Draco Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I just bought this 2002 SG Faded with the crescent moon inlays, it has some upgrades to it from the previous owner...the pup covers & truss rod cover. Today I changed the strings and noticed the bridge was different from the standards and specials I've owned before. It has a retainer clip and when I flipped it over it says Gibson ABR-1 on the bottom. Did these 2002 faded's come with the ABR-1? I'm guessing it was an upgrade as well, but I have no clue. A couple pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 The '02 Faded came stock with an ABR bridge. I purchased one new & still have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 The '02 Faded came stock with an ABR bridge. I purchased one new & still have it. Good to know....Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasticanasta Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Love the ABR-1....and I also like the fact you have the bridge correct.. unlike most of the SG's here. I don't know why but almost every SG i see here has the screws facing towards the stop piece which is incorrect.. but I suppose it doesn't really matter, check your catalogues.. the screws point towards the pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greglawrence Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Yes...the ABR's are set up from the factory for the screws to point towards the neck. If you adjust the intonation correctly it doesn't matter which way it faces, in fact, by turning it around 180 degrees you can access the screws much easier as well as the travel on the saddle adjustment will vary when flipped. With that said: Ever since Frank Zappa's Roxy & Elsewhere album, I always wanted one and the "faded" price put it within reach. Yes - Ebony fretboard and limited edition crescent moon inlays. I got mine for $579 new, but had sent the first two back and kept the third one. (Made in 2002) There were various flaws and fast production boo-boos like finish, scratches, electrical on the first two, but the third one passed the hurdles for what I deemed an affordable 'beat-em-up' jam night axe. Same specs as any other SG without the fine finish, appointments, binding or inlays. It did come with a pickguard as the newer model faded guitars no longer do, but without covers on the pickups. A very bright and 'ringy' guitar when played without an amp. Some people say the frets can stick out from the edge of the unbound neck and rub against your hand but I have found no problem with this. If your guitar has dried out in low humidity or desert dry conditions, the fretwires might protrude out from the neck/fretboard any guitar if the wood dries and shrinks. Really dig the crescent moon inlays...did I mention that? (lol) It was a nice surprise to find out it was a limited run. Since then I have acquired a proper Gibson SG case, replaced the tuners with heavy Grovers, added a TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece and most recently swapped the pups out for '57 Classic and a Classic Plus at the bridge. Before, the sound of the stock 498's were a little hollow and ratty. The only amp I found it to be really compatible with was a Tweed Blues Junior. It really liked that amp, but was seemingly a one-trick pony. Now, with the 57' Classics in it, I find I can take it onstage and it will do more styles with a fuller, meatier tone especially on that neck pickup. Now, a workhorse of many colors! Nice & light, and even though it is the same scale length, the guitar seems "neck-heavy" or feels like it is "sticking out" more because of where it joins to the body. One must be mindful not to slide up a couple of frets when getting acclimated to the ergonomics of an SG -lol. The neck is somewhat wider than most Gibson electric guitars. This is good for some things, and a little more challenging for others. Plenty of room between the strings for clean fingering as well as digging in quite hard while remaining articulate tonally. I still find the 'jack-on-the-front' design really weird if not awkward & cheap, but using a cable with an angled plug will only rub wear spots, and sometimes wonder what it would be like to have an SG with a carved maple top like a Les Paul. I remember Sigma made an SG copy that seemed to be more molded & thicker, not to give the impression I don't dig the flat-top slab or the reduced weight! Compared to the CS-356 or the Les Paul Custom, it's quite light and fun playing. These were some of the last series where the faded finish actually looks kind of nice, cheap albeit, but nice. The newer model faded finishes look as though horrid white-wash or watery-stain was applied by a blind chimpanzee. The new faded finish looks more 'cheap' than 'faded.' As of January 2014 I have seen "The Crescent Moon SG's" on eBay selling for $550-$585 -some with a hard case. I expect the price of them to rise significantly in the future adding at least an extra two hundred dollars for the collector's appeal of ebony fretboard and crescent moon inlays limited run...probably ten years down the road. I just found out the Tim Shaw pickups in my '82 LP are selling for $400 on eBay...yeah, hard to believe it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.