Which to buy: SG Standard or SG Faded

[Marcelo]

Hello All,

 

I am trying to buy a guitar for my 14-year old son who wants to play AC/DC-type of rock. I am not a very musical person, but I want him to get into a guitar that he won't outgrow. I bought him a bargain electric piano 5 years ago and he now hates it as he can tell that the better pianos out there just sound better, feel better, etc.

 

Anyhow, I can buy him an SG Faded for about $700 or an SG Standard for $1500. Being a cheap guy, I wanted to get the SG Faded, but I don't want to make the same mistake as I did with the piano. I was lead to believe that Gibson just won't make a cheap guitar, so the SG Faded must be pretty good. I just can't tell the difference between the Faded and the Standard, except the Standard seems to have a better finish and look. I am not very interested in the finish, if the two guitars have the same electronics and sound the same and play the same, I would just get the Faded as I am not too concerned about how the guitar looks. If the Faded and the Standard are pretty much the same guitar, why does the Standard cost double? Perhaps the experts out there can help guide me to what the differences are between the two guitars so that I can make a good decision on this purchase. Thank you in advance.

[Kiwi]

Hey there!

 

The Faded is a great guitar, but you really need to know your stuff to find a good one. There are a lot of bad ones let through the quality control, and the best thing is to try a few out before settleing on one. I haven't really heard of issues like this with the Standard, so I suppose it would be a safer bet.

 

The thing with the Faded is, you are going to want to upgrade it with something. Pretty much everyone who has a Faded always wants to do some kind of upgrade, be it pickup exchanging or something else, but that's not always the case with the Standard. I have a Faded myself, and I couldn't really stand the high pitched annoying sound that the bridge humbucker made, so I switched it out for an Angus Young Signature Humbucker (great buy if your kid's into AC/DC by the way), and it feels like a totally different guitar. All in all, I spent a lot less than I would've done if I bought a Standard, sacrificing the pretty finish and a binded fretboard.

 

So, if you (or someone you know) know a lot about guitars, and can tell a bad one from a good one, I'd say that the Faded + a new pickup or two is your best bet (you will end up with a price lower than the Standard even if you do change the pickups). But if you, on the other hand, have the cash for a Standard available and think that the extra cosmetics (and different bridge pickup, which is better) are worth it, then I'd say go for the Standard.

 

Hope I could help, good luck with the purchase and be sure to post pics! :D

[hbomb76]

Hello All' date='

 

I am trying to buy a guitar for my 14-year old son who wants to play AC/DC-type of rock. I am not a very musical person, but I want him to get into a guitar that he won't outgrow. I bought him a bargain electric piano 5 years ago and he now hates it as he can tell that the better pianos out there just sound better, feel better, etc.

 

Anyhow, I can buy him an SG Faded for about $700 or an SG Standard for $1500. Being a cheap guy, I wanted to get the SG Faded, but I don't want to make the same mistake as I did with the piano. I was lead to believe that Gibson just won't make a cheap guitar, so the SG Faded must be pretty good. I just can't tell the difference between the Faded and the Standard, except the Standard seems to have a better finish and look. I am not very interested in the finish, if the two guitars have the same electronics and sound the same and play the same, I would just get the Faded as I am not too concerned about how the guitar looks. If the Faded and the Standard are pretty much the same guitar, why does the Standard cost double? Perhaps the experts out there can help guide me to what the differences are between the two guitars so that I can make a good decision on this purchase. Thank you in advance.[/quote']

 

To be honest with you, the Faded series SG's are a crapshoot (oddly enough the finish-work on the Epi versions of the Faded are more consistent). There are okay ones out there but a lot of turkeys. The Standard's a little more consistent, but in and of itself isn't always a sure bet. If you're dead set on a new guitar and wanna' get the most out of your money, shop around for a Faded one that feels and looks decent, and throw some upgrades on it:

 

- I'd upgrade the pickups to some covered ones, I'd recommend an Angus signature bridge pickup in the bridge and a Burstbucker PRO neck pickup, or a set of matched GFS "Fat Pat" or "Vintage '59" humbuckers to make it not only look better but also sound ungodly; or if you want you can have someone professionally install covers on the stock ones (just makes the guitar look a little nicer), but as the other guy said, they're not the best sounding pickups for this guitar and don't do an SG justice.

- I saw someone on eBay was selling some lightning bolt overlay decals to cover the dot inlays on the fretboard, if your kid's an Angus fan he'll like 'em, PLUS it'll spruce the guitar up a little more and make it look like a higher-end model. I think they also sell block-shaped and trapezoid-shaped ones as well.

