I paid $100 for a '69 SG in '75. Was tempted to change everything about it just to make it cooler. Thank God I left it completely original. I still love that axe!!!
You were wise. I wasn't: bought a '69 Tele Thinline in ~1975 (paid $CDN150), and tried to turn it into a Les Paul ... ended up being something like Steve Morse's old Tele. But my mods were most definitely a mistake. Still should have held on to it (moved it about 15 years ago for a Parker Nitefly, which was great).
Does that '69 have a narrow nut - like 41mm? I thought that was part of what Angus liked it so much. I think there were a few years they did 41mm, just not sure which years.
I had a black '77 SG Special and in my (young and dumb) teenage years, I wanted to add a floyd rose to it... the guy at the music gave me this real "wtf?" expression when I asked him if he could do it.... Looking back at it now I am glad I didn't.
@@-Thunder you know, I've never checked mine. Would make perfect sense, because I have unfortunately small hands. Good thing I'm a drummer first LOL Rich tAMB
I really like these “ampside chats”. You guys have a great chemistry and the perspective Rhett brings from being from the younger generation is a nice counterpoint. I worked in a live sound shop after college and Dave reminds me of the two bench techs there; super competent and someone you really didn’t want to have to bring broken gear to, but you know they could fix anything.
During the pandemic, I had to sell several guitars. I am still heartbroken. I love this format; it reminds me of the days when we would sit in the pub after a practice or studio session and have conversations like this. Memories, ahhh.
Rick is the clear winner here. His denim outfit looks wonderful with that Pelham Blue SG. The other guys need to learn how to properly pair a guitar to your outfit.
This was such a fun session, thank you. I use to record in Studio Morin-Heights back in the day. The studio where Rush recorded most of their albums but also The Police and Cat Stevens and so many more. The atmosphere when stepping in a legendary analogue studio brought so much energy and inspiration.
Hey Rick, as a 35 year veteran Director of Photography, and amateur musician, I can relate totally to your Analog to Digital stories, the same thing happened to us when we went to digital NLE editing, and Digital Acquisition on set , rather then Film Acquisition, rock on Rick!!
I just bought my first SG this year...'19 Pelham Blue Standard...and I'm pissed. Pissed that I waited until I was 54 to buy an SG. It's fantastic. AC/DC and Tesla songs pretty much play themselves.
Great conversation. As a radio station manager and DJ in the '70s with so much use of reel and cart decks, I remember how much time our engineers spent tearing the decks down to keep them running right. The turntables, too. They taught me how to coil mic cable; I've never forgotten.
The SG is a lovely guitar more in line with a Les Paul sound in my personal opinion,only much lighter and comfortable,again my personal opinion. Never a bad guitar. Only good and better. 👌
They generally sound brighter , imo. I love my Paul and I love the beefy tone you can get , but as we know , those beefier tones can be harder to fit in a mix
I loved you guys sharing all your expertise and memories about the old days using analog tape. It still blows my mind that the Beatles recorded Sgt. Pepper on 4 track tape.
It really is though! The strat was Fender's attempt to improve the tele. The SG was Gibson's attempt to improve the Les Paul. I'm not saying either was successful, just that they were attempts.
@@tonekilltech - I hear you. I'm primarily a Strat guy but I enjoy playing Teles, SGs, etc as well. Whatever the song in question calls for. I feel they're all indispensable as different tone options.
Well it did fit the role for Gibson's "Strat" position at its launch. It was much lighter shapelier but gave the raw punch and sound of a Gibson. So you had Start style (closer anyway) with lighter comfort but with powerhouse sound.
I have owned in my life close to 25+ different guitars from Les Pauls, 335, Tele, Strats, PRS. I’ve come to find that all you need is an SG a Tele a Fender amp and a Marshall amp and you are set. You can do 90% of music made from the 1960s to today. Get a Floyd Rose guitar for that last 10% of 80s tunes. That’s it. Great content Rick!
I'm sure I read in a historical book on Gibson that it is exactly what they were trying to do, compete with the Strat and update the Les Paul to have double cutaways. Add a tremelo system and voila! I own and love all the above.
It is, that’s exactly what they were doing. Hell, the Strat wasn’t even that popular by 1960 but Fender had identified a market - double cut, solid body guitar that was thin and light - and Gibson knew they couldn’t let a competitor to dominate part of the market place.
@@jimherleva4541 Yes that sounds right, cheers. It seems the strat took a while to catch on. Buddy Holly helped, and then all that surf rock etc. Was good timing for Fender but Gibson really wanted to stay in the game. Alot of great futuristic designs of their own though, but not all took on great popularity.
