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2014 SG Special


Filbert

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Last thread from me today, I promise!

 

I bought a 2014 SG Special off Reverb today as it was a very good price and I wanted one after selling my 2015 version. Anyway, I noticed in the pics and in other pics I have seen on the internet (that I could find!) that there is quite a distinct colour mismatch between the body and the neck and my guitar seems to be a particularly egregious example - see below:

 

10rsaxh.jpg

 

I just wondered a ) if it is normal (which I assume it is because I have seen other pictures showing the same), b ) what the reason for it was - was it a specific design choice or forced on Gibson by wood choice etc and c ) if the colour step is likely to fade or blend over time?

 

It doesn't bother me that much - after all, the price was right but it is undeniably a little jarring to the eye to see.

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If I remember correctly the 2014 SG Special had a maple neck whereas the body is mahogany.

As the base-colour of the wood shows through the lacquer the lighter maple neck contrasts with the darker mahogany of the body.

 

Gibson has used this maple neck / mahogany body combination quite a few times since early days.

Unless an opaque finish is applied to the rear of the guitar there is always a finish mis-match to be seen.

 

Pip.

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If I remember correctly the 2014 SG Special had a maple neck whereas the body is mahogany.

As the base-colour of the wood shows through the lacquer the lighter maple neck contrasts with the darker mahogany of the body.

 

Pip.

 

Cheers for the speedy reply. That makes sense. It's a shame they couldn't match the colour exactly but I guess at that price point, you don't get the high end finishes.

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Wow ... I agreeing with the "jarring" description by the OP. For the '76 LP example, that seems okay because I guess Gibson knew they could not get a good color match and, as such, did not even try (looks like a Strat). But the two totally different shades of red like on the SG? At first glance, it looks like some after-market changes made by someone ... until one learns more about it. It seems surprising that Gibson would want guitars leaving the factory like that, and should have found a finish technique that is much more closer to being uniform. To me, this is way beyond a simple "mis-match". Cool guitar, though ... I am not a hater.

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Wow ... I agreeing with the "jarring" description by the OP. For the '76 LP example, that seems okay because I guess Gibson knew they could not get a good color match and, as such, did not even try (looks like a Strat). But the two totally different shades of red like on the SG? At first glance, it looks like some after-market changes made by someone ... until one learns more about it. It seems surprising that Gibson would want guitars leaving the factory like that, and should have found a finish technique that is much more closer to being uniform. To me, this is way beyond a simple "mis-match". Cool guitar, though ... I am not a hater.

 

Yeah, it is a little odd because, as you say, there has been an attempt to match the colours. From other pictures I have managed to dig up on the internet (I managed to find an old Amazon listing), it looks like this colour mismatch was a common thing on the Heritage Cherry models.

 

One thing that does surprise me, given the opprobrium that the 2015 models would go on to receive, is that I am unable to find anyone discussing or criticising this colour mismatch anywhere, not even on this forum. Maybe my search-fu is weak but I would have thought at least someone would have mentioned it somewhere. I mean, it's not a subtle difference!

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Yeah, it is a little odd because, as you say, there has been an attempt to match the colours. From other pictures I have managed to dig up on the internet (I managed to find an old Amazon listing), it looks like this colour mismatch was a common thing on the Heritage Cherry models....One thing that does surprise me......is that I am unable to find anyone discussing or criticising this colour mismatch anywhere, not even on this forum.......I would have thought at least someone would have mentioned it somewhere. I mean, it's not a subtle difference!...

Well I can only speak for myself, of course, but if I had to guess why there's no wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth it's probably because since at least the early '60s - if not before - there have always been cherry-red Gibson guitars with different shades of red on their body / neck depending on the woods used for their construction. Most of the older heads know this and, from a poll taken by members here years ago, the majority of 'The Usual Suspects' here are in their 40's - '60s so we wouldn't be surprised in the least to see this difference. If we are seeing a mahogany / maple mix then we would actually expect there to be a difference. As the majority of SGs are mahogany / mahogany I suppose it's simply less usual to see it on this style of guitar.

 

And it's not just 'darker-body-lighter-neck' which have been produced. The ES-335 style of guitar typically has a laminated maple body and a mahogany neck which gives us a 'lighter-body-darker-neck' look;

 

1963-ES-335.jpg

 

Some of the Melody Maker / SG range in the '60s and '70s had coloured bodies and plain varnished maple necks just like, as GT01 mentioned, a Fender.

 

Pip.

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Nice guitar! And yes, it's the maple! The good news in my experience is that the maple necks are generally stiffer and will help the neck from becoming a whammy bar....which sometimes happens on SG's. I love SG's of all types, in fact I also had a 2015 and sold mine too. I currently own a 2011 Special. I have owned a few with maple necks, a few with ebony boards, a few with three knobs, a few with 24 frets. I love them all basically. Good luck, nice guitar.

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Nice guitar! And yes, it's the maple! The good news in my experience is that the maple necks are generally stiffer and will help the neck from becoming a whammy bar....which sometimes happens on SG's. I love SG's of all types, in fact I also had a 2015 and sold mine too. I currently own a 2011 Special. I have owned a few with maple necks, a few with ebony boards, a few with three knobs, a few with 24 frets. I love them all basically. Good luck, nice guitar.

Speaking of whammy bars, I just upgraded my SG Special that had a wrap around bridge with a Stetsbar.. so far so good it works great..

XB8qASj.jpg

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Wow that's a lot of hardware.

 

Yep its a lot of additional metal, but no routing or adding studs or extra screws.. Just uses the original 2 mounting studs.. and... it is sooo smooooth ..

 

StetsbarWrapover1_a2fd9cfd-adfc-452f-910a-73c82e369abd_1024x1024.jpg

 

Gibson sometimes uses maple necks on certain SG models, that's what this one below looks like to me..

 

Last thread from me today, I promise!

 

I bought a 2014 SG Special off Reverb today as it was a very good price and I wanted one after selling my 2015 version. Anyway, I noticed in the pics and in other pics I have seen on the internet (that I could find!) that there is quite a distinct colour mismatch between the body and the neck and my guitar seems to be a particularly egregious example - see below:

 

10rsaxh.jpg

 

I just wondered a ) if it is normal (which I assume it is because I have seen other pictures showing the same), b ) what the reason for it was - was it a specific design choice or forced on Gibson by wood choice etc and c ) if the colour step is likely to fade or blend over time?

 

It doesn't bother me that much - after all, the price was right but it is undeniably a little jarring to the eye to see.

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Wait a minute that looks like a D-28.

 

On the left, yes it is. I had to buy one of those side by side guitar racks as keeping them on individual stands was taking up too much space.

 

As others have said, it's the maple neck that causes the colour mismatch. The reason it confused me was I had a 2015 SG (now sold) and that didn't have a colour difference. Furious Googling tells me that the Specials have maple necks, the Standards have mahogany necks, same as the body.

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On the left, yes it is. I had to buy one of those side by side guitar racks as keeping them on individual stands was taking up too much space.

 

As others have said, it's the maple neck that causes the colour mismatch. The reason it confused me was I had a 2015 SG (now sold) and that didn't have a colour difference. Furious Googling tells me that the Specials have maple necks, the Standards have mahogany necks, same as the body.

The side by side racks are nice, I have a 7 side by side with 8 in it..

 

cYXhWDx.jpg

 

 

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