Originally Posted by: AndyPCheers guys. I've heard a lot about the variable standards of Les Pauls. Last time i was in a guitar shop i tried three LPs and i thought only one of them was up to scratch. I've heard good things about the Yamaha SG2000. Any thoughts?

[font=trebuchet ms]>Epiphone/Gibson quality issues< have long been a sore point. You should [u]not[/u] have to sort through a bunch of guitars to find a 'good one'. At Gibson prices, they should all be great, right off the rack.

I'm the happy owner of two black 1984 Yamaha SBG1000 guitars. The only guitars that I think would be better are the 2000 and 3000. The SG designation was changed to SBG for a few years due to lawsuit activity by a Gibson Musical Instruments Company that could not compete with the quality/price offered by Yamaha.

This thread, >Les Paul worth it?< contains the comparison that led me to buy my first SBG1000 instead of an LP Custom back in '84. My Harmony Central review of it is the 11th one listed >here<. I saw another one just like it on eBay a couple of years ago, and I bought it. I have since had different pickups installed, and customized the switching system, but that was a matter of personal preference, not something that had to be done to make it playable. It was evry bit as good as the one I bought new in 1984. These guitars were very consistent for quality.

All of the late-70's to mid-80's SG and SBG series have mahogany necks and double-cutaway mahogany bodies with carved maple tops. All hardware is gold-plated, which tends to wear off with use. The bridges are tunomatic/stop-piece types. A 'violin-style' hard-shell case was standard issue. The differences, as far as I know, are:

SBG1000: set neck, cream binding, no brass block under the bridge. Price: about US$700 - 1000

SBG2000: neck-through-body, fancier binding, brass block under the bridge for improved sustain. Price: about US$1000 - 1500

SBG3000: neck-through-body, real abalone binding, brass block under the bridge, better pickups. Price: about US$2000 - 3000

Word has gotten out (mea culpa) about these guitars, so prices have gone up about 20% in the last two years. They still represent fantastic value for the money. Sadly, the latest production models have been cost-reduced to make them affordable, so they don't have the expensive details of the old ones.[/font]