounds glorious to me. Tried plenty of times with LP's and I just don't get on with them. Here is my old girl...

 

Moe_Zambeek

I love SGs, I have a 62ri from 1990 I've had from new and done many 100s of gigs with. I think the neck pickup sounds crap but I also think neck pickups almost universally sound crap, especially Les Pauls, so I would say that I like mine a lot and would never sell, it was 2 summers worth of school holiday wages saved up to buy, but I don't think it's a particularly great SG. It has the usual deadspots around the octave and so on. Apart from that though it was put together OK and the timber looks good. Frets have held up much better than my other guitars too, for some reason.

I've also had:

• early 70s deluxe with mini hums (crap - neck joint, bevels, pickups, bridge, all crap); 
• Original AY sig (not too bad but wouldn't stay in tune because of the hopeless maestro Gibson used, and I never really bonded with it)
• Custom shop SGs - returned due to finish problems, it actually arrived with a note from Gibson warehouse in the shipping box saying 'don't sell, customer return for finish issues'.
• Original USA 61 reissue with sideways trem - bendy neck, trem installed off centre, totally unable to hold tuning)
• Captain Kirk sig - dead as a dead thing
• 64/65 SG special - neck too small, didn't bond

I think there are probably others I've forgotten about too. 

gjonesy

Philly_Q said:

gjonesy said:

I bit the bullet on a 50th anniversary model recently - no regrets

Which model did you get?  I know the Standard 24 was a 50th anniversary model, but I can't remember which others there were.

Yeah the black 24 fret version with a round neck
I think there were townsend jr & dereck trucks anniversary models too - supposed to be one every month, don't know the full 12 though

Philly_Q

gjonesy said:

Philly_Q said:

gjonesy said:

I bit the bullet on a 50th anniversary model recently - no regrets

Which model did you get?  I know the Standard 24 was a 50th anniversary model, but I can't remember which others there were.

Yeah the black 24 fret version with a round neck
I think there were townsend jr & dereck trucks anniversary models too - supposed to be one every month, don't know the full 12 though

You're right, the white Townshend model was a 50th anniversary but I can't find much about the others.

I've got a Standard 24 as well, in fact I took it out of the case for the first time in ages yesterday, inspired by all these SG threads.  I'm not crazy about it to be honest, I bought it mainly for the "rounded" neck but it still feels way too skinny to me.  Nice body contouring though, and 24 frets - without really changing the neck pickup location - is a good idea.

Blueingreen

Philly_Q said:

TTBZ said:

Also I wish I got mine in ebony, cherry red is just so bloody dull.

The colours are certainly boring.  If the SG is Gibson's Tele, then cherry is Gibson's butterscotch blond.

Cherry, Black, White... they all look good but they're not very interesting.  You do see the odd SG in a metallic colour like Pelham Blue or Silverburst.  But I think my favourite SG colour (although I don't particularly like it on LP Juniors or Specials) is TV Yellow.

This is my favourite colour as well.  No plans to buy an SG but if a good one came along that looked like that (at a reasonable price) I'd be sorely tempted.

gjonesy

Philly_Q said:

gjonesy said:

Philly_Q said:

gjonesy said:

I bit the bullet on a 50th anniversary model recently - no regrets

Which model did you get?  I know the Standard 24 was a 50th anniversary model, but I can't remember which others there were.

Yeah the black 24 fret version with a round neck
I think there were townsend jr & dereck trucks anniversary models too - supposed to be one every month, don't know the full 12 though

You're right, the white Townshend model was a 50th anniversary but I can't find much about the others.

I've got a Standard 24 as well, in fact I took it out of the case for the first time in ages yesterday, inspired by all these SG threads.  I'm not crazy about it to be honest, I bought it mainly for the "rounded" neck but it still feels way too skinny to me.  Nice body contouring though, and 24 frets - without really changing the neck pickup location - is a good idea.

I was expecting it to be thicker but I can live with it. Just love the sound. It's just a little clearer to some of my other guitars on the same settings.
Yes I could adjust the eq but then I wouldn't have an SG - and everyone needs an SG (and a tele, and a strat and a.......)

AK99

Moe_Zambeek said:

I love SGs, I have a 62ri from 1990 I've had from new and done many 100s of gigs with. I think the neck pickup sounds crap but I also think neck pickups almost universally sound crap, especially Les Pauls, so I would say that I like mine a lot and would never sell, it was 2 summers worth of school holiday wages saved up to buy, but I don't think it's a particularly great SG. It has the usual deadspots around the octave and so on. Apart from that though it was put together OK and the timber looks good. Frets have held up much better than my other guitars too, for some reason.

