Innocent_Bystander
New member
I went to my local favorite shop yesterday just to see what was going on and to check out a friends Custom Shop Junior.
I took a quick peek at the stuff on the walls, mainly the Gibson's and Fender's and on my way back to the counter this guitar caught my eye. I had to double take on it and then stop and think for a second because I didn't believe I was seeing the right guitar. It's a week #37 GotW SG Special and the shop was told a few months ago that they wouldn't be getting thier shipment because they stopped production. They told me that out of nowhere it showed up two days ago and with a production date of January 31st, 2008! It should have been built and on the shelves back in September!
I gave it a good look over and everything looks great. No issues with the guitar at all, someone at Gibson took pride in putting this one together.
I then plugged it into my favorite amp in the store, a Victoria Electro King. I haven't stopped thinking about this amp since I first played it a few months ago. The stock P90's sound fantastic which was a bit of a suprise. I know that lately I've been liking Gibson's stock pickups a little more but they can still be hit or miss, these are definitely a hit. These have a nice balance and both get really dirty and raw, the neck pickup has a ton of bite and it's too fat, the bridge pickup has a nice clean cutting tone and sounds great overdriven. My only wish is that the hum cancelled in the middle position, it's not something I use often but the option is nice. Fralin's may be in the future but for the time being I'm just going to enjoy the stock pickups.
The guitar itself isn't a '67 reissue in the least, they should have just called it a "small guard Special" or something. Regardless it's a cool guitar. It's a bit of a cross between a Standard and a '61 RI. It has the fatter neck profile, the neck/body joint is further up the neck, it has a slightly different shaped body and the small headstock. The control layout is more in line with the '61 than the Standard though. I really dig the fatter neck and the balance of the guitar is very good for an SG, possibly the best of any I've played recently.
I'm considering some perloid button tuners and a black truss rod cover but I'm in no hurry to mod the guitar for the time being. It rips so well on the Electro King is almost makes my head explode. So much deep, dirty, overdriven bite, it really reminds me of that great old late 60's rock sound.
They gave me a great deal on the guitar and amp together so I couldn't come home without the Electro King. It's based on a late 50's Gibson GA-40, it's 15 watts driven by two 6V6's with a 12" Jensen Alnico. It's all point to point wiring and it has trem but no reverb. The amp itself has about zero clean headroom, especially with humbuckers. You might get clean tone on 2 to 2.5 but as soon as you hit 3 it's breaking up and on 3.5 it's really breaking up. I love it for that reason. I've been using an A/B switch to go between my Victoria Regal for cleans and the Electro King for overdrive. Sounds awesome!
Here's the control panel and wiring on the Electro King.
Here's the Special with my '61 RI and the amp.
I took a quick peek at the stuff on the walls, mainly the Gibson's and Fender's and on my way back to the counter this guitar caught my eye. I had to double take on it and then stop and think for a second because I didn't believe I was seeing the right guitar. It's a week #37 GotW SG Special and the shop was told a few months ago that they wouldn't be getting thier shipment because they stopped production. They told me that out of nowhere it showed up two days ago and with a production date of January 31st, 2008! It should have been built and on the shelves back in September!
I gave it a good look over and everything looks great. No issues with the guitar at all, someone at Gibson took pride in putting this one together.
I then plugged it into my favorite amp in the store, a Victoria Electro King. I haven't stopped thinking about this amp since I first played it a few months ago. The stock P90's sound fantastic which was a bit of a suprise. I know that lately I've been liking Gibson's stock pickups a little more but they can still be hit or miss, these are definitely a hit. These have a nice balance and both get really dirty and raw, the neck pickup has a ton of bite and it's too fat, the bridge pickup has a nice clean cutting tone and sounds great overdriven. My only wish is that the hum cancelled in the middle position, it's not something I use often but the option is nice. Fralin's may be in the future but for the time being I'm just going to enjoy the stock pickups.
The guitar itself isn't a '67 reissue in the least, they should have just called it a "small guard Special" or something. Regardless it's a cool guitar. It's a bit of a cross between a Standard and a '61 RI. It has the fatter neck profile, the neck/body joint is further up the neck, it has a slightly different shaped body and the small headstock. The control layout is more in line with the '61 than the Standard though. I really dig the fatter neck and the balance of the guitar is very good for an SG, possibly the best of any I've played recently.
I'm considering some perloid button tuners and a black truss rod cover but I'm in no hurry to mod the guitar for the time being. It rips so well on the Electro King is almost makes my head explode. So much deep, dirty, overdriven bite, it really reminds me of that great old late 60's rock sound.
They gave me a great deal on the guitar and amp together so I couldn't come home without the Electro King. It's based on a late 50's Gibson GA-40, it's 15 watts driven by two 6V6's with a 12" Jensen Alnico. It's all point to point wiring and it has trem but no reverb. The amp itself has about zero clean headroom, especially with humbuckers. You might get clean tone on 2 to 2.5 but as soon as you hit 3 it's breaking up and on 3.5 it's really breaking up. I love it for that reason. I've been using an A/B switch to go between my Victoria Regal for cleans and the Electro King for overdrive. Sounds awesome!
Here's the control panel and wiring on the Electro King.
Here's the Special with my '61 RI and the amp.
