Dr. Vegetable
New member
I was in the local music store last week trying to help a friend shop for his first electric guitar, when I spotted this Faded SG Special in the used section. I'm a sucker for a good deal, so guess which one of us walked out of the store with a guitar? I guess it's about time I owned an MIA.
At first blush the faded brown finish looked cheap, but it quickly grew on me to become irresistibly beautiful. There's just something so classic looking about an SG. Built for business first, cosmetics are practically an afterthought. It really is a no-nonsense plank of wood with pickups mounted to it.
The action was just abysmal when I got it, and I could tell from how the strings were wound that the previous owner really didn't give much thought to proper setup. (A brand new SG that I compared it to in the store was set up equally badly, so I suspect this was how it came from the factory.) The fretboard was covered with grunge, and not "the good kind." I took off the old strings and gently cleaned the entire instrument with Murphy's Oil Soap. Then dropped the bridge, tailpiece and pickups to where God intended, slapped on a fresh set of strings, and took it to rehearsal.
I pre-stretched them, but it still took a good long time for the strings to break in. I am not crazy about the "Gibson Deluxe" tuners, but it does seem to be holding tune now. I'm open to recommendations for a good set of replacement machine heads for this thing. I'm actually thinking of swapping the bridge and tuners off my Epiphone Tom Delange sig. ES-333, as they actually look to be better quality than the stuff that came on the SG.
Tonewise, this guitar is instantly recognizable. It reacts a lot differently than anything else I own. (Nothing like an Ibanez - go figure!) The pickups are not bad. I'd like to experiment with a few swaps here, but I plan to enjoy the stock tones for awhile first. Again, I am open to recommendations in this department.
I am having a lot of fun playing it and finding some iconic tones. It's no shred machine, but neither am I.
At first blush the faded brown finish looked cheap, but it quickly grew on me to become irresistibly beautiful. There's just something so classic looking about an SG. Built for business first, cosmetics are practically an afterthought. It really is a no-nonsense plank of wood with pickups mounted to it.
The action was just abysmal when I got it, and I could tell from how the strings were wound that the previous owner really didn't give much thought to proper setup. (A brand new SG that I compared it to in the store was set up equally badly, so I suspect this was how it came from the factory.) The fretboard was covered with grunge, and not "the good kind." I took off the old strings and gently cleaned the entire instrument with Murphy's Oil Soap. Then dropped the bridge, tailpiece and pickups to where God intended, slapped on a fresh set of strings, and took it to rehearsal.
I pre-stretched them, but it still took a good long time for the strings to break in. I am not crazy about the "Gibson Deluxe" tuners, but it does seem to be holding tune now. I'm open to recommendations for a good set of replacement machine heads for this thing. I'm actually thinking of swapping the bridge and tuners off my Epiphone Tom Delange sig. ES-333, as they actually look to be better quality than the stuff that came on the SG.
Tonewise, this guitar is instantly recognizable. It reacts a lot differently than anything else I own. (Nothing like an Ibanez - go figure!) The pickups are not bad. I'd like to experiment with a few swaps here, but I plan to enjoy the stock tones for awhile first. Again, I am open to recommendations in this department.
I am having a lot of fun playing it and finding some iconic tones. It's no shred machine, but neither am I.
