Remember me, the mcdonalds 14 year old worker who saves all his money and buys guitar gear with it (bought a Fender '65 deluxe reverb, Guild DC-1 acoustic/electric, q tron + envelope filter, alltogether so far spent $2000 on gear this year). Well...

I have $1000 now in the bank, and will be replacing my Squier Strat with a new guitar soon (a nice one). I've played plenty of LP's (epi lp's) and have my eyes on one right now, i think i already showed the link (3 humbuckers/black, epi lp black beauty 3), and also the Gibson SG Standard. The price difference is $600 bucks (i get $300 a month from Mickey D's, price is not really the biggest issue) I've never played an SG before (will be in a few weeks, going to a music store that has em). The main thing im worried about is that SG's might not be versatile enough (i already know the LP is very versatile), and that it might dent easily due to its light weight, etc.

Thats where price comes in, i remember hearing somebody say they bought a really nice expensive guitar and they didnt want to bring it in public because they thought it would break somehow and all that money he saved up for would be down the drain (i know its a little exaggerative but things like that happen).

So basically, what im asking is to tell me what model you have of either carnation of the SG or LP and tell me how you like it and (in your opinion) the pros and cons of your instrument.

Well, I have the cheap Epiphone sub-SG, the SG Special. The only merit that mine shares with a Gibson is that it has the same body shape. But a Gibson is a set neck, my particular Epi is a bolt on. It has a lot of sentimental value, being my first guitar, and I've done a lot of work on it so that it sounds as nice as possible.

I've played SG's and LP's extensively, and if I had the choice betweenthe two realistically (i.e. price being an issue), I'd go with the SG. A top-of-the-line SG goes for about the same as a bottom-of-the-line LP. Personally, I like the ligt weight of the SG; it's easier to wield. If given the choice between an SG Standard and an LP Goldtop, however, I would take the Goldtop...

Soundwise, the SG's humbuckers are better suited to overdrive than the LP's are. This is why such bands as AC/DC, Iggy Pop, Refused, The Vines, and many, many others use the SG's for lead. In the instance of the band Jimmy Eat World, and I've seen this before, the SG is used by the lead guitarist, and the singer plays an LP for rythm.

The SG's tone is more crisp and clean than an LP's, but beefier than a Strat's. It's a very good go-between guitar. Also, the body shape is tough to beat. It is about as aggressive as it gets (I refer to mine as the "satanic guitar" among my collection. SG is supposed to stand for "solid guitar" but I got my doubts...) and the double-cut that affects the "horns" means unrestricted access to the fretboard.

SG's are world-renowned for their durability. They are one of the most durable guitars you can get, all things considered; evidently, some people who really like to throw their guitars around and plunge them downward toward the stage bitch about how their neck joints are weak because of the double cutaway. But there's a famous video of Iggy Pop tearing the SG away from the guitarist and throwing it ten feet in the air, kicking it out of the sky, jumping on it, kicking it across the stage, throwing it into a stack, and then throwing it up in the air again and letting it land hard, wielding it like an axe over his head and then slamming it into the stack again, then the guitarist picking it back up and returning to playing. It didn't even go out of tune.

Since you're obsessed with jamming, I don't know if the SG is the right fit for you. It's more of a focused, dynamic, dead-ahead type guitar, IMHO, whereas the LP has a more warm-ish tone better suited toward "on the fly" exploration; also, strumming feels nicer on an LP than an SG, wheras shredding, triads and harmonics feel better on an SG. All this is IMHO, it's more like the feeling I get when I start playing one of these axes. When you go to the store to check the SG out, just keep an open mind, and remember that each guitar has it's merits, and make sure that what you leave with is pleasing to your ears and hands, and not what other people suggested.

BTW, as a side, one of the bands that uses the SG, the Vines, was working at a McDonald's when they got discovered... and the lead singer is currently 17... interesting little side note... think about it.

