Always has been my favorite guitar

I found one on Craigslist a couple months ago and I’ve had a hard time putting it down. It’s my first SG and with the P90s it’s the perfect compliment to my Gibson Les Paul Classic.

I bought my SG Classic in the Summer of 2007. Guitar Center had it on sale for $800 during 4th of July weekend. I have it tuned in Spanish tuning (open A). Love it. I also bought my '61 Standard Reissue the same year, a very good period for Gibson quality-wise. Still have both.

I got mine back in 2001, one of the first years of the classic. I recently got a new Les Paul Special in TV Yellow and really prefer it over the SG. I find the SG has a very immediate attack which gives it a plinky piezo-like character, especially clean. I can hear it on the video too. I replaced the harness with an RS 500k vintage harness in 50’s wiring, which definitely opened it up a bit, but I still struggle to get that growl and throatiness I get from the special

Just picked up a 2007 classic. Traded 2 guitars plus cash. Love the p90s

We went to store here, and my mom liked SG Standard more than the beautiful ESP LTD H3-1000FR Black Burst, and in the future, hopefully some day, I could afford one...I also like the SG, my M-1000 Purple Burst is awesome, and I think some day I hope we can afford an SG.

Thats in great shape for a 15yr old guitar…great stuff Tony😎

Looks nice,thanks Tony

Great review Tony! Always enjoy your in-depth reviews on guitars. The SG is my favorite. 🙌🏻

I paid $1275 brand new for my Gibson SG Special in a stunning pelham blue. It rocks and cost less than many Epiphones these days! It has all the premium features including a full gloss nitro finish, binding, & a Gibson hardshell case. I even made a video going over it & how it’s the best value Gibson you can buy & I still stand by that.

I have two of these. I call them first run and second run. Yours I call second run. It has a black switch tip and a bulckyer Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge. The first run has a cream switch tip and a ABR-1 bridge with the thin posts screwed into the pickguard and body. I got a deal on my first run because the previous owner installed P-100s in it. I installed Gibson P-90s in to it to get it back to stock specifications. That was not so easy. I forget exactly how I did it but it took some adjustments. Usually with P-90s you just use the two screws within the pickup cover to adjust the height, like on a SG Special or a Les Paul Special. But on this SG Classic you have the four screws in the pickguard to adjust the two pickups' height that you don't see in the SG Special. It's been so long since I did it, but I think I might have had to purchase two dogear P-90s and move the two arms to the base of the pickup then replace the dogear covers with soapbar covers then I had exactly what Gibson installed in these guitars. Another thing I did was to wire the pickups in the first run in reverse polarity when you use the middle position. This gives you hum-cancelling in the middle position that you don't get in the second run. I don't know the physics of it, but if you are playing so loud with so much gain in the neck and bridge positions that you are getting uncontrollable squealing feedback, switching to the middle position with the reverse wiring eliminates the feedback and saves your performance. I learned that from my Guild Blues 90 which is factory installed with Seymour Duncans wired this way. I would be soloing with the Guild and getting squealing feedback and when I switched to the middle position it killed it. These are all great guitars. I like the white plastic button tuners because it matches the asthetic of the dot inlays and is your best bet to avoid the dreaded SG neck dive that Grovers might encourage. If that's your problem just buy a strap with a rough leather underside and the SG neck will never dive. Rock on.

SG

Hi ya,

Phil Mcknight takes off tuners with metal buttons because he prefers plastic ones. I love the look of the plastic as they are a throwback to ivory used in the far past. They can be a problem as they can break so if a guitar has metal ones I would never change them.

Never say never!!

yes they are nitro. the grain being visible is either the nitro sinking or not enough grain filler.

I don’t think Gibson has ever used poly.

Hi Tony, are you sure the radius is 10? I've never seen a Gibson with that, they are usually 12. I had to scratch my SG itch as well as you've sent me down the worm hole.

Today, we're (neck) diving into a timeless debate?

Not for me. A much uglier design compared to a Les Paul. If you ask me, the ESP Viper is a better guitar in this shape.