Been doing some guitar maintenance

[AndyR]

With the arrival of my Les Paul, I finally figured out what to do with some pickup swaps in other guitars.

I have some Stormy Mondays on order for the Les Paul, which kinda frees up my Tokai Love Rock to be something else (it donated Mules to my 335 a year or so ago).

So the pickup swaps went like this:

MQs from my Faded SG to the Love Rock. I liked the MQs in the SG, but I wanted it back to humbucking. I'd often wondered about MQs in a LP-type, and with the arrival of the new LP, this seemed like a good move. So far, I've liked the sound of the MQs in the Love Rock, but I've been kinda distracted by other stuff.

57 Classics from the Love Rock to my Explorer. The Explorer had the SG's Riff Raffs, and although it sounded pretty good, it wasn't enough to make me want to play it. It always sounded a bit thin, and I'd read elsewhere that Explorers like 57 Classics for classic 70s rock vibes. And, woo, it does! I imagine it might get Black Dogs one day, but I'm liking it as is at the moment (and there's a 57 Classic Plus sat in the bridge of the new Les Paul at the moment, if I want a "bit more")

Riff Raffs from the Explorer back to the Faded SG. The SG was bought for the Riff Raffs, and although I liked the MQs there, it was crying out to have the Riff Raffs back - I wanted a bright/aggressive humbucking guitar in a smaller and more managable shape/size than an Explorer... And the Explorer just hadn't sounded as streetwise as the SG does with them.

Now, if that was all it was about, I'd have put this thread in the Pickups section - but I did some scarier stuff too

While getting knobs etc for the Les Paul, I bought some Burnishing Cream from Rothko and Frost. Initially, this was for the 335. It was a black satin finish, but the back of the neck had quickly shined up with my hand while playing and was gorgeous. On the Gibson forum I found someone had attacked a satin finish with R & F burnishing cream (completely ignoring the instructions!) and I thought I'd give it a go. It worked a treat - no pictures of this one yet, it'll be hard to capture the effect, I think.

After doing the 335, I looked at the SG and wondered - could I get away with doing a Gibson Faded? Is the finish thick enough? I wasn't sure, because I'm wearing through to the wood on the back of the neck from just playing it. So I did a little patch on the back around the strap button... I was stunned! An even more gratifying effect than on the satin 335, and very little colour came away on the cloth... So I just went for it... and...

Oh WOW!

I took some pics, but it was really hard catching the vibe. Three attached here (one daylight before restringing, one flash, and one no flash). Then this afternoon I did a little video with my laptop - not much good for following fingers and movement, but it does kinda capture the vibe/lustre of this guitar now. I'm extremely happy with the results.

Video of blurry hamfisted doodling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke0uz01QOpc

It's playing through the THR10C in the foreground, using exactly the same amp model as a similar video for the Les Paul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DETspG7N1jk). The only difference is the THR10C was next to the laptop in the Les Paul vid, facing me, so you get a bit more room reverb off the wall behind me. The SG vid is drier, with slight hints of driving the laptop mic too hard. There's a little bit more of the SG acoustically in places as well...

Interestingly, Mrs R has finally noticed/realised, with these vids, why a chap might want different guitars for different sounds! (mebbe I might be able to figure out why she needs different types of shoes )

[Plenum n Heather]

Awesome! I love the sound of the Riff Raff in a Les Paul, too. I need new pickups for my SG but am really torn as to what to put in there.

[dave_mc]

Sweet

[Telerocker]

Sweet collection. SG's are cool, but I cannot get on with them somehow.

[AndyR]

Sweet collection. SG's are cool, but I cannot get on with them somehow.

I've lusted after SGs ever since I saw pictures of Vince Melouney playing one in the Bee Gees in the late 60s. Can't find the picture online, I've got it at home in a songbook that was published around the time of their first world-wide released album in 1967 (Incidentally, the same songbook started my lusting after an ES 335 - Barry Gibb is playing one).

Although I became a "strat" man, the dark cherry SG has always been my image of what an electric guitar is.

But, like you, whenever I tried them I couldn't get on with them!!

It was sometime in the 90s I was looking for a different sound because I was then fronting a band where I had another guitarist. What I needed was an electric I could use for playing "acoustic" parts, but would also do the rock/blues thing. I tried a tele first and it wasn't quite right for the band (the other guy was playing a strat). Then I finally got into The Who... the live at the Isle of White video and double CD came out - and I discovered what instrument I needed!

I kinda bonded with "SG" then. This one was bought in 2010 to replace the Epiphone that had done those gigs (and to house the Riff Raffs that were WA-AY to bright and spikey in the Epi!). I couldn't really afford a 61 Re-issue, and the Faded was a REALLY good deal if you found one that sounded like you wanted it...

... but I'd always wanted a shiny one! (Which is why I'm SO happy with how this turned out last week)

For me, it's half-way between a strat and a Les Paul. If you get a "munchy" sounding strat - eg Rory Gallagher's - it acts and responds more like an SG. (In fact, I remember when I was a young blueser in the early 80s, a blues-guru we used to support and sometimes sit in with said to me "but you don't make your strat sound like a strat - it sounds more like an SG - back off the distortion a bit, listen to this new guy Stevie Ray Vaughan, THAT'S an aggressive strat sound..." )

Anyway, I love this little guitar, generally it gets used til its strings die, then I forget about it for a year or so while playing the others... then I restring it and... WOW!

It's not my favourite for just playing, others feel or sound so much more satisfying. But it's probably the most useful for recording - as long as the strings are newish, it always makes the "right" sound for almost any track I try it on...

[_tom_]

Sweet collection. SG's are cool, but I cannot get on with them somehow.

I was a die-hard Les Paul man til I got my SG! Pretty similar in tone (my LP is all mahogany though) but way comfier and awesome upper fret access. Plus they look badass. And don't dive if you get lucky and find a good one!

[Philly Q]

My only reservation about SGs is the strength of the neck joint, having owned a couple of Tokais which developed cracks in that area - quite possibly only in the finish, but it made me a bit paranoid nevertheless.

To be fair, that was only with the early 60s style - the modern SG neck joint doesn't seem to have the same problem.
 

[Telerocker]

I'm a strat/tele-man, but I find SG's really cool looking. They ooze rock'n''roll. The same goes for plain mahogany Explorers. But everytime I pick one up I have to get used to the necks, the fretboard, the radius, the whole feeling. Once I got some money on the side, I would like a P90 loaded Les Paul. For me that's an ultimate combination. Too bad the prices of Gibson are skyrocketing. The cheapo's in the line seldom do it for me.

[38thBeatle]

Thumbs aloft from me too.

[gwEm]

I polished up my Faded V and was rather pleased with the results too. Good stuff!