Tell me about the SG

Bigsby

HerrMetal said:

Being lazy and not a photo of my actual guitar but mine is pretty much like this. SG Standard in Wine Red and from the time when the jack socket was on the edge (late 80's). Mine has an uncovered humbucker in the bridge. I also prefer the smaller pickguard. It's a slim neck and yes it probably could hold tune a bit better than it does but its not a major issue. At the time it was this or a Les Paul but of the two this played better.  

Another thing about this era was the way the neck was set further into the body, and thus everything moved back a bit. But the neck pickup is up against the 22nd fret with no tenon cover. Maybe one day Gibson will see the sense in a genuine 70s/80s reissue model. About the only thing I don't like on these is the minimal carve to the horns - for me an SG looks best with those edges carved deep, as they tended to be in the early 60s.(Well, yeah, that pickup selector position is a bit out of the way too!)

Something for the OP to consider - if you like rounded profile necks, check out batwing pickguard models, whereas if you prefer a slim taper profile, look at small pickguard versions. For some reason Gibson have been pretty consistent in matching these things up on their standard/special/custom SGs, though there are a few exceptions.

I've owned a few SGs with different pickups, my favourites are 490/490 or P90s, but it's a personal thing and classic '57s and burstbuckers are pretty decent too.

Right now I'm actually interested in the new Epiphones - their version of the 'modern SG' is actually better spec'd on paper and a third of the price of the Gibson version. Not that I really need another SG...

guitarcookie1

I like my 2016 SG Special. It has a wider neck, like my 2015 LP Jr, which I like and it hangs better on a strap than my Strat & Tele. 

It has been modded:
- Strap button moved from behind the upper horn to the back of the neck join (now no neck dive). 

- Mini-humbuckers replaced by P90’s. The minis were too tall and didn’t fit right, far too close to the strings and the body too thin to recess them further. 

- Maestro added & no tuning issues. This leaves the tailpiece stud holes exposed but I could get these filled & refinished in the future. 

Creed_Clicks

@Bigsby first time I ever noticed the SG neck “further back” against the neck pickup. Does this make much difference?
And I just checked out the Epi SG modern. Looks pretty cool!

oldhorsemurphy

I've recently discovered SG's. I'd always overlooked them and thought they were one-trick ponies but once I'd played a P90 loaded SG Special I fell in love instantly. 

This is my new one that I took delivery of today for a very good price indeed. 

https://i.imgur.com/mEVlHUd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tejoSdO.jpg

Jota

oldhorsemurphy said:

I've recently discovered SG's. I'd always overlooked them and thought they were one-trick ponies but once I'd played a P90 loaded SG Special I fell in love instantly. 

This is my new one that I took delivery of today for a very good price indeed. 

https://i.imgur.com/mEVlHUd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tejoSdO.jpg

The bridge looks like it was changed. Do you know what bridge is that?
Congrats. I have the Red one and love it. 

TheMarlin

Kittyfrisk said:

Don't forget that Gibson aren't the only company to produce an SG type guitar.
Vintage and Harley Benton are making seriously good guitars for a lot less money & that's speaking as a 2005 Gibson Standard SG owner too 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/160495/vintage-vs6-am-i-missing-something
https://vintageguitarsus.com/electric-reissued-details/#vs6
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_dc_custom_cherry.htm?sid=3f3900215d95f4944a8bee074e46e16f

There is also the Gretsch Corvette/CVT. 
I’ve had loads of these, and have two at the moment.  

Thin mahogany body, similar to an SG, but more comfortable to play.  

impmann

I owned an early 80s SG... I couldn’t get on with it because of the changes from the ‘classic’ design. It also suffered from neck dive (Grovers fitted - dumb on an SG too heavy).
Each to their own.

Creed_Clicks

Are the double cutaway Gretsch as thin as an SG or more LP?

TheMarlin

Creed_Clicks said:

Are the double cutaway Gretsch as thin as an SG or more LP?

Sorry lol was accidental, meant to hit quote. 

The Gretsch Corvette/CVT is a tad thinner than any SG I’ve owned. It’s a great weight.  The standard CVT comes with  Gretsch Megatron pickups, which are hotter ceramic Filtertrons, they’re great.  My green one above (Gretsch G Love Corvette) originally had TV Jones Powertrons, which are hot and dark, now it’s got TV Jones Supertrons, which are excellent. Plenty hot, but zero mud, and chime or grime for days.  Loves as bit of OD. It rocks like nothing else!

My other Corvette is a white one I get from Hiroshima, was Japanese release only.  The original Gretsch Megatrons were great, but I’m a tweaker, so now it has a set of slightly over wound Gretsch Hilotrons in it, sound fantastic. 

Bright like a tele, but with more meat, and very versatile. Great for 60’s pop sounds (Animals,
early Beatles), tele sounds, and rocky tones. Great for cutting through a mix. 

Not that I’ve done that in decades....

the only problem with these guitars is the Bigsby B50, which is horrible and tough to use. 

However, both of mine have been modded with BricksBigsFix tuning stabilisers, and play superbly, a cheaply modded Bigsby B50 can be a thing of joy and wonder. 

I love these Corvettes, had them both longer than any other guitar.  Had these for nearly 15 years.  Never had an SG last note than 12 months. 

p90fool

As I posted in another thread, I've been hankering for a late '60's style SG Special, with the P90s closer together than the early ones, so I grabbed a more recent SG with humbuckers and converted it.



In case anyone in curious, this was the process. 

I had to rout out about a quarter of an inch of the forward face of the bridge pickup rout, and just knock the corners off the neck pickup rout. I also glued and screwed in a block of scrap alder as the bridge P90 mounting screws won't reach the bottom of the cavity otherwise. 



I've mounted them directly to the body as I didn't want to carve any more wood away than necessary and only had Soapbars anyway. I put dummy screws in the scratchplate afterwards.
 


I also didn't have a small drill bit long enough to reach the control cavity from the Vibrola screws, so I ran a hidden ground wire from there forward to one of the now redundant tailpiece holes, then cut down and slotted a tailpiece stud to trap it in there, to act as a string ground. 



When screwed all the way in it's near as dammit flush with the body. 



The Vibrola is an aged nickel Crazyparts one and it's excellent, way better than modern Gibson or Allparts versions. The design is correct, giving a good string break angle, and the spring is properly heavy duty. 


Currently for me it's one of those had-to-be-done guitars, and for first Black Sabbath album or Live at Leeds tones it absolutely nails it, but I'm not really sure whether it's going to stay as it is. 

I'll certainly keep the guitar though, as now the work is done, tone-wise I can pretty well turn it into any SG I'm in the mood for whenever I have the strings off. 

Voxman

My 2006 SG Standard has the black 'batwing' scratchplate and the traditional heritage cherry finish.  The 14:1 Vintage Deluxe tuners have been upgraded to Grover Rotomatics 18:1's that are excellent and hold tune really well - the trouble with the Vintage Deluxe tuners is they are too loose and can't be tightened - you touch/knock them and they go out.  A good friend of mine has one in turquoise with double P90's which is nice, but it's a little noisy particularly with gain cranked, hence I much prefer humbuckers on an SG. 

p90fool

@Voxman I have those tuners on my Les Paul, they're excellent. 

LastMantra

impmann said:

I owned an early 80s SG... I couldn’t get on with it because of the changes from the ‘classic’ design. It also suffered from neck dive (Grovers fitted - dumb on an SG too heavy).
Each to their own.

My the Paul has the big size Gibson headstock and proper Grovers and doesn't get neck dive*, so is it the strap button position on an SG? 

*Maybe it does and I just don't notice it