It's really made in the good ol' USA!!!

After playing Fenders for 43 years, my son talked me into trying out this Gibson. I bought it on the spot and will never regret it! I play both Classic Rock and Country with it through my Fender Blues Deluxe 40w tube amp and the tone is simply unbelievable! This is the sound I've always searched for but never quite found. Oh yeah, and I sold my Strat!

American Made Classic

This is a superb guitar but changed out the pickups for my taste, but the neck if perfect and was able to get even better intonation upon adding new strings. A true american made bargain! The gig bag is by far the best soft bag ever owned and have a few!

Very good guitar

I read a lot of reviews that mostly say "it's great and it's new and I love it." This one's a little more nuts and bolts than that.

I bought this SG Special Faded in worn brown to complement my other Gibsons, a Les Paul Deluxe with Seymour Duncan SM-1 mini-humbuckers and an ES-335 Dot reissue. I wanted a lightweight, attractive guitar with a more aggressive sound and the Gibson name (for reasons I'll detail as I go along).

I play exclusively slide on electric (I also play Dobro, bass and harmonica) so I'm not the person to ask about action, although a friend picked up the SG and was satisfied with its playability. We compared necks between the two Gibsons and found them to be be very similar in profile, by the way. If you like the "typical" modern Gibson neck, this one won't be a surprise.

What I was specifically looking for was a sound, treblier and more in your face than the other two, and that's what I got. We A/B'd the 335 and the SG, comparing tones in various modes and trying them on specific songs. We played through my Fender Blues Jr with a Jensen speaker.

First off, I handed it to my friend, with the volume turned up to about 8 on the amp, and the master around 2. The 335 sounded a little edgy at this setting, but still essentially warm; the SG had an attitude, and immediately the guy had to play some heavy rock licks with it. The pickups had a lot more output, easily driving the amp into distortion, and a growly tone that didn't keep it from being quite responsive.

Next up, I retuned it to open E and got out my bottleneck and we worked through several songs in our repertory while I changed guitars and settings on the amp. My compadre was playing rhythm his Martin acoustic.

Jackson Browne's These Days (disclaimer: no, I didn't sound just like David Lindley!): the SG produced a biting lead tone that could be summoned up at will by increasing the pressure on the pick. Back off, and the tone mellowed. Maybe a little too much for that song; back to the 335, which fit right in.

Blues in E: this is where the 335 wimped out and the SG stepped up. Stinging lead lines, fat bass parts, and fast playing. Whoa. This is what I bought it for.

We played several others, but they were re-runs of the first two. Ballads, pull out the 335. Anything with raw meat, get out the SG.

Other considerations: somehow, I've always been annoyed by glossy finishes on guitars, maybe as a result of hanging in my late father in law's wood shop, where he refused to put anything other than a satin finish on his work. The faded brown (with a strong red cast to it) is quite attractive to me. The plain dots on the fingerboard and the silk screened logo are features I like, as well. I'm much more into robust design and utility than into bling and male jewelry (I know there's a whole world of LP owners out there who feel differently) and I love the fact that the SG is designed "inside out." That is, in contrast to, say, the Strat, which is a plank with a bunch of hardware attached, the SG is a fully integrated design from the start.

I might add here that the "guitar gallery" feature at the Sweetwater web site made it easy to pick the one I liked best from what was in stock.

It's not expensive, but the corners have been cut by simplifying construction rather than stinting on hardware. For example, the much pricier gloss Sgs have filler to hide the pores in the mahogany, stain, a sealer over that, and a buffed clear coat over that; the faded has unfilled mahogany (feels filled on the back of the neck, though), stain and sealer.

The pickups on the more expensive models are mounted in separate pickup rings, with a detached pickguard; this one has a wider pickguard that the pickups mount directly into, saving manufacturing and assembly time.

It's a very spare instrument: no extra doodads to hold the controls (back-routed) or to add flash to what is a nicely shaped guitar. That's what I like about Gibsons: there is a maturity to their designs (at least, on the three that I own) where the controls are right there when you drop your hand from picking position, the tuners are properly aligned, and everything works ergonomically. I once had a Strat (maybe I should add, this SG was guitar #31 for me, starting in 1971) that just didn't work right for me. The scale was too long, the knobs were in the wrong place, and so on and on. Your mileage may vary, but for me, Gibsons fit.

One thing I don't like about it: the gig bag is more like a thin cozy. I intend to get a hard case soon (I treat all my axes to hard cases, unless they arrive in one).

This guitar is a great value, has the respected form factor and name of Gibson, and has a distinct voice. I'm not sure I'd be as happy with this as with the 335 if I only had one electric, but that's not the way it works.

I love this guitar.

I am not an expert on anything technical, but I do know that I will never regret purchasing this guitar. Great guitar along the lines of playability and overall sound. If you want a nice Gibson SG, but do not want to pay the big price that comes along with some of the other ones out there then this guitar is the one for you.

Sweet Gibson but....

The faded SG is certainly worth the price, and a great way to get into a real Gibson guitar if you're on a limited budget. It is a real SG, solid mahogany body, that great Gibson neck, Gibson 'Green Keys' tuners, Alnico humbucker pickups. It comes with a gig bag. What I've found is there is an inconsistency with quality in these guitars. I've played some that are just awesome, and some that were set up poorly and sounded bad. My suggestion is to try a few out, and find yourself a good one. If you buy on-line, call and talk to a rep and have them find a good one for you. If you do, you'll be very happy!

great value for price

It has the genuine Gibson SG sound, no doubt. I would be hard pressed to say what the differences were between the SG Standard and the SG Special Faded, aside from the cosmetics (finish, inlays and binding, etc.) The current model does not have the crescent moon inlays as per the advertising, and has not for some years now. Essentially this is an SG stripped down to its basics, and the basics are pretty darn good. Certainly the sound of the guitar is bold and powerful; the stock pickups are toneful, the neck has the longer tenon that adds stability, and the overall build quality (though not an a par with Gibson's higher-priced models) is very good. This is a great value for an American-made guitar and is well worth having in your collection.

SG ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best guitar I have ever played and at guitar shops they cost over $1000!!!