Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard Reissue with Maestro Vibrola VOS - Cherry Red Reviews

This was my first custom shop purchase. I was apprehensive at first because of the sticker shock, but after going through quite a few standard Gibson models looking for the "mojo" I figured I'd bite and see if it was worth the extra cheddar. I am pleased to say that it is. This guitar feels and plays better than the standard run by quite a dang bit and has a feel and vibe that the spanking new standards just can't capture. Is it twice the price better? Well, that's going to be different for everyone. I really stretched my wallet to make it work, as I'm a working musician and this was quite literally the tip top of my budget.

I'm glad I did. I love this guitar. Bandmates love this guitar. Everyone loves this guitar. It looks incredible and the attention to detail is there. It plays great, the neck is dang near perfect. The pickups are growly, yet articulate. This guitar covers a lot of ground. And the vibrola is a ton of fun. Mine stays in tune great and I've had no issues with it at all.

Wow! A peach of a guitar. Best neck of any of my other guitars. Fascinating that they reproduced all of the original parts, even those that weren't successful, like nylon bridge saddles. They didn't last long but that's the way the '64 was produced. It came perfectly set up and is a joy to play.

My thanks to Delvin and Sweetwater for a great transaction.

Many guys played SGs in the 60/70's. I'm one of them and I still have my original SG from those days. For various reasons, I have not gigged with my original SG since the middle 80's (retired it from gigs). From about the middle 70's, SGs built by Gibson weren't anything to write home about. I can't remember what year Gibson Custom started making a "historic" SG model but when they did, I got excited and bought one. Eventually I got rid of it cuz I didn't like the wimpy neck. Then they did the Rossington SG and the Brother to Brother SG. I had both of em but sold them cuz of the wimpy neck. Then another guitar retailer did a "spec'd" SG - I bought one but eventually sold it for the same reason. Well when this 64 got announced, I thought "ok will this SG model FINALLY have a worthy neck or yet another failed attempt"? Ladies and gentlemen, it's GOT THE NECK. It's not exactly shaped like a mid 60's (remember, I own an original and grew up playing SGs) but it's there in the right ballpark. The alnico 3 unpotted custombuckers are great. So are the new pots and caps. There's nothing to complain about other than perhaps a run with brazilian rosewood. If you want a new SG that looks, feels, and plays like a real mid 60's SG, this is no doubt the best reissue thus far.

purchased from sweetwater less than a month ago on a special order with Ryan my sales guy. I can't put this guitar down workmanship and tone is incredible. Thanks Sweetwater

I fell in love the first time I saw a real 1964 Gibson SG Standard in person, at the formative young age of 15. About a decade ago, I was fortunate enough to find an affordable, near-mint original, which was the crown jewel of my guitar collection. Unfortunately about 6 years ago financial circumstances required me to part with it and a couple other of my "babies", so when Gibson announced back in 2019 that they were releasing the '64 Standard "reissue" via the Custom Shop, I was stoked. I even acquired one online based solely on the advertisement claims that it was the most accurate recreation of a vintage SG to date, but was disappointed. The playability was there, the sound was awesome and the finish was definitely better than the washed-out "faded" finish that seemed to be the norm on the offerings (although the VOS treatment is, at best, "iffy", but more on that later). Where it fell miserably short is via the lack of sculpting on the horns, and instead of tapering to about half the thickness of the body at the tip of the top horn, it featured little-to-no shaping in that regard, so from 50 feet away, you definitely know you're not looking at the real thing.

But now, fast-forward to late-summer of 2023, when suddenly (thanks to a lot of complaining by SG fanboys over the last 20 years and with new management who actually listen to these suggestions and grievances) they started coming out of Nashville with the proper shaping. So I sold the "nice guitar, but terrible reissue" I had and snagged one of these new ones. While still a little short of "perfection" for a couple of issues, it is DAY AND NIGHT compared to its predecessor, and is the first SG "reissue" I've ever held in my hands that ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO. The new tapering on the horns, paired with some modified beveling, makes these cosmetically spot-on with what the majority of "the good ones" from the 60's looked like. So FINALLY, this perennial complaint was tended to, and the result is nothing short of awesome.

As with the '64 Reissue in general, the chunky C-shaped neck is surprisingly comfortable, even for someone like myself with smaller hands (something about the consistency all the way up fits in the hand very well), so chords feel powerful, and my vibrato technique has never sounded better. Speaking of "sound", the Custombuckers really nail that PAF-ish sound, thick but articulate, and even sound awesome through a little solid-state practice amp; due to their unpotted nature, higher-gain settings at performance volume will mean you're going to have to wrestle with a little feedback, but it's manageable (much more so than the early 2000's unpotted Burstbuckers). The nylon saddles add a certain warmth that isn't there with brass/steel, and I can say they AND the nut are cut perfectly, resulting in ZERO tuning issues when doing faux-pedal-bends and vigorous tugging on the vibrato bar.

Now for my two only real complaints. First of all, the "VOS" thing needs to end. Make them all-gloss stock, and let the folks who want to pay for fake aging pay their Murphy tax. I selected mine because it had the least-obvious hardware "treatment", but up close it's weird and feels disingenuous having this weird "hazing" on "new" hardware (a quick Google search returns mixed experiences polishing the markings out). The finish itself also has that weird "VOS schmutz" on it, which seems to move around when you take a polishing cloth and wipe it. At first string change, I think I'm going to hose a microfiber or diaper cloth in some polish and try to wipe all the gunk off. Not a fan. I have my personal opinion about "pre-aged new guitars", but VOS falls in between somewhere that makes it a real head-scratcher. Second complaint is also finish-related, and that's the color. My original '64 had a vibrant, very obviously "red" that was not to be confused with a brownish or orangey-pink color seen on most of the Custom Shop "reissues" up till 2019. It was RED. Red as blood or a cherry Jolly Rancher, with the wood grain peeking through. Let me reiterate that compared to previous Custom Shop "faded cherry" models (and even recent USA offerings), this is still a HUGE improvement, and does have a warm, maroon-ish redness to it, but I think they could've done a more thorough job staining the area between the grain. The grain itself is nice and dark, and at certain angles it looks fine, but when compared to a real "vintage cherry" finish (in the form of a 1969 EB-0 bass), this one is still a couple shades lighter than it should be, and while the grain is showcased well, the rest I feel is a tad too light, and that seems to be the case on all of these. If this had a gloss finish (and shiny, new hardware), and was just a tad darker (and consistent), it'd get 5-stars, and an absolutely perfect review. If these particular things don't bug you, and you're on the fence about one of these, I can't recommend it enough. They're pricey but the attention to QC and details make it worth it overall for the closest thing you're going to get to the real deal for less than 5 figures.

Great guitar, fantastic tone. The only problem is having to constantly tune it. Must be caused by the bridge.