Played a $3000 Gibson SG through an AC30 yesterday and ...

[SpectralJulian]

Originally posted by freeridstylee I had a hondo once (before i knew a thing about guitars) was an lp copy. Was made of plywood. and the kicker........they hid single coils inside of humbuckers. Sons of bitches! I know some guitars are saught after because they did this (like airplane's) but come on that's just cheap. I must have gotten one of their lowest end guitars or something. As for Gibson; it really sucks, just go to the real gibson, and buy a Heritage.

Very true. I happened to have a happy accident buying my first guitar and got a Hondo II LP custom copy with a set neck at a local shop. I also got a through-neck Hondo off of ebay that needed some resoldering for 117. I got a bolt-on neck hondo off ebay for 140 that ended up being stolen .

I don't think any of mine were made of plywood, and all of them had true humbuckers.

You have to be sort of discerning about Hondos. The ones with set necks and through-necks seem to be the highest quality, and the 73X series ones with bolt ons seem to be pretty damn good too.

[HMCMedic]

Originally posted by Kestral Flamed maple is for flamers

I was starting to get worried! I hadn't seen you post anything at all about your alternative lifestyle in a while. Glad to see you're okay:wave:

On a side note Kes, any thoughts on a good USB interface to use with a Mac and POD?

[Mike McLenison]

I've got a 2003 SG-61 and it plays like a dream. I've owned some 60's SG's and this is not inferior! Not only does it sound great, the strings are almost laying on the frets with no fret buzz! Even with extreme bends and vibrato, it does not go out of tune! It's got the cheap standard Klusons.

[L6Sguy]

Originally posted by Kestral .....Wow, I just realized something, this is probably the first time ever here that I trashed a "Sacred Cow" and not only did I not get flamed for it, but I'm having people agree with me. Tells you a lot about how {censored}ty modern Gibsons are when so few people are stepping up to defend them....

 

 

it'd be different at HCEG.

 

and i dont think they are building all crap guitars, back then or now, but rather they are building a bunch of guitars, some of which are great & some of which should be priced like Oscar Schmidts. my aversion to the newer stuff is more a 'principle' thing. (

[saturdaysaviour]

$3000 for an SG special? That's a total rip off. For that much you could get one of these

[freeridstylee]

If gibson is like most ski and snowboard companies they rate every product off the line a b c or unsellable. I'm sure if thats the case they send all the c's to the companies who buy at the highest quantities; thus pay the least, sell the cheapest, and have the greatest markup.

~just a thought, because I know martin and taylor make great guitars, I just don't see them at Guitar Center.

Plus no one at guitar center sits down, sets up and inspects every guitar, I know many small shops do, and are probably more likely to send a guitar back.

[Fourth Floor]

Hey Tiki,

as you know I got the Pete Townshend SG (massive club neck) with P90s and that is so rock and good quality ($2500 down from $3700).

When we did the new album, I borrowed a friend's brand new 5K Les Paul and my Heritage H150 (Paul style) creamed it in every way.

Just on the SG note, I'm listening to Acca Dacca right now. Wooo!! Shoot to Thrill.

[Kestral]

Originally posted by HMCMedic I was starting to get worried! I hadn't seen you post anything at all about your alternative lifestyle in a while. Glad to see you're okay:wave: On a side note Kes, any thoughts on a good USB interface to use with a Mac and POD?

USB interfaces aren't good for digital audio because USB bandwidth is limited. Go with a Firewire or PCI solution.

On the firewire side, I'm using an M-Audio Audiophile Firewire. Cheap and cheerful. I just got my Apogee Rosetta 200 A/D/A converter today and I've got that as the front end on my M-Audio box running Pro Tools M-Powered and Logic Pro and it sounds amazing!

But if you're looking for good bang for the buck, I like the Metric Halo interfaces a lot, they sound almost as good as the Apogees and you can get them for under $1K on eBay these days.

[HMCMedic]

Originally posted by Kestral USB interfaces aren't good for digital audio because USB bandwidth is limited. Go with a Firewire or PCI solution. On the firewire side, I'm using an M-Audio Audiophile Firewire. Cheap and cheerful. I just got my Apogee Rosetta 200 A/D/A converter today and I've got that as the front end on my M-Audio box running Pro Tools M-Powered and Logic Pro and it sounds amazing! But if you're looking for good bang for the buck, I like the Metric Halo interfaces a lot, they sound almost as good as the Apogees and you can get them for under $1K on eBay these days.

 

 

U da man:thu:

 

sorry for the thread H-jack

[TIKILOCKEDOUT]

Originally posted by Fourth Floor Hey Tiki, as you know I got the Pete Townshend SG (massive club neck) with P90s and that is so rock and good quality ($2500 down from $3700). When we did the new album, I borrowed a friend's brand new 5K Les Paul and my Heritage H150 (Paul style) creamed it in every way. Just on the SG note, I'm listening to Acca Dacca right now. Wooo!! Shoot to Thrill.

Hey 4th,

I didn't recall you mentioning the Pete SG actually - I'd really like an Sg but the 3k'er just would not stay in tune ... awful! The ticket price on them is 3k but you can get them around the traps in Sydney for $2200 ish and in some cases closer to 2k if you have some sales moves of your own. Not surprised your Heritage creamed the LP - that's the way of modern guitars these days - like me with my Ovations - I bought my Breadwinner in 88 for $450 AUD but it sounds incredible and plays better and better as time goes by ... I have yet to play a sweeter axe.

