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50th Anniversary SG 12-String


Victory Pete

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Has anybody seen or heard a demo of this beast? I've ordered one from a local dealer, on the understanding that if I don't like it, I get $$ back, but would like to hear some demo tracks. Anybody have a link or two to share?

 

Cheers

 

Mine was delivered last Thursday from Guitar Center, online. It sounded great, and was easy to play. Its not as jangly as a Rickenbacker, but it still sounds really nice. I played it for about 1/2 hour or so, and was putting it down, and I noticed a pretty bad, what appeared to be a gash or gouge in the surface, but it was finished over. You could only see it at certain angles, and you could barely feel it. I took it back to the local Guitar Center, and I have a new one coming. From the little bit that I played it, it was really nice.

 

100_3159.jpg

 

The gash (or gouge) is kind of hard to see because of the light, but its at the bottom, in the center, about 2 or so inches long.

 

100_3161.jpg

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Damn, pity you did not make a few sound clips. I'm hoping that I can use the SG-12 to "emulate" a Ric 360/12, hopefully with EQ tweaks, because we only have a few songs in the set lists that need a -12 currently. I cannot justify dropping three grand or so on a Ric. I did try the Epiphone double-neck, and that 12 string section will work for me, so I am hopeful that the SG-12 single neck is about the same, or similar.

 

Anyone that owns an SG-12, please post a few sound clips. Much appreciated.

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I really dig this SG. I just wish that Gibson would have installed some push/pull pots for coil splitting. Then you could have the best of both worlds - Ric-like single-coil jangle, along with Gibson humbucker crunch, all in one 12-string electric guitar.

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Are the pickups "splittable" in the first place? If so, I don't mind adding a toggle switch to the guitar, if it gets me closer to a Ric sound, that's an easy mod. If not splittable, then it requires a different set of pups, and that's a whole new complication.

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Are the pickups "splittable" in the first place? If so, I don't mind adding a toggle switch to the guitar, if it gets me closer to a Ric sound, that's an easy mod. If not splittable, then it requires a different set of pups, and that's a whole new complication.

 

From what I understand, the factory supplied 490 and 498's are 2 conductor (not splittable), but the after market ones are 4 conductor (splittable), but I wouldn't take my word for it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

This guitar is fantastic. It has a great sound and the action is great. The neck is a little fatter than the 60's slim taper but it is tolerable. It is also tapered so it is narrower at the neck. I have wanted one of these for ages. I wonder why they put in the high oputput 498T/490R pickups in it. I seem to want an electric 12 to be a bit tame. I might consider putting in some 57 Classics in it. I have them in my ES-335 and I like them. I have a Les Paul I could put these ones in. Maybe they put those pickups in because they are inherently "Bassy". That would tame down the highs which can be overbearing in a 12 string. Any case it is all good. It seems so funny just 2 years ago I spent a lot of time researching an electric 12 string and ended up with the Rick 360/12, sold it to buy this and it was definitely the thing to do. I didnt like the Rick at all!

VP

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Mine was delivered last Thursday from Guitar Center, online. It sounded great, and was easy to play. Its not as jangly as a Rickenbacker, but it still sounds really nice. I played it for about 1/2 hour or so, and was putting it down, and I noticed a pretty bad, what appeared to be a gash or gouge in the surface, but it was finished over. You could only see it at certain angles, and you could barely feel it. I took it back to the local Guitar Center, and I have a new one coming. From the little bit that I played it, it was really nice.

 

100_3159.jpg

 

The gash (or gouge) is kind of hard to see because of the light, but its at the bottom, in the center, about 2 or so inches long.

 

100_3161.jpg

 

That is too bad, I have seen those before, I think it is from too much time on a buffing wheel. Let us know when you get the replacement.

VP

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  • 1 month later...

I opened up the rear cover plate and peeked inside and was astonished. The wiring is completely different now. The pots are mounted on some kind of a circuit board and the pickups are plugged in. I called Gibson and they said they have been doing this on certain models for 3 years. He said in the future "Quick Connect" Pickups will be available. It looks all very clean and organized in there. I dont know what to think of this although in the past when I was changing pickups in my Gibson Fleet I had wondered about pickups with plugs. Moral of the story: Be carefull what you wish for!

 

VP

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I opened up the rear cover plate and peeked inside and was astonished. The wiring is completely different now. The pots are mounted on some kind of a circuit board and the pickups are plugged in. I called Gibson and they said they have been doing this on certain models for 3 years. He said in the future "Quick Connect" Pickups will be available. It looks all very clean and organized in there. I dont know what to think of this although in the past when I was changing pickups in my Gibson Fleet I had wondered about pickups with plugs. Moral of the story: Be carefull what you wish for!

