SG vs. LP

[PonyOne]

I happen to be a die-hard SG fan. At the very least in the area I live in, it all seems to be Les Paul or Strat, with Telecasters, Ibanez, ESP, and hollowbodies picking up the slack. NOT A SINGLE F-IN GUITARIST THAT I'VE MET HERE OWNS AN SG!

I have a cheap Epiphone SG. It's a righty, I'm a lefty; basically it was the cheapest cool-looking guitar available under $200 when I got it in new '99 (god only knows when it was actually made). I was totally green when it came to electrics and bought it because I'd seem Iommi use one at Ozzfest and knew the Swedish hardcore band uses a horribly-banged-up black one, also the double cutaways made it so after flipping everything backwards I could still use the whole fretboard.

Since then I've come to appreciate my little $180 POS guitar... I replaced the pu's and did some cosmetic stuff to it and it looks & sounds cool. It's got a Duncan Buckshot in the bridge... as I understand these are fairly uncommon and are more or less a combination of a distortion and blues pickup with added twang (very cool).

The other week, I put the guitar in its gig bag against my dresser for all of 30 seconds... stumbling for my lamp I tripped on my amp, which my dad randomly decided to place in the middle of my floor to teach me a lesson on putting a small object in the unused corner of our living room, and instinctively put my hand out to catch myself. I landed square on the neck joint and although it still plays, tuning stability is down the tubes, and if a guitar with a plywood maple body and a bolt-on neck didn't resonate enough already this surely didn't help.

A repair is unlikely. Very unlikely. I love the guitar and will play it for now but at some point, it's gonna be above my couch (i'm moving to LA in like 4 months minus my family) as a tribute to... well, me, I suppose.

I'm going to bite the bullet and get a real lefty, not a crappy little conversion, and I'm going to invest in somethng that's higher quality. As much a sucker as I am for the twang of a tele or the nondescript strat-ness of a strat, or the big air of a hollowbody, I think I'll stick to a humbucker equipped solidbody. I flip flop between SG and LP on an almost daily basis. Both have their highs; if I had $2000 I'd just buy both, but I don't. I'll have to for a couple months to get one, and I also have to get my car repaired, and then I have to start paying rent, so it'll be my last dance with financial freedom.

So which do you prefer and why?

[lalimacefolle]

I have owned a les paul for years, (I don't have it anymore, since a luthier made my main guitar now) And I never got along with SG because they were too small. It's funny since some mag once wrote they were a good alternative for women and small guys (like Angus YOUNG)...

[Lordathestrings]

I've never seen a lefty, but it does have a double cutaway, so conversion would be straight forward. See? (http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=2732&pagenumber=3)

I find the quality is actually superior to either Gibson or Epiphone, and because I'm strongly recommending a used one, you can save a pile of money, too. I was not impressed by the newer SG 700 and 800 models that I've seen. The older 1000, 2000, and 3000 models are the good ones. The 2000 has a brass block under the bridge for better sustain than the 1000, and the 3000 is a fancier version of the 2000.

Its all mahogany with a maple top, like a Les Paul, but with a stronger transition from the neck to the head, and a better join between the neck and body. The scale length is the same as a Paul, with very slightly narrower string spacing at the bridge.

Check it out. (http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Yamaha/SG1000-01.html)

If you can find one, I know you will want to keep it!

[PonyOne]

Thanks for the info, I'll look for one... I like Yamaha products a lot, my first acoustic was a Yamaha and my synth is a Yamaha as well. People knock them too much, it's (mostly) all undue.

[Jimmy Page XVI]

I know this is not entirely related to the main topic, but I have had a question for about two days now. I have a LP and like a moron I accidentally scratched a part of the guitar. Now the scratch is very small and only visible when the light is reflected out of the barnish. Can I take that fking thing off without having to resand it???

[Lordathestrings]

I bet no-one answered because no-one wants be blamed for a bad result. This is a job for an expert!

Don't let just any tech mess with the finish; its the hardest part of making a guitar.

Unless you can find a luthier that you trust with your baby, this is something you need to get done by the Gibson factory.

[Incidents Happen]

why dont you bitch your dad out, make him buy you a new one?

[PonyOne]

I did... oh did I ever... more than the time I was 13 and he dumped all my CD's in front of my door so I stepped on them and cracked three or four (because he just decided that he didn't want them out in the living room), last month when he put afore-mentioned Yamaha synth in front of my door and again, i stumble on it on my way to the john at 4 am & break a pot switch, the times he threw out my stuff or gave them to charity becuase I had "too much", or when he just stopped buying me food because I was 14 and it was high time I started fending for myself...

