NGD: Gibson SG Special Aged Cherry with Short Vibrola.

[Mr Grumpy]

Just a quick picture, I'll do more later.

The good news is that I wasn't taxed too badly, so I paid US$1800 for the guitar (which is the same as the guitar costs in Japan and America. It's a limited edition - how limited I have no idea.

First impression is that it's heavy (heavier than any previous SGs I've owned and the intonation is well out, so I'll have to work out what to do with the lightening bridge. Actually, the guitar came without the bridge attached, so I just threw it on and tuned up. All the frets are fine, no dead notes, cursory look seems to be ok. Not sure if I like the finish as much as the vintage cherry of my SG junior; the lacquer seems a bit thicker than I expected (not really thick, but thicker than my SG junior). Tuning keys are smooth, and it's very easy and comfortable to play.

I'll do an in depth assessment later, but here's the first picture:

 

[Cadorman]

More SGs, excellent! My 68 had that same vibrola.

 

[SG John]

Nice!

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Thats a great lookin guitar.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

A Special with a bound fretboard, two P90s, a lightning bar, and a short Vibrola! What’s not to like?!?!
Congratulations! I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Gahr]

Congrats! Looking forward to your review!

 

[ChasFred]

That is one sweet looking axe for sure. Congrats

 

[Mr Grumpy]

OK, here we go, and this might be lengthy... sorry...

I stupidly sold my favourite guitar, an SG junior 2018, and this guitar is in part a replacement and hopefully a bit of an upgrade to that. Thus. I'm gonna do a comparison as I go along.



Comes with the case, as they do and all the stuff in it (personally I don't love these cases, but it is nice to have 1 of the brown Gibson cases...), the tool is useful, the picture is nice to have, etc. This is what Gibson call this guitar:



I gotta say, I was not blown away by the special as a first impression. I think at least part of that is the lacquer finish; it's too heavy and too glossy - actually, one of the reasons I wanted this guitar over the sparking burgundy or pelham blue version was the hope that the finish would be similar to the jnr where the wood grain comes through beautifully:



The special is glossy, in artificial light it just reflects like crazy (sorry about the bad pictures, it's night here, but I'll get some better ones tomorrow under natural lighting.





A small thing, I knew it was coming (but still irks a tad) at this price the logo should have been the engraved pearloid not silkscreen - this is basically quite close to a '64 special, and all specials (and the much loved classics) had the pearloid; it's not the end of the world, but the $300 cheaper LP special has the pearloid, so why not the SG?


(Can you see me? )

The nut seems to be cut well, when tuning up the gears were smooth, no catching in the slots, so that's good.

Comparing the back of the headstocks you can see what I mean about the junior having a nicer lacquer coat which allows you to see the wood:

Special (the lacquer is too thick, imho):



Junior (which I find really beautiful, the lacquer has been done perfectly):

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Moving on...

The binding and the frets all seem fine; it's nice to play, feels great.



^ you can see on the upper right the one tiny area that isn't perfect, but that's under the Note10 macro lens; you can't notice it by looking casually.



^ The fretboard is fine; I don't like it at the moment due to the colourings a artificial look (I don't know why I think that, maybe I mean 'new' look), but it'll be fine after a few coats of F1 oil and 6 months of playing; it's in a better state than the juniors fretboard was (after some F1 oil and 6 months of playing that was fine too):



Horns are always a matter of interest for SG lovers - I suspect that the junior and special have the same or very similar bevelling/cut, but it looks so much nicer on the junior (once again due to the specials over glossy lacquer):





Junior:

 

[TCE63]

Lovs SG:s Congrats to a Beautiful Guitar

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Another wood/lacquer shot comparisons. To be fair to the special, it's awful lighting, and you can see some nice wood grain through, but just...






Both had the electronics cover which has a texture to it; some folks don't like it, but I do:



Junior's electronics:



Special's electronics:



^ a bit of a disappointment, kinda expected, and not the end of the world.

So, thusfar, I'm not loving this guitar as I did the junior.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Another gripe while I'm at it... I knew it when I bought the guitar, but the chrome is too much, nickel would have been better, much better - aged cherry, very glossy and shiny hardware just doesn't suit a throwback to '64 (that's what I'm calling it, right or wrong!); thin lacquer and nickel hardware would have been the way to go, imho.





This is my fourth Gibson SG (2011 faded, 2013 future tribute and 2018 junior), and it's noticeably heavier than the others - my nonscientific bathroom scale test had it at over 7lbs/3.2kgs. The body, to me, and I could well be wrong, feels thicker - I don't think that comes across in pictures though; let's try:

Special:



Junior:

(That junior was just a beautiful looking guitar, I was mad to sell it...)

Soooooo, this is the end of my first impressions: the lacquer is too think; the wood grain does show through, but not as much as I'd like; the headstock logo is a bastard for this model; I don't like the look of the chrome hardware; didn't really want the circuitboard either; not sure about this lightening bridge (it's ugly, the bridge on the junior was so much nicer) - I'm now gonna have to spend some time understanding that and setting it up right.

It does, despite my whinges, look good, and the looks are growing on me. I reckon that playing this everyday for a year or two will bring it's looks out; it needs some wear, then it'll look amazing.