I don't play guitar but love hearing you guys talk about the classic ones. Did have a studio with a 48 channel Neve built in 1972 for the BBC and then brought over to California when it was decommissioned by the Beeb. Huge floppy disks for the automation, glorious sound. 2" SONY tape deck and yes it was hot in the studio but the sound was worth it !
Great one Rick (and guys). I used to drool over those SGs as a kid - my dad was a Gibson rep in the 70s and those and many other guitars would pass thru the house on a weekly basis. Also, nice to hear the technical aspects of recording in the studio. As a layman, I’ve never heard that stuff before and it’s fascinating! Love your work!
My first guitar I worked all summer for in 1991 was a 1991 Gibson SG Standard. Though many other guitars have entered my life, I'm celebrating 31 years with that guitar. It's the one guitar that will stay with me until the day I die, and then my kids can inherit or sell it. I have another SG Les Pauls, Teles, a Strat, but nothing feels like "home" for my fingers like an SG and especially my 91 number 1!
I think the best of both worlds is to learn to cut on tape, then go to work on a DAW. You really learn to make decisions, to be precise, to be conscious of what you're doing on tape, you learn to be disciplined. Then you can shift to digital, be endlessly grateful for its speed and convenience, but you still have the tools you learned in the analog realm. I'd say the same thing for celluloid and digital video. When your'e learning I think anything that slows you down, makes you think, makes you commit and limits the potential for option paralysis can be a good thing.
I still have an SG I bought as a teen in the 80s. As you say it feels just right. Light. Action is beautiful. My favorite. Learned recording on a Neve with Pultecs, 2 inch etc in the early 90s. Nodding my head thru this entire video. More of this format please, guys.
Yup, it's totally true what Dave says about AC/DC's guitar sound! I had listened to them a while ago for the first time in a looong time and was really surprised by the lack of distortion, too! And great discussion as always, guys! 😀👍
I’m a pre MIDI analog synth guy.. this is so lovely to watch, guys loving their instruments talking about guitars, amps , desks and taperecorders.. all familiar but the guitars.. what a joy to watch
I recently went to see a band in Melbourne, Australia called Truck. OZ rock. The guitarist played an SG through a light brown Fender Deluxe combo. The sound was meaty and awesome with great clarity.
Dude, great show. Had me hooked from the beginning, and I loved listening to all the discussion about analog vs. digital. Analog may be expensive and generate a lot of heat, but it still beats digital in many ways. Please do more like this.
Wow, Rick, your content just gets better and better. I loved this and don't own an SG. I am grateful to have been long term loaned a Les Paul, a guitar I have never believed I would enjoy (I'm not Gary Moore). It's fantastic!
I have a 1984 SG that I bought in 95. The guitar has been through the ringer in countless hardcore and metal shows over the years. Constant pick up and hardware changes. It still delivers. My old, dear friend.
After years of playing strats and teles I picked up an SG from a friend a few years back and I absolutely love it! It's great for slide, soloing up the neck, driving rock tones but it cleans up nice with rich tones for chordal stuff. It has also become my main axe on Sundays at Church. It's very comfortable too. Light weight. The only downside side is I know it is probably the most fragile guitar ever made. So I am very careful with it.
I absolutely love that so many guitar player interviews and chats on TH-cam showcase the interviewer and all participants holding a guitar the entire time. I know there was some reason in this case (to show the different SGs) but I've seen them where they don't play a note. It's such a guitar player thing.
My best friend Andy (RIP) and I were very much into audiophile vinyl recordings in the 1990s and recognised the worst albums were ones marked DDM for direct digital mastering onto an analogue record where the digital was mixed down for the CD and then cut on the disk. As he improved his system culminating in a crazy air suspension air bearing Rockport beltdrives System 11 Sirius Limited Edition MK2 with the series 7000 air tonearm. With each improvement he got more depth and stage and moved back decades on the recordings. Culminating in the best being studio recordings made live with two microphones direct to tape. It was like being in a small club with the artists just there. Unfortunately most music is mixed to sound ok on most things but this was in a different league. He used a pair of monoblocked Krell KSA 200 a Naim 52 Preamp and proac reference 3.5 speakers although he did get a better preamp later.
I am one of those who started to play during the pandemic. I got a Strat Bullet starter pack and quickly got rid of the amp and bought a Boss Katana. Now I have a Ltd Ec256 and a Taylor 110e too. These have been great to learn on. I have enjoyed these talks you 3 have even though most of it is way above my head in understanding. Please keep these talks up, they are not only fun to watch but I learn so much. Thank you for these.
