The Gibson SG is one of the flagship guitars produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. The most popular Gibson guitar in terms of sales numbers, it is a double cutaway, solid-body guitar with a rounded shape and two humbucking pickups. Some variations feature three humbucking pickups, or even P-90 single coil pickups, but these are much less common than the standard two humbuckers. The flagship model in the lineup, the Gibson SG Standard, is currently priced at $1,799.00 USD.
History[]
An early 1960s advertisement for the redesigned guitar.
In 1960, sales of the Les Paul were declining. In response to this decline in sales, Gibson completely redesigned it, making it thinner, more contoured, and of lighter weight. In addition, the new Les Paul featured a double cutaway design and a redesigned neck joint. The redesigned Les Paul was officially introduced in early 1961 with an MSRP of $265.00 USD, and the guitars were a hit, with around 1,600 of them being shipped in their debut year of 1961, a hefty increase from the 635 Les Pauls that had been shipped in 1960.
While the new Les Paul was very successful for Gibson, Les Paul himself was strongly disapproving of the design. By 1963, his name had been removed from the guitars due to the dissolution of his partnership with Gibson, and the guitars then became known as the Gibson SG.
The Gibson SG has been continuously in production in one variation or another since its 1961 debut, and today the line shows no sign of stopping with many different models and special editions available on the market.
Design[]
A Gibson SG featuring the "batwing" pickguard. (Image courtesy of Reverb)
The Gibson SG features a rounded, contoured shape and typically utilizes two humbucking pickups. The earliest SGs featured what is known as a “half” pickguard which took up half of the upper half of the body, contoured to match the contours on the guitar itself. Later SGs had a “batwing” pickguard which covered the entire upper half of the body but was also contoured to match the contours of the guitar’s body.
The wiring diagram of a Gibson SG is the same as a Les Paul. (Image courtesy of Lindy Fralin Pickups)
The wiring style of a Gibson SG is the same as a Les Paul, featuring two volume and two tone controls, two for each pickup. Usually, the output jack will be on the front of the guitar, just below the knobs.
A Gibson SG usually consists of a solid mahogany body, however maple tops have been seen on a few select models. There is no binding on an SG’s body, only on the neck.
The Gibson SG uses a Tune-O-Matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece, as do many other Gibson guitars. The earliest SGs from 1961 bore a “sideways” vibrola tailpiece, but this was changed to the “maestro” vibrola, and later to the Tune-O-Matic bridge.
A Gibson SG Junior, featuring a P-90 pickup. (Image courtesy of Sweetwater)
The Gibson SG Standard, as well as the deluxe Custom model, have always featured humbucking pickups. However, the SG Junior and Special come with P-90 single coil pickups.
The present-day Gibson SG Standard has 490R and 490T pickups, while its Standard ‘61 counterpart features 60’s Burstbucker pickups.
A vintage Gibson SG with inlays. (Image courtesy of Guitar.com)
The neck of a Gibson SG is made from solid mahogany, topped with either a rosewood or ebony fretboard featuring twenty two frets depending on the model. Versions of the SG that feature twenty four frets have been known to exist, but are not very common. The neck is glued into the body with a “set neck” design as nearly all other Gibsons are.
The headstock is ebony black, with three tuners on each side of it. Depending on the model, the Gibson logo and a “crown” are either inlaid in mother of pearl, or are silk screened onto the headstock. The headstock is angled at seventeen degrees.
Finishes/Colors[]
The most common, well-known SG finish is cherry red. However, other common colors include ebony black and alpine or classic white. A few limited-run models have been produced in colors such as silverburst, walnut, and various metallic finishes.
Famous Users[]
- Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
- Angus Young of AC/DC
- George Harrison
- Frank Zappa
- Derek Trucks
- Pete Townshend of The Who
- Eric Clapton
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe