Members shinsengumi Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Well, after snatching it up for $600 with discount at GC over the phone, the wait is over, it's here!! The color is actually a deeper red than that, it's almost identical to the official Gibson picture: Overall impressions: this guitar SMOKES! It's my first ever guitar with P-90s, and it sounds superb. I recently tried a standard SG classic at GC, through a Tiny Terror and got instant Live at Leeds sound - mine sounds different, however. The pickups are likely hotter than my guitar with a SD Custom 5 in the bridge - with my Marshall plexi reissue on 9:00 it was already breaking up, but the pickups are super responsive, play lightly and they have a great chiming clean sound, ditto with the guitar volume rolled back. Volume halfway up, it gets a great late 60s blues rock/hard rock sound. I thought I could maybe get the who sound out of it, but no such luck - perhaps a Tiny Terror sounds more like a Hiwatt. Volume up all the way, and this is a hard rock riff monster. Instant Black Sabbath first two albums - NAILS the Paranoid and War Pigs tone, and random power chord riffs just sounded immense - HUGE, furry, deep sounding, yet articulate at the same time. I LOVE IT. Maybe it's just NGD shock but this may be the best sounding guitar I have. What's cool is that so few people that I listen to played P-90s (Pete and Tony come to mind but that's it), that unless I'm playing Who or Sabbath riffs, it's a very original sounding tone. Another plus, rolling the guitar volume down does not muddy the tone at all, I've had some issues with this on my other guitars and it's nice to have a clear sound at low volumes. Playability: Really really nice. I guess the Plek thing works. The action is super low so there's a bit of buzz, but it's lower than I like so I'll probably raise it a bit. It plays hella fast though. The neck seems thinner than the SG Classic I played at GC, and thinner than a VOS R0 I also played there. I'd put it on par with a newer strat neck, I guess. Cosmetics: Well, this is where Gibson usually screws up, and while they didn't do too badly it's not perfect. So as I said the color is more like the official Gibson picture, which is nice. I don't like the bright cherry of the glossy SGs. I've not had much experience with Gibson's faded guitars, but damn, it's like they didn't use any grain filler at all. I can feel and see all the open pores: Obviously in real life it doesn't look as extreme as these macro shots, but I was expecting something more like Fender's Highway 1 finishes, which are still solid. On this you can feel the grain. Not sure how I feel about that. The other issue is the binding - it's great almost all the way around the neck, with fret edge binding too. HOWEVER, on the low E side, between the nut and the 3rd fret, the binding is sort of hollowed out - it's an even thickness everwhere else, but is thinner there, so the neck wood sticks out slightly. It's especially bad in the space between the first and second frets: It doesn't really affect playability, but it's annoying knowing it's there. I guess there's nothing I can do about it right? Kind of absurd to ask for an exchange for such a minor issue, when the sound and playability are great, right/ Overall, other than the binding thing, I'm very happy. Ultimately a guitar is about sound and feel, and this wins on both fronts. Not bad for $600! PS - if anybody knows how I can get a more solid feeling finish/fill the pores, that would be great - maybe some kind of wax? I hand-buffed my Highway 1 a few years back with Meguiar's polish and now it has a beautifully subtle shine, but I don't think that'll be possible on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members weareasmallaxe Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 love them p90s...love them sgs...enjoy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesnapper Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Lovely SG! I wasn't sure about the finish on my LP Faded at first - but six months of sweating into it seemed to do the trick - now the back of the neck is beautiful to slide up and down. Get rawking that thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Beautiful score!On the finish, grain filler goes first. It's nearly impossible to do it well after the fact. The best you can do probably is shoot a few coats of clear nitro over the top and buff it out. Without a filler underneath, the grain will reappear over time. They save much labor in skipping that step. HNGD! EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shinsengumi Posted February 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Beautiful score! On the finish, grain filler goes first. It's nearly impossible to do it well after the fact. The best you can do probably is shoot a few coats of clear nitro over the top and buff it out. Without a filler underneath, the grain will reappear over time. They save much labor in skipping that step. HNGD! EG Thanks! Yeah, I don't want to get into nitro. Might not wax fill in the cracks? I know they save labor, but man....does that really cost the $300 difference? PS, this is my first totally new guitar with nitro, and I know what you guys mean by the nitro smell. It's nice (My Highway 1 was nitro finished but had been sitting around the shop for months in the open) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members webwarmiller Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 PS - if anybody knows how I can get a more solid feeling finish/fill the pores, that would be great - maybe some kind of wax? I hand-buffed my Highway 1 a few years back with Meguiar's polish and now it has a beautifully subtle shine, but I don't think that'll be possible on this. Give yourself sometime to get use to it. You just might find you really start to like it.....I prefer guitars that look and feel like wood. As for wax, it would be cloudy in the pores and not look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beyer160 Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Nice!!! Did it come with a case, or a bag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 woo hoo! Personally, I like the orange peel, open pore look on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted February 28, 2011 Moderators Share Posted February 28, 2011 Don't see them being offered in Europe at the moment:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shinsengumi Posted February 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 It came with a gig bag. Musician's Friend says it comes with HSC, GC says it comes with a gig bag. Odd, since they're the same company, right? Same price too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted February 28, 2011 Moderators Share Posted February 28, 2011 Give yourself sometime to get use to it. You just might find you really start to like it.....I prefer guitars that look and feel like wood. As for wax, it would be cloudy in the pores and not look good. I've Truoil'd a Faded with very very good results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tweedledee Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Excellent! I'm not sure you could find a better dual P90 USA made guitar with a nitro finish for $600! As Beyer asked, did it come with a case or bag? The description said it comes with a case, but I had my doubts... EDIT: I noticed Musicians Friend changed it to say it comes with a gig bag now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shinsengumi Posted February 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Don't see them being offered in Europe at the moment:( They're brand new. I haven't even seen any reviews on them yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExiledCrow Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Mmmmm, SG .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Into Nation Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Beauty! (I thought it was the 60's SG Tribute P90 that was advertising with case...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shinsengumi Posted February 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Anybody else ever have a similar binding issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Metalrulez Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 HNGD!! My Melody Maker's neck is like that with the open pores and it bothered me for all of 3 seconds when I first opened the box. After playing it I was like who cares since I could not actually feel the open pores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Do the open pores mean it is more likely to develop blackheads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cbh5150 Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 HNGD! And yes, I have had a couple of Gibson Fadeds, and the one thing that I cannot stand is the porousness of the finish. Like you said, if Fender can do it (and Epiphone, too, FCS), then why not Gibson??? However, I'm sure is sounds and plays great as is, so congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shredder1 Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I like the SG`s first one I bought was back in the early 70s, a secondhand one for 400 quid, can`t remember what the price was then but you can pick them up now for 999, so I don`t think they`ve really gone up much over the years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Tempest Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Nice guitar. My Flying V Faded essentially has that same finish. I find it very thin because on one of the edges the finish rubbed off while it was in the gig bag. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mnhhngbfs Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I wouldn't fuss about the binding issue if the guitar plays and sounds to your liking. If you sent it back you could get something with some actual issues or a broken headstock during shipping. Not worth the time and shipping costs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 awesome score for $600! congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shinsengumi Posted February 28, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I wouldn't fuss about the binding issue if the guitar plays and sounds to your liking. If you sent it back you could get something with some actual issues or a broken headstock during shipping. Not worth the time and shipping costs This is what I'm inclined to think too. It sounds like a MONSTER, it's unreal. I'm not a big stoner rock fan but this thing would KILL for that, and I like the sound a ton. Through my Marshall it's Sabbath in a can. Who's to say a replacement one will sound like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Congrats! (o)(o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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