Why didn't les like the SG?

[Dwills94]

i have tried to find a design specific answer to this question but all that my cursory google search turned up was that he did in fact dislike the design and gibson changed the name. im sure there are some guitar history buffs here that know specifically what les paul did't like about the sg design.

 

[Cameage]

No maple cap?

 

[Stratburst]

From what I read, he hated the SG's neck/body joint, the thinness of the neck and the guitar's balance. He also admitted that he was divorcing Mary Ford at the time and he'd have to share any royalties from a new contract with her.

 

[Dwills94]

From what I read, he hated the SG's neck/body joint, the thinness of the neck and the guitar's balance. He also admitted that he was divorcing Mary Ford at the time and he'd have to share any royalties from a new contract with her.

do you think that his issues with the balance of the guitar come from his tendency (in all the pics ive seen) to play sitting down? standing up playing the sg you do have the occasional neck dive when your just standing around not playing but while playing it's usually fine, but it is a really awkward guitar to sit down and play because of it's thinness and lack of balance.

 

[StrangerNY]

do you think that his issues with the balance of the guitar come from his tendency (in all the pics ive seen) to play sitting down? standing up playing the sg you do have the occasional neck dive when your just standing around not playing but while playing it's usually fine, but it is a really awkward guitar to sit down and play because of it's thinness and lack of balance.

And don't forget - Les' right elbow was fused in a 90 degree bend due to a car crash. That may have complicated matters in terms of neck diving.

- D

 

[jackal]

And I think part of the reason is that they totally changed the guitar without asking for his input or approval, then had the nerve to put his name on it.

 

[Nick JD]

You need to wear a school uniform to properly appreciate an SG.

 

[afoolsparadise]

The ex-wife makes everything more complicated. Maybe he really loved the SG. We'll never know for sure...

 

[Satchmo]

The divorce was a big factor. Also, Les didn't like the design of the SG. He said, "... a guy could get killed on those horns" and he didn't like the pickup being moved away from the fretboard.

 

[Torz Johnson]

I just read about this in an interview he did back in '86. Here's Les in his own words:

They put out an SG, a Les Paul guitar, and it wasn’t with my blessings at all. They put the pickup in the wrong place, they made the body too thin, you could pull on the neck and change keys, and a lot of things wrong with it. So I said, ‘Clean that one up a little bit, will ya, before you put my name on it?” So they took my name off it and continued to make it and it’s their Number One selling solid-body. Sure, it’s a cheap guitar and it’s not as good sounding as the others and it’s a double-cutaway, it’s a different thing, and it turned out that I shouldn’t have said what I said.

 

[ludashoeless]

SGs are sweet.... they're so light

 

[Lee Harvey]

I think Epiphone ended up taking Les Paul's advice when the buit this.





Thicker body

Thicker neck

Doesn't neck dive

No point horns

 

[caferacer]

I think Epiphone ended up taking Les Paul's advice when the buit this.



View attachment 122269

Thicker body

Thicker neck

Doesn't neck dive

ugly as all get up

No point horns

(you forgot one)

 

[Lee Harvey]

Yeah it's ugly...

So I did forget one.

But it did fix all those issues.

 

[Dwills94]

SGs are sweet.... they're so light

Thats my favorite part. playing an sg with a really hot p90 ,or two crunchy humbuckers is like driving a really light car with a huge engine.

 

[caferacer]

Yeah it's ugly...

So I did forget one.

But it did fix all those issues.

but those are the things I like about the SG
and the reasons I dont like les paul's

so I guess "fixed" is a relative term

 

[Lee Harvey]

Well the OP was talking about Les Paul, not you.

So in the context of the thread, the Epiphone Genesis did fix the issues Les Paul did not like.

 

[Nick JD]

Do SGs outsell LPs nowadays?

 

[Old Has Been]

Do SGs outsell LPs nowadays?

I don't know about now, but in the first three years of production, the SG outsold the Les Pauls. It looked classy, it sounded good, and the price back then was comparable to a Strat.

 

[Dan German]

"Why didn't les like the SG? "

Because the car accident damaged his elbow, not his vision?