[jerb]

My B-day's coming up and my parents have decided to buy me a guitar. I've played acoustic for a year-year and a half but the electric aspect of guitars is new to me.

I went to one of the (fairly) local guitar shops and played a few, didn’t see many I liked; only a few shecter's caught my eye. Then I saw the rack of Gibson SG's and tried one, I fell in love with it on the spot. I came here and looked around and found there was lots of love for the SG's here on this forum, I then went on eBay to price on out but I realized I have no idea what I'm looking for.

Am I better off buying one of the '05 '06 models from the store for ~$900 or should I eBay for a used one?

What should I be looking for in a SG? Any years that they were particularly good?

 

[incognitoedleon]

I remember reading that Gibson has had really poor quality control for their acoustic guitars in recent years. I'm not sure if this problem also plagues their electrics.

 

[mrarroyo]

I would look for an older one, say late 60's or early 70's. My brother in law had one with the bigsby bar and sold it

That was one beautiful guitar and the tone! Man it had the tone!

 

[jerb]

I've been looking around and found an interesting guitar:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=517378

one of the best looking SG's I've seen in this price range (Some of the blue ones are amazing)

the one I had played before was this one:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ric?sku=517127

really not too sure of what the difference is. there are some older ones on ebay though for a little more, which should I go for?

 

[JMT]

I know you stated an SG, but how about a used 1959 Les Paul?

Sorry, it has been sold.

 

[Jahn]

don't laugh but sometimes you can strike gold...
Gary Sinese rules!

 

[megawzrd]

If you can get a hold of a vintage guild s100 that would be a better guitar. They are highly rated but rare (not as mass produced) sg style guitars.

 

[pabbi1]

My favorite SG was actually a '61 Les Paul 'Lonnie Mack' with a stop tailpiece, really similar to this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-SG-61-Rei...QQcmdZViewItem

This assumes you want humbuck over P-90, and want a bit wider neck... to me, that is the classic SG.

Without knowing your budget, I would only strongly suggest you get a stop tailpiece, as the various whammy types always have intonation issues (you'll spend more time tuning than playing)...

 

[jerb]

my budget is anywhere from $500 - $900 (maybe a little more)

I really like the SG style body more so than the les paul

also, it seems stupid, but whats the difference between the p-90's and a humbucker?

 

[pne]

actually, I hate the sg's. feels like a thin plank of plywood, and its top heavy so it doesn't balance right on the knee. Always seemed to me like a guitar for angus young fans. Now the les paul, thats a fine guitar. If you can't tell the difference between p90's and normal humbuckers, perhaps you should consider an epiphone sg, which I believe is the cheapest in their lineup at around $150

 

[jerb]

Its not that I can’t tell the difference (that requires having actually heard them) rather I'm coming from an acoustic background where most of these things aren’t applicable. I've played a few of these guitars in store but I'm afraid I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for as most of these things are new to me. I remember seeing tons of SG love in the 'post your guitar' thread so I thought it best to post my questions here, hoping that someone could tell me what the difference between all these guitars was

 

[pabbi1]

The P-90 is a single pole pickup, while the humbuck is double pole (for a little more punch / overtones), with a different sound for each.

The Epiphone isn't a bad suggestion, especially if you are a bit ambivalent at the moment. You can recoup most of your money on a resell later if you go used (true in either case - Epi or Gibson), so try to get to a shop to play some different ones, and note the differences in sound.

This also will depend heavily on your amplification / effects, but that is another thread, or ten.

 

[Senn20]

A P-90 is a ballsy sounding single coil pickup. Humbuckers have two coils wound opposite from each other to cancel out 60 cycle hum.

P-90:

Humbucker:

Try them both.

 

[Febs]

You can listen to recordings of P-90s and humbuckers here:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/SDToneWizard/hummer.shtml

Of course, it's much better to go to a music store with a decent selection, play the guitars and listen to the differences.

I have a 1967 Gibson ES-330 that has P-90s. Great guitar, and great sound, but unusable in some situations because of the hum that the P-90s generate.

 

[Sodacose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megawzrd If you can get a hold of a vintage guild s100 that would be a better guitar. They are highly rated but rare (not as mass produced) sg style guitars.

QFT. I have an s100 and it kicks the d out of any SG I've ever played (certainly the entry level stuff you'd see at Guitar Center). They have a lot more wood to them so they get better sustain and resonance (IMO). They typically go for 600-700 on eBay when you can find them.

One of the really annoying things I've noticed on the cheaper new SG's is the fret finishing. It's terrible. I would defintely check out an older model, but I understand that buying a guitar on eBay (especially it being your first electric) would probably be intimidating. I second the Epiphone suggestion. Get to know electric guitars, what you like, what you don't. Then you should feel a lot more confident purchasing something a bit more expensive.