New SG Owner! Some questions!

[accadaccafanna]

Hi all, glad to be part of the forum. If you haven't guessed, I like AC/DC :P

 

Last night, after a 6 month special order process with Guitar Center, I took delivery of a lefty 2017 SG Standard T, heritage cherry. The SG has always been my favorite guitar with its sleek looks and thin body. I've been playing for about 10 years and have owned many guitars in that time, but never a Gibson. When I found out Gibby were making lefties again for 2017, I put my pre order in the first day I could. I've got it here at home now and it feels great and sounds amazing, but there are some quirks!

 

Most noticeably, the fretboard feels super dry! It's almost blasphemous to say this, but the fretboard feels like a rosewood fretboard on a $80 guitar I had years ago. I'm going do the Fret Doctor thing today and polish the frets up and see what we can get. But you'd think for how expensive these Gibsons are, the board would have a better feel right out of the box. I'm curious if other players have had the same experience, and if so, what they did to get a better feel.

 

When I got the axe home, plugged in, and went to turn up my volume, I realized the knobs are wired the wrong way! Now, if you don't know, knobs on a lefty guitar are wired the opposite way from a righty. So when you turn the volume up (louder), the knob turns counter clockwise. I've had cheap import guitars with special knobs with their numbers arranged the opposite way to account for this. It's a nit picky detail but I appreciate it. Last year I bought an American Strat that came with standard righty knobs. I guess California didn't know the difference! Anyway the SG has the same quirk, except that this time the Gibson luthier actually wired the pots to turn the opposite way (from a lefty) so that when the knob reads 10, you're on 10, and you have to turn the knob in a counter-intuitive way to get back to zero. What a hilarious over sight! It's a good thing though - I usually mod my guitars but was on the fence about leaving this one how it came from the shop vs putting in a Fishman Powerbridge. I guess if I have to open up the control cavity anyway... :P

 

I was under the impression that Standards were built with 1 or 2-piece bodies. Mine is a 3-piece. This doesn't really make a difference to me, and to be honest at the time it sounded like buzz word sales speak. I would have gone with a Faded in worn brown but felt like the mahogany neck of the Standard was vital to the vintage sound of an SG.

 

The 1/4" jack was loose (like on pretty much every guitar). I like the absence of the "rhythm/treble" chip.

 

The 5-ply pickguard, beefy brushed aluminum strap buttons, and locking Grover tuners are a nice reminder where the money went, but part of me wishes the guitar had vintage klusions!

 

I am a little weird about how the guitar sits in its case. It came with a vintage style hardshell Gibson USA case, but something about the neck angle and how the body sits in the case doesn't look right. I've heard of some people putting a folded-up T shirt in the case to sit underneath the tail part of the body so the neck sits correctly. Anyone want to chime in on what they did? If it was even a problem?

 

Over all it's a spectacular guitar and I'm glad to have it. I've been lucky enough in recent years to make my mantra "quality over quantity," and this will be a welcome addition in my library of sound. If anything its quirks are like owning a classic car. Totally worth it!!

 

Thanks for having me and hope to learn lots of stuff from this forum!

[capmaster]

Hello and welcome to this nice place in the web!

 

Your nickname may suggest you're an AC/DC fan, an SG does not necessarily do so. Besides Angus Young there were and still are some other famous SG players, like Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth, Derek Trucks, Dickey Betts, and when about lefty SGs, Tony Iommi. :)

 

The bodies of the two of my Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs are two-piece, of my 1978 Standard three-piece, and of my SG Supra two-piece top plus two-piece back, either bookmatched maple. The Gibson SG made of most parts I know of is a "worn" model with a seven-piece body, sometimes referred to as matchstick guitar. ;) Anyway, me thinks multipiece also includes seven. :P

 

When about changing rotational direction of pots, it may not just be about soldering the outer tags the other way round. This works well with linear pots as typically used by Gibson for (non-push/pull) volume pots, but audio taper pots will have an awkward effect then. It takes neg log aka rev log potentiometers for mirrored control taper. I know of a lefty Squier Precision Bass that has them. I think pot knobs with inverted numbering are available, too.

 

I never before heard of and never had trouble with SGs sitting in their original hardshell cases, but I know that of a Custom Shop Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess of mine. Axcess shaping, less body depth and less neck angle due to the Floyd Rose system are the reasons for that. I think they should have made suitable cases for their Axcess Floyd Rose guitars.

 

Finally, there is an unwritten forum rule: Pics, or it didn't happen! Lots of guitar porn lovers here, and probably some folks who want to congratulate you on your purchase!

[kidblast]

I can't comment on the "lefty" config other than to say "I feel for you guys".. You get totally boinked when it comes to guitars..

