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Gibson SG 3 and SG custom


tom brown

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Rew thats the same one i have i have to get some pictures....I am the second owner but it was a closet guitar a drummer bought new and never played....mine has one slight nick, but other then that its like new....mine was 1000 and so many tried to low ball him after i inspected and played it i forked it over...total time, 6.5 minutes.lol..but you got a good deal, these are the best, the best sg's i think.....they play better then guitars that are thousands more.....

 

 

rew what strings are you using, and is it a little bright.....they say the pure nickel strings work well, and i have 3 pack i was gonna exchange, but have not yet....

 

 

Also, do you think i overstate the quality and range of tones you can get on this model sg 3?

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Tom, these axes are definately keepers. The customs have a 3 way switch, one pup at a time and cost thousands more go figure. The chicken switch is the way to go IMHO. The faded SG-3 is nice but I think they have 3 490R/490T pups which are great but have a tone of their own. I like them but I am not a big fan of faded finishes. You definately made a good score. I don't think you overstate the tonal range of these guitars most people have not played a 3 pup guitar with humbuckers and a 6 way switch. I currently am using Power-Bright .10 strings from Thomastik-Infield. They have made strings for instruments for well over 100 yrs. they cost about $12-$13 a set but last 4-5 times as long as the average set and don't lose tone or brightness. they are special made for humbucking pups. Maybe you can try a set and let me know what you think. I don't use anything else on my axes. The gauges are different fom guitar to guitar but I am sold on these strings. Again this is a preference which may differ from person to person. Congrats on the new SG-3 and may it give you years of in your face rock n roll!

Rewd.

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rew thats what i said in my first post about the customs going for 3 to 5 k and i think that 3 way switch is for one pickup at a time...these sg's are easily worth twice of what we payed.....

 

The sg 3 faded was ok, but heres a couple things i had trouble with....the bridge pickup seemed a little weak no matter how much i tweaked it. it had flat response also...then the 490's have a certain shrill when overdriven at times....and mine would have to be tuned every day, not a big deal but made me think about why.....

 

 

One of the things i like about the 57's is clean they have that real nice grainy brown gibson tone....if you get them right on the edge of breakup, they are real sweet in the bridge, ,kick in the bridge middle p/u and it softens the tone and adds a glossy sound,,,,i haven't played the middle and neck much at all, lol maybe i'll put a push pull to activate all three at once and then i'll get in the rock and roll hall of fame....lol one on ebay now at 750 in canada, and i think i may need a extra, lol.....

 

regards tom

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Yeah Tom, that black SG-3 on ebay looks sweet also. I personally don't buy 2 guitars with the same set up & sound but I'm not a pro. I like every guitar I buy to sound different than what I already have in my collection as you can see in my signature. That SG-3 looks definately worth $750 but I'll bet some people are waiting for the bidding to get closer to ending and it goes for more. Good Luck maybe you can get another for a decent price. Also I've been watching ebay and it seems most of the SG-3's for sale are black. I haven't seen any Heritage Cherry ones up for sale in the past few mos. since I bought my SG-3. I find that curious unless I keep missing the posts. Anyhoo Welcome to the SG-3 Army!

Rewd.

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rew i wonder if we can get a number because i have only seen two, yours and mine.....and i actually have only seen a couple black.....have to watch ebay though, if you type in " gibson sg custom" if the listing owner used that to list that what you get, as opposed to "gibson sg 3" at one time there were two pages of customs, and not one 2007 sg 3......also, you tube has a few that people show....I was joking about buying another sg 3, although if one fell on my lap for sale it be tough to turn down...

 

 

GC had sent me a gift card for 35.00 so i had went and bought like 6 sets of strings and paid the tax, so i go back today to swap the ghs strings for pure nickel, first the guys say we don;t have pure nickel, then he goes online and produced a few sets, but then he says the manager says i only get 2.00 per set credit, which was about the tax difference....i said look i ask for pure nickel and they gave me these so its a exchange as opposed to credit, but they wouldn/t exchange, so they did something good and then screwed it up i will never spend any big money at guitar center, they had already annoyed me a few times trying to trade in guitars.....rew do you know what the , if there is, some strings say pure nickel plated, the ghs boomers are "roundwound nickel plated steel"" is that simply nickel on steel?

