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The SG is a sin.


Guitar slinger

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The title says it all.

 

Gibson fellas had the nerve to "improve" the all-marvelous (well, maybe not at that time) Les Paul and to make up for some so-called mistakes in order to boost the sales, right?

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-you guys correct me if I'm wrong-

 

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So they had to think of a way to guarantee a better fret access and to relieve some of the weight. Those bolds fellas came up with a devilish avant-garde design that should appel to the people who haven't been thrilled by the Les Paul.

 

So a new Les Paul was born in 61. What a joke. They even called it Les Paul. What in the world did they think they were doing?

 

And then the FAT, jazzy and behaved girl was not the only child in the family when a raw, reckless and mean sister have arrived. And things were about to get rough as she meant business.

 

I'm being serious here. The SG was kinda like a mistake, in my opinion. The Les Paul was about perfect at 57, 58, 59 or even 60. I don't really think that she needed improvements and neither I think that the SG was a improved Les Paul - I mean, a better guitar. They were two different guitars.

 

And that bold move of improving the Lester was, in my opinion, and outrageous mistake - a sin.

 

 

I'm a proud supporter of the devil and it's vessel of sin. The SG.

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I think this whole SG being a mistake thing started with Les Paul because he wanted his name removed from it. It Les had said he loved it, then it wouldn't have gone down in every guitar history book I've read as a being a mistake. The whole Les Paul dissing on it is funny anyways because he posed with the thing in numerous pictures. I read somewhere that he was going through a divorce and didn't want Mary Ford to get any extra cash, so that may have been one of the main reasons he had his name taken off it.

 

I think Les Pauls are the biggest mistakes. Every time I sit and play one they are so bottom heavy the necks want to point towards the ceiling and I have to hunch so far over them, instead of the top "bout" resting on my rib cage because that bout is so non existant it rests under my ribs and I get a back ache. Also at 6'2 180lbs they look like a ukuele one me. So sitting any playing one is out. So, I put a strap on one and try to stand and can't do a 3 hour gig because my back will eventually start hurting!

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For one, sins are almost ALWAYS more fun anyway, so what's your point? #-o/

 

Secondly, a lot of the people who have written, rewritten and reinterpreted history have gotten gradually more degrading over the years in presenting Lester's opinions towards the SG as the ba$tard child, and I ignore most of them. Look at all the photos of both Mary AND Les with their "SG Les Paul" models, both publicity shots and NON. And seriously, I read, what's it been, 20 years ago now, all about the nasty divorce and basically Les just wanted to keep Mary from screwing him out of his money and not giving her anything to take so the Les Paul name was dropped simply because he didn't want to have any more assets to have to split. Sure, he had concerns with the neck joint (not like he was an energetic, abusive player like Pete Townsend though, so who cares???), but he apparently liked the design enough to initially slap his name on it when Ted McCarty showed him the new design, don't forget that! And keep in mind that Les' own favorite models (the 70's "Les Paul Recording" models and other Les-modded oddballs) are NOT what most LP admirers consider the "proper" models; Les apparently has an affinity for less-"pretty" workhorses than flamey fey tops and whatnot. But Ted McCarty was a true innovator, and a genius as far as I'm concerned when it came to aiding in the development in the electric guitar. I don't consider any of his work a "mistake".

 

Although I DO like the fact that a lot of "Les Paul only" players/collectors/snobs/etc. seem genuinely afraid of the devilish two-horned sexy beast that is the SG. Maybe "SG" really stands for "Satan's Guitar"...lol Nah, just kidding, but I actually met a religious nut who suggested that once, because it was red, flashy, curvy (and therefore sexually-aggressive) and the horns reminded him of Satan. I wanted to try whatever it was he was drinking. Fred's right in a sense, LP's are so heavy (unless you have one of the chambered models for girls) that most fanatical LP worshippers can't do a whole show with a real one lest they slip a disc, and the positioning of the neck and body bouts feel uncomfortable to a lot of players. It may work for some, but not for others. Not to mention you can't reach the upper frets unless you've got spiderleg fingers and don't mind awkward positioning of your thumb.

 

All in all, the "evil" SG just works better for me, both in functionality and looks. Sin hard, and sin loud, I say!

 

H-Bomb

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i concur with hbomb76's "the rest of the story" regarding the removal of Les's signature from the SG in 1962 - I heard it from a former old time Gibson rep Tiny Timbrell in 1980, it was the the big "D" - and like the Beatles break up, it was messy and took several years.