- If you then carefully buff up that finish a bit it may prove to be a satisfactory guitar for still well under $1000.

 

OR, if you want to get him a nicer overall instrument you could always look on eBay for a good barely used Standard. They're ALWAYS on there, and you would probably be able to win one for what you'd spend on the Faded new, or just over that amount. Then you're a freakin' hero.

 

H-Bomb

[hellion102792]

If you're planning on buying it from Guitar Center and you want a really good deal on the faded, wait until one of their "The List" weekend sales (they have them on an almost monthly basis). I was able to pick up mine for only $500 and now I got a little moolah left which I am saving for some P-94 pickups. And adding to what Kiwi said, do not buy it online because there's a chance you'll end up getting one of the bad ones that slipped through Gibson QC. You need to try it in the store, have the guys working there take a few out for you. Check every string on each fret for dead spots, especially on the upper frets. Also check for sharp fret edges, tape that may be falling off pickups ((the 490R and T have what looks like some kind of electric tape wrapped around the edges of them), and cracks that may have occured during shipping. I got lucky with mine, the only 2 they had by the last few hours of the sale was the floor model which was a mess and one more in the back which I started drooling over when they took it out of the box. Compared to the one sitting on display, the finish was much darker with deep swirls of red in the grain, so keep that in mind that the floor models are dusty and some have finishes that have worn off a bit. All in all, it is a good guitar for the money and I think if your son is serious about wanting to learn guitar, he'll really enjoy it as with the proper setup, it is a pleasure to play.

[Rick]

take faded brown, it looks pretty nice, and upgrade the humbuckers with the Angus Young Signature..

 

and when he can play better, buy an angus young signature and sell the faded...it's the best way!

[Tim Plains]

Marcelo, lives in Toronto...he wouldn't buy from GC.

 

Marcelo, I live in the GTA. You're in quite the pickle! What if your son doesn't like the guitar in a few years? Even if you buy him a Standard...what if he wants something better later on? That's something I'd keep in mind if I were you...but chances are, he'll want the Standard and will be very, very happy with it.

 

Here's what I would do. It's October and Long & McQuade is having a 12 month, 0% interest deal. Go and buy your son a SG Standard, give them a small down payment and finance the rest with relatively small monthly payments. That's what I would do...and that's what I've done on several occasions. This way, you get a very good guitar that your son will love and don't have to pay for it all at once.

 

I had a Special for two years and traded it in for a Standard.

I'd take a Standard over a Special any day of the week!

See those nice trapezoid looking inlays on the fret board, the two strips on the top and bottom of the neck, the shinny finish and the chrome pickup covers? That's essentially what you're paying for when you buy a Standard...it's well worth it, trust me.

[GuitarJunkie]

I just recently sold my faded SG (to fund another Les Paul) and they're great guitars. As far as the difference between it and the Standard, a lot of it is cosmetic. They're both made of mahogany, although the Standard is usually a 2 piece body while the faded is 2 or 3. The hardware and electronics are virtually identical except that the Standard's pickups are covered. The Standard has eight coats of nitro-cellulose lacquer buffed to a gloss, while the faded has three. The Standard looks a little nicer as far as having a bound neck, trapezoid inlays, and a pearl Gibson logo on the headstock. The faded has no binding, dot inlays and a silk-screened logo on the headstock. The tuners are the same except for the buttons.

 

Speaking of the electronics, I don't get all these posts as far as upgrading the pickups. The faded uses a 490R (neck) and a 490T (bridge) while the Standard uses a 490R (neck) and a 498T (bridge). Other than the Standard having a slightly hotter bridge pickup, there's virtually no difference. At least not anything a 14 year old is going to complain about.

 

I'm sure he'd be thrilled to have the faded.

[Guest alanhindle]

I would guess that, as an AC/DC fan, he would prefer the finish on the standard. However, the special is also available in the glossy cherry finish for not much more than the special faded. It would better suit covered pickups if he ever wanted to upgrade to one of the suggestions above at a later date (I don't like the look of fadeds that I've seen which have been changed to include covered pickups). Also, the special's stock pickups have a more vintage sound than those of the standard so if he mostly plays albums that are pre-80s I believe that the special would suit the earlier AC/DC sound.

 

What is really going to make the difference for an AC/DC tone is a valve amp like an Epiphone Valve Junior or some other such suitable valve amp. As a dad, you may prefer the Peavey Royal 8 Valve King which he can turn down a bit because it has separate gain and master controls. If you went for the special 'unfaded' you could spend some of what you saved against an SG standard on a decent amp which would be a much better bet for him.

