[HOWEYMAN]

I was thinking about purchasing a Gibson SG. I see musicians friend has the faded SG special for $579. The standard goes for about $1200. I only own one cheap electric. What is the biggest differences between the two except for the obvious (finish, no binding on neck, dot inlays).? Does anyone own a SG special, and if so what do you think of it? Is it worth double the price for the Standard?

[squire758]

in my opinion, you should get the 579 one and just build it up as you go. my first guitar was a epiphone les paul special II, which is pretty barebone. but along the way i got some 57's, a bone nut, nice pickguard, and gold tuners and this thing still to this day feels and plays like any other gibson. those extra hundreds of dollars get you: like you said binding, block inlays and a set neck which is nice but not imperitive

[Laytonco]

Great Point Squire. Keep in mind too, that is Jerry played that lower priced SG Special, he'd probably sound like Jerry! But, yes, it is better to buy the foundation and build your own building (guitar) over time.

[grateful4booze]

Before you buy, check out www.gbase.com. You might find one cheaper.

[wisedyes]

Beware! A student of mine has the SG faded special, and I don't like it at all. Neck like a baseball bat, horrible playability ( imho ), doesn't sound that great.

An option you may want to explore is the Epiphone Elitist SG guitar.The Elitist guitars are honestly indistinguishable from the real deal Gibsons at roughly half the price. Authentic Gibson pickups and hardware, too, the only difference is that they are assembled overseas, but the woods and specs are all the same. I haven't tried the SG model, but have been extremely impressed with the Les Paul and the ES-335 guitars. So impressed that if I were in the market for either one of those guitars new, I wouldn't even consider the actual Gibsons unless I was buying it as an investment. Just my two cents.

[wisedyes]

Oh yeah, one more thing about those Elitisit guitars ( although I gotta admit, HATE the name! ). They are inspected and set up by the Gibson guys at the nashville factory prior to being sold. They are the first Gibson clone Epiphone has ever made that Gibson actually wants anything to do with, they are that good.

[jerrysbanjo]

I used to own a 61 SG Les Paul.A great guitar, but the main reason I sold it was its one demensionality. A great rock/blues guitar. But no decent clean tones.
Later on I made the same mistake with an SG style set neck Carvin. Great guitar, but kind of one dimensional.Not as gritty pu's as the Gibson, but still kind of the same. A great hot, overdiven humbucker tone, and thats about it.
At least a les paul will clean up for a nice warm, clean, and smooth jazz tone, or a least the last Epi LP Custom I owned would. Never could get that out of the SG LP or the Carvin. But the pus on the epi LP had less output, not nearly as hot as the 61SG LP or the Carvin.
Not trying to talk you out of it, just an observation. If you also own a longer scale Fender style guitar w/single coils, then your set with just about all your bases covered.

As for the Faded Special vs other Epi or Gibson options, I can't really help you there. I'd suggest just go play em and decide.

[LazyLightnin]

i bought a new gibson sg in '94. i basically learned how to play on it. within a year the mechanics in the tuning pegs fell apart, literally fell right off. when i had it repaired the guy told me that almost all gibsons need peg replacement after a short while of playing, not only that but the rod needed tweaking quite often and i quite frequently fell out of tune for no apparent reason. after playing it for 6 years and much frustration our practice space got broken into and my gibson was gone. but i tell ya after playin it for so long when i picked up the strat i bought it felt like heaven in my hands, the action was better had more tones and so much more playability. last year a friend of mine handed down to me a cheap epiphone LP, i tried it for a few months but those necks are so godammed large for no reason, i soon gave the lp away - for free. although i loved the sound of my sg while playin zeppelin and stuff it just always seemed dull awkward and overgrown.

i prefer any strat copy over a real sg anyday, but thats just me. go play around with one at guitar center maybe youll like it.

[HOWEYMAN]

Thanks for all the imput. thats excaclty what I was after and I appreciate it. My first thoughts were an american strat HSS. The guitar I have now is a washburn strat copy. Maybe I will just keep with that thought, for I love the way the washburn feels, but I can only get a couple nice tones. (the neck pichup sounds the best.) Could be my old Peavy Special 130 also. Maybe time for a new amp as well. Thanks again.

[tigerstrat]

If you love the way your current guitar feels, then your money might serve you best going towards a better-sounding amp, or perhaps an upgrade to your guitar's pickups. That's one area (along with other components like switches and pots) where Washburn may keep its costs low, as the guitars themselves are generally pretty solid imhe, and a good low-budget value. I've been dragging one of their dreadnought acoustics through rocks and pavement and all kinds of climate extremes for going on twenty years and unguessable thousands of miles, and it still sounds and plays great.

Have you tried your Washburn out at music store through several different amps? That'd be the place to start imo. If it still falls short for you, think about trying out some new pickups.

[wisedyes]

Yeah, the newer American Strats with the S-1 switching and the noiseless pickups, those things are SWEET! The HSS configuration is a good choice, too. So versatile, plays like a wet dream, etc. Fender is also THE guitar to swing at drunken bozos that come up on stage and stagger around.

[Pigpen]

I own the Sg Faded, its not bad but its alot better then the epiphones in my opinion. Ive had it for about a year and still good. Its very good for playing Dead tunes has a nice tone to it. If you have some extra cash go for the standard though.

[eyeprod]

those are great deals on those faded SG's. The faded is pretty much the same as the std except for the pickups and finish I believe.

Gibsons are well known these days for having questionable setup and little or no quality control. So you need to try out several to get one that is set up correctly. They are also cited as having sharp fret edges more often than not, but things like this are easily remedied with a file and a trip to your local guitar tech for proper setup to suit your playing style. Don't count them out for any kind of music you want to do. I used to play only dead songs on mine through an old fender twin and people were constantly amazed. Most guitarists want a little dirt in their tone and the SG will do it. As for not being able to do clean tones, that's BS. I'll do clean for you any day on mine and it will astound you. The amp makes a big difference, and I have a sweet clean amp so there ya go.

I own a 94 SG I bought new and it's an awesome guitar. Just the other day I was in this local boutique pedal makers shop trying out his overdrive pedals and the dude commented several times on how beautiful and great sounding my SG was. He said he liked it much better than any guitar he'd heard in his shop yet, and this place is busy with all the local stars including session pro who tours with Fleetwood Mac. I told him I'd recently put GHS humbucker shaped P90's in it. I tell ya, those pickups made a big difference. I love their single coil bite! I guess you can tell I love my SG.

The last thing I like best about SG;s is that they look good playing different kinds of music. So did Duane Allman and lot's of other dudes

[shakedown_04092]

Love mine. Got it for around $700. Worth every penny.

[reccstermatt]

i played the faded sg at guitar center and didnt like it too much, it would be better worth your time to wait and find the perfect guitar for nyourself right now, which could very well be this one.
I like the points made about starting small and building your way up to something better, I have a fender straight-up stratocaster I am about to put money into.