Speaking of Acca Dacca I was at Downtown Music today and chatting to an old mate who handles all the vintage gear there ... who happens to be Mark the original bass player for AC/DC. I have to wonder about the dichotamy between the music you listen to and stuff you play sometimes mate ... you'd never put the two together normally!

P.S I'll be looking out for your clip on Rage tonight.

[english_bob]

Originally posted by saturdaysaviour $3000 for an SG special? That's a total rip off.

I think we're talking Australian dollars, not USD.


I remember one of the guys at the Derby Gibson dealer telling me about how they'd sent an entire shipment of Gibsons back because none of them had a nut slot cut for the G string

[The Gainster]

That's why I bought the PRS. I had money in my pocket and went to 3 music stores to buy a LP. All 6 I played were built like poop!!! And that was in 1991! I picked up and played the PRS and bought it on the spot! It plays like butter.

[newstrat60]

I played a Custom Historic SG 61 at NYC' GC last summer, she was nice looking / nice playing...

+ 1 on the fender quality : my CS strat is awesome

[farfignewgon]

On of my friends had an early 70's SG custom stolen a few years back. With the insurance money he got a new SG 3 pickup custom. I think it was over 3k US. He had it for about a year and the fretboard started to separate from the bottom of the neck. Nice gibson. He brought it back to the place he bought it and they sent it to gibson. After a while they sent him a new sg which was cool...

[spoonie g]

I just bought a historic sg from GC for 2k wedensday; no problems whatsoever, haven't even had to tune it yet. Plays amazing and sounds as thick as some Les Pauls I've played. It's funny, I sold my sg standard in front of GC for $950 and walked in and bought a historic.

[angus_old]

Originally posted by freeridstylee I know some guitars are saught after because they did this (like airplane's) but come on that's just cheap. I must have gotten one of their lowest end guitars or something.

I think you mean Airlines??

[funksta v2.0]

Why would you buy Gibson when you could get a superior Heritage for about half the price?

Mind you, they don't make SG-style guitars.

[GCDEF]

You bashers are nuts. Any guitar's going to need new strings and they're going to need to be stretched. Why slam a $3,000 guitar because it needs $4 worth of strings.

[preservation]

[TIKILOCKEDOUT]

Originally posted by GCDEF You bashers are nuts. Any guitar's going to need new strings and they're going to need to be stretched. Why slam a $3,000 guitar because it needs $4 worth of strings.

Man, I've been playing guitar for 19 years and have worked in guitar shops before, selling guitars as a trade and this guitar didn't need new strings it needed a new luthier! The guitar would not intonate correctly - ie it was actually out of tune with itself, so it plays in tune in open E but then is out of tune on an A barre chord - and then it wouldn't actually HOLD it's tuning once temporarily tuned in whatever key I could tune it in!

I had a 2k Guild 12 string 10 years ago that suffered the same poor workmanship - it's a company attitude. Why would I just bash a guitar for the sake of it when it was a guitar I was hoping to pick up and go YAY about - I want one? I said earlier that the guitar store itself were refusing to stock the Gibsons because they hated the quality now and the price for the quality. What part of all this don't you get?

[Kestral]

I want to a Gibson SG as well but the only ones I play that are any good are the ones from the 60's that cost major $$$.

And no, I am not an "original or else" snob, I have a reissue 52 Tele and imo it's better than most vintage Fenders Teles.

Would love to give Gibson money for a well built modern made SG reissue, but such a thing does not exist.

[jeverist]

Well, if what you played was in fact a SG special, those are the entry level SG's and go for about $700 in the states. I don't know what US-Aussie conversion rates are like, but $3000 sounds really high.

I agree, Gibsons can be hit and miss, but the custom shop ones that I've played were fantastic - beautifully balanced, excellent setups, tone for days.

BTW, I've had my AC-30CC for several months now. Excellent amp, no troubles whatsoever.

[Meriphew]

One of the GC's here in Seattle has 2 of the '60 Les Paul RI's (I think they're specially made for GC). Both of them played ok, but both had stain bleed on the neck binding. I don't know if they're supposed to have that (I wouldn't think so), but they looked like crap for a $2500 guitar. A nice Les Paul is next on my list, but if this is the kind of quality that they're putting out, I'll prolly just buy a Fender custom shop something or other.

[stangme01]

Wow i didn't know they were that bad? I play Les Pauls every once in a while when i'm at GC and they kill epiphones (not sure how people think epi sounds better, totally different league) the only thing i don't like is how the body wants to flop backwards off my lap because its so much heavier and unbalanced.

[L6Sguy]

Originally posted by GCDEF You bashers are nuts. Any guitar's going to need new strings and they're going to need to be stretched. Why slam a $3,000 guitar because it needs $4 worth of strings.

and regarding the fretboard separation, the splotchy binding, twisted necks, off-color filler, the admission to selling 2nds (they couldnt have clearly marked them ), etc, etc, etc????

they are not a guitar company, they are a lifestyle company that uses the guitar as a vehicle for their name. if the guitar displays the name, mission accomplished (similar to Izod shirts). if the guitar is a superb piece of guitar-ness, thats just gravy, but completely secondary, if not third-ary.

i've got a Gibson guitar as my moniker (albeit one that has little to do with the design they comissioned Bill Lawrence to do), so i'll happily admit that they can turn out a decent/great axe on occasion, and i've owned a couple others that were decent --- but if a company is gonna try and pass themselves off as a top-shelf brand, they should be able to cut the mustard every time. its not at all tough in this day and age.

unless they just wanna be a lifestlyle company.