 

Here are some useful youtube links which may help you decide:

Standard vs faded: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DbKj8cxGLso

Standard vs faded: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DYILGKE8G70

Royal 8 valve king: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IEu0NzSZ7RE

Royal 8 valve king: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VLgrfnJkZ1U&feature=related

 

Alan

[Marcelo]

Thank you everyone for your input. I really appreciate it.

 

My brother voluntereed for him his 1980s Onyx (Japan) guitar that he had in his closet gathering dust for 15 years. He will be using this one to learn the basics, while giving me sufficient time to shop for an SG and get a good deal. Since we are in a recession, I might be able to get a better deal on a guitar in the coming months, I hope. I like the idea that Hbomb suggested, to get a slightly used Standard for about the same price of a new Faded. With this, I would avoid all the risk getting a bad Faded and the need to do upgrades in the future.

 

The reason I am getting him a really good guitar to start with is that I have been seeing a lot of parents get their kids started with guitar lessons on a very cheap $100 guitar, only to have the kid quit in a few months. I see a lot of these guitars for sale in my area that were last year's Christmas presents. It appears to me that the cheap guitars are very difficult to play, difficult to keep in tune, etc and this is probably the main reason the kids decide to quit playing guitar in frustration. With my son, I am not worried about him quitting on me, he is taking piano at his high school and he has 3+ more mandatory years to go, so playing music will be unavoidable for him and the guitar will be a healthy distraction from the piano, besides his music buddies there are all tinkering with the idea of starting a band and he wants to get involved. Also, by getting him a good guitar, I am assured that he won't quit in frustration that could be caused by having to play a bad instrument. Also, if I pay a lot of money for a good guitar, he will forced to stay with it longer, or I will be getting very upset. Also, by having a nice guitar as the SG Standard, it looks so nice, it is by itself a good motivator for taking it out of its case and spend some time playing it. In the worst case, I will end up using the guitar to finally learn to play this instrument. I tinkered with guitars as a kid and had a few buddies that played in a band, but I never took lessons and ended up quiting because I could not read music and nobody was there to teach me. I can see this guitar becoming a family heirloom.

 

I do make quite a few trips to the States during the year, I guess that I can make a stop at the nearest Guitar Center and check out the sales.

 

For an amp, I was thinking of getting him a Line-6 Spider III 30-watt model for $199 that has some effects built-in. Also, my brother will give him a small distortion box that he has had for over 20 years for my son to tinker with.

[SRV-Zeppelin]

My advice, Marcelo: take your son shopping as a surprise. buying a guitar can be a very personal thing, and while I'm sure he'll appreciate the thought, he may not like the feel of the neck, pickup response, fret size, etc. Take him to GC or L&M randomly one day, don't tell him why till you get there, and then tell him you'll buy or chip in up to a certain limit. As for which model... get a 61 RI or an Angus Young Signature. just my opinion, mind you.

[Rick]

My advice' date=' Marcelo: take your son shopping as a surprise. buying a guitar can be a very personal thing, and while I'm sure he'll appreciate the thought, he may not like the feel of the neck, pickup response, fret size, etc. Take him to GC or L&M randomly one day, don't tell him why till you get there, and then tell him you'll buy or chip in up to a certain limit. As for which model... get a 61 RI or an Angus Young Signature. just my opinion, mind you.[/quote']

 

are you jocking? a AY signature or a R61 for a 14-years kid???

respectevously (sorry the word) for marcelo..

 

take a faded,change humbuckers and then, when he plays very good guitar, buy him ha R61

 

the Sg faded isn't a 100 dollars guitar, it still be a gibson not an epiphone or squier!!!!

[Marcelo]

Hi Guys,

 

I took my son shopping yesterday and it happeens that our local music store started to carry Gibsons since September, so we got a close look at the SG FAded, SG Special and the SG Standard.

 

SG Faded: Like I said before, I am not a very musical person, but I worked in a wood shop for a couple of years, so I can criticize the workmanship. Well, the workmanship on the Faded on display was simply awful. When I looked a the neck from a profile view, it looked like the wood was making a meniscus between the frets. The frets looked like they were pounded in with a hammer and some looked like they were raised too much and other looked like they were in too deep. The guitar looked like it was made by some amateur, ...in his garage. If the name "Gibson" was not on the product, I would have guessed that this was some cheap knock-off from China somewhere selling for $100. Also, for $600+, they should have a finish on this guitar, because the guitar looks like a simple, unfinished block of wood. To make things worse, you can compare it something like an Ibanez Mikro junior guitar for $100, and the Ibanez had far better workmanship (it probably had crappy electronics, but the workmanship was definitely superior). I hate to upset the Faded lovers out there, but the guitar I was was not worthy of the name "Gibson", sorry.

