I'm 55 and I just now realized the pointy things on an SG are slightly offset.

[Chiogtr4x]

You need to play one. They are a great experience. But play it for more than a few minutes. More like a few days.

I won't go bit by bit through your list, but, for example, the headstock dive is specific to some models. Earlier versions with thinner necks and vintage tuners don't have it. OTOH, later baseball bat necks and full size Grovers - yeah there are considerations. Use a strap with a rougher interior (unfinished leather) and don't wear a silk shirt at the gig.

Another reason they dive is that they are so darn light in the body. The neck isn't heavy - the body is light. If you're willing to have it weigh a little more (like most guitars), you can just add some weight in the body cavity.

As for the neck location, it's the same as any Gibson and roughly the same as Fenders, scale length not withstanding. The difference is the location of the lower bout relative to the neck. Sitting, it feels left displaced. At least when you first play one. The feeling vanishes after you have a few hours with them. Stand up and it's like any other guitar.

I've had my Epi SG since 2020...

( I'm mainly a Fender player that just wanted 1 'representative Gibson style' guitar - and finally picked an SG for light body/comfort)

... I play sitting down, and have become used to the 'shift' with neck-body join; you play it enough, you adjust.

I love it- no neck dive ( light vintage tuners), all the controls are IMO, in a great place to navigate sitting down, and Epi pickups have come a long way (I know, from previous)- balanced and clear, clean or dirty. Fun guitar for everything.
And I love that Classic '60's Cherry mahogany look.

 

[goonie]

Are the 335's ears slightly offset? If not then that might explain why they don't look quite right to me. Then again, acoustic guitars are symmetrical and I like them fine.

 

[arlum]

Yep. They've always been this way. My 71 was exactly like this. I think what fools people is the angle of the guitar when its hanging on a strap. Hanging on a player sporting an SG the points appear to be equal to each other. The upper bout is pulled back and the lower bought is pushed forward.

 

[Twang-ineer]

I "bonded" the SG in a serious way from the moment I picked one up. Prior to that it was a '78 Black Beauty that was my primary exposure to a Gibson. I loved the neck, I loved the pickups (this was when pickup replacement felt like an extreme thing). I just could not get comfortable on the instrument.

I bought and sold many an LP - looking for love.... ya know?

I do love the look of a Les Paul so I bought a very beautiful one. I hung it on the wall at the top of the stairs. My wife loves looking at it. I do not play it, I do not like playing Les Paul guitars. I have an Epi Les Paul Prophecy, which is an absolutely awesome imitation of an ESP that I really do like, but it is a Les Paul in visual appeal only.

I do however LOVE the SG, everything about it. I have 6 Gibson SG model guitars. It makes me happy any time I pick one up. The body style fits me, it is perfectly balanced on me, I have never dealt with neck dive. It is my absolute favorite feeling guitar (standing). I'm a heavy guy, I think that is why I don't get the neck dive. I also think that the extra thickness and carved top of the LP are what put me off. Oddly, my main instrument since 1990 has been a 6 string bass designed with P bass spacing (an absolute monster) so size isn't the issue. Just for fun.... one of the greats playing a really funny shaped SG .... made by Yamaha... probably in So Cal. So not an SG at all

 

[G Stone496]

No joke, and I've owned two of these in my 20's. I always thought they were symmetrical until a couple of days ago. I've been scanning guitars on Marketplace and starting noticing it. Obviously I never bonded with SG's as I didn't keep either of them long enough to see this. Ironically, I've seen other brands (LTD, etc.) of SG-type guitars and thought the offset points on those looked stupid. Never knew Gibson was doing it too.

View attachment 1082632

Think I noticed it when I first seen SGs, but didn’t pay much attention to it. The horns on a DC Special/Jr. are also not symmetrical.

 

[Bob Womack]

Yep, even on the SG forum logo:

That's what I've heard as well - so Mary didn't get a share of the royalties. I've also read a few things about his original deal with Gibson being for 10 years so it would have been up for renewal in 1962 anyway - so Les let it expire.

He resumed his deal when they put the model back into production - although I have always wondered why the 1968 Gold Tops had the crown inlay instead of that "Les Paul Model" silkscreened logo. Was Gibson ready to re-introduce the models without Les's endorsement?

If we can believe Les himself, he began to notice in the mid-60s that people were looking around for LPs and paying a premium when they found them so he convinced Gibson to put it back in production. Of course, Les was known to over-extend the limits of his influence.

