History of the Gibson SG guitar

The Gibson SG guitar is one of the most coveted guitars in history. Many musicians over the years have fallen in love with the SG and have remained loyal to Gibson. Here’s a bit of SG history for you to enjoy.

Around the year 1960, Gibson guitar makers were experiencing a drop in sales. Not that the Les Paul wasn’t selling, as it was pretty cool. The problem was that music was evolving and musicians were looking for a sound, or tone, different from what the Les Paul offered.

So, in 1961, Gibson radically altered the body shape, making it now slimmer, lighter, and now featuring a double-cutaway neck area that allowed deeper access to the higher frets. The neck acquired a heavier construction and the neck joint was raised approximately three frets higher. This was done in the hope of competing with the Fender Stratocaster model, which was gaining popularity at the time.

The new design was marketed with the “world’s fastest neck” and this was largely a given. The neck had a slimmer profile (from the side) and with the neck joint higher, the heel was no longer an obstruction, as was the case with the Les Pauls.

Another name was sought because the guitar was nothing like a Les Paul. Since the guitar was the inventor’s namesake, Les Paul (the inventor of the electric guitar and the Les Paul design) requested that his name be removed entirely from the new design.

So the good folks at Gibson brainstormed ideas and called the new model a “SG.” Ironically, this was simply short for “solid guitar.”

The Gibson factory had a large number of “Les Paul” plastic plates in stock. So even though the Les Paul name was dropped in 1961, Gibson continued to make SGs with the nameplate between the highest pickup and the fingerboard until late 1963. Finding one of these early SGs with a Les Paul nameplate would be truly a valuable collector. Article.

Since the SG was introduced in early 1961, numerous variations have been made to the SG name. There was a standard model (SG Standard) and a junior model (SG Junior). So the top of the line Gibson SG Custom made the scene. Interestingly, SG Customs made between 1961 and 1963 did not say “SG” on them, but had a Les Paul signature plate under the fingerboard, just like all Les Pauls.

From 1961 to early ’63, the SG Standard’s truss rod cover was engraved with “Les Paul.” The SG included a small guard on models built between 1961 and 1965. Then, in 1966, another slight redesign was carried out. Now the SG had a different type of neck joint and a bat-wing shaped beak guard appeared on models beginning in 1967.

The design was firm until around 1970 or so. The year 1971 saw the launch of a new version of the SG with a floating guard reminiscent of the Les Paul. In addition, the control board was mounted from the front to reduce construction cost.

A variety of quality tailpieces were also offered as options. Most notable were the “Maestro”, the “Lyre Vibrola” and the Bigsby vibrato tremolo arm. Some new designs were brought into play with the new tailpiece design. Some of these were the SG 100 (a lower end version that was more affordable) and the SG 200 (with two single coil pickups). At the higher end of the SG spectrum were the SG Pro and SG Deluxe models.

Gibson reverted to the original SG design in 1973. The bump guard was retrorevoted to the original small bump guard and the controls moved to the rear again and the neck was positioned deeper into the body with a tie point around it. from the 20th fret. But by the end of that decade, all SG models mostly reverted to the old design. Current models are now built in 1967-1969 builds, the largest LP-style hit guard that lines the pickups on the SG body. Variations are still available with the small pick guard. Reissues of the SG are common and popular.

These guitars look like their sisters from the ’60s, except a stop tailpiece is now standard. SG models with vibrato tailpiece are now a custom item or a special edition model.

The first SG to have active factory pickups was introduced in 1980. Gibson tested an SG model with the same active Moog electronics that was being used (or had been used) in a previous model called the RD Artist. This experimental SG sported a thicker body due to the weird added circuitry. This model was affectionately nicknamed the “Gibson SG-R1”.

The SG-R1 was made of solid mahogany with a gloss black finish. It had no pick guard, the fret inlays were opposite “dots” of the original trapezoidal shapes, and featured clear barrel knobs for the treble and bass controls ranging from “0” to “+5” or “-5”. instead of “1”. to “10”. There was also an additional switch to activate a “boost” on the bridge pickup.

The SG-R1 had a fixed bridge with a standard tremolo / whammy bar. Gibson renamed the SG-R1 “SG Artist” around 1981 and later discontinued it. Of these SGs, only about 200 were made.

Today, the Gibson SG guitar is still as popular as ever and some of the best guitarists use it to tie an ax. Some of Gibson’s loyal users are Angus Young (AC / DC), Hank Williams Jr, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Marilyn Manson, Nic Cester (Jet), Pete Townshend (The Who), Shakira and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) .

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