brrobert Posted December 8, 2008 Posted December 8, 2008 Lately I do. I have a Duncan Seth Lover in the bridge and Duncan '59 in the neck. The bridge sounds great, middle sounds good in some settings (almost strat-ish), but I'm still trying to find a good clean neck tone. It sounds pretty good with the amp set to Roland Jazz and the tone turned way down, but my Gibson hollow body and Fenders do that bettter. I'd be interested in hearing what you do to make your SG sound great clean.
Randy1 Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I purchased my SG for the distorted tone. I have been trying to find a good clean tone out of it, but just cant seem to get it right. I guess I'll continue to play my Strat or Tele for the great clean sound.
Space Pup Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I have a '61 Reissue and I play it clean about half the time. It makes a surprisingly good little Jazz guitar. I think the '57 classic pickups have a nice balance and a smooth tone that works well for Jazz. For a nice Jazz tone, I plug my SG directly into a CRATE solid state amp. I use either the neck pickup only or both pickups and cut back the volume and tone on the bridge pickup a little.
80LPC Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 Used to get a nice warm, jazzy tone from the neck pickup of my walnut 'The SG'. I later removed this pickup, and put a strat one in. (I had to angle it to fit). This was very clean by comparison. I then decided to fit a series / parallel switch to the original humbucker, and the sound when set to parallel was amazing. It was difficult to believe this sound was coming from an SG ! It was similar to the out of phase position 4 on a strat. Another idea I tried, - this time on my Les Paul Custom, was to use the tone controls to gradually short out the inner coils. This gave a P90 type sound. I never liked drilling holes for switches, so it was a handy way of trying things out to just use the tone controls.
deelaz Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 i swapped the classic 57 with the duncan phat cat and i love the single coil sounding, more clarity, and chunky tone, i play in a indie rock band and i only use the ts9 with the overdrive knob pointing 0, only use it for a slight booster, can you guys help me whats the best booster stomp with really dry boosting output, i am still looking for one, i couldnt get it from the ts9 beacause somehow i still feel that it has gritty sounding character, thanks for the clue..what do you think about using a burstbucker pro for the bridge to play clean? thanks
80LPC Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 What about a clean boost pedal or a treble booster like this one (for tube amps only)
Dynadude Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 The P-90s in my SG get a great rock tone without any added distortion, when the volume is turned up. With the volume at mid settings they clean up well, but still have a nice sharp attack. At lower volume settings they get a really mellow woody tone, and blend well with other instruments. Kind of like when you mic a good acoustic. I think some of the best clean sounding Gibson solid bodies are the SG type Melody Makers from the '60s. They have a bright clean tone that cuts through, and those guitars seem to take on the emotions of the player so well. If you're in a pissy mood, they snarl. If you're mellow, they weep. It's amazing.
Boston004681 Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 DUDE!!!! You CAN'T change pickups in an SG. It's just NOT right. It's PERFECT the way it is!
80LPC Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I realise now that I had committed a cardinal sin. I should have fitted a matching strat pickup in the bridge position...... Seriously, I am always messing with guitars, and I can't resist doing the unthinkable.
80LPC Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 I think some of the best clean sounding Gibson solid bodies are the SG type Melody Makers from the '60s. They have a bright clean tone that cuts through' date=' and those guitars seem to take on the emotions of the player so well. If you're in a pissy mood, they snarl. If you're mellow, they weep. It's amazing. [/quote'] I want one of these so much......But they cost a fortune over here ! From what I've heard, the 'reissues' are nowhere near the originals. Maybe I'll have to make one instead.
brrobert Posted December 9, 2008 Author Posted December 9, 2008 Now THIS is a great sounding clean SG: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Ian Martin Posted December 9, 2008 Posted December 9, 2008 Now THIS is a great sounding clean SG: Sister Rosetta Tharpe Oh. My. God. AMAZING performance!!!
brrobert Posted December 9, 2008 Author Posted December 9, 2008 Sister knows her way around an SG. I especially like the move at 3:39. Here is Sister rockin' with the same SG-- a longer solo: Down By The Riverside
jameswithesg Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 i have a 61 reissue, its got 57s at the bridge and neck and a dimmarzio dual sound that i put in the middle, and my pots arent the original 50 k there more like 10 k (which helps a lot for a good clean) and i use my neck pickup with the dimarzio in the middle set to a single coil setting the combination of it all makes a great clean, but that neck pickup with the tone pretty low does a lot
lakehaus Posted December 10, 2008 Posted December 10, 2008 My stock '76 Standard has surprisingly sweet pups. Nice and clean on the neck. But honestly, when I pick that sucker up, it's to rock on the heavy side.... toggle switch down, V & T on 10. I play straight into my Mesa Lonestar with a good mix of drive and gain. Thru my Tophat, it is driven with a TS9 Analogman and a Mr. Springy reverb pedal. Nothing better...
deelaz Posted December 13, 2008 Posted December 13, 2008 i just bought my self MI Audio Boost 'n' Buff, its amazing powered by 2 9v batteries, its really a transparent booster stomp and really loud very versatile, for those who play clean with your guitar this stomp will stoke you! especially for the clarity, amazing you should try it.
brrobert Posted December 13, 2008 Author Posted December 13, 2008 Sister gets cookin' at 1.25 Wow! For a Gospel lady, she sure gets a filthy tone! I'm thinking Sister deserves her own thread....
80LPC Posted December 13, 2008 Posted December 13, 2008 I'm thinking Sister deserves her own thread.... Not a bad idea ! Here's a younger sister, using a tone that is decidedly unclean ! Apologies for gross distortion of this topic.
Guitar slinger Posted December 14, 2008 Posted December 14, 2008 I have always played clean most of the times with my SG, my Tele, my Strat... And i always play dirty often with all of them also. I just love guitars and I don't think only Teles will do good clean and only LPs will break the amp nicely. Mate, if you played the stuff I like to play with the same amps I play, U would play clean/dirty too =)
rafaelh Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Absolutely....heck my favorite guitar for playing (or hacking rather) jazz is my '61.....the neck accessibility, the finger board radius and the '57s just make it perfect for me. Dial a bit bottom on the amp, some verb or delay...don't get no better I think. Actually IMO short of the single coil twang not much you can't do with one...at least for me anyhow. LOL...guess yous can tell I favor my SG.
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