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You’re speaking Greek, man. I know enough of regular guitar wiring to solder them in and check resistance, but I’m otherwise ignorant of the rest.

Just got my anniversary vinyl reissues of ALLs “Problematic”, “Mass Nerder”, and Lagwagon’s “Let’s Talk About Feelings”. Aside from 90s punk, I’ve been on a Cory Branan kick, and just got Jon Snodgrass’s newest album, “Tace”.

I’ve read as much in some other forums I’ve been searching, and then others that swear up and down that it makes a difference. I’m looking at a replacement set that has the board as well, but with 500k pots and orange drops. It’s as straightforward a swap as is possible really. It accommodates the quick connect pickups with no modifications at all, with the benefit of not losing the treble and mids on volume rolloff. Plus, this one has the push/pull pots.

I actually ordered a white pickguard for mine immediately after ordering the SG, because something about the white on red just screams cool to me. But…this thing came so well set up that I don’t want to pull the bridge in order to swap the black guard for the white. I’m afraid I’ll good my setup up, and while I know I can put I back to rights, I’m worried I won’t get it set back as well as it came. So I’m rolling with the black batwing for a while.

Love that white finish! I’ve always been kind of partial to the traditional cherry, and more so since I got a cherry J45 a couple years back. I wanted a cherry LP Classic, but something about the SG just does it for me in a way that Les Pauls (however awesome they are) never did. I’m stoked to finally have one again. This one is definitely going on the “keeper” pile.

Hey all. I’m pretty sure this has been addressed here (or the repair forum) before, but I’m not one for digging through years old posts and bumping dead threads, so I’m asking here for myself. I just got a new SG Standard, equipped with the 490t/490r setup and the quick connect PCB wiring. Would it be worth my while from a tonal standpoint to replace the wiring with a hand wired cap/pots/switch setup? This is the first Gibson I’ve gotten with the PCB still in place (I’ve owned several models that came stock with the PCB, but they were always swapped by the time I’d gotten them). I’m a big fan of Emerson’s wiring kits and have installed them in a couple of my other guitars, and I’m considering pulling the board and replacing it with an Emerson set with 500k CTS pots and PIO caps. Before I spend the money (and effort) I’m hoping someone who’s done such a swap could weigh in on whether or not my SG would benefit tonally. I know the volume/tone controls would be more responsive and interactive with each other, but I usually play with my tone and volume wide open anyway, so I’m not terribly concerned with that aspect. Anyone able to provide some insight?

I ended up pulling the post or accidentally deleting it. Took me forever to figure out photos. Good now though.

+1 for Bob Colosi pins and saddles. I swapped the stock ones on my 2021 J45 (Cherry!) for Colosi bone saddle and pins, and it did wonders for the projection. When I swapped the saddle I pulled the Baggs under saddle pickup out. I sent photos to him, and Bob even tried to color match the pins for me. At this point, it’s pretty much an essential upgrade for any of my acoustics moving forward.

Congrats on your Cherry J45. I jumped at one as soon as they started offering it as a standard finish. As far as your question goes, I think one of the other posters hit it right when they said it depends on the dye used. Vintage SGs fade to brown due to the aniline dye they used back then. As far as the more modern ones go, the more modern cherry SGs seem to darken. I’d assume that our 45s will do the same, more likely due to the nitro yellowing/darkening as it tends to do.

I just got this. 2021 SG Standard, heritage cherry. I ordered from Zzounds (I know they get some hate, but I’ve had nothing but good experiences with them) thinking I was getting a 2023, and I was a little indignant at discovering my “new” guitar was almost 2 years old. My disappointment turned to elation when I discovered that the SG arrived set up perfectly (intonation, action, even pickup poles!), and that it has a ONE PIECE BODY! I thought that single piece bodies were reserved for the higher end models. Has anyone else had any experience with this in the past few years, or did I just get a unicorn?

I’ve had a number of Gibsons over the years (and today was NGD for me, my newest being a brand new 2021 SG Standard…with a single piece body) and I’ll readily agree that the QC on my more recent Gibsons (2021 J45, and todays SG Standard) is darn near perfect. My first Gibson was a 2012 Hummingbird Pro, which was a GC exclusive. I loved the sound of it, but there were some definite QC issues. Overspray and nitro run on the Bird, and bad fretwork, overspray, and factory neck relief issues on the 2013 SG standard I had around the same time. They’ve definitely stepped things up in terms of quality control the last few years, IMO.

