Gibson SG
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| Gibson SG | |
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| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1961–present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Woods | |
| Body | Mahogany |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Ebony or Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | 1, 2 or 3 Humbuckers; 1 or 2 P-90s; certain entry-level versions had single coil pickups. |
| Colors available | |
| Mostly cherry but also natural, walnut, white, black and various specialty colours and bursts. | |
The Gibson SG is a popular model of solid-bodied electric guitar that was introduced in the early 1960s.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
In 1961, the Gibson Les Paul standard was given a new style that included a thinner body and sharp pointed double cutaway horns that made it more accessible for players to reach the higher frets. Its main design idea was to compete with the Fender Stratocaster. The newly designed Les Paul was so popular, Gibson renamed it the "SG" (meaning "solid guitar" according to Gibson).The SG is one of Gibson's best selling electric guitars to date, and is recognized by many famous bands and artists.
[edit] Models and variations
The 1961-1963 Custom models did not say 'SG', but they did, however, have a Les Paul signature between the neck and the bridge pickup. The Standards have a Les Paul engraved truss rod cover from 1961 to early 1963. Models produced between 1961 and 1965 have the original small pickguard; in 1966 the guitar was redesigned slightly with a different neck joint, most likely to address problems with cracking at the heel, and a larger, semi-symmetrical "batwing" pickguard. This design held until roughly 1970. In 1971 Gibson released a version with a floating "Les Paul" style pickguard and a front-mounted control plate, no doubt as a cost-cutting measure. Bigsby tailpieces appeared as options and several new models were introduced with this design, such as the low-end SG-100 and SG-200 guitars, and the more luxurious SG Pro and SG Deluxe guitars. In 1973 the design went back to the original style pickguard and rear-mounted controls but with the neck now set further into the body, joining roughly at the 20th fret. By the end of the 1970s, however, the SG models returned to the old design style for the most part, and current versions have returned to the 1966 styling and construction with the large pickguard, which wraps around the pickups on the guitar body (though re-issues and variants of the small pickguard SG are still available).
In 1980, the only SG ever manufactured with active factory pickups was introduced. Gibson experimented with an SG that included the same Moog active electronics that had previously been used in the RD Artist. The resulting SG had a slightly thicker body to accommodate the extra circuitry, and was dubbed the “Gibson SG-R1.” The Gibson SG-R1 was solid mahogany, sported a gloss black finish, no pick guard, dot neck inlays instead of trapezoid, see-through barrel knobs for treble and bass pots that went from zero to plus or minus five instead of tone pots going from one to ten, and an extra switch to turn on the active boost on the treble pickup. The bridge was fixed and included no tremolo/whammy bar. The Gibson SG-R1 was renamed the “Gibson SG Artist” in 1981, and then manufacture of this model was discontinued. Only about 200 active SG’s were ever produced.
The SG shape was also offered in a Junior model similar to the Les Paul Junior before it. This model had a single "dogear" P-90 pickup and an optional whammy bar. The SG Special was introduced not long after, which featured two P-90 pickups and the optional whammy bar; this model has shown up again recently as the SG Classic while the current SG Special now has two uncovered humbucking pickups. Recent models of the Gibson SG Special represent a value oriented model in their product line-up. Typically, it does not include the stylized neck binding of other models, or mother-of-pearl fret inlays. The latter omission is appreciated by some vegetarian and environmentalist players.
Gibson now offers many variations and finishes on the basic SG body style, including models such as Special, Supreme, Angus Young Special, Faded, 1961 Re-issue, Menace, and Gothic., as well as premium-priced VOS replicas of the sixties SG Special, Standard, and Custom. Epiphone, a company owned by Gibson, produces a less expensive replica known as the G-400 and also produced an "Elitist" '61 SG reissue up starting in 2003 up until the end of 2005.
[edit] SG vs. the Les Paul
Physically, the SG has a shallower body than the Les Paul, and thus is much lighter; the neck profile is also typically shallower, although this varies from year to year and guitar to guitar. The body is made entirely of mahogany, and does not have the curved, maple top section of the earlier design; neither does it have the accompanying body binding. Perhaps the most striking visual difference is that the SG is a double-cutaway instrument. The standard SG shares the basic pickup and control layout (twin humbuckers with dedicated tone and volume controls, three position selector switch) with the standard Les Paul.
[edit] Notable SG Users
[edit] Trivia
- Jimi Hendrix (normally associated with using a Fender Stratocaster) used a white SG model for his September 9th, 1969, guest appearance on the Dick Cavett Show. photo of Hendrix from the Dick Cavett performance
- Eric Clapton used a Gibson SG extensively while in Cream. He began using his signature Fender Stratocaster "Brownie" shortly after they broke up.
- George Harrison (normally associated with Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Epiphone, and Fender guitars) used a 1964 SG in the music videos for "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" in 1966 also in the song "Hey Bulldog" in 1968. The SG, which Harrison later gave to Pete Ham of Badfinger, sold for $567,000, in 2004.
[edit] See also
- Gibson Guitar Corporation
- Gibson EDS-1275, commonly seen as a double-necked SG
- Guitar Hero, a game by Harmonix and Red Octane that uses a miniature Gibson SG as a controller.
- Epiphone G400.