 

SG Special: We tried one out that was a "Special Faded" for about $800. This one was definitely built better, a lot better. The neck was near-perfect on this one. Still, for about $800, I think that you should be getting a guitar that nice to look at. This guitar just looked like too plain.

 

SG Standard: They had a high-gloss black unit on display. The neck was nicely done, it was bound nicely and he frets appeared to be in their perfect locations. What caught my eye, mostly because I had looked at the bad Faded guitar before, I was now looking for quality issues with more scrutiny now, there we quite a few finish issues with the body when you look at them up close. I saw at least a few quarter-sized dimples in the wood and at least one bump that stood out, especially when a high gloss black finish is applied. I think that for $1500, the finish should have been perfect, especially when you have to compare it to the $400 Ibanez next to it in the store, whose finish was really nice.

 

I am beginning to think that Gibson is just out there to make money and that quality is just not important to them. They seem to be falling back on the merits of a solid name brand, that buyers will still flock to them, but they are doing a lot of damage to the brand with all the quality setbacks. It is just not right to have to spend $2500 before you get a good SG. Usually, Gibsons appreciate with price, but I am afraid to buy a Gibson now as this decade may become to be known as the "bad decade" and guitars built during these times will actually depreciate if you try to sell it decades from now.

 

Also, I don't agree with the pricing, it is just too high. A new SG Standard is $1600 now, and a slightly used one can only fetch about 50% of its retail value when it is only a few months old, so it depreciates even twice as fast as a GM car!. This tells me that Gibson is building a huge price markup into these things and the public is telling you that these guitars are only worth $800, not $1600.

[thejay]

I have owned a few SGs over the yrs and I think the SG Standard is the better of the line. I had a Faded and I thought it was too thin sounding. I had a SG Deluxe and that was a really nice guitar but very "vintage" voiced with the 3 mini humbuckers and just didn't suit my style at all. The Specials... I have never been a fan of and the Classic and Reissue 61s could be pretty sweet guitars too. I am not really a fan of the slim taper necks though - personal perference. Just my 2 cents - get a Standard.

[durtyDevil]

I think if you get the faded it will only make you want the standard that much more, so why not cut to the chase and get the standard now. It will save you money in the long run, imo.

[Wolff]

This is bound to be a very unpopular answer with the guys here, but this is what I would buy for a 14 year old AC/DC fan:

 

Epiphone G-400

 

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-G400-SG-Electric-Guitar?sku=518291

 

 

put in an Angus Young Pickup:

 

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Angus-Young-Signature-Humbucker?sku=306127

 

Play through a VOX Valvetronix amp:

 

http://www.voxamps.com/us/valvetronix/

[rjay777]

Whatever you choose, go used. Chances are he might not even want to play it before the first month is up.

Don't blow you're hard earned cash on an expensive guit especially if he's new to the game. If he's GAS'n for an SG, a used Faded is fine, and you can snag one easily under 5 bills. If he gets hooked, then eventually move up the ladder. Just my $.02.

[NeoConMan]

I may be too late to the thread, or way off base, but here's my $.02

 

The SG 61 is the ONE to get. It's pricey, but worth every penny.

For less money, the SG Standard is a great guitar - think of it as the Chevy truck of SG's.

Millions of them out there, all others are compared to it because it is the benchmark or "Standard" to turn a phrase.

 

The Faded is a great guitar (usually) but it's the same as buying a new car with only primer instead of paint.

It's cheaper because it's not worth as much. Cheap is cheap, and if the kid really takes off he'll likely want better.

 

Get a Standard, and you're done - you'll never have him wishing he had gotten a Faded instead....

:-)

 

The Standard will hold its value best, and if he stops playing it stick it your closet and let the value start climbing.

In a few years it will be worth what you paid, in twenty it will be worth something more.

 

Here's a few of mine.

 

 

I had cheap-*** guitars until I was in my late twenties, they limited my playing ability terribly.

If he's responsible, and will take care of it, get him something he can be proud of.

If he plays like a rock star and has a good looking guitar, he'll be in heaven.

 

Like I said, if he loses interest you can just store it for a later time.

