Gibson SG
The Gibson SG is a popular model of solid-bodied electric guitar that was introduced in the early 1960's. In 1960, Gibson Les Paul sales were significantly lower than they had been in previous years, so in 1961 the model was given a completely new body style that was thinner and had two sharp cutaway horns that made the upper frets more accessible. The neck joint was also moved up about three frets. It was felt the new design could compete with the popular Fender Stratocaster, another benefit being lower production costs than that of the previous model due to the one piece body and flat top. The guitar was advertised as having the "fastest neck in the world," due to its slender neck profile and virtually non-existent heel.
The new Les Paul was popular, but Les Paul himself did not care for it and asked to have his name removed from it. Gibson renamed the model the 'SG' which was short for 'solid guitar.' Even though Les Paul's name was officially removed from the model in 1961, the plastic Les Paul nameplates (positioned between the rhythm pickup and fingerboard) were in abundance in the Gibson factory and SG models having these nameplates were built and sold by Gibson up to the end of 1963.
Physically, the SG has a shallower body than the Gibson 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 usually made entirely of mahogany (notable exceptions are the Swamp Ash SG Special, the Swamp Ash bodied SG Voodoo, the 2009 Raw Power, and some walnut bodied 1970s models), and does not have the curved, maple top section of the earlier design; neither does it have the accompanying body binding. Probably the most striking visual difference is that the SG is a double-cutaway guitar. 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. The three main variations on the basic Les Paul design (Special, Jr., Custom) also had equivalent SG models. The neck is joined on the 19th fret just like a Gibson ES 335 where as the Les Paul is joined at the 15th fret like an early Gibson ES 330 thus making the SG much easier to access the upper register of the fretboard. The SG has a tendency to be top heavy, meaning that the head feels heavy compared to the relatively light body. There are also some 24-fret editions of the SG, such as the Diablo limited edition, while all Les Pauls have 22 frets.
Angus Young of AC/DC is probably the most famous player of the SG. He has said that he's always loved the look of the style, probably because the two cutaway points at the top of the body resemble a devil's horns. Gibson has produced an Angus Young Signature SG model.
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SG I SG II SG III SG-3 SG '61 Reissue SG '62 Reissue (SG Reissue) SG '62 Reissue Showcase Edition Les Paul '63 Corvette Stingray SG-90 (Single or Double) SG-100 SG-200 SG-250 SG-400 SG Classic SG Custom SG Custom '67 Reissue SG Custom Elliot Easton Signature SG Deluxe SG Diablo SG Elegant SG Exclusive SG Firebrand |
SG Goddess SG Gothic SG GT SG Judas Priest Signature SG Junior SG Les Paul Custom SG Les Paul Custom 30th Anniversary SG Les Paul Custom Reissue SG Menace SG Music Machine Stinger SG Pete Townsend Signature SG Platinum SG Pro SG Reissue SG Robot Special Limited Silverburst SG Select SG Silverburst Limited SG Special SG Special (1985-1996) SG Special (1996-2007) SG Special Faded |
SG Special I SG Special II SG Special New Century SG Standard SG Standard '61 Reissue SG Standard Angus Young Signature SG Standard Celebrity Series SG Standard Gary Rossington Signature SG Standard Korina SG Standard Reissue SG Supreme SG-X Tommy Hilfiger SG Tommy Iommi Signature (production) SG Tommy Iommi Signature (Historic/Custom Shop) SG TV SG Voodoo SG-R1 (SG Artist) SG-X SG-X Tommy Hilfiger The SG |