Gibson SG Standard T

[Crane]

Inspired by the looks of an SG Special hanging on the wall of Guitar Mart, I sat down and played all 3 SGs in the store. I did not like the pups of the Special or the neck on the 2018 Standard, but the '61 Reissue was just about right. The Reissue was $1150 and the new Standard was $1450. I decided to check out Reverb and found a '61 Reissue. I was a click away from purchasing it when I saw a Standard T for sale. The Standard T had all the options I wanted so I pulled the trigger on the T. It was one of those rare times I bought a guitar without playing it first, and I have no regrets

Grover locking tuners

pair of 57s

larger tongue

 

[Kac]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Purdy SG, whats the T stand for?

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Tell me more about what you liked about the Standard T over the '61 Reissue. Are the specs that different? I honestly haven't looked into SG's that much. While I was reading your post I was convinced you were buying the Reissue.

 

[Crane]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

The T stands for 'Traditional'.
Although I like the neck on the Reissue, the one I played did not have locking tuners and had a smaller heel. While I was researching SGs, I read that the neck can be 'wobbly' or 'whippy' as they put it. The chunkier heel can alleviate some of that.

There is a big difference between the 2016 Standard T and the 2017 Standard T. IMO the 2017 is a huge upgrade.
Weird thing was that the 2018 Standard specs also say 'slim taper' neck, but the one I played in the store felt thick to me.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Very interesting, I had not heard that about the Standard T necks..... the heel joint I mean. That's a good nugget for me to keep in the database when it comes time to add an SG to the stable. I must admit being drawn to the Reissues as I would like as close to original specs as possible, but I'll have to try out different necks ahead of time.

The Traditional line has been a great line of guitars Gibson has put out. They all (LP and SG) used to be no weight relief and more historically accurate specs than the corresponding Standards or Classics. I was set on finding a lightweight Traditional LP before I stumbled into my Gary Moore Standard LP and then my 57' RI. They are a good value for the $$ and more accurate/less expensive than the Standards. I don't care for the idea of "modern" weight relief; they might as well just chamber them.

Do you plan to keep the 57' Classics in the guitar, or trade them out? Also, other than the locking tuners and larger heel, were there any other differences that helped you choose the T.

It's a great looking SG, I hope it continues to be a great guitar for you. Congratulations!!!

P.S. If SG necks are anything like LP necks, it almost doesn't matter what the specs say. With LP's, a neck with the "50's profile" can be anywhere from a baseball bat to a broomstick, with little rhyme or reason.

 

[Crane]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Other factors were:
1. I think the small pickguard looks better and with that you get pick up rings instead of pups mounted in a plastic pickguard.
2. It has a solid mahogany body, and 3. the price. I picked mine up on Reverb for a lot less than a 2018, which has very similar specs.

I plugged it in and played it, but I do not want to touch my amp settings because I am in the middle of recording right now. I have to admit, I would love to try different pups in there just for fun, particularly a Burstbucker I/II combo but at this point it makes no sense. I will wait until I can tweak my amp settings and see how it really sounds.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

The standard t series are nice. I wish they had kept the 57 pickups. My 2018 has 61t and 61r pickups.

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

All SG standards/studios/etc. have the same bigger heal, right? It's just the 61 RI where the neck joins further up.

Or did they change it? I had a 2005 standard and I thought the neck joint was a little flimsy for my liking.

It's a shame no one makes a neck-thru SG.

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

 

[Crane]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

The 2013 Standards have the smaller tongue and it looks like the new HPs do also.
I have not researched the history, there may be more.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

That's a sweet looking guitar. Congratulations.

The '61 RI you were looking at must have been used, at that price...right?

FWIW, here are a few different versions of SG neck joints that I've owned.

Left to right:

'02 MIJ Epi (basically a Japanese version of the Gibson '61 RI) – short tongue with sideways step, and medium neck heel
'68 Standard – long tongue, and long neck heel
'12 Special Faded – long tongue, and short neck heel

On SGs throughout the years, the tongues coming off the bodies are really the major differences between the two main neck joint styles, not the neck heels. The tongues are either short with the sideways step, or long with no sideways step. Neck heel lengths tend to be highly variable (carved by hand). Body contours are also all over the place, traditionally, for the same reason. The major variation in body contours and heel shapes from guitar to guitar has basically disappeared in the CNC age. Most look like the '12 Special Faded on the right now.

 

[cvansickle]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Congrats! I've got one of those 2017 SG Standard T guitars too, and I love it. The neck feels just right compared to the Les Pauls I have too. The weight balance is perfect and it's the first SG I've ever played with no neck dive!

I did make some upgrades to it though. For starters, the PC board had to go. I replaced it with a 50s wiring harness from Stewmac. I liked the stock pickups but wanted to see what something with a little more output might do, so I changed the bridge pickup to a Gibson 498T. I had some good luck with the 498T on other mahogany slab guitars, so I thought it might work well for the SG and it truly does. It even sounds great with the 50s wiring where most high output pickups don't, IMO.

And then some cosmetic changes: I replaced the knobs with chrome top hats because SGs simply require them! I added pointer washers on the knobs too. I swapped the kidney tuner buttons for chrome keystones, and installed a pickup selector poker chip. Lastly, I changed the stop tailpiece to a Gibson TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece, which I have on all my Les Pauls too.

Now it's a player! Holds its own with my Les Pauls that are worth twice or more as much.

 

[Crane]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Post a pic of your SG! Which pre-wired harness did you get exactly and were there any fit issues?

I had some extra pickups to do some sound tests. I was thinking about getting rid of the pcb, but I purchased 5 pin connectors and was able to plug all pickups into the pcb. I recorded the SG with the original 57s, a pair of BB Pros, and a pair of MHS pickups. The BB Pros and the MHS had more body than the 57s - which was what I was looking for. I was close to putting the MHS neck and BB Pro bridge in together, but ultimately went with the MHS pair.

After reading your post, I'm researching the TP-6!

 

[Crane]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

That's a sweet looking guitar. Congratulations.

The '61 RI you were looking at must have been used, at that price...right?

FWIW, here are a few different versions of SG neck joints that I've owned.

Left to right:

'02 MIJ Epi (basically a Japanese version of the Gibson '61 RI) – short tongue with sideways step, and medium neck heel
'68 Standard – long tongue, and long neck heel
'12 Special Faded – long tongue, and short neck heel

On SGs throughout the years, the tongues coming off the bodies are really the major differences between the two main neck joint styles, not the neck heels. The tongues are either short with the sideways step, or long with no sideways step. Neck heel lengths tend to be highly variable (carved by hand). Body contours are also all over the place, traditionally, for the same reason. The major variation in body contours and heel shapes from guitar to guitar has basically disappeared in the CNC age. Most look like the '12 Special Faded on the right now.

Yes, the '61 was used.
Do you prefer a particular heel/tongue combo over the other?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Gibson SG Standard T

Yes, the '61 was used.
Do you prefer a particular heel/tongue combo over the other?

No; I have no preference. I suppose I like the looks and feel of the '68 the best, but I don't have a problem with the other ones.