Beautiful! Love red finishes, and especially THAT red finish. Congrats

I know there are other P90 alternatives out there, and I may end up going with one if Gibson continues to stay backordered, but I’m a big fan of the original dogear P90. I love my Junior, but the slug version just doesn’t do it for me. It’s just baffling to me as to how one of the most iconic pickups in the Gibson lineup can be in such short supply. To me it’s like Taco Bell running out of tortillas. Everywhere wants to lean on the “recovering from the pandemic” excuse, but we’re 2 years downstream from the worst of it. As of today, there’s still no indication from any of the distributors as to when they’ll be available, and Gibson customer service has been straight up unreachable concerning this.

Did I miss some big P90 renaissance? Nowhere has original P90s right now. Gibson, Zzounds, AMS (I’m aware they share common distribution), Sweetwater, GC, Musicians Friend are all backordered, with no inclination of when restock will occur. Does this happen frequently? I haven’t bought aftermarket pickups for a while, but I’ve never had any trouble in the past getting ahold of Gibson pickups. What the heck is going on?

Thanks man. I’d wanted a cherry J45 ever since I saw the custom shop model they turned out in 2014 or whenever, and was super stoked when they made it a standard finish option. Imagine my surprise when I got one as an unexpected gift, and then imagine my disappointment at discovering my dream guitar has potentially catastrophic material failure. I’ve taken some steps to really make it my own. Nickel keystone tuner buttons. Removed the UST and replaced the tusq saddle with a compensated bone one from Bob Colosi. Also replaced the bridge pins with matching red dot bone pins (also from Bob Colosi). And I know it’s a little goofy, but I put a custom engraved truss rod cover on it that says “Rosie”. I’ve been considering removing the tortoise pickguard and replacing it with a black j45 teardrop guard (to match the black head plate), but I’m still on the fence about it.

They can definitely be felt when you run a fingernail across them. I’m just unsure of whether or not it’s just finish cracking from a deeper spot in the grain (maybe where some filler was used, like slimt suggested). Theyre almost identical to each other too, which would stand to reason as the tops are bookmatched. The only issue I foresee being a problem Is that my girlfriend bought it from a third party retailer on Reverb (New but listed as “like new” because the guy wasn’t an authorized retailer. She didn’t know about non-transferable warranty or the fact that Gibson only offers service to the original buyer, and even then only for guitars bought from authorized Gibson retailers. Had I known her plan I would have stopped her and gone through an official Gibson retailer. She just wanted to do something nice for me) so I’m currently trying to coordinate with the original buyer to get the warranty work done if the guitar does need it.

Hey all. So, I was gifted a cherry red J45 standard back in December. A couple months after getting it I started to notice a couple hairline cracks on the lower bout. They’re both bookmatched, in the exact same spot on both sides of the center seam. I’m not sure yet if they’re actual cracks or just finish checking from grain irregularity, but they’ve definitely gotten larger/longer since I first noticed them. I’ve attached some photos. Has anyone ever had this experience with nitro finished acoustics, or Gibson acoustics in general? I kept it well humidified all winter, didn’t take it out in the cold or change the temp too quickly because I know nitro will check pretty easily with shrinkage from drying or cold to warm changes. It’s kind of concerning to me being as the the guitar is only a few months old. Any feedback would be appreciated

I have a 2021 J-45 Standard, and I pulled the Baggs system as soon as I got the chance. As far as pickups go it’s not bad, but UST was robbing my 45 of a lot of volume and low end. I pulled it and replaced the saddle and bridge pins for bone replacements from Bob Colosi. I also got an oversized ebony end pin from him as well. The saddle came almost perfectly fit to height. The only work I needed to do was a little shaping to the ends, and a little bit of thickness. My 45 got a big boost in volume and bass, and a lot more clarity. Make the switch. You won’t be disappointed.

I haven’t installed a new pickup yet, and I haven’t decided if I want to, as I rarely plug in. If I do, I’m going to go with a K&K Pure Mini, or maybe an Ultrapure. I don’t want anything that’s going to interfere with the nature tone and volume, so bridgeplate mount seems to be the way to go

I know I’m bumping an old thread, but I’m going to add another plug for Bob Colosi saddles. I just pulled the Baggs UST from my J-45 Standard and installed a Bob Colosi compensated bone saddle. It came almost perfectly fit to height (stock Tusq, plus the transducer height). The only sanding I needed to do was a little shaping around the ends and a tiny (and I mean TINY) bit of the thickness to get a good snug fit. The difference in sound is incredible. Big boost in the low end, more punch and clearer mids. Stock J-45s are hit or miss IMO, and I feel like I got a good one, but swapping the saddle just made it that much better. I also swapped the stock Tusq bridge pins with some tortoise dot bone pins from Bob as well, and he picked through them as best he could to color match them to the finish. Highly recommend making the switch.