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Post by dcarver on Jan 5, 2022 13:44:22 GMT -7
There's a certain guitar that's caught my interest. It's the Gibson SG Special with the 2 P90's. They have both a custom shop and a Gibson USA version out. I'm mostly interested in the less expensive Gibson USA model. I was wondering if any members of the Z family have checked out either of the SG Specials that Gibson has out. Gibson seems to be producing them in very small numbers. I've only seen 1 or 2 listed out here on the west coast. Dave's Guitar Shop has a couple on their website. davesguitar.com/products/gibson-usa/sg-special-vintage-cherry/I'm wondering how good the quality control is on these. Is this a guitar I could buy sight unseen. If any Z Bros in the La Crosse or Madison area want to do a little recon, check out the new SG Special at Dave's. Or if anybody has had a chance to try one of these, I'd be very interested in your thoughts. I know Jack at Peach has a killer demo out, but I think it's probably the Custom Shop version.
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Post by nicholas on Jan 5, 2022 14:20:43 GMT -7
I can't speak for that particular guitar, however I do have a Gibson USA Les Paul Special with P90's. I got it new last year. I believe it's the same series as the SG you pointed out, same price point anyways. It's a fantastic guitar. Plays excellent. I have no regrets with it at all. I also have a Historic LP Custom and an R9. It plays just as well as them honestly.
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Jan 5, 2022 14:57:07 GMT -7
I've owned (but no longer have) both an '09 Gibson SG Classic [had P90's mounted in the larger SG pickguard, and 2-pc. tune-o-matic] as well as a '19 Gibson SG Special [same the one in your link, but mine was Pelham Blue].
I think they were both great guitars, possibly better quality-control than my two Les Pauls from '09 & '13. Those Gibson P90's are GREAT, great rock pickups--no need to replace them at all. I simply couldn't get comfortable with the SG on my lap as I often play seated, because of where the contour is on the side of the guitar. (The guitar sits very far out towards the neck direction on an SG--much more so than on a Strat or LP; if you look at where the body contour is, you'll see why.)
SG's are just not for me however I wish they were because that Pelham Blue '19 model I had was all sorts of cool.
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Post by dcarver on Jan 5, 2022 15:18:20 GMT -7
Wow Nicholas that's a solid endorsement. From the pics of your garage/motorcycles/guitars etc, I've come to the conclusion you know quality when you see it.
Mark, I play sitting down a lot too. I should probably mosey over to GC and sit down with an SG for a while and see if I can make it work. Maybe I need to consider a Les Paul Special.
Thanks for the input guys.
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Jan 5, 2022 16:36:47 GMT -7
Mark, I play sitting down a lot too. I should probably mosey over to GC and sit down with an SG for a while and see if I can make it work. Maybe I need to consider a Les Paul Special. Yeah, it's the littlest of things, you know.. but to me it just bugged me. Most guys can probably deal with it or don't even notice it. Yes, if you're not comfortable with the SG, a LP Special would be awesome too. But it's just one of those things--might not bother you at all, but best to check if you can.
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Post by spencer096 on Jan 7, 2022 5:51:24 GMT -7
Jack could make a shoebox string w rubber bands sound good.
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Post by nicholas on Jan 8, 2022 6:13:40 GMT -7
Wow Nicholas that's a solid endorsement. Mark, I play sitting down a lot too. I should probably mosey over to GC and sit down with an SG for a while and see if I can make it work. Maybe I need to consider a Les Paul Special. Thanks for the input guys. I'd also suggest trying to find one locally. I wanted an SG at one point. I found one at GC to try out and didn't really like it. They are hugely popular. So I'm sure it was mostly just me. But I would suggest trying one out as they are quite a departure from all the other Gibson models I've had and liked. As for the playability of the Special that I mentioned, it's great. No issues at all. It has a neck binding, like the SG you linked. It's the type of binding that mates with the end of the fret. I've had a few guitars in the past where there was a tiny gap there and the high E string would always get hung up in it. I can report there is none of that with my special. The fret work is great. Sets up fine with no buzzing or anything. It's a great little guitar and very reasonable priced. I did read some reviews that were complaimg the TV yellow finish isn't correct, or different from the new reissue models or vintage Gibsons. Which could be true. I'm not sure. It looks pretty good to me.
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Post by adam on Jan 8, 2022 8:23:26 GMT -7
A couple thoughts...
Recent Gibsons - from what I've seen, I think they are great. Played a LP with p90s and another deluxe with the mini humbuckers and I thought both sounded and played great. That was through my normal stuff at home, so I felt it was a good test. Also have a recent 335 that I think is very good.