I'm gonna play for a while then review the playability and sounds, but the first impressions of playing are excellent (I haven't plugged it in yet): the neck is really comfortable and changes shape a LOT - very thin, and comfortable at the nut, but becomes a lot flatter and wider as you move up the neck; your hand notices a dramatic neck shape change from the 4th/5th frets onwards, and it works for my hand well. It's very loud and extremely resonant; she just sounds really sweet played unplugged.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

OK, after an hour or so of playing, she's growing on me.

She does not growl like a junior, not even ballpark. But, there's a nice variety of sounds across all three pickup positions - the volume and tone knobs have a nice feel to them and work pretty well (not as well as the junior); she does not growl and bark then clean up via the volume knob like a junior does though. On my THR10, the kinda kick I got from the crunch channel (AC30) with the junior isn't there, so I have to go to the next amp up (Marshall) and add some gain - that's just to get a low OD tone with a bit of personality.

Using this guitar, I find I prefer the volume and tone up higher on the neck pickup than the bridge pickup. I've also found the bridge pickup to be a bit higher output - the volume levels across the two pickups are fine, pretty even, so I'll leave them at the heights they came at. Usually, I prefer the neck pickup on SGs and mostly use that, but all three options are nice here, with the middle position being the nicest I've heard on a guitar I've owned; really does combine the best of the neck and bridge pickups, sounds really good, so I can see myself using the middle position a lot. She's fun to play.

Even though the junior and special seem so similar in many ways, they are miles away from one another with regard to character of sound. I always thought that was the case when I listened to tracks using SG specials, but many folks claim the sounds are similar, they are not, they are very different sounding guitars.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

Thanks for the detailed review, and pictures!

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I have noticed a problem - it's quite a small problem, but I will get onto Thomann to seek compensation anyways...



That highE intonation screw has lost its thread, so cannot be adjusted. I thought it was strange that it didn't come on the guitar, but rather floating in the case. There's also a tiny little mark on the nitro (it's hardly noticeable and I'm not worried about it, but it looks worse using the pretty high quality macro lens on the Galaxy Note 10).

So, to intonate the guitar perfectly, I need the lowE side of the bridge a tad further back, but I cannot get it there with that screw because it's locked in place, won't budge... It's only slightly sharp (and I could change that by altering the action), but it is an issue (if a small one).

Other than that, everything is looking good although I might take the guitar to a guy for a setup as he'll probably do a better job than I've done.

Just oiled the fretboard with some F1. I'll do that again next time I change the strings, and that'll make the board a tad darker which'll better suit the body colour, imho.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

More SGs, excellent! My 68 had that same vibrola.

Blimey, I'd love a 68 with batwing, maybe in white or black - super cool!

Nice!

Thanks, SG John - you have such lovely SGs, I always love your pics. I hope your new SG special works out fine for you.

Thats a great lookin guitar.

Thanks, mate - but, what about the dog?

A Special with a bound fretboard, two P90s, a lightning bar, and a short Vibrola! What’s not to like?!?!
Congratulations! I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you. Yeah, there's a lot to like, but they are just about the price of a 2019 SG std 61 (so Gibson could have least used a gold pearl inlay). I think, because of the dots with binding and the P90s) that I probably prefer this over a std. But, I would love a standard too!

Congrats! Looking forward to your review!

Done in detail.

Gahr, what do you think about: 1) the colour; 2) the thickness of the lacquer?

That is one sweet looking axe for sure. Congrats

Thanks Chas. I had a hangover this morning, was tired, was supposed to do a little trip to Japan today, but decided not to go...so when I first got it out of the case I was not blown away. But, as my mood has got better throughout the day, I'm liking the little beastie more and more - she's pretty cool.

Currently playing a rather cliched version of Hey Joe (badly)... :dood:

 

[67plexi]

The bound fingerboard is a nice touch

 

[stringtree]

Super review!

All though, there seems to be an under current of unhappiness.
Sometimes this happens with a purchase.

We've all been there with gear. If you really love it, I'm happy for you.
If you not over the moon for it, send it back and find the one that will rock your world.

Not trying to be a kill joy, just a voice of reason.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Lovs SG:s Congrats to a Beautiful Guitar

Thank you. I think there's quite a few folks on here who love themselves some SG.

Thanks for the detailed review, and pictures!

Maybe too detailed with too many pictures, but it's nice to share and kinda helps myself understand a new guitar better too.

The bound fingerboard is a nice touch

Yeah, I agree. The fingerboard inlays are nice, but I also like dots, so the binding is probably one of my favourite looking features.

Super review!

All though, there seems to be an under current of unhappiness.
Sometimes this happens with a purchase.

We've all been there with gear. If you really love it, I'm happy for you.
If you not over the moon for it, send it back and find the one that will rock your world.

Not trying to be a kill joy, just a voice of reason.

That's because I'm a miserable git. Actually, she's growing on me all the time - ideally, I'd like to see the wood more clearly, but that's the only 'issue' really; I don't know why Gibson did a thick lacquer on this - I suppose I'll have to play more and wear it down a bit.

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Ya better quit showin your old JR cause its makin that New SG look bad. Nice dog by the way