Yeah, in my teens and 20s I had almost no idea how the professional production works. In my small town (post USSR Ukraine) we were playing concerts with drive pedals going directly to mixers, nobody was even aware that there should be guitar amps and cabinets captured by a mic and I was so obsessed with playing guitar and composing music that it was keeping me busy enough anyway, but I had become really interested in how to produce music in the right way and started to learn it all basically by just using the internet in my early 30s, when the technologies have become much cheaper and there was finally a plenty of information from people all around the world. I have would never gathered the knowledge and developed the skills I have right now without any direct contact to professional music producers and studios, if not computers, mighty internet and kind people, who were and are sharing their precious experience and knowledge online.
You are filling me with nostalgia. My brother, God Rest His Soul, never missed a punch. Thinking back on it is just shocking. It never occurred to me it might get clipped or jumped because he just didn't miss. I still do all analog except the recorder. What a great conversation. I still want a Studer, I just don't want to maintain it. LOL
I've been mucking around with music since I was 17 and now I'm 62. I've had tape machines and a piles of outboard and to be honest I do not miss any of it. I can sit in front of my DAW and just get stuff done. Using a console and tape machines was fun, but now it's simply better, easier and more productive. Glad to see the back of tape and everything that went with it.
I bought a Gibson SG back in 1997 that I absolutely loved. The thing sounded great and was so incredible to play that I would just play for hours. It was a $1400 guitar that I bought for just under $700 at a "green tag sale" they used to have to reduce inventory. Unfortunately, I ended up having to sell it a few years later and it's one of only a couple real regrets I have in my life. I ended up replacing it with an Epiphone copy of it a few years later and while it was okay, it just wasn't the same. Now Gibson's pricing is so ridiculous I don't ever see myself buying another one. I'm currently playing a Fender Tele. While it's a completely different beast, I'm really enjoying it and it's sound fits what music I'm making quite well. I still miss that SG though.
You can find used SGs for 800-1200$ CAD all the time on marketplace so don't give up hope. I got a 2020 sg new and it felt mass produced even though it plays well, just small finishing details and lack of tlc. So if you can find a good used SG that in my opinion is the way to go.
My first and only Gibson is an SG. Got more compliments on my tone with that guitar than most others. Sure was a weird feeling at first with the neck sticking out farther left.
@@raymondlugo9960 Stock ones. Unsure. It's a tad darker sounding than other SGs. Still twangs, though. I think it's more in line with my gear and the way I play. Not that it's a better guitar than my others. A better fit for certain applications.
@@user-oy7gz5bf2h I was curious to know if p90 or humbuckers. I found out recently that the first couple of Sabbath albums used P90s. I had always thought they were humbuckers. I saw Thrash of the Titans show for over 12 hours and the one guy's tone that stood out that night was Skolnick and he played a goldtop LP with P90s.
Wow, this conversation brings back memories. Back in 1989, just after highschool graduation, I laid some vocals down at Master Tracks in Crowley, LA. Similar set-up (from what I remember) to what Dave was referring to at Triclops.
As an EE by education, I really dig the conversation about transformers and such. But I really love my digital audio. I am a Sonar user, and the console emulator is really great for adding distortion to loud tracks.I have gotten great comments on the crunch guitar tone when I use it along with a Bogner amp and an MD421. Good stuff man!
I personally own a 1969 SG purchased at “Gracins In Town on Music Row next to Manny’s, Sam Ash, and “We buy guitars”! Thank god I still own this phenomenal “players guitar”. Thank you!
I love SG’s. I have three: a Standard, a ‘61 Reissue, and a Special with P90’s- all cherry Red - and if I bought another one it would be the same color. Great players all the way up the neck and great, great tone that you can’t get from a Strat.
@@treeherder2201 if you play mainly neck and 4th it's really OK and good for swells, occasionally I'll flip down to bridge for a lick but I'm almost always strumming around the neck pickup. But yeah anytime I need to rock out or get that bridge sound I'll switch to my SG. They do play differently but switching between them isn't too bad.
It was interesting to hear your comments about rewind time. I used to work on film mixing stages. They used to use big mag recorders ( think magnetic tape with sprockets) where the rewind speed was the same as the forward speed. The people mixing the film soundtrack would practice the mix while the mag machines were rewinding if they had to do another pass… they complained when the stages switched to 2 inch, 24 track machines…” rewind was too fast” This show brought back so many memories, cleaning tape machines, neve consoles that needed their own air conditioning….now it is all computers.
