The SG is an electric guitar model by Gibson that was introduced in 1961 to replace the Les Paul model that was lagging in sales at the time. It’s a thin Mahogany bodied guitar, typically with two humbucking pickups, and a double cutaway at the neck that gives very easy access to the upper frets. This guitar was also originally called a “Les Paul”, but Les Paul (the musician) hated the guitar and asked that his name be taken off of it. “Les Paul” was removed and it was renamed the SG, which stood for Solid Guitar. The SG in various iterations have been in production ever since.

Many musicians have been well known players of the SG. First was Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her three pickup white SG in 1964. As the 60s went on, Robby Krieger of The Doors using a 1965 SG Standard and Eric Clapton playing a psychedelically painted SG named “The Fool” while in Cream were top hit makers. The 1970s found two of the biggest and most recognizable SG players ever, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Angus Young of AC/DC. For the past 30 years, for my ears, one of the best SG devotees has been Derek Trucks, who does things with a slide that simply sounds heavenly.

While I did own and play an “SG” shaped 1967 Gibson EB-0 bass guitar for a time, the first time I ever played an SG guitar was around 1999. All that time before, I never had any interest and never so much thought to try one even at a store! One of my best friends always flirted with wanting to learn bass and guitar, and one day he brought lower end imported Epiphone SG to my house and for some reason left it for a few days. He was a big Black Sabbath fan, so he was excited to have a black SG like Tony Iommi. I remember he had stuck a racing sticker on the front. But the guitar itself wasn’t impressive at all, to me at least. I didn’t think it played well and it didn’t sound all that great. I don’t know what ever happened to that guitar because he never learned to play it!

Fast forward a few decades, and out of the blue in 2022 my 16 year old son tells me he wants to learn to play guitar! I’ll never forget that moment when he asked. I had never pressured him because I wanted him to want to do his hobbies because HE wanted to do them. But to say I wasn’t ecstatic would be an understatement! I had several guitars for him to grab to start learning the basics, and often then (and still) I was wheeling and dealing guitars on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace to buy more gear for myself. I happened to have a walnut colored Epiphone SG that I had listed for sale at the time. The guitar really played well, and he took a liking to it and off he went. And he went well! After showing him the basics I left him alone and he just naturally progressed learning the songs from bands that he liked listening to. He has a natural talent! By the Christmas of his senior year in high school it was time for a guitar upgrade. He really liked the SG model, so I bought him a Gibson ’61 SG Standard reissue in cherry finish at The Gibson Garage in Nashville. The boy was happy, and I was happy!

MY 50th birthday was coming up and that seemed like it would be a great time to get a new guitar! (A side note – is there ever really a bad time to get a new guitar?) I had SG fever and for over a year before I had been trying to figure out which version and color of the SG I wanted. I didn’t want to get an exact duplicate of what my son had, and just before my birthday Gibson started advertising their SG Special in an exclusive Walnut color only sold on their website and The Gibson Garage, which is their store in Nashville, Tennessee. Although it was a few months before my actual 50th, we went to the Gibson Garage for me to try some out. I had already talked to a sales rep there, and he had three of the same Walnut SG Special models waiting for me to try. The SG Specials have single coil P90 pickups, rather than humbuckers. The Special also lacks neck binding, some ornamentation, and has button style tuning knobs rather than keystone shaped knobs. I went back and forth between the three guitars and picked out MY guitar!

I was playing that SG Special almost exclusively for almost 8 months until I saw a Gibson ad for ANOTHER exclusive color – Pelham Blue. I love blue. I love Pelham Blue. It’s a classic early 60s Dupont paint color that was used by Cadillac and it was used on some SGs in the mid-60s – some guitars that I most likely will never be able to afford. So dang it, the ad worked and I found myself again back in Nashville, this time coming home with a ’61 SG Standard Reissue in Pelham Blue. So now I have an SG for single coil tones and one for humbucker tones… and my Fenders have been jealous in their cases ever since!   

So what is it about the SG that I love? I started to really enjoy playing the slightly shorter 24.5” scale length of Les Pauls later in life over the 25.5” length of my Strats and Tele. It was less fatiguing on my hands over time. And with the SG I instantly fell in love with their lighter weight and because of the thinner bodies I liked how close my strumming hand was to my own body. Another huge benefit to the SG body shape is how it sits on my lap while playing. I don’t hunch over as much as some of my other guitars (especially Les Pauls) in a seated position, which helps me be able to play longer with less body fatigue. And while some scoff at the “neck dive” that the SGs are supposedly known for, I don’t find that an issue when used with quality straps that have a suede or unfinished leather backing. They “stick” to me and I don’t get a drop at all. If you use a slicker material like nylon or rayon, however, it could be an issue.  

While I haven’t gigged in years, just occasional ‘sit-ins’, I do have an upcoming show in a couple of months. I have been preparing with the set list and as of now my Pelham Blue SG Standard with the humbuckers is what I am planning on using mainly, and the dark walnut stained SG Special as a backup. I’ve tried mixing in a Strat and Tele and I keep going back to the SG while working through the songs. So, am I still in the “honeymoon” stage with the SG? Time will tell. But I get the feeling that this long overlooked model by me is really going to influence my playing habits for a long time to come!

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