I've also had:

• early 70s deluxe with mini hums (crap - neck joint, bevels, pickups, bridge, all crap); 
• Original AY sig (not too bad but wouldn't stay in tune because of the hopeless maestro Gibson used, and I never really bonded with it)
• Custom shop SGs - returned due to finish problems, it actually arrived with a note from Gibson warehouse in the shipping box saying 'don't sell, customer return for finish issues'.
• Original USA 61 reissue with sideways trem - bendy neck, trem installed off centre, totally unable to hold tuning)
• Captain Kirk sig - dead as a dead thing
• 64/65 SG special - neck too small, didn't bond

I think there are probably others I've forgotten about too. 

I think some of those RIs came with frets which had more nickel/steel content - probably a bit harder than the run-of-the-mill ones.

On the problem ones - I really want a decent SG, but getting ever more wary about buying one blind. Are bad ones really that much more prevalent than good ones, or is it just you only hear about the outliers both good and bad ?

Moe_Zambeek

I don’t think they’re any worse than any other Gibson...though they often have a slim taper neck profile and that may make the flexi-headstock problem more obvious. Personally i don’t think any of the trems on the production models are actually usable either but they do look good, and the mass of the sideways trem definitely adds something to the tone.

I’ve played a few regular production SGs from 2014 on that were decent enough guitars. Just no better than - say - a Reverend Bob Balch. Had an ESP Japanese Viper that was also pretty good but closer to a Les Paul tone wise.

TTBZ

Exorcist said:

Nothing wrong with the neck P90 in a special! Sounds glorious to me. Tried plenty of times with LP's and I just don't get on with them. Here is my old girl...

 

Love this! P90s are such a good match for an SG if the Mississippi Queen in mine is anything to go by. Keep thinking I should get a bridge one but not sure if it'll do the heavier stuff I play as well as a humbucker. But it does sound very big and "broad" next to the compressed bridge pickup, I think P90s help open an SG up and be less of a plank.

Philly_Q

TTBZ said:

Love this! P90s are such a good match for an SG if the Mississippi Queen in mine is anything to go by. Keep thinking I should get a bridge one but not sure if it'll do the heavier stuff I play as well as a humbucker. But it does sound very big and "broad" next to the compressed bridge pickup, I think P90s help open an SG up and be less of a plank.

@TTBZ Didn't you have a Pig-90 in your SG for a while, or was it a regular Warpig?

TTBZ

I have a Warpig in it now. I did used to have a Pig 90 but didn't keep it in there for some reason. Wasn't really playing heavy stuff at the time but I do remember it sounding good!

Exorcist

TTBZ said:

Love this! P90s are such a good match for an SG if the Mississippi Queen in mine is anything to go by. Keep thinking I should get a bridge one but not sure if it'll do the heavier stuff I play as well as a humbucker. But it does sound very big and "broad" next to the compressed bridge pickup, I think P90s help open an SG up and be less of a plank.

I have a missisipi queen bridge in another similar guitar (not an sg) - and I wasn't hugely fond of it until I used it tuned down to C through Laney AOR 100 and it was pretty awesome, it kept a really tight edge and sounded huge. Not sure what you mean by heavier stuff, but if you tune down I would definitely give it a go.

Oh and thanks man, I agree they totally open up an SG.

TTBZ

Exorcist said:

TTBZ said:

Love this! P90s are such a good match for an SG if the Mississippi Queen in mine is anything to go by. Keep thinking I should get a bridge one but not sure if it'll do the heavier stuff I play as well as a humbucker. But it does sound very big and "broad" next to the compressed bridge pickup, I think P90s help open an SG up and be less of a plank.

I have a missisipi queen bridge in another similar guitar (not an sg) - and I wasn't hugely fond of it until I used it tuned down to C through Laney AOR 100 and it was pretty awesome, it kept a really tight edge and sounded huge. Not sure what you mean by heavier stuff, but if you tune down I would definitely give it a go.

Oh and thanks man, I agree they totally open up an SG.

My SG is in D standard/drop C at the minute. My band is a bit of a mix of various grunge and stoner rock/metal influences (i seem to rip off either Mastodon, Down or AIC riffs) so sounds like it'll probably work alright. I just like it to stay tight on the chug and riffs rather than loose and sloppy.