Gibson SG Special Electric Guitar - Ebony Reviews
Officially in its 6th decade of turning heads and rattling eardrums, the Gibson SG Special continues to invite superlatives and adoration for its iconic body design and absolute mind-blowing tone. Launched in 1961, the SG Special became a staple stage axe for legends like Pete Townshend, Angus Young, Frank Zappa, and Tony Iommi, just to name a few. Its incredible balance and unique playability continue to win over legions of younger players as they fall instantly in love with this bona fide classic. Staying true to its origins, the SG Special features an all-mahogany body with a SlimTaper neck profile and a rosewood fingerboard; these time-tested materials produce a resonant tone that many can identify when blindfolded! Two soapbar P-90 pickups magnify all that resonance with searing hot, defined single-coil tone. The SG Special is just one of the seminal guitars that helped launch the golden era of rock ’n’ roll, and there is no doubt it will continue to rock the stages and garages of players for decades to come.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Actually ridiculous
I cannot get over how great this guitar is. It plays crazy well, and the wait is fantastic. The neck shape and width is perfect for me, and the neck dive is negligible. I was able to get the action to be absolutely perfect. I love the classy look of this guitar. I was a Les Paul guy for a while, but I recently bought this guitar and now that I've been playing it for a few weeks, I dig the tone of the P90's. They sound nice and smooth when clean, and I can even get it to sound twangy or more fender-esk when needed. This guitar does everything, and the way the neck joins the body, and its small size makes it a great guitar to play on stage. I do wish the headstock had the Gibson logo inlaid like they were in he sixties, but not terribly. This guitar sounds, plays, and looks fantastic. This is a lifetime guitar for me.
Addictive!
just bought a Gibson SG Special in black from Sweetwater. Its a great guitar. The lack of an ABR bridge takes some getting used too - but that is mostly psychological/visual - I gigged with the guitar last week and never even thought about it. Also the wrap around bridge really does help with tuning stability - this guitar stays in tune as well as my Fenders and USA Schecters (Unheard of for a Gibson!) All that aside the guitar takes some getting used to but it absolutely performs and is addictive! The more I play it the more I want to play it I recorded with it with my band today and its obvious what a nice classic sound and punch the P-90s provide, I highly recommend this guitar but give it a couple of weeks to become familiar with it and to fall in love...its not an immediate crush...but a lasting relationship you will cherish! Reach out Mark Magdich, he will set you up! nI had Sweetwater plex and set up the guitar - well worth a few extra bucks!
Blown Away
The fit, finish, setup and playability out of the box were fantastic, aside from the horrendous strings that were on it. The binding on the neck is near perfect, and the frets are dressed really nicely, which I assume is the Plek machine. Once strung in my preferred gauge and tuning, the guitar really shines. The neck pickup is louder than the bridge, which contributes to the half star, as it would have made sense to modernize a bit by overwinding the bridge pickup to compensate. The pickups are surprisingly bright, but sound great and have a lot of flavor. It's worth noting that the guitar already comes equipped with a Switchcraft switch and jack, CTS pots, and orange drop capacitors, so if you're a perpetual buy-it-and-rewire-it type this has pretty good kit out of the gate and that may not be necessary. I plan to replace the pickups for some boutique jobs better suited to my style, but I really think the pickups have great tone. Gibson seems to be getting their act together and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this guitar to nearly anyone.
Awesome SG
This guitar feels and sounds awesome. This SG special is super comfortable and the p90s rip. I would definitely recommend this guitar. The reason I gave this guitar 4 out of 5 is that I think they should take the white accents and make them cream. The neck binding is cream. The tone switch is cream. But the pickguard accent and tuning knobs are white. If they were cream they would be perfect IMO
Nice but...
Whoever said that it leans forward when strapped and standing is 100% correct and it's even worse sitting. It slides everywhere and I'm disabled and sitting is how I usually play.
The SG is gorgeous and sounds great. I gave it to my son and I will go back to ESP. I would like to know if the Gibson Flying V that's a similar year/make does the same thing? If they all slide due to the finish of the body?
If you like the SG, I do recommend it for people who have been playing them. At least play one before buying. I think the price is good and I LOVE the neck. The body is the problem and that won't happen again so 3 stars is generous
And the hardshell is a zipped up soft case. Maybe Gibson has changed the description of a hardshell? I don't care. My son loves it and that's what matters.
Review Update
After gigging with my SG Special the past couple of weeks I've come to learn a few things that have made me lower my previous 5-star rating. While the SG Special sounds and plays amazing and looks great too - it is simply an uncomfortable guitar to play standing up in live situations. I have no idea how Angus and Pete Townshend made it look so easy. Sitting down the guitar is fine and I cant stress enough how much I love the sound of the P-90s and what a great neck this guitar has. Playing live is a different matter. There is significant neck dive but worse the way Gibson has the strap pins located means the guitar rotates forward. When not diving the neck is too far upwards, pulled to the left, and tilted forward. Good luck trying to see your fretboard and the constant need to reposition is uncomfortable, distracting, exhausting, pulls the strings out of tune, and ruins the whole experience. I played my SG with my band the past 3-4 gigs but then last night switched back to my Schecter USA PT and Fenders....the difference was unbelievable, the Schecter and Fenders felt like a dream, "played themselves", so comfortable, etc. All this said I love my SG, will keep it, record with it, and play it at home...its got mojo!... but for live work I'll look somewhere else.