Family tradition dictates that I'm supposed to be thrown hardship after hardship for the greater good; like, sister needs to make friends at new private school, so my weekly rations are cut from five cans of chili and two packs of ramen to two cans of chili and one pack of ramen to make way for a new Gap dress and a six pack (to deal w/stress).

I didn't get my first guitar till I dropped out of school and took a job making pizzas to pay for it. I think it'd be easier to ask my dad to throw me out of the house than it would be to ask him to buy a new guitar. That's why I'm moving to the other side of the country in a few months. And i's kinda funny, I've gotten to the point that I'd rather just pay a grand out of my own pocket than have my folks foot the bill.

[winterhawk1969]

If you would rather drop a grand out of your own pocket than have your dad pick up the bill, then he did a great job raising you. THANK HIM RIGHT AWAY.

[PonyOne]

Yeah, I do thank my parents... I mean, I love myself & stick to my guns, and a lot of that stems from the fact that I only had myself and my ideals & hope for most of my life.

I still love them, I don't hold grudges. It makes me angry sometimes (like last night, wrought by the frustration of trying to play a busted SG) but it fades fairly quickly. They've got their ideals, I've got mine... they just conflict. I still laugh like my dad, still look like my grandfather, and am still a part of their family. I like LA more than Boston though.

Anyway, back to the topic.... I also have been meaning to ask someone, how do the single-coil size humbuckers (for strats and the like) sound in comparison to a full size bucker? I've never actually tried em, not being a huge strat fan. I've been considering getting a cheap Kramer or something and just putting those in it to fill the void between now and Gibson.

[educatedfilm]

ok, comming through.... I'M A LEFTY...
.played a really really really nice Les Paul studio in london... I really like the sound, very comfy, nice action... I was a little pust of by the anlge of the neck (i'm not used to that sort of thing)... but it was great.. but for £1200 ($1680), i think it was very steep..
Personally, i'd go for for the SG, they're about £900 ($1260).. really nice sound (and cherry red... mmmmmmmmm)...

I was gonna enter a compition to win tony Iommi's guitar... sigh.. never did... http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1422&pagenumber=2
it's too painful to tell again...

[PonyOne]

In the US, you can get an LP studio for about $800 USD, and an SG Special for about the same. It mostly depends on how many they made in this latest run, sometimes the SG eclipses the LP, and then vice versa. Then figure a 20-30% hike for a lefty and you've got your prices.

[educatedfilm]

where from? ... I'm intrested, but I dont have the money :(... but that may not be the case when i get myself a job... I mean, even with shipping costs (taken to be$60) that's miles under what they are here...

[PonyOne]

There's marsmusic.com, the'yre a national chain; think of them as a supermarket that sells musical instruments and supplies (the one here is huge... at least 300 guitars in stock at any moment and open till midnight). Being so huge they can sell them for less. I was looking at a limited-run Les Paul Smartwood w/gold trim... gorgeous, the thickest, warmest tone ever, and it had a shallower body, closer to tha tof an SG, and only $899...
Also, theres http://www.gbase.com, which is essentially a really big classified site that a fe whundred dealerships post their wares on. You can find some astounding deals; there's a really nice lefty custom American Strat w/a peal blue paintjob for like $300 up right now.

You'd probably be more apt to get something shipped from a small independent mom & pop company to the UK than from Mars, simply because such an individual need isn't in keeping with corporate nature.

Also, http://www.edroman.com he sells stuff for good prices, and he's shipped all over the world. You have to call him up though. And if you want a Kramer or something, there's the EU mirror of http://www.musicyo.com

[educatedfilm]

thank yooouuu... *distrubed by how camp i just sounded*

[Incidents Happen]

when your tastebuds burn off from drinking way too much hot cappucino, how long does it take for them go grow back?

[Jimmy Page XVI]

I really do not know exactly how much time it takes for them to grow back, but that same sensation after drinking or eating something very hot lasts usually for about one day and a half for me, therefore it should be somewhere near that time.

[Incidents Happen]

alright


i was at a hockey game, and didnt realize that i drank 4 huge things of hot hot hot cappucino, and my tounge is completely tingly. usually its only a little bit, but this time its like 'woah'