I love my ‘72 SG. My only real electric guitar I have owned. Never found anything I liked better. Always amazed how much volume and sustain it has without being plugged in.
Certainly the SG was designed because Strats were selling like hotcakes and you couldn't give away a '59 Les Paul at the time. The SG is much easier/cost effective to build. (side note... I always hated SGs in stores. I finally bought one on Craigslist and once I strapped one on I fell in love pretty quick. Currently the only guitar I play every day)
I have an SG junior! When I was at GIT it got a lot of comments because people would always do a double take, Oh that’s a junior! It feels like a super uncommon guitar. And there were times the instructor would say switch to the neck pickup, and then look at me and be like, just dial the tone down or something. I still love the way it sounds and feels.
Sg's 🤔 I have 5 now but been through at least 24/28 & can't get sick of them! Being a small guy they are perfect for me the ones that don't neck dive I always try to keep. Great show boys 🙌
The reason the Les Paul name came off the SG shape WAS NOT because he didn’t like it, it was because of his divorce and contracts. There’s an interview with him explaining it. His comment about the neck is taken out of context. During development he didn’t like the neck and asked them to strengthen it… and they did hence his name went on the guitar. But the name came off when his divorce with MAry Ford and his contracts forced it to change.
Yes, this is the real reason. Les had a 10 year contract with Gibson that expired in 1962 and if had resigned with Gibson any profit from a new contract would be part of the "marital assets". Since he was in the process of divorcing Mary Ford he decided to put the new contract on hold until his divorce was final so he asked Gibson to remove his name from the SG. He mentions in his autobiography that this was his worst business decision he ever made. Since from the day they removed his name from the SG he no longer received any royalties for that modal which for many years was Gibson's biggest selling guitar modal.
I got my SG around ‘90ish. It was a 1987 SG Elite, Pearl white with gold hardware. Traded my first Japanese no name for it and paid $321 with tax. Still have it and will never part with it. A bit banged up in one spot and has aged to the slight yellow/white and is a daily player to this day save for the time when I stopped playing for quite awhile (still kicking myself for it). Back to playing the past year or so and love every minute of it. Haven’t changed anything to it. My first “real” guitar. Not sure how I fell into that one but I sure am glad.
Does a cassette recorder on the garage floor count as "tape experience"? No? OK. But I did at least have a '65 SG Special (my tribute to Pete). And a '63 Strat. Still have both. Strat= $190. SG= $200 (got it at the "original" Guitar Center on the Strip, up the street from Gazarri's). Those were the days.
I started in radio in 1989. Got my broadcasting license, boy was the morse code part hard!!! WIQH 88.3fm Concord Ma, my first station, was my High Schools A/V program station. It was almost entirely analog. 8 rotopot board, carts, 2 turntables, a reel machine, and 1 fancy new Cd player(but we only had like 10 cds in the library) I used to love cutting psa's from the reel to reel, and loading the carts. Cutting tape is absolutely an art! Listening for the wash, and cutting perfect on tempo was so satisfying. Sadly... I went on to work at 3 more stations, but mid 90's, everything seemed to go digital, and big corps came in and bought most local stations, and became syndicated rebroadcasts... No more need for me. I tried getting a job at a bunch of the recording studios in the area... no dice. So, I joined the Marines. But thats another story. Great video.
In the summer of 93 I started at a new station that had been open for two weeks. KRQC was 92.7 K-Rock. We didn't have any vinyl. We had 3 CD players, knobs for pots on the board and all the production was tape. We had 2 track machines and cart machines. Digital audio came in right before a format change in 1998 when I left. After I left, the company bought a computer and was transferring audio to it to automate the music, the spots, the breaks. Say goodbye to live requests and the art of the segue.
Love this episode!!!! Was just talking with one of the bands I’m in about old school versus new school recording etc. How nasty my time looks when you zoom in too close. But it feels right in the track. I called it “time grit”. That human life in a real track. And just playing back programmed keyboard tracks on two inch enhugenates them. Tools are great but somethings only come from tape or humans…
Great to hear you mention Brother Cane. I met Damon Johnson a few years ago at the Dallas International Guitar Festival. He is a great guitar player, but the nicest part was that he took time out to just talk to a fan. Another great memory from the Dallas festival was talking with Gary Hoey while watching Johnny Winter. Something I'll never forget.
Hey Rick, love your channel! Have you ever considered making a “What makes this song great” video about “That Lady” by the Isley Brothers? Some terrific guitar by Ernie Isley in there. Keep them coming!
My favorite guitar is a late 60’s SG that I purchased for $175 at a small pawn shop near Scranton PA. Not a case queen. So funny people don’t know what a 2” machine is;-).
