2016 Gibson SG T Series Road Test:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
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I posted this in 'Members Performances' but wanted to add a couple things here.

Most of you know about my 'Problem Child' Gibson SG. Just to recap, I gutted it, tossed the PCB, used 9 feet of copper shielding tape, a vintage cloth covered 50's harness with Bourne 500k pots and K40Y tone capacitors (.033uf bridge and. 015uf neck) and a pair of nickel covered GFS Alinco II PAF clones (7.93k bridge and 7.88k neck) along with the Faber TP-59 locking aluminum tailpiece.

Initial testing confirmed the shielding did the trick and made the guitar impervious to all kinds of electrical interference I intentionally subjected it to.

Secondly, the overall sound of the SG was really great at my home studio, so I felt pretty good about it.

When I attended an audition Saturday, I started not to take it...but then did...along with my DSL40C.

Once in the rehearsal studio, we did a tune check (1/2 step down) and a volume check. I had my DSL40C between 4 and 6 and it was ungodly loud, but matched the level of the bandleader's Marshall Major.

What blew me away was how controllable the SG was. No buzzing. No feedback, and so quiet it had an almost noise-gated quality.

I was running about 50 feet of cable, whuch always sounds better to my ear, but no effects.

What a mean-ass tone!!!

I had rolled off a lot of bass because of the higher volume levels, but the harder I pushed the amp, the bigger it sounded!!!

It was a real comfortable guitar and so good not to have to fight it or constantly roll off the volume. I'm just really impressed with this SG, and that surprised me.

I had earplugs partially in, so I wasn't getting the full sound, but it sounded good and I got a couple of thumbs up from the bandleader and singer, so it must have sounded mean. I could literally feel the air coming out of the amp against my pants leg...

Interestingly, all my previous perceptions of the SG being "thin" in comparison to a Les Paul just VANISHED. It actually sounds as big if not bigger than a Les Paul, but only at higher volume levels...and I am sure being tuned down a 1/2 step helped.

It certainly proved itself under fire on Saturday...I finally feel like i can trust it now...

IMG_20170521_27144.jpg IMG_20170317_57431.jpg
 
That's great to hear! Glad it finally worked out for you.

Question: what is it about the longer cable that you prefer? I've had a lot of people tell me they like long cable runs but I have never tried it - do I need to pick up a longer cable?
 
gball said:
That's great to hear! Glad it finally worked out for you.

Question: what is it about the longer cable that you prefer? I've had a lot of people tell me they like long cable runs but I have never tried it - do I need to pick up a longer cable?
Click to expand...

Capacitance....I find my tone smoother through longer cables...Don P has all the formulas...
 
this result is good to hear... I've followed your tale with sympathy and interest, and
sometimes exasperation... *grins

But the important thing is how it serves when you get out in the lights.
It sounds like your acceptance ordeal was severe, but if the guitar passes all of that
then it's hellfire and brimstone from here on out.

What you experienced here now is what you SHOULD be experiencing. It's a real shame that you
had to do so much work to get the instrument to be capable of functioning under the conditions
you describe. If it does, it should serve you well in many exacting situations.

I think Gibson should be reading these posts, especially this one and some of your others.
If they have a brain, they probably are. They might learn something. Gibson engineers, designers and
workmen could all understand your well-articulated description of what you had to go through to get
one of their production guitars up to your standards. They should all be reading these boards.
But maybe they don't want to take their work home with them.

Glad your SG is giving you the service that it should have been giving all along.
 
Col Mustard said:
this result is good to hear... I've followed your tale with sympathy and interest, and
sometimes exasperation... *grins

But the important thing is how it serves when you get out in the lights.
It sounds like your acceptance ordeal was severe, but if the guitar passes all of that
then it's hellfire and brimstone from here on out.

What you experienced here now is what you SHOULD be experiencing. It's a real shame that you
had to do so much work to get the instrument to be capable of functioning under the conditions
you describe. If it does, it should serve you well in many exacting situations.

I think Gibson should be reading these posts, especially this one and some of your others.
If they have a brain, they probably are. They might learn something. Gibson engineers, designers and
workmen could all understand your well-articulated description of what you had to go through to get
one of their production guitars up to your standards. They should all be reading these boards.
But maybe they don't want to take their work home with them.

Glad your SG is giving you the service that it should have been giving all along.
Click to expand...

Great post, Colonel....it's earned its keep so to speak...I'm pleased with it.
 
I recorded this last night out of boredom. It's just a medley of a few tunes I played during a recent audition. The sound isn't great, because it was recorded on an I-pad, but there are some cool tones in this clip....

SG plugged straight into DSL40C with a short cable - no pedals.

One thing you may notice, and it was pointed out to me at my audition, is that I don't play single string arpeggios on phrases like "another thing comin," I play chords instead to make it sound bigger, and this is the first time ive ever seen me playing it, so it was kinda cool.

 
Robert Herndon said:
Capacitance....I find my tone smoother through longer cables...Don P has all the formulas...
Click to expand...
Yeah, if ya play at low volumes you might not like all the extra capitance introduced by long cable runs or coily cables. Might sound muffled. But play it loud and proud and all that beautiful midrange comes out really clear without the fatiguing super high frequencies.
 
syscokid said:
Yeah, if ya play at low volumes you might not like all the extra capitance introduced by long cable runs or coily cables. Might sound muffled. But play it loud and proud and all that beautiful midrange comes out really clear without the fatiguing super high frequencies.
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right!
 
Been using the SG exclusively lately. The band have all commented on how loud it is without hurting your ears (the bassist is very voume sensitive) I am going to pull the pickguard tonight and bend the tabs on the neck pickup so I can move it parallel to the strings and thereby raise it a little higher. The relative low output of the GFS Alnico II pickups (7.93k/7.88k) and 9 feet of copper tape, allow me to run at incredible volume levels without squealing.

One thing about low impedance pickups - you have to scream them to get good tone out of them, but they are very manageable when pushed to the limit.... When I had Gibson 57 Classics in the SG, I couldn't manage the squeal from the pickups. It's nice to have my DSL40C on '5' and 3/4 gain and just stand there with the SG hanging from the strap and not have to worry about it squealing....

SG After Modifications.jpg

SG Modification Small.jpg
 
It's good you are playing an SG. Welcome to the SG club Robert.:wink: You did a good job with the shielding and wiring. You're all set to go. That's what matters.


;>)/
 
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