 

 

Oh, be careful of Guitar Center.

You have "victim" or "sucker" written all over you when you walk in knowing nothing and buying for your kid.

They are commissioned sales people, and worse than a car dealer.

Sharks looking for fresh meat in the water.

 

You can likely get a better price on a nicer guitar from a Mom & Pop shop, though GC won't let you believe it.

 

 

One last thing;

Way to go Dad!

You ROCK!

 

Our oldest is 19 and is a pretty good player with his Les Paul, American Deluxe Strat and Alvarez acoustic.

It's worth it to spend the money.

[Marcelo]

Thank you all for your input. Neo, nice 12-stringer. Rjay, I learned from a guy that used to sell guitars at a music store and he told me that they mark up guitars 60% or so, as he was able to buy a guitar from them at-cost. For me, used is the way to go, but if you work in a music store, you have struck gold! Just get a salesman job at a music store, buy your guitar at discount and quit on them the very next day!

 

Here's what I did so far. I asked my brother not to ship the vintage guitars through the mail, as I was afraid that they would get damaged. Since it will be until the spring till I would see him again and get the guitars from him, I decided to pick up a cheap guitar now so that we can start logging some guitar time and learn some chords in the meantime. I bought (don't hate me for this...) a 1997 Epiphone Les Paul Standard in sunburst color with what might be a flame top and the seller also gave me a case and a small Peavey amp for $250. This guitar made a good impression on my kid and he just loves picking it up everyday and learn AC/DC tablature. He is a fast learner, I am surprised how far he has come in only 4 weeks. The Peavey amp is just awesome, it is only 15 or 30 watts, but it has simple controls like preGain and postGain that are easy to simulate some AC/DC sounds. We also learned about the sound limitation of the cheap pickups that this guitar has, they would need to be changed if we were to keep this guitar. We changed the strings today and the guitar sounds a bit better than before. I figure that we might sell this guitar next year and still recover what we paid for it. Having this guitar for now gives me time to hunt down a Gibson without having to rush into a purchase.

 

Just for fun, I also bought my kid a Line6 spider I, 100-watt amp, 2x12 for $100. I thought that we could use the 6 different amp models that come built-in, but the more we played with it, we could not get an AC/DC sound out of this thing. The clean, twang and blues models are not bad, but the crunch is a bit crappy and the metal and insane models are totally useless. Anyhow, I figure that at worst, we can use the clean channel with a pedal box and make it all sound sweet, and since this thing delivers 100-watts, I could not go wrong with this purchase. Since we don't have a pedal yet, we are using the Peavey amp instead as it has a better sound for our purpose.

 

What was curious about the two different sellers from whom we bought the guitar and the Line6 amp, both these guys had converted into loyal Fender statocaster users after having played with Gibson guitars for a while. I did some reading to see what the fuzz was all about these Fender guitars and I was impressed at the level of tinkering that one can do on a Stratocaster to customize them to their own tastes. We went to the music store and try to play this guitar and we were impressed at the way the neck felt, it was as if it had been customized just for us. I like to tinker with things and a Startocaster would be a nice guitar to grow with, as you can change the neck and you can do some really neat pickup combinations just by swapping the pick guard. These guitars appear to be more solid than Gibsons as people sometimes abuse the Fenders and they never seem to break, which is a good thing for a kid.

 

Anyhow, while the kid is busy with the Epiphone, I have some time on my hands to look for a deal on a high-end guitar. Then I will eventually get rid of all the "average" guitars we will have compiled up to that point. These are the guitars I want us to have:

 

- a Gibson Les Paul Standard (then probably swap the bridge pickup with an Angus pickup)

- a Gibson SG Standard or better (then very likely swap the bridge pickup with an Angus pickup)

- a Fender Stratocaster USA-made (this baby would be the subject of a lot of Frankestein-like experiments, muahhh!)

 

I would really like to buy all three, eventually, and keep them forever. I don't have the money for all 3 right now, but I will use this list as a goal-setting exercise. My kid always runs into people selling cheap guitars for $200 or less and he wants to collect them all. I told him to stop that nonsense and save money to buy one great guitar, instead of buying a bunch of cheap ones that leave you disappointed, and he now agrees with me after seeing the limitations of the Epiphone. Unless it is one of the 3 great guitar models above, we will simply not buy it, no matter how inexpensive it appears to be.

[guitar_randy]

I may be too late to the thread' date=' or way off base, but here's my $.02

 

The SG 61 is the ONE to get. It's pricey, but worth every penny.

