Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Oli on June 15, 2011, 09:48:38 PM
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So i'm in the market for an SG, and occasionally think that i'll go for an older Gibson (late ish 60s), but it's very hard to find one that appeals to me at the prices that guitars of that era command. What lesser-known SGs are worth a look at?
My preference is soapbar p90s, followed by humbuckers-- not massively keen on mini-hums, but I think that's more of an irrational fear! Chunky neck is a must, and i'm not really fussed about the bridge, although if I had to choose then it'd be a TOM or wraparound.
So what SGs are good to look out for (and which ones to stay away from!)? Price can probably go up to about £2k, but i'm certainly not disregarding cheaper instruments if they're well built and good machines!
Cheers :)
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If I had two grand to burn then I'd be giving a luthier a call and get exactly what I wanted (depending on luthier of course).
I know there a lot of SG fans on here, so I'll let them answer on alternatives.
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PR Guitars SGR Special for £1299. Job done :)
http://www.prguitars.co.uk/page40.html
Here's my Standard and my old SCR:
(http://www.prguitars.co.uk/wpimages/wp0d41141a_1b.jpg)
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Check this out.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/L-K-1968-Gibson-SG-Special-vibrola-/200619150100?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2eb5d54b14#ht_500wt_1156
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Guild S100.
Excellent guitar, and expect to pay around £900 for a real vintage guitar.
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If I had two grand to burn then I'd be giving a luthier a call and get exactly what I wanted (depending on luthier of course).
I know there a lot of SG fans on here, so I'll let them answer on alternatives.
+1 and SG has to be neck-thru in my opinion... So it drives to the custom built
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Check this out.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/L-K-1968-Gibson-SG-Special-vibrola-/200619150100?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2eb5d54b14#ht_500wt_1156
I can't imagine finding a better deal than that on a vintage SG.
If you absolutely positively must have vintage P90s, they're not even that expensive on ebay - you can get 50s and 60s P90s for around $250-300. Here's a pair of '67 P90s for $400 buy it now... http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-1967-Gibson-P-90-Dog-Ear-Pickups-Pair-ES-125-/250838522499?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a67241a83#ht_671wt_1139
on the Guild S100 idea, here's a reissue from '95 starting at £250... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guild-S100-Electric-Guitar-/150618048513?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2311890801#ht_502wt_1139
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Have you seen these - http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/SG-Special-60s-Tribute.aspx ? The worn white looks incredible and they're quite nicely priced :)
I like my SG Standard but it has pretty rubbish sustain compared to a Les Paul unless you pile on the gain.
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I would be very careful with buying an old SG secondhand, as the old ones can suffer from weak neck joints and stability.
In fact, I prefer the SG Standard mainly because of its stronger neck joint.
In order to avoid disappointment I would strongly suggest playing any SG first and not buying over the internet!
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Late '60s and '70s SGs tend be be fairly slim-necked and narrow at the nut, as far as I know, so they probably won't meet your chucky neck requirements.
If the chunky neck really is important, it narrows the options quite a lot, at least with current models. All SG Customs, the '61 reissue, nearly all Custom Shop models seem to have the '60s slim taper neck, unfortunately.
Alex makes a good point about the neck joint. Much as I love SGs, I've started to be wary of them for that very reason. The weakest seems to be the early '60s neck joint with a little "step" at the sides of the neck. The current neck joint is a bit bulkier at the heel but does seem to be a lot stronger.
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That 68 on Ebay claims to have a chunky neck.
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That 68 on Ebay claims to have a chunky neck.
Yeah, I noticed that - I wonder if that's just the seller's perception (being used to Ibanez Wizards or something!) or if it really is chunky?
I'm far from an expert, I just go by what I've read mostly, but the couple I've actually tried from that era were on the skinny side.
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That 68 on Ebay claims to have a chunky neck.
Sellers claim lots of things. It's the neck joint anyway that is the problem.
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Have you seen these - http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/SG-Special-60s-Tribute.aspx ? The worn white looks incredible and they're quite nicely priced :)
I like my SG Standard but it has pretty rubbish sustain compared to a Les Paul unless you pile on the gain.
These might not fit the bill (skinny neck), but I've been lusting after one for months now...
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Have you seen these - http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/SG-Special-60s-Tribute.aspx ? The worn white looks incredible and they're quite nicely priced :)
I like my SG Standard but it has pretty rubbish sustain compared to a Les Paul unless you pile on the gain.
These might not fit the bill (skinny neck), but I've been lusting after one for months now...
Those look quite cute.
