[2019 SG Special]

 

 

Plays and sounds great.

The only negative is Gibson put too thick a lacquer on it, imho.

[2019 SG Special]

Well, after a long wait (2 months) for the special, I cancelled my order.

US$1500 who would pay that for a special?

 

 

Instead, I paid US$1800 for one of these:

(I'll post a pic or two over the next couple of days).

 

[2019 SG Special]

Please post pics after it arrives?

 

Yeah, I will do, but I haven't got a delivery date yet. Also, I reckon that the special and junior would look great together, but they'll be over 5,000 miles apart, sadly as I'm working over in Asia currently.

 

sg special are supercool in the 60's styling

This one is on the used marked, in my corner of the world. About the same $ as the new Special Tempting

 

Yeah, I agree - it looks lovely.

 

 

 

Yes! Easily one of the tastiest offerings from the last few years.

 

 

Yeah the SG juniors are great; I keep saying it, but folks who haven't played one really need to try them out - if I could only have 1 guitar, It'd be the SG junior; it's so versatile and punchy with a lovely bite to it.

[2019 SG Special]

 

 

2016 SG Special=$585 NEW2019 SG Special=$1500 NEW

 

While these are both very good guitars, they are very different:

 

 

 

Obvious differences are:

 

nitro finish / satin finish

mahogany neck / maple neck

P90s / mini-buckers

case / gigbag

binding / no binding

dots / block inlays

rolled fret edges / no rolled fret edges

A grade woods (whatever that means...) / matched pieces - I would say the 'A grade woods' on my 2018 jnr are truly beautiful compared to say the 'matched pieces' of my SG faded.

& a few other differences such as the bridge/tailpiece.

 

The nitro finish, rolled edges, case, binding and wood selection all cost money (some folks may not want to pay for some/any of these features, but they all link to cost of manufacture), so the 2019 special would take longer and cost more money to produce than the 2016.

 

It comes down to individual interpretations of cost vs value, to me the 2018 jnr was great value because it plays better and sounds better than other SGs I've owned, and I play it more, enjoy it more and it just makes me feel happier. Other folks will feel differently.

 

[2019 SG Special]

Some thoughts on the bridge of this special - it works well on the 2018 jnr, and that isn't even compensated.

 

When I bought the 2018 jnr, I was planning to buy a mojoaxe compensated bridge to put on it, but held off for a couple of months to get used to the guitar; now, I won't be changing the bridge because it works fine for me. I would say that theoretically the intonation is gonna be way off kilter at points on the neck, but when I play the intonation's fine for me. I actually prefer the wraparound tailpiece all in one over the std set up of bridge and tailpiece now, but agree that you need a well put together guitar (especially neck angle) to have it play well.

 

I noticed on a couple of forums that many folks thought the 2018 jnrs were over-priced/bad value, but I've never seen anybody make that comment after they've played one. As I've said, I reckon the 2017 std is an excellent guitar, so I went out to buy one for $1100 new, but ended up buying the jnr for $1500 after playing both side-by-side. Not knocking the standard at all, great guitar, but these jnrs are really amazing - if you get the chance, play one; I hope the 2019 special will be the same, and I've already paid out my $1500 in anticipation.

 

I suspect, I'll regret not buying a 2018 DC, but when I looked at one the colour looked mustard, fugly to my eyes...

[2019 SG Special]

I was looking at old prices, out of interest, and a 1959 LP special cost $179 without a case or $193 with a basic case and $222 with a nice case. I couldn't find a 1963 pricelist with the SG special, but let's say it'd be similar to the 1959 LP special prices(?).

http://vintage.catalogs.free.fr/Gibson59.pdf

 

Those prices, today (if we take the above as 1963 prices, when the SG special was around, rather than 1959), equate to $1450, $1560 and $1800.

(I used this website: https://www.saving.org/inflation/inflation.php?amount=182&year=1959)

 

I know it's no kind of direct comparison because there are so many factors, but personally I just don't think the 2018 jnrs and 2019 specials are expensive; they seem like the same good value today that they were in the 1950s/60s.

 

I might buy one in each colour...

[2019 SG Special]

I don't understand why so many folks here think the price is unreasonable. I've just had a check and in the UK they are being advertised for £1199.

Seems pretty fair to me.

 

 

I'm no expert on the Gibson SG model through the years - not by a long chalk - but AFAICT it's a close recreation of the '63 SG Special.

A compensated McCarty bridge/TP; small-button 3-in-a-line tuners; dot inlays; bound neck; unadorned p'head face were all standard features of that years' instrument.

The biggest difference that I can see (colours apart) is the gold silk-screened Gibson logo and that isn't exactly a deal breaker in my book.