For less money, the SG Standard is a great guitar - think of it as the Chevy truck of SG's.

Millions of them out there, all others are compared to it because it is the benchmark or "Standard" to turn a phrase.

 

The Faded is a great guitar (usually) but it's the same as buying a new car with only primer instead of paint.

It's cheaper because it's not worth as much. Cheap is cheap, and if the kid really takes off he'll likely want better.

 

Get a Standard, and you're done - you'll never have him wishing he had gotten a Faded instead....

:-)

 

The Standard will hold its value best, and if he stops playing it stick it your closet and let the value start climbing.

In a few years it will be worth what you paid, in twenty it will be worth something more.

 

Here's a few of mine.

 

[img']http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/2429169018_5e31a9b5e7.jpg?v=0[/img]

 

I had cheap-*** guitars until I was in my late twenties, they limited my playing ability terribly.

If he's responsible, and will take care of it, get him something he can be proud of.

If he plays like a rock star and has a good looking guitar, he'll be in heaven.

 

Like I said, if he loses interest you can just store it for a later time.

 

 

Oh, be careful of Guitar Center.

You have "victim" or "sucker" written all over you when you walk in knowing nothing and buying for your kid.

They are commissioned sales people, and worse than a car dealer.

Sharks looking for fresh meat in the water.

 

You can likely get a better price on a nicer guitar from a Mom & Pop shop, though GC won't let you believe it.

 

 

One last thing;

Way to go Dad!

You ROCK!

 

Our oldest is 19 and is a pretty good player with his Les Paul, American Deluxe Strat and Alvarez acoustic.

It's worth it to spend the money.

 

 

 

Alot of what you said make alot of sense.I bought the faded fist because of the price.I can't say its a crap guitar but I eventually wanted more like you say and bought the standard.I have both now as they wouldn't give me crap for a trade in for with the faded.I like the standard better of the 2.Its nicer.Faded is ok,but standard is better

[MI_Canuck]

I started with an Epiphone G-400 (SG) Goth, then got an Epiphone Les Paul (both used). After about a year, I ended up trading both in to get a nice used Gibson SG Standard. Epiphones are great guitars, especially to start out with. A wise choice before spending more money. But after having the Gibson, I can appreciate why they are more. To me the difference was noticeable, even just in pure feel and playability, let alone quality and resale value. There is something about having a real Gibson. I love my SG Standard. I knew it the first time I picked it up in my hands.

 

Sounds like you are taking the right approach Marcelo. When you get a real Gibson eventually, you'll love it and appreciate it even more!

 

 

cheers

[Jimbo]

I started with an Epiphone G-400 (SG) Goth' date=' then got an Epiphone Les Paul (both used). After about a year, I ended up trading both in to get a nice used Gibson SG Standard. Epiphones are great guitars, especially to start out with. A wise choice before spending more money. But after having the Gibson, I can appreciate why they are more. To me the difference was noticeable, even just in pure feel and playability, let alone quality and resale value. There is something about having a real Gibson. I love my SG Standard. I knew it the first time I picked it up in my hands.

 

Sounds like you are taking the right approach Marcelo. When you get a real Gibson eventually, you'll love it and appreciate it even more!

 

 

cheers

[/quote']

 

I have to agree with the above. I bought a SG special in 2003 for cost reasons. After 3 years I'd admitted defeat, saved up for what I'd always wanted and got a standard, All round better playability in my case.Worth saving up for- although the neck was the same dimensions it just felt more comfortable on the standard.

[BarleyGr]

I have owned a Gibson SG Standard and am a HUGE AC/DC fan, the look is definetly much closer to that of Angus' guitar and personally I would suggest purchasing the standard from Musiciansfriend.com. The guitar was in great condition and if any thing is wrong with it they replace it. They personally check the guitar before it leaves to ensure it is playable

[ninety1vee]

if your son can take care of a standard then get it for em', but if he treats stuff like crap, get him an epi

[Wonko the Sane]

If you keep your eyes open you can get a really nice faded for a lot less and in the hands of a kid there's a lot less to risk. Seems like a no brainer to me. When he gets older he can buy himself a fancy axe.

[RStabe]

I bought my little guy an adrenaline rush energy drink epiphone sg off of ebay. I could not believe what I was hearing when I fired it up. It was pretty hot to say the least. I was expectin that sg special sound and was I surprised. I put a meter on them and they were 17 and 13 Ohms. Definately not the normal stock pickups. They go for way cheap too. Ive seen them go new for $80.