 

What do you think of putting the bumble be vintage cap in the sg 3? i would like to cut the brightness a little, but afraid i'd ruin what i like about the tone...i just just the guiat tone to tame it down now...

 

 

hey rew how do you like the epi 's with the dirty fingers pickups?

 

 

later

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forgot to ask you...

 

rew what do you think of trying a bumble cap in the sg 3? there is one on ebay with two volume and two tone controls, and two bumble caps for 145.00,,,,I'd have to drill two holes, but imagine the tonal varities when you could also play the bridge and neck, lower the volume on either, and adjust the tone on both.....i like the tone now except the brightness on the on the b an e strings......i can get such a wide variety of tones....

 

 

 

 

 

am i being greedy??? lol

 

 

 

tom

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Tom, this is a question for one of the techies on this forum. If I think a guitar is of any value I personally leave them stock as a rock. That is my personal preference. I have read that it will more closely get you to a 50's-60's type tone but I have no experience with them. Might be a good question in the Vintage Gibson forum.

Rewd.

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I decided not to trade the LP Classic Antique for his SG Custom. I mean, its a 1987 and apparently the first owner (previous to this one) replaced the inlays with block ones (not Trapezoids)... He said the other guy liked the thicker inlay block feel when playing blues. Plus the stains were too harsh and obvious on the guitar. And lets face it, I don't want to own a beautiful looking and sounding guitar, which is suppose to be expensive... yet has nasty marks which takes the beauty away. I've always wanted to custom make (in my own mind) my own SG. Since Gibson never makes the perfect design that people want. I want to keep my Standard and switch the 3 coils for 3 humbuckers... Classic 57's. I think I will experiment with this one. I want to have a powerful SG that is able to replace my LP's whenever I feel like playing the SG. So, I will invest $400-500 in buying all gold hardware with pickups, pickguard (for humbuckers), and pay to install them. It might not seem the smartest thing to do, but I want to experiment since I love the Satin Finish look with black pickguard on a SG. I was talking to an old guitar fart who was telling me that in 15-30 ys down the road, the natural finishes end up sounding better than covered painted guitars... I want to open a simulated picture that I made if I'd change them.... How can I upload pics to the post?

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mdukem i love natural finish, or nitrocellouse, even the heritage cherry finishs best of all''''I agree with the old fart, natural finish let the guitar breathe, and lets them resonate much better...

 

if you type in " gibson sg 3 " on ebay there is a company that make the volumes, tone harness for the sg 3, price is 145.00, but then you have to get the pickups...don't forget to use a 57 classic plus in the bridge or you will regret it.you can put the 6 way switch in also, which for 40.00 is worth it..

 

What i decided to do, after listening to advice in this column, is to keep this sg 3,,,,, I may change my sg three to two volume, two tone control (has one now) and put the oil caps in because i love that vintage sound....I can custom orde that from the same company...but have to make sure its wired right or it will be messed up..

 

thing stopping me is i love the sound on this guitar other then the brightness in the lower e strings....

 

But the sg 3 is a blues machine, it screams blues with every note....i turn the amp up, the guitar volume down, and get it on the edge of breakup and play for hours....then when you add overdrive its a rock machine. I think the '57" pickup is the best one they make with one exception......lol

 

What if you swapped for the custom, and dis-assembled it and sanded it down, add the 6 way switch, put a natural finish on it, would that be cheaper for you? if it has chunks missing they make a real good filler, mohawk brand, and for deeper scratches the make a hot wax that goes on with a hot knife that is very difficult to spot....but if its all surface marks can you do it your self?

