Someone tell me about there SG

  • Thread starter Thread starter dragonworks
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Mine stays in tune just great til about 6 months after a setup!
 
I have a '73 Aria SG and replaced the stock p'ups with the 490/498 combo.

I know, I know... it's not a "real" Gibson SG. But this thing is a farking tone monster with a neck as thick as a baseball bat, which is perfect for me because I have huge hands. The hardware, tuners and electronics are all first rate and still in pristine condition, which is pretty good for a 35 year old guitar.

My SG is the Model 1932 (natural finish) on this page....

http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/solid/sg/19xx.html
 
I had an SG Standard, 1997, or '98. Wouldn't stay in tune, so I sold it. IIRC, the neck was a little fat. I had once thought an SG would be my dream guitar, but I think that idea had more to do with a few early 60's SGs that I played in the late 70s, way before the 'Vintage' market appeared. They were great, and, IIRC, had ebony fretboards.

So, my advice would be to look at older models.

Also, the Elitist Epi '61 SG is still available, at least here.
 
I had a '67 with a rather skinny neck that was my first (and only, as it turns out) Gibson. It had what a music store called "cobalt" pickups bone stock. I now recognise these as P90's. I loved the neck and was proud to finally own a real Gibson, but could not stand those muddy pickups. I didn't want to bastardize an original guitar with pickup replacement, so I traded it for a new Tom Holmes Custom, and never looked back. Well, ok, NOW I look back! That '67's the one that got away! This pic isn't my guitar, but EXACTLY like it, mine was in much better shape!
 
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I just bought one.... 06 SG standard... I'll get back to ya......
 
I was looking for one of those old tv yellow ones but couldn't pass up the deal on a cherry
 
I've always kinda had a hankering for a 12-string SG Junior with a single p-90. I don't think they've ever made anything like that though. Someday when I have the time and $ I'll probably build one from Warmoth parts or something.
 
i had a kalamazoo sg with that same vibrola tailpiece

it was a cool guitar but i couldnt intonate it

its nice when you can do vibrato by grabbing a horn and pushing the neck hard ala adrian belew

necks tend to go back to the same place just work it some before you tune it.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
he don't know how to work it. :D
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That's true. I've never enjoyed Strats. Well, there was one that I liked, a Japanese strat from the late 80s that had one humbucker and a fixed bridge.

I also had an American Standard, USA, but didn't like it. Beautiful guitar, but just not my style. I don't care for the sound.

Of course, I've been playing for twenty-four years and still suck, so that might have a lot to do with it. I like grungy metal sounds, and throw so many ugly effects on my sound that a tennis racket will sound just fine.
 
KaveKong said:
That's true. I've never enjoyed Strats. Well, there was one that I liked, a Japanese strat from the late 80s that had one humbucker and a fixed bridge.

I also had an American Standard, USA, but didn't like it. Beautiful guitar, but just not my style. I don't care for the sound.

Of course, I've been playing for twenty-four years and still suck, so that might have a lot to do with it. I like grungy metal sounds, and throw so many ugly effects on my sound that a tennis racket will sound just fine.
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i've never liked strats for metal. i don't play much metal these days so it works out pretty well for me. i dig gibsons too but i don't like the typical "plays like butter" setup.
 
Mine's the shizzle

My Gibson SG is a 1980 SG RD1 and the neck on this baby is very similar to the neck on ES-335. I think Gibson guitars made from '79 to '81 were slightly bigger than any other year - just perfect for bigger fingers like mine.

My guitar is all black, NO pickguard, with an ebony fretboard. I believe the story behind the SG RD1 is: the custom shop got together with Bob Moog (? i think it was him) to make a guitar with active pick ups.

Well, the guitar was great but the electronics sounded like crap. Whoever had this SG before me had enough sense to rip out all the electronics and put 52s in there. God bless him, whoever he was.

This SG is one of the best all-around SGs I've played and I've had plenty of guitarists over the years confirm that fact.

Ultimately I know this is a pretty rare bird. So my advice is to start playing as many SGs as you can find and one day you'll find the one meant for you.
 
dragonworks said:
and the differences between SGs. Like the thickness of necks between years etc. You know, all the good stuff, you SG freaks. I am thinking of buying one. I tried one of the new ones expecting the neck to feel like my 335 but it seemed much thicker? I was wondering if there were different neck styles in different years. I know there were three pickup arrangements, ones with bigsby's, ones with trapeze tailpieces.


Their SG I should say.
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I have a 1971 SG Custom that I like. The only thing I am not used to is the low frets they used to put on them. They feel real wierd.

If you are looking for an SG, play alot of them because they can be very different. I have had many SG standards and only 1 was a perfect guitar for me. Also, be aware that these guitars, when allowed to fall off of the guitar stand, can have the neck snap right off. The older ones much more so than the newer ones.

Another thing: some SGs have the "rubber neck" thing happening. Some necks bend so easily that you will hear the whole thing pitch shift up and down by just fretting a chord.

Good Luck
 
Lt. Bob said:
I've always found the thin neck SGs to be problematic at staying in tune.
I think what happens is that the thin neck bends back and forth when you put pressure on it while playing and that stretches your strings out of tune. And almost everyone pushes and pulls on the neck while playing even though you don't realize it.
I sure do like that fireburst finish they have on that higher end SG though.
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True, but not all thin neck SGs do this. I have 1 that is dead nuts perfect and have had some that are rubber city. Maybe something with mahogany?

I don't really know.
 
This ones an '06 standard. Kind of a tone monster. Breaks up earlier than any other guitar in the corral (cept maybe the Gibson 3 p90'd 3000). I love the way it feels the neck is great and it stays in tune wonderfully. I'm glad you guys were talking about it./ Really rounds out my collection.
 
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