Two things that were absolutely clear were thati n their minds, Gibson had never settled on a "standard" configuration in the '50s so they had no idea what people wanted. When they first put out the reissues, they came with odd collections of features like P-90s, the ES-335 "Crown" headstock inlay, and even a few with dot necks. However, customers knew what they wanted and said, "No, no! We want a Standard Les Paul, you know, with humbuckers!" Gibson had a bunch of Epiphone mini-humbuckers laying around from the purchase of the brand so they slapped those on an LP with a compromise neck, something between the 1958 and 1960s necks, and sold it starting in 1970 as the Deluxe LP. Customers said, "No, no! We want the standard LP from the '50s with the BIG humbuckers!" They began getting stores to special order Les Pauls with big humbuckers, at that point the T-tops. At the Kalamazoo plant, Gibson routed a few for large humbuckers, put a trussrod cover on them with a small-script "Standard," and shipped them for these special orders from 1973-1975. They didn't, however, advertise them in their catalogs or literature. About 3400 of them were special ordered and Gibson finally got the point. When they opened the Nashville plant in 1986, the official Les Paul large script "Standard" model was born as the flagship model at Nashville. There were several differences between the Nasvhille examples and the special order LPS from Kalamazoo (such as the size of the script on the trussrod cover) that make the K'zoo ones distinguishable.

Oh, well. TMI.

Bob

 

[dougbgt6]

I bought a 2nd hand Epiphone SG, i was tempted because it was cheap, as "buyer collects" often are. It has a few dings, but nothing down to the wood and despite being 10 years old no fret wear at all. I adjusted the truss rod, set it up and it has the best action of any of my guitars. The fingerboard suits me, better than my Fenders (sorry to say). it's light weight, 7.4lbs and the neck doesn't appear to have the infamous neck drop.

I got to thinking "How is a $1800 Gibson better than this?" Then I read up and came to the conclusion "Pickups?" So I bought a set of Gibson 490s which cost as much as the guitar! But yes, good as the Epiphone pick ups are, the Gibson's are exceptional.

I no longer look at Gibson listings, they are ridiculous prices, you're paying for the name. Epiphones are as good and very much cheaper.

Oh, and I did know about the asymmetry, even left handed ones have it, always thought a symmetrical body would make production of LH & RH easier. So full marks for sticking with it. Like others I can't stop looking and admiring it. It's a work of art.

Doug

 

[Engine Swap]

Yep, subtle asymmetry definitely adds to the visual appear of a guitar

 

[stormsedge]

Yes. I recently pulled my SG (and Riviera P93) from the "trade" pile and was pleased to be reunited with its offset (LOL). I even ordered a new strap for it.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

I hadn't noticed until I was comparing one to an ESP (VIPER?) and noticed. I figured it mightve been a factory oops, but it seemed like a consistent one, at least.

 

[sloppychops]

I want to like the SG, really I do. So many great tones...Pete Townsend Live at Leeds, Angus Young, Jeff Tweedy, Juliana Hatfield, just to name a few. And the lighter weight is appealing. But any time I pick one up and try it, I just think "No, just NO!"

 

[Bruxist]

It really stands out if you hold it upside down or look at it from the back.

 

[uriah1]

I will have to look. If it is not assymetrical it is a knock off. lol

SG= Standard Guitar or Special Guitar?

 

[Chiogtr4x]

Are the 335's ears slightly offset? If not then that might explain why they don't look quite right to me. Then again, acoustic guitars are symmetrical and I like them fine.

I know the depth or length of 335 cutaways or 'ears' changed a bit- but always symmetrical.
My first electric, a 1976 Les Paul Signature ( kind of a 335> Les Paul mutt) definitely did NOT have symmetrical cutaways!

 

[Fretting out]

I realized it when I saw (I believe it was) tony iommy playing his lefty

I don’t know why but shapes seem even more apparent when they are backwards

 

[northernguitar]

Still had the fragile Gibson headstock problem

Only a 'problem' for the careless and clumsy.

 

[sloppychops]

I will have to look. If it is not assymetrical it is a knock off. lol

SG= Standard Guitar or Special Guitar?

SG = Solid Guitar.

 

[Crafty Fox]

Ah, the Gibson BK is my dream guitar........well the one that has eluded me so far!

 

[Chiogtr4x]

Only a problem for the careless and clumsy.

I agree!
Not that I'm not clumsy sometimes, definitely am,
but ultimately, I control the environment any guitar I own is going to be in.

With my SG ( I play sitting down), it's not exposed to any rough stage treatment as I'm not running around with a guitar ( wish I could!). I'm a pretty conservative or 'boring looking' player. Not bashing or attacking my guitars ( too hard)

Also it's the only electric I own that gets a real hard case, not a gig bag ( like my Fenders and Dano) specifically to protect the set neck construction and the headstock joint. ( plus mine is the '66 style w/longer neck tenon, I think...)
Also, like any guitar I own, it sits on the back seat when driving to gigs.

So I'm hoping the SG stays in great shape- it will outlive me, I'm sure.

 

[Bruxist]

SG = Solid Guitar.

Yep, have also heard that it might have meant Second Generation, but Solid Guitar is what is commonly accepted as what it referenced.