 

tom

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rew dawg' date=' which amp does that sg 3 seem to like the best, the night train?[/quote']

 

Personally I like my Marshall if I can crank it up to at least 8 on the volume but the night train sounds fantastic also especially for lower volume situations. All my guitars sound different if you look at my sig. They each have a character of their own.

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That night train looks very interesting, i live in a condo so the 7 watts would be good..on a bit of a limited budget after my sg 3 purchase...lol, but i will never sell that guitar.............

 

I had a gibson ga 5 , then a crate 30 watt, but the gibson had no headroom at all, the crate you had to crank to loud for here, and then the thing rattled anyway.....leads to me the line 6 spider 4,( i know the hardcore tube people are watching, lol) which i just burned a few songs, rough drafts only, don;t have a way to edit at all.

 

And i am using a tascam dr08, so i loop for 18 seconds on the amp, then play lead over with the recorder....not that techie so it took a bit to burn a cd as its not to friendly with media player, so had to use a windows based program..

 

rew, is there a place i could move music from a cd to a site ?

 

oh, does the flying v still made with the 496 and 500t, hot pickups...i have the isle of wright hendrix dvd, he smokes on that axe...

 

thanks tom

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Hey Tom, How are you? You might like the night train but it still can get pretty loud even at 7.5W It really depends on where in your condo you are playing relative to walls with your neighbors. You know to get the tubes to sound right. I crank it at least 2-3 O clock in the 7.5W mode and I play in a fairly large room in the basement. I personally don't do any recording so that may be a question in another section or directed to someone else. My Flying V does have the 496R/500T pups and I love them. I've found them to be more versatile than some people give them credit for but I also love my Dirty Fingers pups. I play some clean, a little blues, hard rock and old metal. Hendrix could make any guitar sound good depending on the shape he was in. Talk to you later and Keep On Rockin!!!!

 

P.S. Check out this link post #5 http://forums.gibson.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=32003

 

Rewd.

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hello rew, hope your rockin the house as usual........

 

here is the link to hendrix playing isle of wight on you tube, but the sounds sucks and he doesn't finsin the video, however the dvd is cleaned up pretty well although he was also having problems with the sound system, and don't forget think it was 1972, and he had no mixers, and pretty much was plugged in with effects and the amp ( by roadies) and thats it....but the dvd is well worth the dough if your a hendrix fan....that version of red house, was his last concert i believe, was alot more bluesy then others, and the guitar at the end, on dvd, he has the pickups screaming , actually more screeching, real nice sound......if your into to it...lol

 

 

take care tom

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swM_MSA7uqM

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no i didn't know he played the sg 3, hot video thanks.........

 

You know satana, and clapton played gibsons early, back in the day, as alot of others did, but they sold out, lol....

 

This next video, he used to walk in to play clubs with bb king and they would say"watch your scotch, watch your women, their here "....clapton actually has played with him and that 335 sounds real sweet for 1973, and outdoor concert, if you have computer speakers crank them up rock star.....you probably heard of him.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGLmZCZ1sXY

 

tom

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MDuke nice SG. Does your guitar have the routing under the pickguard to put in humbuckers? If so all you need to do is get some pups and a new pickguard. If not I would look for a nice used SG-3 later and buy it. It appears from the pic that your pickups are connected to the pickguard and you can't tell what's underneath. Let us know and show some pics.

Rewd.

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no i didn't know he played the sg 3' date=' hot video thanks.........

 

You know satana, and clapton played gibsons early, back in the day, as alot of others did, but they sold out, lol....

 

This next video, he used to walk in to play clubs with bb king and they would say"watch your scotch, watch your women, their here "....clapton actually has played with him and that 335 sounds real sweet for 1973, and outdoor concert, if you have computer speakers crank them up rock star.....you probably heard of him.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGLmZCZ1sXY

 

tom

 

 

 

 

[/quote']

If Freddie King was who you were referring to he is a great blues master. If not open the IME before you post so we can have a direct link. Peace Bro

Rewd.

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