 

VP

 

yeah they introduced the PCB around 2008 with the 08' standard. Gibson do not sell the quick change pup plugs but you can buy them from an electrical store. I'm not a fan of the PCB's you can remove it and wire it up to a more traditional cavity easily enough if your handy with a soldering iron. Better tone IMO

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  • 5 weeks later...

Damn, pity you did not make a few sound clips. I'm hoping that I can use the SG-12 to "emulate" a Ric 360/12, hopefully with EQ tweaks, because we only have a few songs in the set lists that need a -12 currently. I cannot justify dropping three grand or so on a Ric. I did try the Epiphone double-neck, and that 12 string section will work for me, so I am hopeful that the SG-12 single neck is about the same, or similar.

 

Anyone that owns an SG-12, please post a few sound clips. Much appreciated.

I bet you could get the Ric jangle you want by putting your SG through the Janglebox stompbox. It's a great compressor/sustainer that is (or at least was) used by Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers. I have one, and it's great for getting that jangly 12 string thing happening.

 

Cheers.

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Nope, just aJanglebox will NOT work. You need to be able to split coils, for tapping, just for starters, and reverse the position of the octave & lower strings (Rics have the octave first, Gibsons the lower first). Basically, a lot of mods for the SG-12 to even approximate a Ric. For a couple hundred bucks more, I found a used Ric 360-12, in mint condition, in FireGlo finish. I tried the SG-12 every which way, but it does not, and will not sound like a Ric without serious mods. The store took it back, full refund.

 

IMO, the Diamond Compressor BLOWS away the JangleBox by the way. The JB just does one thing, the Diamond does many, and does them well.

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Nope, just aJanglebox will NOT work. You need to be able to split coils, for tapping, just for starters, and reverse the position of the octave & lower strings (Rics have the octave first, Gibsons the lower first). Basically, a lot of mods for the SG-12 to even approximate a Ric. For a couple hundred bucks more, I found a used Ric 360-12, in mint condition, in FireGlo finish. I tried the SG-12 every which way, but it does not, and will not sound like a Ric without serious mods. The store took it back, full refund.

 

IMO, the Diamond Compressor BLOWS away the JangleBox by the way. The JB just does one thing, the Diamond does many, and does them well.

Well, the OP did have a 360-12 that he sold to get the SG, so I'm guessing he knew what he was doing and what the Ric sounds like. Also, the JB may not be a jack-of-all-trades, but it is designed specifically to provide the jangle that McGuinn was known for. The JB is a hell of a good pedal; I've owned it for over five years. Of course it only does one thing - that's what it was designed for, and it does it pretty darn well. I bought it when I owned my Rickenbacker, which I also sold because I thought it was a one trick pony with lousy sustain.

 

 

Cheers.

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  • 1 year later...

Resurrecting an old thread here, but seems to follow on to this. For years my main guitars have been a 67 SG Standard and a 66 ES335-12 string. Love them both. Never comfortable with the 1275 double-neck and always wished for an SG 12-string alone. Well, last year I got one of the 50th Anniversary ones. Was a bit disappointed for a several reasons. Firstly, the guitar is very neck-heavy as nothing seems to have been done to the body to compensate for the additional weight of the headstock and additional tuners. Secondly, the neck is much fatter than I am use to from my other Gibsons - perhaps I'll get use to this with use, though. Thirdly, the pickups are very hot and the sound unless dialed way down sounds to me more appropriate to channeling Angus Young or Tony Iommi rather than someone like John MacLaughlin.

 

Fast forward to about a month ago. While surfing e-bay guitar listings I came across an SG-12 string for sale that was not one of the 50th Anniversary models, but in fact seemingly a one-off. I am pretty sure this is the guitar that "NeoConMan" was posting about on this board about 4-5 years ago, and it was he that was selling it. It's now mine and in many respects is what I was hoping for from the 50th Anniversary model. The neck is shorter - 20 frets as opposed to 22, which makes the guitar much more balanced. The neck is also thinner, much like both my SG and 335, giving it a much more comfortable feel to me. The pickups are similar in sound and output to the 50th Anniversary model, however, and to my ears do not sound appropriate for an electric 12-string sort of sound. I much prefer the sound from my old 335-12 and am wondering if anyone can offer any advice about the possibility of retrofitting similar pickups to what is on that older guitar to one or both of the newer SG-12s. For comparison, below is a photo of both of the SG-12s. Also, if anyone has any info on the possible origin of the non-50th Anniversary one, I would love to hear about it.

 

Cheers,

Jesse

 

post-54006-024129400 1362207940_thumb.jpg

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Classic 57's are perfect for that. Not too much output. I love hot pickups but for an electric 12 string low output is the way to go. If you want distortion you can always get it with a pedal or something, but to have nice clean 12 string lines you need a low output pickup.

 

VP

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