So I'm getting an SG... but which?

[davesmith7]

I have mixed feelings about Gibson SGs. I tried the SG Special in my local store and it was terrible. But the SG Standard 61 was completely different, much better. If you manage to find it in your area, go for it!

But seriously, that SG Special was just so bad... It felt like a $200 Epiphone with a Gibson logo on the headstock

 

[Securb]

I would say the only issue I have found with my SG is it seems to need more attention and maintenance than my other guitars. Truss tweaking, intonation, and action need to be addressed more than typical. I attribute this t the thinner body and neck joint. I would say the older it gets and the more it settles in, the less attention it needs. Now it is in a mainenece cycle typical to my other guitars.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

As far as SG's go I like this one...

[video]https://www.allinoneguitars.com/product-page/aio-asg-electric-guitar-honey-burst[/video]

Apparently they're a decent up and coming brand & really well made too w/o breaking the bank.

If I was in the US I'd have one.

Thanks for the suggestion, but it seems to have the same "issue" I have with Epis where the bridge pickup is not right up against the bridge like on the Gibsons.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Thanks for the suggestion, but it seems to have the same "issue" I have with Epis where the bridge pickup is not right up against the bridge like on the Gibsons.

Well it's your call obviously but why would you want that? I mean, won't that make it sound like a banjo/be really tinny sounding?

 

[Mincer]

Well it's your call obviously but why would you want that? I mean, won't that make it sound like a banjo/be really tinny sounding?

I was going to ask the same thing. Also on SGs, the neck pickup is moved further from the neck than on an LP- that probably bothers me more.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Well it's your call obviously but why would you want that? I mean, won't that make it sound like a banjo/be really tinny sounding?

I'm down to two guitars right now. A Fender Strat and a Gibson Les Paul. I'm struggling with the Strat because the bridge pickup is really far away from the bridge itself compared to the Les Paul. I recently swapped the pickguard to something where the bridge pickup is a bit closer than it used to be, and it helped A TON, but it's not the same. I'm contempt to where the tone of the Strat is with a Duncan Distortion, but in order to get a similar kind of bite and aggression, I did have to drop a 1 Meg pot. Yep. 1 Meg volume, no tone with a Duncan Distortion. Whereas with the Gibson, whatever I drop in there, I immediately like.

I also used to have an Epiphone Les Paul that was very similar to the Gibson, but Epis for some reason have the bridge pickup further away from the bridge itself than Gibsons. I've been bitching and bitching about that for ages now, LOL.

I like my bridge pickups bridge-y, personally. Keep in mind, I'm playing mostly downtuned Death Metal rhyhms. Smooth is the last thing I want.

Also, if I got an SG that didn't sound like an SG... well... what's the point of getting an SG, then?

 

[Chistopher]

I agree, the point of an SG is a brighter Les Paul, what's the point of Epiphone putting the pickups in a spot that turns it into a slightly different looking LP?

 

[MikeS]

Have you physically measured the bridge pickup distance from the center of the bridge, or are you going by visible appearance? The Nashville style bridges are wider than the ABR-1 style, which reduces the gap between the pickup ring and the bridge on the Nashville. My Epiphone G400 has a thinner bridge than my Gibson LP Studio. The bridge pickup on the LP looks closer, but it measures about the same from the pole pieces to the line drawn through the centerline of the posts.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Have you physically measured the bridge pickup distance from the center of the bridge, or are you going by visible appearance? The Nashville style bridges are wider than the ABR-1 style, which reduces the gap between the pickup ring and the bridge on the Nashville. My Epiphone G400 has a thinner bridge than my Gibson LP Studio. The bridge pickup on the LP looks closer, but it measures about the same from the pole pieces to the line drawn through the centerline of the posts.

I have not, but I posted a pic in this same thread of two Epi SG's with the same bridge where one looks clearly further away from the pickup than the other.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I just saw the SG Custom... it doesn't have the bridge pickup as close to the bridge as the 1961. So that idea is scrapped too.

I don't get why they do that, TBH.

This.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Have you physically measured the bridge pickup distance from the center of the bridge, or are you going by visible appearance? The Nashville style bridges are wider than the ABR-1 style, which reduces the gap between the pickup ring and the bridge on the Nashville. My Epiphone G400 has a thinner bridge than my Gibson LP Studio. The bridge pickup on the LP looks closer, but it measures about the same from the pole pieces to the line drawn through the centerline of the posts.

Also, yes. Current Gibson USA Les Pauls have the bridge further away from the bridge pickup than Gibson USA SG's. So then, what you wrote confirms my observation that Epiphone SG's have the bridge further away from the bridge pickup than Gibson SG's if they have it on the same spot as a Gibson Les Paul.