Gibson Les paul 50's tribute HB or Gibson SG special faded

[trapt_under]

hey everyone!

im ordering a guitar (my first gibson) but i cant really decide on which one. I've been playing for a few years now but mostly with lower end/cheaper guitar makes e.g. squier, epiphone. and im sort of a noob at guitar specs and all.

im ordering a guitar from someone i know (the part of the world where i live does not have any gibson stores nearby). so thats the problem, that i cant try any of the guitars to find out what suits me.

other than the sound, specs, looks and all, a major consideration i have is the weight of the guitar. the two guitars i have are epiphone les paul studio and a squier strat. the epiphone les paul is a good guitar but a bit too heavy which bothered my while playing, and after i got my strat i stopped playing it altogether. i dont want to make a mistake like that again! ive heard sg is the way to go if you want a lighter guitar but ive also heard that the les paul 50's tribute has a chambered body so that lightens the weight as well, and its not as heavy as most les pauls.

hope you guys can help me decide

[pfox14]

I would go with a 60s tribute SG. Light weight and the best selling Gibson models ever! Can't go wrong with an SG.

[charlie brown]

Welcome, to the forum!

 

Yeah, of the two, and with your weight requirements, the SG's are pretty hard to beat!

Plus, unfettered upper fret access (if that's any consideration, to you, at all).

 

The Les Paul is a great guitar, though. So, I'd say whichever one, you choose, will be

a good one, provided they're of equal overall quality (fit, finish, playability, etc.).

 

Good Luck!

 

CB

[AlanH]

These are the very two Gibson models I own so, hopefully, I can advise.

 

Weight-wise, there isn't a lot in it because the LP tribute is heavily chambered. I don't find it heavy at all. So, taking weight out of the equation, if you like the feel of your Epi LP as you wear it, then the LP Tribute could be the guitar for you. The SG feels flatter against the body: more of a slab, but it's very easy to move about so is still very comfortable to wear. The neck sticks out further from the SG's body because of where it's joined. You get better upper fret access because of this but you can also get a bit of upper arm ache if you play more open chords with your hand extended further away from your body. Wearing it closer in to your body prevents this. Neck dive will also occur on the SG without a wide, suede/leather strap. To me, the SG plays faster than the LP. I don't know why- maybe it's the better access to the whole fretboard.

 

Sound wise, the SG has a snappier unplugged tone to it- more attack but you still get that Gibson sustain. The LP Tribute, obviously, also has that Gibby sustain but it has a fatter, creamier unplugged tone to it. However, the fatness you get is less than you get with an unchambered LP. I put the unplugged tone of the LP Tribute somewhere between that of the SG and the unchambered LP. It has both fatness of the unchmabered LP and the attack of the SG, just not as much of either. Also bear in mind that the LP Tribute has the hotter 498T bridge pickup. That said, the 490T takes any high gain thrown at it exceptionally well (IMO).

 

Which do I prefer? Well the answer to that varies from one day to the next.

 

I hope this helps (if I haven't made it a harder decision rather than an easier one.) What I can say is that both of these guitars are among the best value electric guitars on the market. Just look at what else you could get for the same money from other manufacturers. It doesn't even get you anywhere near the price of a USA Standard Strat which has surely got to be far cheaper to manufacture.

 

The easy decision is to buy one or the other because you can't go wrong with either.