Guitar Gear Forum

So I really wasn't in the market for a new guitar, really happy using the Les Paul and Ernie Ball as my main gig guitars tonally....but after the last few gigs I've done where we bring our on PA plus amps etc slinging the Les Paul for a couple hours after hauling gear got kinda old..... I've always loved SGs, had a SG Classic in the early 2000s, that was my first Gibson and first US made guitar as well so I figured I'd snag another......so logged in to Reverb.com and found this 2021 SG Special for $1175 shipped



Got it late last week, set it up with some 10s in E Standard, intonation was much better than I expected, pretty spot on TBH..... that being said I still ordered a Tone Pros locking wrap around bridge because my OCD needs to be able to adjust each string individually lol.... took it to rehearsal last night and was really impressed, the stock pickups sound great, the Fralins in the Les Paul have a little more low mid ommph and over all push as well as the neck is more defined BUT the Gibsons still sound really good, I don't feel the need to upgrade them, I probably will to noiseless Fralins some time in the future but it's not totally necessary just yet....what really surprised me is how slinky this guitar is, the 10s in standard tuning feel like 9s to me so I'm having to pay more attention to my left hand when playing till I get use to it, though I'll likely put 11s on it soon to get it more inline with my other guitars feel wise, hoping that might give some more oomph in the low mids and bring it closer to the Les Paul tonally


TLDR... these SG Specials kick ass and I'd definitely recommend them for anyone looking for a light and easy to play guitar

annnnnnnnnnd here's the not so glamorous family shot

Totally hot...enjoy that thing!

Congrats!! I just recently traded mine away but it was a fun guitar


Are you experiencing any excessive noise issues with the p90s in yours?

Love black SGs. Killer!

spawnofthesith wrote:Are you experiencing any excessive noise issues with the p90s in yours?

No more than the typical 60 cycle hum you get with single coils.

nightflameauto wrote:Love black SGs. Killer!

not gonna lie..... black was pretty much at the bottom of the list for typical SG colours for me.... its always Pelham blue in #1 followed by the good ole cherry red.... but after getting this SG and seeing it in person, I'm really digging it...Pelham blue is still king, but I think cherry red has got to the bottom of the list now

Congrats man!! It looks great. Black is actually my favorite SG color. Makes them look evil

Nice!

Black SGs are evil AND classy

I love SGs and I love P90s. HNGD!

Happy new sexy guitar day, that thing is hot...Love SG Jrs and Specials!

Oh yeah, man!!! That's a real ROCK N ROLL MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!

4 Gibsons is the right number of Gibsons

Congrats, looks great!

Nice!

Can you refresh my memory on what model the semi is?

It's giving me a semi

spawnofthesith wrote:Can you refresh my memory on what model the semi is?

It's giving me a semi

its an ES-137

Gig Report...... took the SG to its first gig on Thursday.... loved it.... sat in the band mix perfectly and that band is a 3 guitar band which can be tricky, but I never felt like I was stepping on anyone's toes tonally and I didn't have to do any odd EQ settings either to fit in the mix... the P90s love the Fuzz Face, was able to play Sabbath and Neil Young songs just by adjusting the volume on the guitar, with a tube screamer it was pure rock and roll...... it held tuning for the entire hour long set with no problems... the ONE draw back that was a little exaggerated by the club's less than great power was the 60 cycle hum it wasn't really an issue with all the gain pedals bypassed but once I had the tube screamer or Fuzz on and wasn't playing it was pretty obnoxious... so once I get a few more gigs in with it and really decide if this will become a full time gigging guitar I'll get a set of the Fralin hum cancelling P90s... I have the Tone Pros locking wrap around bridge on the way, but its Christmas time and Customs are always slow to clear shit this time of year so if I get that before Christmas day it will be a true miracle lol but it's no biggie since the stock bridge is intonated just fine with the 11s I popped on it last week...

Seymour Duncan just put out a Jared James Nichols signature P90 that is noiseless and sounds great.

Nice, man. If you don't want to change the pick ups, you could try that cable thing that Cole picked up for his 60 cycle issue.

GuitarBilly wrote:Seymour Duncan just put out a Jared James Nichols signature P90 that is noiseless and sounds great.

I saw that... they have a silencer set as well, so I'm assuming they just tweaked that for his signature, but his signature is just a bridge pickup from what I can see.... from the demos I've seen the Fralins really nail the classic P90 tone, not sure if it's how he dials in his rig but those sound a little warmer than I'd like... plus I absolutely love the standard Fralin P90s in my Les Paul and from what I can see on the Fralin site the noiseless models are voiced the same with a touch more output so this just seems like the safer bet for me

RyanDistortion wrote:Nice, man. If you don't want to change the pick ups, you could try that cable thing that Cole picked up for his 60 cycle issue.

I'm probably gonna grab one of those any way, not that I think it would help with the pickup noise but some venues just have shitty power and that cable definitely helps with that noise so that seems like a no brainer for me.





I have another gig tomorrow and next week Saturday, so I'm going to see really quickly how much of the noise is the guitar Vs the venue.

so even though the stock bridge intonated close enough, my OCD needed the ability to adjust individual strings, so I got one of those Tone Pros locking bridges.... I haven't tried it in a jam situation or through my rig as yet but unplugged the SG has gotten noticeably louder and it feels more familiar under my right hand as far as muting stings while playing goes...... definitely a worth while upgrade for any guitar with the wrap around bridges.....

Marc G wrote:

GuitarBilly wrote:Seymour Duncan just put out a Jared James Nichols signature P90 that is noiseless and sounds great.

I saw that... they have a silencer set as well, so I'm assuming they just tweaked that for his signature, but his signature is just a bridge pickup from what I can see.... from the demos I've seen the Fralins really nail the classic P90 tone, not sure if it's how he dials in his rig but those sound a little warmer than I'd like... plus I absolutely love the standard Fralin P90s in my Les Paul and from what I can see on the Fralin site the noiseless models are voiced the same with a touch more output so this just seems like the safer bet for me

RyanDistortion wrote:Nice, man. If you don't want to change the pick ups, you could try that cable thing that Cole picked up for his 60 cycle issue.

I'm probably gonna grab one of those any way, not that I think it would help with the pickup noise but some venues just have shitty power and that cable definitely helps with that noise so that seems like a no brainer for me.





I have another gig tomorrow and next week Saturday, so I'm going to see really quickly how much of the noise is the guitar Vs the venue.

I have the Fralin noiseless p-90 in a Junior and I love it. If I had a complaint it would be that I would want it a tad bit brighter. They now make a noiseless with alnico rods that is said to be a little brighter than their original noiseless p-90. I may try that in my Junior someday but I like the one in the guitar now so much I'm reluctant to mess with it.

I like the Lindy Fralin noiseless Dog Ear P90 in my LP Jr. It's a tad less raunchy than the original but, the lack of hum is worth it.