Anyone else read the comments on that page? At the moment there are loads of posts from a nobhead dissing it for p90s... he's taking his experiences and why they don't work for him and then using language that implies his view is gospel in all cases - even when he explains how/why they don't work for him specifically, but might for blues etc, he still sounds like he's telling us all to stop using them :lol: ... a fine example of "internet expertise/facts" :roll:
If you are prepared to look at these (ie Gibson's "no finish, faded" range), but are after a chunky neck, I can highly recommend the Faded series at the cheaper end of things. It does seem they can be variable (I guess these 60s tributes might be as well), but after trying a few I've got what I regard as YUMMY geetar that just gets better with playing. It's got hums in it obviously, but MQs will fit very nicely! :lol:
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What fernando recommended is probably the safest route. If I had 2K to spend I'd be giving Mr Feline a ring.
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What fernando recommended is probably the safest route. If I had 2K to spend I'd be giving Mr Feline a ring.
Actually, yeah +1, I meant to say that as well (not that I entirely agree with neck-thru being a must-have)
But I was distracted by the amusing nobhead on the Gibson page! :lol:
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Another +1 for the Feline, having played the in-progress stage of my custom build I can confidently say I've never touched a better neck in my life - considering it's roughly in the same range of price as an upper end Gibson (prices start about 1600) but you can get exactly what you want down to the finest detail - you can even make little changes like a slightly thicker body or different size neck, frets etc that you won't get from the store bought route.
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Anyone else read the comments on that page? At the moment there are loads of posts from a nobhead dissing it for p90s... he's taking his experiences and why they don't work for him and then using language that implies his view is gospel in all cases - even when he explains how/why they don't work for him specifically, but might for blues etc, he still sounds like he's telling us all to stop using them :lol: ... a fine example of "internet expertise/facts" :roll:
What a tit. Of course he's entitled to an opinion, but as you say every comment he makes has an "I'm right you're wrong. FACT." tone to it.
There's a reason Gibson stopped putting P-90's in their top of the line guitars and loaded them with regular humbuckers instead - go figure...
I started with Clapton, Hendrix and Page, then after getting bored with those guys, graduated (and learned to alternate pick instead of just doing hammer-ons and pull-offs) to McLaughlin and Di Meola for the Rockish side of things.
Leslie West?!? Duude, that was so long ago, it's not worth debating lol
Knob. :roll:
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What fernando recommended is probably the safest route. If I had 2K to spend I'd be giving Mr Feline a ring.
Actually, yeah +1, I meant to say that as well (not that I entirely agree with neck-thru being a must-have)
But I was distracted by the amusing nobhead on the Gibson page! :lol:
Well, I said it because of all that neck-joint weekness we're talking... If you think a guitar in a tool way, it shall be design to work for long years and I believe the neck-thru would give more stability to the neck joint...
This '68 looks very cool, but I'm thinking he may have routed the base part too deep, don't need to be as deep as the legs of the humbucker... I may work good forever, but also can have problems...
I don't udnerstand why Gibson make Firebird neck-thru and don't on SG's... :roll:
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I can see the sense of a neck-thru SG, it would remove all the worries about the weak neck joint, but it would change the tone - and I like the tone of an SG!
It would be good to be able to compare some neck-thrus and set-necks side by side to hear what difference it makes.
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I can see the sense of a neck-thru SG, it would remove all the worries about the weak neck joint, but it would change the tone - and I like the tone of an SG!
It would be good to be able to compare some neck-thrus and set-necks side by side to hear what difference it makes.
Don't know how much would change, if it still has the smaller thickness of the SG...
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Anyone else read the comments on that page? At the moment there are loads of posts from a nobhead dissing it for p90s...
:lol: Just had a read. One of them mentions p90s being rubbish for metal. Clearly haven't heard the Pig 90 then!
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Anyone else read the comments on that page? At the moment there are loads of posts from a nobhead dissing it for p90s...
:lol: Just had a read. One of them mentions p90s being rubbish for metal. Clearly haven't heard the Pig 90 then!
:D
I'm pretty sure it was P90s and a Big Muff that invented metal...
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Wez built me a really nice neck through SG with a John Birch heel and 2 BK P90's. I wanted a 25½" scale and a wide (1 3/4") nut. The neck is chunky and the sound is great
(http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af302/philking/Guitars/WezZemStrats007.jpg)
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That's a stunning SG. Which P90's are in there?
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Anyone else read the comments on that page? At the moment there are loads of posts from a nobhead dissing it for p90s...
:lol: Just had a read. One of them mentions p90s being rubbish for metal. Clearly haven't heard Carcass then!
Fixed.
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Didn't realise Carcass used p90s but Heartwork does have some of my favourite metal tones!
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Wez built me a really nice neck through SG with a John Birch heel and 2 BK P90's. I wanted a 25½" scale and a wide (1 3/4") nut. The neck is chunky and the sound is great
(http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af302/philking/Guitars/WezZemStrats007.jpg)
F**k me, that's AWESOME!!!!
Nice one, Wez!!!
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P90s aren't good for metal?
In fact metal was pretty much invented with P90s in an SG
Theres a reason for the Pig90 name
Warpigs ala Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
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That's a stunning SG. Which P90's are in there?
the old BKP90