 

I have a 2012 SG, the fret board is torrified maple, not rosewood, but as a rule, I'll treat the FB on any new guitar right off on the first string change since it's safe to assume it's probably never been treated. Besides given the time of year, I don't doubt it's dry. Now that it's in your possession it's not going to get any less dry.. I see your in CT (?) so you're dealing with a lot of the same lack of moisture issues that we are hear in Central Mass.

 

My SG Standard black case with the white interior, and fits in that case like a glove with no padding needed. Not sure what cases they ship w/now. I also have a 2005 classic - black case and grey interior, same fit tho.

 

I Can't really see the # of pieces on my standard as it's the aged cherry finish, there's no visible gain. I'll have to look at my classic just for the sake of discussion, I don't know that I've ever noticed the # of pieces.

 

good luck with the new axe! post a pic if you can, like Cap says, we love to oogle at others purchases!!

[capmaster]

Forgot to mention the dry fretboard point. Except for an Epiphone with some boot polish on it and those with finished maple boards, all of my guitars came that way. I like it!

[jdgm]

Ref the fretboard;

 

Thin camera or sewing machine oil, 'white'oil or even ordinary household 3-in-1, at a pinch. Take strings off, put a thin layer all over the fretboard and watch it drink it up. Should take about an hour or less.

Wipe off residue, re-string. You only need to do this once every few years. Works great.

[capmaster]

Decades ago I treated three rosewood boards using linseed stand oil, and I think I will never do this again to any guitar. It leaves a finish on the wood, and it also does when blended with other oils like lemon oil.

 

My current choice for cleaning unfinished fretboards is almond oil, and I also bought some jojoba wax but didn't try it up to now. Jojoba wax is a liquid and therefore often named jojoba oil, but in fact it is a natural wax liquid at room temperature. Other than almond oil, jojoba wax is unfit for consumption but an excellent skin care product.

[accadaccafanna]

Thanks guys! I restrung the guitar today and used some F-ONE on the fretboard. I've had rosewood board guitars before and most of them have been fine. Maybe because I bought them secondhand and they'd already been treated or worn in.

 

I popped open the control cavity and it looks like Gibson made a printed circuit board on which the pots and output jack are mounted. Everything has Gibson labels and looks really cool. There's a part of the board labeled "Lefty" so it was definitely designed with some forethought. When you roll off the volume, the high frequencies drop off like crazy so I'm not sure what kind of pots they used. I'm going to do a little more research.

 

Lefties get the short end of the stick for guitar selection but it suits me fine. I'm more of a "buy one and get to know it" kind of guy.

 

I am in CT. I try to keep the guitar in its case under the bed. We have baseboard heating. Do you guys have humidifiers? I haven't noticed it being too dry for me, so I figured the axe was okay. But small precautions go a long way.

 

Here's some pics for your enjoyment!

 

Dramatic pause!

 

 

What a beaut!

 

Can you tell I like the color red?

 

Here's what I'm talking about with the electronics. It's so smart how they make it on a PCB to just drop in without soldering in awkward places.

[JerseyRay]

For the fretboard, hit it with Old English furniture polish with almond oil. You can get it anywhere like target and such. Let it soak a few minutes before removing. That stuff is great, use it on my motorcycle too...

[Silvercrow]

CONGRATS! Great lookin' guitar-even if I do say so myself (just got mine this past Wed.)exact same guitar but a righty...LOL.

 

Your case looks just like mine; when I set my '17 in the bottom of the body is a slight tight fit. A GENTLE push and it'll settle right in. You may have figured this out by now.

 

Best wishes with it!

 

Brian

[kidblast]

this thread is a bit aged, but here goes..

 

I am in CT. I try to keep the guitar in its case under the bed. We have baseboard heating. Do you guys have humidifiers? I haven't noticed it being too dry for me, so I figured the axe was okay. But small precautions go a long way.

 

Not to far away from you in Central Mass I only worry about humidifying acoustics. I re-hydrate the fret-boards every other string change. (perhaps my OCD is showing? I have too many guitars to keep track of the details, so I keep a record in the case of each guitar on when the last maint was, and what was done. (string change/oil fretboard/check intonation & action/polish frets/etc.)

 

I use a Rosewood conditioner specifically made for rosewood fret-boards ex: Gerlitz Guitar Honey

 

I would take care in using other products, I know a lot of guys try/use other things, but I'd be worried about the long term effects of these products and dissolving the glue used to seat the frets or potentially eroding the rosewood. Just me...

[Megafrog]

I have a humidification system in my music room. I don't think I would keep a guitar under my bed, especially a Gibson. If anything hits the case with any weight, the guitar is toast.