This is the most geekery, crazy, nit picking deep dive of any guitar review I’ve ever seen. I loved it. And it made me appreciate my 2004 SG Special so much more. But I couldn’t make to the end. Had to watch in two parts.
Haha! Glad you loved it. That’s the intent. It’s really made for a specific audience that truly loves and wants to know every detail. It’s funny you say that too. There’s a chef guy that pops up on my RU-vid all the time and I always find myself thinking, “who wants to watch 45 minutes about tomato sauce?” …but then I think about what I do. 🤣 Cheers!
Wow, great investigation into all the nuances of these instrument choices! Thank you for presenting them in a systematic and balanced way. Very informative and very helpful. Well done.
I just got the Custom Shop 60th anniversary ‘61 (with the sideways vibrola, which is something that I wanted on my “bucket list”)- great timing for this video!
Very thorough detailed 61 SG compare, thanks! I want the chiseled angles it's what I fell in love as a kid. Still not sure whether I want BB1,2,3 Al2 or 60s Burstbucker Al5 pups in an SG but your USA61 did sound good. As much as I'd like the USA 61 in TV yellow like yours that blunted upper horn meant for strap buttons annoys me a little. I note that my '74 SG reissue 2018 SG Special has the very narrow neck at 1.65" and sharp upper horn both that I prefer. Also the neck joins the body at 19th fret not 22nd as with your 4 examples. The 74 had regular pole piece minis, but the 2018 has stock Gibson dial rail minis (look like Firebird pups but non magenetized rails and wound hotter).
I’ve been an SG guy since I was a kid and saved up my snow shoveling moneys back around 79’ or 1980. I took a ride on the NYC subway to what was then called ‘Music Row’ and walked into Manny’s Music and purchased a beautiful white SG ( it had the small guard like yours and the input jack was on the side of it. ) Sadly I sold it in the mid 80’s to purchase a car. Currently I own 3 SG’s and I love all three of them, none are Custom Shop… maybe one day I will but the cost difference has stopped me from doing it already, obviously lol. The Standard USA models I own play phenomenally with very low action and it’s just tough to justify the up charge on over to a CS, not that I’m saying it’s not a good choice, the deep red finish on the CS models are beautiful, I believe it’s the aniline red which makes the obvious difference. Great video man, I just subbed your channel, thanks for sharing this in depth breakdown 🤙
Thanks for the sub! Glad you checked out the video too! As you have no doubt realized, I’m a big fan of the SG, so I loved making that video. Custom shop are nice of course, but they can’t build mojo in the shop thankfully! Thanks for sharing your story! Keep rockin! 🤘🏽
JimmyJames! Thank you for the gift and for the comment too! Yes, lots of pickup options available and sadly, I don’t know if any of the Gibson USA offerings will ever offer as much attention to detail as the original models or the custom shop, but darn fine guitars regardless! Yes, your 74 reissue is definitely that period when Gibson switched over to the less intricate body style, that still exists even today with the standards and what not. It’s still a great player, just lacks that flair that makes the 1960-1968 models so magical. At least to me. I LOVE all those carves, and like the video says, that beveling that leads from the body to the neck. Pure guitar nerdery! Haha. Thank you again! For my money, the 61s Burstbucker pickups in the SG Standard 61 is such a good beast!
Awesome! Thanks for the information! I’m a big fan of the 60BB! I’m always surprised when I hear people say they don’t like them. I think they are fantastic!
That’s not a bad idea. I think one of these days I’ll probably get to it. Maybe when there’s a slow week for releases. I did kind of an overview of my LP custom a few months back, but it wasn’t as in depth as my deep dives. Truth be told, I need to study the Les Pauls more and how things changed over the years.
For the "Idle Moments" part, the Epiphone 1961 sounds surprisingly good, even can be compared to the Gibsons. Maybe its the Burstbucker 2&3 boost it up.
The TV yellow SG looks gold. Also, I think maybe part of the Partership with Gibson custom shop is the QC on the Epiphones that are imported are done by the Custom shop instead of Epiphone. Not sure if that is true, but that seems to be how some companies justify the higher price for some of their import models. Also, the guitars could be manufactured overseas and then hardware and electronics installed here.
It’s possible for some models. I think the IBG stuff is still mostly assembled overseas based on the pots and bridge and stuff, but you’re right, they could do some tweaks here. The IBG guitars are shipped out of Gibson Nashville. 🤷♂️
The classic worn P90 SG from Epiphone is $20 less than the budget SG here. If you like P90s and want a different color, it is a great choice and probably the best bang for your buck when it comes to SGs. Besides, anyone that really is going to get upset by referring to any of these models by Epiphone or Gibson as an SG and not calling the "Les Paul" ones Leg Pauls is straight up wasting time watching this video. I see your channel more for the person that has enough money to get one model and wants to make a well-informed decision.
Dude, the SG VooDoo is an awesome introduction to the SG line up. The SG is a vintage shape that they could make into a modern metal powerhouse easier than the Les Paul.
Agreed. I love the voodoo more and more every day. What a cool look the first editions had. Ebony Fretboard, satin ebony finish with red grain filler… When they re-introduced it in 2019, they flipped the colors, so the body was blood red with the black grain filler, a maple neck and richlite fingerboard… it was not the same guitar at all! I still want to get my hands on one though and do a side by side… hmm…
Thanks, it’s just something I wrote for these videos - it’s the only way I can get by with music not getting flagged these days. About 6 months ago I played 15 seconds of a song from another artist on my guitar and RU-vid Flagged it for “similar melody”, so I’ve been trying to use original material unless the song is really old like “Idle Moments” from Grant Green. Appreciate the compliment! Maybe one day I’ll do something with it.
@@CompanyGrip Wow, it is really a nice riff, I'm amazed by your talents. I thought it was a published song and was thinking about learning it through guitar tabs. Hope one day you will be able to play a full version and upload it, I'd like to be the first purchaser. :)
No. It’s a great player, and the tone is unique, but to me, you pay for the authentic recreation of the various parts and the elaborate body carving, if you don’t care about that stuff, the Gib USA or the IBG Epiphone are great players too!
