Gibson SGs - various models and used market

Voxman

shaunm said:

I have had a real awakening to SG’s. 

I have bought two LP’s lately and an SG Standard. and the SG has quickly become my go to guitar in my house. It does everything I need it to do and sounds fantastic! 

Don’t discount those 490/498 pickups, they sound great in the SG but yes rubbish in a LP. They clean up quite well too. 

Use a large strap and there’s no dive. 

Light weight, sounds huge, can do clean, can do rock, can do subtle and has unparalleled upper fret access. Just brilliant. 

This! I have a 2006 SG Standard in Heritage Cherry and its brilliant and possibly my favourite guitar.  Only thing I'd possibly change are the vintage style tulip head machine heads that look cool and are ok but aren't as good or as tight as the Grovers on my LP Custom.

Bigsby

TimmyO said:

Neck profile might however be a thing hmm. I like a good round 50s style neck.

shaunm said:

Don’t discount those 490/498 pickups, they sound great in the SG but yes rubbish in a LP. They clean up quite well too. 

As a general rule, you'll find a 'rounded' profile on a Standard with a batwing pick guard, and a 'slim taper' on a Standard with an angel wing guard. Despite all the messing about with specs, Gibson seem to have stuck to this, until the 2019 models came out!  However, Gibson necks are hand finished - I've got three SGs, one Rounded and two Slim Taper - but they feel more like two Rounded and one Slim Taper! 

Also, the 'rounded' profile on the SG is not as thick as the earlier 50s necks - at the first fret it's not that much different to a slim taper (i.e. before the taper).

Agree about the 498T in an SG; much as I like the '57s, I think the 498T sounds better in anything other than a clean setting. Still not so sure about the 490R though... may just prefer the '57, but it's close.

Bellycaster

Watch out for the 24 fretters, I think it's some Classics or Specials. I went for years without noticing that. I would eventually like an S.G too, need to acquire funds from selling some stuff first though.

shaunm

rico said:

shaunm said:

I have had a real awakening to SG’s. 

I have bought two LP’s lately and an SG Standard. and the SG has quickly become my go to guitar in my house. It does everything I need it to do and sounds fantastic! 

Don’t discount those 490/498 pickups, they sound great in the SG but yes rubbish in a LP. They clean up quite well too. 

Use a large strap and there’s no dive. 

Light weight, sounds huge, can do clean, can do rock, can do subtle and has unparalleled upper fret access. Just brilliant. 

Is that my SG? @rico is certainly is

Bigsby

Bellycaster said:

Watch out for the 24 fretters, I think it's some Classics or Specials. I went for years without noticing that. I would eventually like an S.G too, need to acquire funds from selling some stuff first though.

The 50s/60s/70s/Future 'tribute' models of 2013/14 also had 24 frets, and I think most of the Diablo carve models have too.  

TimmyO

Bigsby said:

TimmyO said:

Neck profile might however be a thing hmm. I like a good round 50s style neck.

shaunm said:

Don’t discount those 490/498 pickups, they sound great in the SG but yes rubbish in a LP. They clean up quite well too. 

As a general rule, you'll find a 'rounded' profile on a Standard with a batwing pick guard, and a 'slim taper' on a Standard with an angel wing guard. Despite all the messing about with specs, Gibson seem to have stuck to this,

Thanks, that's useful 

stickyfiddle

TimmyO said:

Bigsby said:

TimmyO said:

Neck profile might however be a thing hmm. I like a good round 50s style neck.

shaunm said:

Don’t discount those 490/498 pickups, they sound great in the SG but yes rubbish in a LP. They clean up quite well too. 

As a general rule, you'll find a 'rounded' profile on a Standard with a batwing pick guard, and a 'slim taper' on a Standard with an angel wing guard. Despite all the messing about with specs, Gibson seem to have stuck to this,

Thanks, that's useful 

The neck on my 2000-ish Standard is a really nice "medium size". Not huge like an R7 but comfortably bigger than a slim taper. It's a really comfortable neck.

jonnyburgo

Ive had a few fadeds from mid 00's and really liked them, the charm is there basicness, then I bought as Standard from 99 and other than looking more shiny it wasn't massively different in sound although admittedly it was the best playing guitar Ive ever had, Ive no idea how the action could be so low without any buzz anywhere.

Pricewise, for an older faded model I'd want to pay £400 top end or less and for a standard I'd expect to pay £650, Ive seen them for silly money on ebay like £900 but they never shift,  although I bought mine (which I no longer have) on here when they were regularly £500, eeh them were the days......

The tribute models etc Ive never liked the look or feel of.

