LoFiBrian
New member
So I have finally decided on my next guitar. I went to the dreaded guitar center today and decided to revisit the SG section again. Here are my thoughts for anyone thinking about these.
-The 61' SG RI: Out of the 2, one was a fine example, 2 Piece body with a slightly offset center seam. Great balance and fretboard was rich and dark. It sounded loud and bright unplugged and I actually liked the 57' Classics in this situation.
But the only deal breaker for me was the correct yet scary location of the neck joint. right at the 22nd fret basically. If I'm going to drop nearly 2K on this, I want to know the neck joint is stable and not going to do something awful in a few years. Another complaint was the other model they had in stock had a awful looking grain with poorly matched together 2 peice body. But that one felt OK. I just chose to play the one I thought was a better built one. weights were similar I'd guess middle 6lbs area.
-The Standard: They had a Ebony and Cherry model. I chose to pull down the cherry model because I can see how many pieces the body was. It was a great looking 2 piece. It sustained for days and was warm unplugged. It has a more late 60's looking neck joint and cosmetics. The neck has more beef than the 61' RI.The 496/498 buckers were lackluster, lots of mud and no clarity. But the guitar overall was maybe the best built standard I have seen in a few years though/
-The Classic: Cherry. Seeminly darker than the other cherry models. seemed to have a 3 piece body and was heavier than the standards in stock. No real appeal unplugged. But it had everything you could want from P-90s Plugged into a Classic 30. same neck as the Standard or so it felt. just has dot inlays and P-90s and vintage SG Special tuners. Otherwise it was just a slightly heavy and not so amazing SG. I think this just was not a good one? How does GC get these I thought they are a MF exclusive?
The Special: Ebony/Black: Tagged at $1300 and listed as a Standard. But it was a Special. I wanted to love it. I don't want block inlays and binding and things that are just eye candy. But it was a dog, unplugged it felt dead and plugged in it sounded worse than the Fadeds. I really wish I could see the wood grain and see how many pieces it is. now worth my time or money. It did have the nicer neck joint of the standard and umm it stayed in tune for 5 minutes. They had a Wine Red? model with tons of belt rash tagged at $899 and it has been there for a year or more. I did'nt play it in fear of having to pay for the belt rash damage or something lame.
The Special Faded: they had a worn cherry and a worn brown. I was kind fo hoping to find a real looker. and fall in love when I played it. But to my dismay they 4 and 5 piece bodies. The brown ones fretboard and body was dry as a bone and it had a weird swirl in its grains(all 4 diff. pieces). the Cherry one sounded and felt cheap. and I did'nt even plug in the Brown out of disgust. IDK these back when they came out with the cresant moon inlays were nice and had what I thought was ebony fretboards. Now they are not even as good as the G-400 Vintage Epiphones.
Out of them all I loved the Standard and 1961. But I would obviously need to pick through the lemons and play one first. the quality got worse as the price dipped. I really wish gibson would get on the ball and make a good SG. instead of 400 limted edition GOWs. I'd like better Quality Control before I give you my $1,500.
But I hope to own a Cherry SG standard before the year is out. Anyone know of a dealer who sells only non-lemon Gibsons and stands behind them? I cannot trust mail order or guitar center sight unseen. and GC has exclusive gibson sales rights in my city it seems.
-Brian
-The 61' SG RI: Out of the 2, one was a fine example, 2 Piece body with a slightly offset center seam. Great balance and fretboard was rich and dark. It sounded loud and bright unplugged and I actually liked the 57' Classics in this situation.
But the only deal breaker for me was the correct yet scary location of the neck joint. right at the 22nd fret basically. If I'm going to drop nearly 2K on this, I want to know the neck joint is stable and not going to do something awful in a few years. Another complaint was the other model they had in stock had a awful looking grain with poorly matched together 2 peice body. But that one felt OK. I just chose to play the one I thought was a better built one. weights were similar I'd guess middle 6lbs area.
-The Standard: They had a Ebony and Cherry model. I chose to pull down the cherry model because I can see how many pieces the body was. It was a great looking 2 piece. It sustained for days and was warm unplugged. It has a more late 60's looking neck joint and cosmetics. The neck has more beef than the 61' RI.The 496/498 buckers were lackluster, lots of mud and no clarity. But the guitar overall was maybe the best built standard I have seen in a few years though/
-The Classic: Cherry. Seeminly darker than the other cherry models. seemed to have a 3 piece body and was heavier than the standards in stock. No real appeal unplugged. But it had everything you could want from P-90s Plugged into a Classic 30. same neck as the Standard or so it felt. just has dot inlays and P-90s and vintage SG Special tuners. Otherwise it was just a slightly heavy and not so amazing SG. I think this just was not a good one? How does GC get these I thought they are a MF exclusive?
The Special: Ebony/Black: Tagged at $1300 and listed as a Standard. But it was a Special. I wanted to love it. I don't want block inlays and binding and things that are just eye candy. But it was a dog, unplugged it felt dead and plugged in it sounded worse than the Fadeds. I really wish I could see the wood grain and see how many pieces it is. now worth my time or money. It did have the nicer neck joint of the standard and umm it stayed in tune for 5 minutes. They had a Wine Red? model with tons of belt rash tagged at $899 and it has been there for a year or more. I did'nt play it in fear of having to pay for the belt rash damage or something lame.
The Special Faded: they had a worn cherry and a worn brown. I was kind fo hoping to find a real looker. and fall in love when I played it. But to my dismay they 4 and 5 piece bodies. The brown ones fretboard and body was dry as a bone and it had a weird swirl in its grains(all 4 diff. pieces). the Cherry one sounded and felt cheap. and I did'nt even plug in the Brown out of disgust. IDK these back when they came out with the cresant moon inlays were nice and had what I thought was ebony fretboards. Now they are not even as good as the G-400 Vintage Epiphones.
Out of them all I loved the Standard and 1961. But I would obviously need to pick through the lemons and play one first. the quality got worse as the price dipped. I really wish gibson would get on the ball and make a good SG. instead of 400 limted edition GOWs. I'd like better Quality Control before I give you my $1,500.
But I hope to own a Cherry SG standard before the year is out. Anyone know of a dealer who sells only non-lemon Gibsons and stands behind them? I cannot trust mail order or guitar center sight unseen. and GC has exclusive gibson sales rights in my city it seems.
-Brian