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yeah, see the double cutaway is cool but i dont really like the horns (im not into the whole satanic thing). Jerry Garcia almost exclusively used an SG in 1969 including Woodstock (not that the dead played particularly well at woodstock...but none the less). The LP's I've played (at least the High End Epi LP's, which IMO are built better than the low end Gibson's), had this beautiful smooth jazzy/bluesy type feel to it on the neck pickup, then this tremendous crunch on the bridge pickup, it totally blew me away, and something like that just makes you want to become more well-rounded...

But then again, the SG could be "my" axe from age 14 to whenever i get rich enough to get a custom guitar made (not through warmoth), and having a special axe for a few years helps people recognize the guitar with the guitar player (anybody who sees Jer's Tiger will immediately think of jerry, anybody who see's Angus Young's guitar will immidiately think of angus, etc).

Im struggling to figure this one out, because unlike amps, the answer is not always clear (as fender tube amps are!), and have been struggling with the decision for a few months now...I have 2 major guitars on each side of the spectrum, and inbetween is a guitar called the Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Away Plus, a 24 fret guitar built just like a LP, only double cutaway...Only problem is that there is only 1 vol/1 tone (i'd like to have it be 1 vol/ 2 tone), but im sure i could have that done if i wanted to (and if i found it neccessary). Anyways, the major thing about the Epi LP is the 3 humbuckers (and the LP tone), the main thing about SG is the lead guitar tone and the double cutaway, main thing about the Gibson DC is the double cutaway, 24 frets, and the LP style tone (but you pay $1400 for it...)

This is just my opinion again, but I actually prefer having the 2 knobs than 4, just because it means that the guitar is less cluttered overall. It's much easier to fiddle with when playing live, again, to me, if you have a nice straightforward setup. I've never really been in a situation where i wanted to have the neck pickup at 35% and the bridge at 65% at the same time, anyway. I almot never use both pickups at one time.

You can use pretty much any guitar for any purpose; you could use an SG for rythm, and a lot of people have used the LP for lead, it's more a matter of preference. Like you said, when I pick up an LP, I get more of a bluesy/jazzy vibe. I love the blues but I hate jazz with a passion. The SG feels more like a shredding, power-chord guitar. And I like to shred and use really hard, aggressive, artificial-harmonic triads. Perfect.

I'd still love to get an LP someday, but there are other axes higher on my list and lower on the price tag.

The SG is still one of my favorite guitars, and like you said, you don't nevessarily need a mega-custom guitar right as you're just starting out as a musician. A couple things to think of:

You're still very young, even younger than me... I still don't really know what my "ultimate" tone is, but I know what I like. Getting a guitar like an SG, which is a nice go-between, could help you in that you won't be as limited to one tone.

And if you want a more LP-like sound, go ahead and pay $800 for an SG standard, and then pay $95 for a Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup (these are the type of p/u they put in $3000 custom guitars) for the neck so you get that vintage rythm, and then get something else for the bridge, like a Duncan '59. Your guitar will then have increased midrange voice, like an LP, as opposed to decreased mid/raised high & low like many SG's.

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just wondering, where have you seen the Gibson SG Standard for $800? Cheapest i've seen it for is $1200 or so.

Sorry, I meant the Special. Same construction, different pickups, less collectible (but you don't care about that, do you?)

SG Special Faded-Finish-For-Vintage-Look $580
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showi...&DepartmentID=0

SG Gothic : DON'T AUTOMATICALLY DISCOUNT THIS GUITAR BECAUSE IT'S "GOTHIC". Basically, it's a special, jut with a really cool matte black finish and more powerful pickups.
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showi...&DepartmentID=0

Another interesting special edition $900
http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=76287

Regular old special $800
http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=33297

And another cool Epi...
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...l/base_id/85707

Hope this helps some...

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more from the self-proclaimed king of long-winded posts
Fox Magic Jiron - Always with us
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I considered the Special for a few days, then realized that i make enough money that i could get the Gibson SG Standard, which imo looks alot nicer (i know its only cosmetics, but still)...