Oh and if you're used to Fenders they feel like playing a bass at first, but you soon get used to stretching your arm a bit.

benecol

@roberty is currently selling a beautiful black Classic in the Classifieds for the best price you'll find in ages. I've had a lot of SGs (Gibsons and Tokais - Tokai make great SGs btw) and the Classic is IMO the best bang for buck.

TimmyO

benecol said:

@roberty is currently selling a beautiful black Classic in the Classifieds for the best price you'll find in ages. I've had a lot of SGs (Gibsons and Tokais - Tokai make great SGs btw) and the Classic is IMO the best bang for buck.

yeah I saw it - not my bag but yes looks to be a great buy 

timmysoft

SG Classic is the one, better neck profile cooler pickups and to me they always sound the biggest of all the SG models 

roberty

My modified Faded in Worn Brown

You're missing out on a lot of affordable fun by insisting on a bound neck :-)

This one is not for sale as I do gig with it, and besides it's too personalised to be worth selling now

DrJazzTap

jonnyburgo said:

Ive had a few fadeds from mid 00's and really liked them, the charm is there basicness, then I bought as Standard from 99 and other than looking more shiny it wasn't massively different in sound although admittedly it was the best playing guitar Ive ever had, Ive no idea how the action could be so low without any buzz anywhere.

Pricewise, for an older faded model I'd want to pay £400 top end or less and for a standard I'd expect to pay £650, Ive seen them for silly money on ebay like £900 but they never shift,  although I bought mine (which I no longer have) on here when they were regularly £500, eeh them were the days......

The tribute models etc Ive never liked the look or feel of.

Oh and if you're used to Fenders they feel like playing a bass at first, but you soon get used to stretching your arm a bit.

This. A few deluded sellers trying to shift standards for £800. I've always been surprised as to how little they go for.

THR1LLHAU5

benecol said:

@roberty is currently selling a beautiful black Classic in the Classifieds for the best price you'll find in ages. I've had a lot of SGs (Gibsons and Tokais - Tokai make great SGs btw) and the Classic is IMO the best bang for buck.

I've been very tempted by this one myself! I don't think you can go wrong with the simplicity of a couple p90s in a plank of mahogany. 

TimmyO

I like the body finish on the fadeds, but SGs have a bound neck and humbuckers - for me that's just the way it needs to be. 

guitargeek62

If you're lucky you might find a faded Standard out there. They've done a couple of runs over the last decade or so, but they're few and far between for sure.

On a similar note, I'm seriously enjoying my recently acquired* '06 SG Standard. I grabbed it locally for a steal of a price, and it has a beautiful medium rounded profile on there that - as others have suggested, is very similar to the 58/50s neck profile if it had a light diet. The stock 490R/498T's actually sound brilliant to my ears, but I don't play clean at all - there's always a little bit of grit, and reverb, compression, and delay on my "cleans". I'm in no rush to change them though, other than to get nickel covers on there instead. Oddly enough, the guitar reminds me a lot of a good PRS Custom - lightweight, resonant, slightly aggressive and woody character, and to top it all off - I don't miss my LP Standard at all.

TimmyO

I play clean lots and 490/498 will never darken my door (or if they do it will be to be swapped out) 

TTBZ

I sold my 498t and 490r eventually as I found I love the softness of mid output Alnico 4 pickups in an SG despite almost never playing clean - just found the 498t had something slightly unpleasant about it in the high end which my current pickups (axesrus purist) seemed to fix without losing character or rawk appeal. I liked the 490r fine as a neck pickup but swapped as it didn't match. Still want to try some Oil City Supermassive 90s though.

impmann

My 94 SG Special (gloss) came with god-knows what original pickups... they were good for da gainz and rawk but sounded pretty vile clean, imho.

I changed out to Classic 57s (that most seem to hate) and it was massively improved. I could make those Robbie Kreiger psych rock sounds, it could do warm cleans and yet it could still rock like a bastard.

Ive kept it yet other SGs have come and gone (including a posh Standard, a P90 Classic etc). I won’t part with it - it’s a blinding guitar. Although I do still want a Jeff Tweedy signature one...

roberty

TTBZ said:

I sold my 498t and 490r eventually as I found I love the softness of mid output Alnico 4 pickups in an SG despite almost never playing clean - just found the 498t had something slightly unpleasant about it in the high end which my current pickups (axesrus purist) seemed to fix without losing character or rawk appeal. I liked the 490r fine as a neck pickup but swapped as it didn't match. Still want to try some Oil City Supermassive 90s though.

My brown one has alnico 4 pafs, my experience of them is the same in that guitar ^^^