SG v Les Paul

bignorm

I gig prs most of the time but have a real hankering for a bit of grunt I just can't get with a PRS.
I've tried a les Paul and it instantly sounded right but I can't get on with the lack of access to the top frets or the weight of the thing.
I've never played an SG and wondered if that would do the job.

stimpsonslostson

I find that the only thing that sounds like a Les Paul is... A Les Paul. The weight & access are the price you pay. 

I love SGs, but they're a bit more raw sounding & lack that "thick" tone that's synonymous with a LP. 

stickyfiddle

They definitely sound a bit thinner and more "wiry" than a Les Paul, but for upper fret access and general comfort on a strap for multiple hours they can't be beaten. Just make sure you get one that doesn't neck dive and they're the most comfortable guitars around.

fastonebaz

I play an Sg 2018 and o get tremendous tone.  Thick and sustain.  Love it. 

underdog

Have you tried a HP Les Paul? That should have the sound without upper fret access problems.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Les Paul Double-Cut? Sounds like the obvious solution to the problem. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Dunno how close you are you Shoreham, but there's a nice looking one on eBay...

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/302855847095

fandango

underdog said:

Have you tried a HP Les Paul? That should have the sound without upper fret access problems.

Alas it has the super skinny neck.

Henrytwang

stimpsonslostson said:

I find that the only thing that sounds like a Les Paul is... A Les Paul. The weight & access are the price you pay. 

I love SGs, but they're a bit more raw sounding & lack that "thick" tone that's synonymous with a LP. 

My opinion exactly. Both are great guitars but sound quite different, I own both.  It’s  a bit like comparing a Strat to a Tele, both nice guitars with similar construction but a Tele sounds like a Tele and a Strat sounds like a Strat.

Skipped

If you are gigging, an SG is a very comfortable guitar.

An SG sounds like a Gibson. For many that is enough.

If Clapton had bought the '64 SG  just a bit sooner it could easily have been the Beano guitar plugged into the Marshall. History would have changed. Similar guitars would now  be fetching $100k or more.

As you don't yet have the guitar.......that means that you can choose one that balances perfectly on a strap. (sticky is right). So don't forget to try every guitar (that floats your boat) on a strap.

Voxman

Try an SG - you'll love it.  I have a 1990 Les Paul Custom and a 2006 SG Standard. The SG is so much lighter and I love the easy high fret access.  It sounds more airy than my LP Custom, but it's lovely and warm and gives plenty of great rock tone that's very similar (but not identical) to my LP.  But then my friends' LP Custom doesn't sound like my LP either and almost exactly sounds like my SG.  Now - if an SG has enough balls for Angus Young.....

bignorm

I keep looking at the SG classic in the classifieds ...hmm 

peteri

Interesting post - I was comparing my two today. 

I have an old Les Paul, sounds absolutely amazing, switched to a nearly as old SG - very similar and I doubt the audience would notice but not the same. 

As other have said the Les Paul is thicker whereas the SG has more snarl. 

But they are in the same sonic ballpark so worth a look. 

The guitar I have which is closest to my Les Paul is my D.C. les Paul junior. Thick as you like and wonderful neck access and weight 

crunchman

Nothing sounds quite like a Les Paul.  I've had 3 Les Pauls, an SG and several PRS.  I've not had the more recent PRS with the shorter Les Paul like scale length.  They may get closer.  I played a McCarty 594 in a shop that was the closest PRS I've played to a Les Paul.

Some PRS come closer than an SG.  The problem is that you do need a maple top as part of the Les Paul recipe, but the PRS maple top is too thick.  The carve is so deep that it's quite a lot thicker in the middle where the bridge anchors.

If you want a doublecut for playability, the McCarty 594 is probably the closest.

If you have the budget, the Feline Lion has a different take on the neck joint that will make the upper fret access a lot easier.  That might be worth a look.

guitargeek62

Norm - I’ve been a long time fan of PRS guitars too, and have worked through most of their models trying to find “the one”. Last year I caved and bought a Gibson LP and loved it, that sound was there straight away, but it still didn’t feel quite right. This evening I bought an SG Standard, and it’s bloody great - feels closer to the PRS guitars, is very light, but still has that grunt and depth that was missing from them. I actually prefer the tone to the LP, although it’s early days so I reserve the right to change my mind once the honeymoon period’s over!

Twinfan

SGs are great but don't have the neck thickness or tone 'beef' of an LP or PRS.  They're thinner sounding and feeling.  Freat guitars but they're not an LP substitute.

I've played and owned a whole range of PRS guitars, both new and old, and none of the sound like an LP.  Something in the formula is fundamentally different between the companies approach to guitar building and one cannot substitute the other.

crunchman

Twinfan said:

SGs are great but don't have the neck thickness or tone 'beef' of an LP or PRS.  They're thinner sounding and feeling.  Freat guitars but they're not an LP substitute.

I've played and owned a whole range of PRS guitars, both new and old, and none of the sound like an LP.  Something in the formula is fundamentally different between the companies approach to guitar building and one cannot substitute the other.

I'd mostly agree with this.

I don't know if you have played the McCarty 594.  That seems to get closer than the older PRS guitars did.

The SG is definitely different to the Les Paul.  There is something about the all mahogany guitars that sounds different.  I think it is the wood as much as, if not more than, the construction.  I have an all mahogany PRS S2 Singlecut Satin.  For me that is closer to an SG than a Les Paul. 

I'm actually debating selling that one as I've just participated in the great Les Paul feeding frenzy.  Not really sure I need both, but it is different from the Les Paul.  I also don't mind carrying it in a gig bag on my bike. On the other hand I'm back up to 8 electric guitars again, which is probably one or two too many.

bignorm

I'm not actually gassing for a Les Paul.. I'm gassing for that Gibson snarl and think an SG would fit the bill perfectly.
The thing is although I'm seriously interested in the SG in the classifieds, I've just looked at GAK and I'm even more confused now.

There's a few new ones on there for £549. 
I can't figure out if the 
Gibson USA 2013 SG Future Tribute Min-ETune, Vintage Sunburst is any good or should I buy second-hand 

DulcetJones

When I was gigging "electric guitar music" a few years back I had one of each with me at all times.  Solved.

Adamski

I’ve you’re gonna buy an SG to be an SG, only a standard will do. Don’t buy any of the ones with mini humbuckers or P-90’s. and definitely nothing with Min-ETune (issues aside it’ll make the neck dive). 

I’d get a good used standard 

usedtobe

I’ve got an sg classic and a lp with p90s. I like them both. They’re similar in a way, but different enough to justify both.
if I had to choose between them, though, I think I’d keep the lp..
but that’s just me.. ymmv