SG - I got the bug for one after playing a friends '64 for a month. That guitar was special. Super loud acoustically, tons of harmonics, overtones and sustain. Really low output humbuckers that really sounded more like single coils to me without the noise. You can really hear the magic of the old Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, same kind of thing I hear in my old Strat. Anyway, picked up a recent 61 style sg and it was just dead. Playability and setup and everything was fantastic, but it didn't sound good at all. Returned it and got a custom shop sg and it's way better, but it's not that old sg and never will be. Offered my friend 10k for his and he wasn't interested. Still on my quest, picked up a set of throbak pickups designed around a sample 64 sg they had in. Have yet to put those in, but it's one more step in trying to make that guitar a little closer to the old one.
sg style - they take some getting used to. In some ways, I really like them. Like sitting down, the neck sits higher than normal (better to play), and access to playing high on the neck is much better because everything seems shoved out a few inches towards the neck. Standing with a strap, there's a little neck dive which is livable, but I had to get used to not pinning my right forearm on the body because I was making the guitar out of tune. I thought it was the guitar for a while until I realized what I was doing. Playing a Strat or LP, I still dig in there and they are fine tuning wise, but not the sg. With the body having more height, and no arch top, and then neck sort of being longer, it just exasperates those problems, and I think they are basically all like. I really like it though. You may or may not get along with one.
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Post by dcarver on Jan 10, 2022 16:10:23 GMT -7
Thanks for all the good info guys. The quest has progressed ! I was able to sit down with a genuine 63 sg junior. Oh my goodness .... that little guitar was sooo cool. I say little because it just felt small , probably due to the weight. Couldn't have weighed more than 6 lbs. We had it plugged into a Marshall for a while, and my Maz 8. Wow! All I have to say is I need me some p90's. That little guitar just roared, and some of the best cleans I've ever heard. Ergonomically it seemed ok. I was probably so blown away by the tone I didn't notice any discomfort. The frets were pretty worn down, so it was a bit difficult to do barre chords on. But it had a real Brazilian rosewood fret board. Really dark and kinda waxy. It just felt great under your fingers. I hope some of these new sg specials get out here to LA. I'm a bit leery of buying a guitar sight unseen. I guess if I have to, Sweetwater would be the safest way to go. But I'd really like to play one first. Anyhow, thanks guys. Cheers DC
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Post by adam on Jan 11, 2022 17:59:06 GMT -7
SW has been good to me with returns. I thought the same thing about buying a guitar site unseen and the first test was a squire tele from SW. Wasn't expecting much, and it was better than expected. Since then, I've purchased 5 guitars from them and returned 1. I might also add that in the old days playing a guitar in the store that it still takes quite a while to figure out if the guitar works for you, and I've regretted some of those purchases too.
Lucky you getting to play an old SG. I don't have a ton of experience with this stuff, but I think there's something about the old brazillion rosewood. The 64 sg I played with for some time had something going on that was very similar to my 65 Strat with brazillion rosewood. My "new" experience with that wood was on an 85 prs, and that guitar just didn't have it, but there's my observation. If you've watched some videos about how someone selects a piece of wood to use in a guitar, you might see someone pick up a blank and hit it with a mallet or something. That old rosewood makes a note and sounds like a marimba or something. Anyway, there's something going on with old guitars and I think it has more to do with the wood than the electronics or craftsmanship. My 2 cents.
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Post by dcarver on Jan 11, 2022 19:20:12 GMT -7
Wow, 5 guitars and only one return ? That's pretty good. Do you think it's a good idea to talk to one of their sales people a lot, and try to them to pick out a guitar you would pick? Or do just click on one and see what you get ? Seems like kinda of a crap shoot.
How painful is the return process?
I agree with you on the old wood thing. There is definitely something about a lot of old guitars. It seems like they are livelier. Same with the Brazilian board. There's just something about it that feels better.
Thanks for your input Cheers
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Post by adam on Jan 12, 2022 6:47:09 GMT -7
Wow, 5 guitars and only one return ? That's pretty good. Do you think it's a good idea to talk to one of their sales people a lot, and try to them to pick out a guitar you would pick? Or do just click on one and see what you get ? Seems like kinda of a crap shoot. How painful is the return process? Talk to them, no, I'm flagged as"do not call" so they don't bug me. I asked once about having them pick out the best of say 4 and they wouldn't do it. If you could get to their store, I'm sure they'd pull a bunch for you to try, but maybe call first. Do I get the best one, probably not, but I just view it as do I like it or not. If you don't like it, just email them and tell them you don't like it and they'll setup the return. I might say it's worth talking to your rep to see if you can get a discount, and the discounts on the used/demo stuff tend to be pretty substantial. Cheers!
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Post by dcarver on Jan 14, 2022 0:29:05 GMT -7
Cool. Thanks for all the info. I clicked on the chat box on Sweetwater's web page for the custom shop special. The guy thought they might get some in March. So we'll see what happens. It would be nice to snag a demo.
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