 

Not that it matters but I'd much prefer those 3-in-a-line tuners to any set of Grovers you'd care to mention. I like Trap' inlays but they would be completely wrong on that Special and the compensated McCarty bridge will get anyone close enough for Rock'n'Roll.

 

Price-wise we seem to be being offered damn-near a (limited-edition) '63 Historic Re-issue - HSC included - for a little over USA-line money.

If it is crafted as well as it looks to be from the snaps I think it's actually a bit of a bargain.

 

What's not to like?

 

 

Pip.

 

I know folks have different views, and there's no rights and wrongs in this department, but you've summed up exactly how I feel about my 2018 SG junior, and I hope to feel about my Pelham Blue 2019 SG Special when it arrives. I bought mine at 1199 pounds from Andertons; they've been in contact a couple of times, good service thusfar, but no delivery date from Gibson yet...

[2019 SG Special]

That 2017 standard in Pelham Blue looks fantastic - lovely guitar; the 2017 really is nicely specc'd out.

 

Yeah on the fadeds - $1000+ seems ridiculous for one; $750 new, mayyyyyybe. They are really nice rock n' roll machines (not overly fond of the 490 in the bridge, but that's easily swapped out).

 

Was playing my 2018 SG jnr last night - it's fantastic everytime I take it out of the case.

[2019 SG Special]

Different stokes for different folks...

 

Regarding price, the basic USA tele/strat with a poly finish is $1400, same as a 2019 Gibson SG standard (without a case) - that's just the price we pay nowadays. I've had nice $600 Korean made PRS and other guitars sitting in the rack next to my Gibsons, but just always played the SGs, so ended up selling the PRS/others; it's person by person, but I find a Gibson SG gives me the best bang for buck. I would say that a secondhand SG faded for $600 or so is always a great buy and sounds fantastic.

 

I can only speak from my own experience, whilst I really like the 2017 spec, especially the locking tuners, colour options and 57 in the neck (I much prefer a 498T or AY in the bridge for the type of music I enjoy, but that's neither here nor there, the 57+ is a very good pickup which many folks enjoy), but when I went into the store to buy a 2017 standard, I ended up paying $400 more for the 2018 SG junior, I just liked it that much more; I didn't expect to, but playing them side by side, that's the way I went.

 

There's no right or wrongs really, just our preferences. I much prefer the 2019 61' to the 2019 standard, and I prefer the special with the Pelham Blue, the dots, the case, the binding and P90s to the 2019 standard spec for similar money.

 

From 2016 to 2019, Gibson has given lots of variety on SG models, so there's something out there to suit most folks' taste. I also loved the 2016 P90 SG standard, and regret not getting one.

 

[2019 SG Special]

what color did you order?

i liked the blue one, but i dont like the price tag =(

 

I ordered the Pelham Blue - the Burgundy looks good in the pictures, but a special in Pelham Blue can't be overlooked.

 

Regarding the price, I know it looks high, but I don't think it actually is. I have a 2018 SG junior that cost the same price and that isn't over-priced, imho. I'll explain: I went into a shop to buy either a 2017 LP Classic or a 2017 SG standard (both were around $1500 at the time due to sales, new 2018 stock, etc), and I played/looked at a lot of guitars. Comparing the standard to the junior, to me, the quality of fit and finish, the sound and the playability of the junior was far superior (I went with a friend who played them both and he just presumed the junior was the much more expensive guitar). I went in expecting to buy the standard, but ended up with the junior and it's the best guitar I've ever owned or played by a distance (I've had 2 previous Gibson SGs).

 

Gibson Custom had/has the historic LP juniors 57/58/? that were selling for about $2500-3000, and the 2018 LP/SG juniors (and I hope this 2019 special too) seem to be closer to those than the SG standard in quality of woods, fit and finish, etc. That's probably why they changed the headstock logo and didn't put three in a line tuners - they needed to keep some differences between the 2018 USA juniors and the Custom Shop juniors - I really believe that the 2018 juniors are excellent value for money. Also, factoring in the case then comparing it to a 2019 standard which doesn't come with a case, the SG special seems like a good price to me - especially for a rarely made guitar by Gibson.

[2019 SG Special]

These have been advertised in a few places over the last few months, and they turned up on the Gibson site today:

 

 

 

I ordered one from here: https://www.andertons.co.uk/

 

,but, no delivery date - a bit like the 2018 juniors and DC special...

 

They appear to be a 61-ish SG special that's pretty true to the original (excluding logo and tuners) - I'm looking forward to getting mine, but doubt it'll arrive this side of 2019.

 

Anybody know anything about these?