 

It was finalized in 1965 - but California law allowed Mary to re solicit the final divorce terms for 3 years after the divorce.

 

It helped that in 1968 demand for the 50's Lp body style was 100 times what it was in 1959. The big name acts in the 50's (Buddy Holly, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins) were playing Fender, and Gretsch respectively.

And look at the small numbers of flame top Sunburst LPs produced 1959-1960, compared to Fender Strats, Jazzmasters, 6120's in those years.

The significance of the '59 Les Paul was not appreciated in the surf guitar boom era of '59-63.

 

By 1966 The British and Mike Bloomfield changed all that.

 

But in the Early 60's Gibson was scrambling to compete with Fender in the solid body line. Non reverse Firebirds come closest in this "me too" endeavor.

 

The thin SG with full access to 22 frets was copied by others, like the Guild S-100

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If the SG is anything it's PAGAN ! Horns were a pagan symbol, but during during the times when a certain middle-Eastern religion was being forced on Europeans, the perpetrators hit on the idea of linking the symbolic horns with the devil in order to aid 're-programming'.

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Secondly' date=' a lot of the people who have written, rewritten and reinterpreted history have gotten gradually more degrading over the years in presenting Lester's opinions towards the SG as the ba$tard child, and I ignore most of them. Look at all the photos of both Mary AND Les with their "SG Les Paul" models, both publicity shots and NON. And seriously, I read, what's it been, 20 years ago now, all about the nasty divorce and basically Les just wanted to keep Mary from screwing him out of his money and not giving her anything to take so the Les Paul name was dropped simply because he didn't want to have any more assets to have to split. Sure, he had concerns with the neck joint (not like he was an energetic, abusive player like Pete Townsend though, so who cares???), but he apparently liked the design enough to initially slap his name on it when Ted McCarty showed him the new design, don't forget that! And keep in mind that Les' own favorite models (the 70's "Les Paul Recording" models and other Les-modded oddballs) are NOT what most LP admirers consider the "proper" models; Les apparently has an affinity for less-"pretty" workhorses than flamey fey tops and whatnot. But Ted McCarty was a true innovator, and a genius as far as I'm concerned when it came to aiding in the development in the electric guitar. I don't consider any of his work a "mistake". [/quote']

 

I know the story. That was not my point.:-$

 

Do you kennit?

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From the beggining I expected that some would understand my words and some would not. That's normal.

 

For those who still don't get what I'm saying, here i a brief story:

 

Back in 2006 I had this jazz-box guitar that sounded like crap and I had a little money to see what could be done about it. So I started to research about Epis and that's when I met the Epi G-400 Faded and I changed my jazz box for the SG. I had really good times with that guitar until I found that there was a problem with a fret that had "popped out" so it was impossible to eliminate string buzzz without a repair.

 

Long story short I changed for a Epi Les Paul and had a whole lotta fun - and it sounded MUCH BETTER. After some months I started to dream with my old SG Faded. I used to dream that i entered the guitar shop with my Lester in a bag and I changed for the SG without anyone seeing it. Sometimes I dreamt that I had sold the SG for a friend and I came to his house and beat the crap out of him and got my guitar back.

 

I say that the SG has something to do with the devil himself.

 

And that's why when I got the big money to buy a Historic I did not go for the astonishing R7, R8 or something like that. I wanted to be consume by that fire.

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I know the story. That was not my point.:-$

 

Do you kennit?

 

I know, man. I was just adding to your points, not trying to contradict you or anything. I know you're a fellow minion. :D/

 

H-Bomb

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I love SG's cause when I pick one up everything is right where its' supposed to be.

Sitting down, standing up, don't matter... It just feels right and says "Play Me"

Humbuckers or P-90's... Both are great. It can go from sweet and clean to Lucifer's chainsaw in one stomp of a footswitch.

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You guys know, my ES-339 is my #1 now. But my '79 Walnut "The" SG was, during the late 90's, early 00's. It still goes with me weekly.

 

It never fails, I'll be playin a freakin' Custom Shop ES-339 Vintage Burst and, I mean it never fails, someone will walk up to the stage and check out the road worn SG sitting there, waiting for a string to break on the 339......

 

She's actually getting some hours on her again lately.

 

Nothing like em'. Mistake? No.

 

It was intentional..............

 

Murph.

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