Gibson SGs

[chet again]

I picked one up this week for the heck of it. The neck seems way different/longer than any guitar I've played before. It seems way longer than any but you can get to all the high frets pretty easily. Kind of hard to figure out where the chords/notes are.

 

[VintageSG]

You do get used to it very quickly, but for the first few hours, it's a case of look for the markers, or you'll be three frets higher than you thought you were!.

After a time, you come to appreciate the ease of the neck, and realise how uncomfortable and cramped the original Les Paul is in comparison.

btw, pics?

 

[chet again]

I just saw it a store. Might get one though.

 

[boredguy6060]

They are making SG’s so affordable in both the Gibson and Epiphone lines that we all probably will own one soon enough.
They do indeed look as though they are awkward to play, but none of the players say so.
They are beginning to tempt me, gotta admit it.

 

[gridlock]

I’ve owed a couple SG’s and had a really nice 1973 Cherry Wine Standard with a pretty thick neck. The the longer neck was different and not for me.

I love the SG look but I realized that I’m primarily a Les Paul guy.

 

[RodeoTex]

Neck seems so long because the is so much blank space behind the bridge. Was just noticing that myself.

 

[Wallaby]

I was seriously looking at SG's because I wanted something different, easy to play, comfortable.

The I bought another Telecaster.... sigh. It's not exactly a bad thing, but I still want an SG.

 

[jimilee]

Love my SG. Got the faded series from a friend for a song. Swapped out the pickups for PGs and it sings.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ironwolf]

I have Epiphone's G-400 1966 Pro in ebony. It really is a nice guitar. Plays easily and sounds great.

 

[jvin248]

.

SG feels like you are playing to the left of yourself. Bridge location relative to the strap pins and thigh cut. 335 is the same left sided. Jazzmaster is next back toward center. Les Paul is nearly centered. Tele is centered. Strat is toward the right side of yourself, but not so far as the SG is to the left -- my shoulder gets sore thinking about playing cowboy chords on one, lol.

If an SG is going to be a fun diversion for you and not your main guitar ... I'd just find an Epiphone G-400 SG used. One of those great guitar value options. You also don't need to worry about the breakaway headstock anxiety like you do with a Gibson. I have both and the Epiphone is the one that gets played (it's fun and sounds great). If you're worried about the Gibson tone then buy a used Epi and used Gibson pickups+pots and swap those into the Epi. I also see a lot of threads where people buy the Gibson and then pull the Gibson pickups to put in SDs. I just see that as chasing mud but some like a 'warm' guitar tone.

.

 

[NewKid]

Oh man, an SG is the only Gibson I would consider owning. The SG Standard is $1500 new so it’s right in the American Professional Tele ballpark in terms of cost. I would look for an excellent used one in the $1000 range. One day.

 

[FendrGuitPlayr]

I need to start playing my '71 SG Pro more often.

 

[chet again]

I played one a few years ago and the fretboard seemed too flat. The one I tried the other day was better.

 

[RottenTheCat]

SG necks are not longer. Its the location of the body waist compared to others.

 

[Rick330man]

I love Gibson SGs.

I own two 1998 SG Deluxes (with the three min-humbuckers), a 1979 cherry wine SG standard, a plum purple SG Special in which I swapped out the standard 490R/T pickups for a set of single coil P94s and another SG Special in the cherry wine finish in which I left the stock Gibson 490R/T pickups. I also have an Epiphone Korina G400 in which I swapped out the stock pickups for Harmonic Design Z90s.

The SG Deluxes are darker sounding - almost like a Les Paul. The SG Specials are brighter. The Special with the P94s gets you near that P90 tone, but still has its own mojo going. The Standard is a very nice middle ground.

No Les Pauls in my collection. When it comes to Gibsons, it is all SGs for me.

I'd love a 335, but then I'd have to sell some SGs!

 

[Mike Eskimo]

I like SG’s and had use of a ‘69 SG special just like Carlos at Woodstock for a couple years.
Went into motor city guitar six months ago and saw the Gretsch SG - a.k.a. the Corvette and grabbed that . Was not on my radar at all.


Great guitar, very light, Bigsby, nice full neck, super cheap used. Pickups right between P90’s and a humbucker sound though a they are a Filtertron variant.

There is a recent SG with P90’s that supposedly has a huge neck that I wouldn’t mind checking out

 

[JL_LI]

I have an SG, a Tele, Strat, and Gretsch Anniversary as well as a Simon and Patrick acoustic. They all sit differently in my lap. There are different combinations of scale length, fretboard radius, width and thickness in the necks. When I put one down that I've been using for a week, whatever I pick up feels a little awkward at first but I'm settled in after 15 minutes or so. The SG is a little darker than the other electrics, even with the pickups set low and the pole pieces raised but I'm good with that. I like the variety. If you're looking for an SG and have never had one before, don't rush to judgment and take any advice offered lightly. Play them to find what you like and don't like and after you've been playing them for a while, one will begin to sound and feel better than the others. And realize going in that your opinion will be influenced by aesthetics as much as sound and feel. I like the bat wing guard and a high gloss cherry finish. I prefer dots to blocks. SG's are kind of like women. When you love the looks, falling in love with the rest is pretty easy.

 

[TG]

I've had several SGs but I've given up on them now.

Pros are the comfort and playability with the full neck access. They tend to be light too.

Cons, to me, are the midrangy honk on the neck pickup most have. I went thru loads of pickups and even compared the same pickups on different SGs, LPs and es335s and I found a sort of unpleasant midrange quality on all my SGs that annoyed me in a band setting. Bridge pickups were generally OK though.

Some can be balanced on the strap and comfortable but lots of them neck dive. I'd rather a balanced heavy guitar than a light one with neck dive, which after an hour or 2 is actually worse on my back and neck, in my experience.

But my biggest gripe is the tuning. I'm good at setting up guitars and I've gigged a lot and several times at a gig I've had to put away an SG and get my backup Tele or whatever because I couldn't keep the SG tuned somehow. Especially the G string. It's like the neck bends or something with temperature changes. Perhaps it's that neck/body join?
Maybe I've been unlucky but 4 SGs over the years have done this during pub gigs.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

I've had several SGs but I've given up on them now.

Pros are the comfort and playability with the full neck access. They tend to be light too.

Cons, to me, are the midrangy honk on the neck pickup most have. I went thru loads of pickups and even compared the same pickups on different SGs, LPs and es335s and I found a sort of unpleasant midrange quality on all my SGs that annoyed me in a band setting. Bridge pickups were generally OK though.

Some can be balanced on the strap and comfortable but lots of them neck dive. I'd rather a balanced heavy guitar than a light one with neck dive, which after an hour or 2 is actually worse on my back and neck, in my experience.

But my biggest gripe is the tuning. I'm good at setting up guitars and I've gigged a lot and several times at a gig I've had to put away an SG and get my backup Tele or whatever because I couldn't keep the SG tuned somehow. Especially the G string. It's like the neck bends or something with temperature changes. Perhaps it's that neck/body join?
Maybe I've been unlucky but 4 SGs over the years have done this during pub gigs.

I had an SG with tuning issues. I ended up putting a locking nut from some long forgotten trem system & a Gibson fine-tune tailpiece, which cured the tuning problems.

 

[RottenTheCat]

Gibby nuts, all tight on the G string