My first guitar was a new 1968 SG Special. Lightweight, resonant, thin neck. I loved that guitar. What made that guitar comparable to a Strat were the single coil P90 pickups. SG Standards with humbuckers really sounds pretty similar to ES 335s or Les Pauls with humbuckers. That’s the comparison - the single coil P90 sound with the single coil pick ups on the Strat.
My father had a ’69-‘70 crossover SG Standard that he bought new way back then. He played it every Friday and Saturday night in local bars and clubs until he got too sick with cancer to play. So, it got about 40+ years of hard playing. He used heavy gauge 13’s on it and was was a heavy handed player. The glue joint at the neck started to separate. So, he had it glued back together. He was a machinist by day and made a plate to reinforce the neck joint, kind of like a Strat. It tightened it up and amazingly did no harm to the tone of the guitar He also got tired of the Vibrola trem making the guitar go out of tune. So he removed it and had a stop bar installed. He left the large chrome tail piece on for looks. Then it started to rot and rust away in my nephews basement for the next ten years. He sent it down to me about five months ago in terrible shape. I spent about a month rounding up the parts and some tools to put it back into playing condition. The original TOM bridge was slotted badly and the string spacing was all wrong. I bought a Gotoh bridge which has extra room for intonation and no spring to vibrate. They work well for me. I have one on my Epiphone LP. The nut was also cut wrong and needed to be replaced. I bought a blank and made one for the narrow nut of that year, 40mm. Then after deep cleaning the whole guitar with naphtha, I found that half of the fretboard inlays needed to be glued and clamped down. After a fret level, crown and polish, I had to replace the worn out tuning machines. But my old man drilled the headstock out for a set of Grover Imperials. I bought a set of double line, double ring Kluson machines like the original ones. Kluson went out of business for a few years and the name was bought by a company in Florida. They make an improved 15:1 version instead of the 12:1 originals. They are exact replicas. I had to buy adapter bushings from Kluson to make them fit properly in the 10mm holes in the headstock. This guitar has real aged checking on what’s left of the paint. You can see where my father’s arm wore through the lacquer and the deep buckle rash from his big western belt buckles he was fond of. Everything else is original. T top humbuckers, the pots, wiring, switch, jack. Surprisingly even the frets were original. The binding still had the nibs that go up the sides of the frets. This 52 year old guitar sounds incredible. It looks it’s age but plays so sweet. Just took a lot of TLC. My old man’s mojo is imbedded in this guitar. I feel it when I play it.
Thank you for sharing that cool story John…That’s an awesome heirloom and beautiful tribute to your Dad, which is priceless. I appreciate the specific details that you described, as I’m trying to learn about vintage electrics myself. Stay safe and be well ! Best Regards, Shawn
Love SG’s! Silver Strings Music in St Louis, MO used to carry lovely vintage guitars and I would go in and play those Gibsons. Johnny Winter bought his Gibson Firebird V from Silver Strings Music.
Years ago I got my '64 SG Jr in a trade. Relicked by life! Bent tuning key. Had been dropped to break the corner off through the controls and control cavity - white glued back on. Finish completely crackled. Always played like a dream!
As a Bass player, this video was primarily for the guitarists though I did enjoy it. Maybe a bit strange to me that nobody plugged in and played. My first exposure to the Gibson SG was through Pete Townsend and Carlos Santana. Of course there was also Clapton's "Fool" SG, that was a gift from George Harrison, that I believe is now owned by Todd Rundgren? I always liked the body shape and of course it had the Gibson ballsy sound IMO. In my younger Rock and Roll days, the guitarist in our band had a Les Paul Jr (I believe) in brown that had the SG shape and I really liked that guitar. Single Humbucker pick up and it sounded fantastic. We went to see Rory Gallaher perform in NYC way back when and then my buddy traded the Jr for a Strat! I was bummed but that's the way the guitar crumbles I suppose. Best to all.
My '67 SG standard was thrown out a 2nd story window and all that broke was the headstock. It was broken diagonally. SG's are tougher than you think, I accidentally backed my car onto mine and it didn't break. Two inch tape is the only way to fly. Digital just doesn't have that sound. I'm glad we recorded before the invention of Pro-Tools when you recorded straight to tape and live off the floor.
Probably should've split it into two parts with different names. Imagine you casually listened to their talk on studios and then tried to find the video again later, you'd NEVER guess it was supposed to be a video about SG's haha
Back in high school I would play Live at Leeds on my 72 SG-200, and I could nail the tone. That was 46 years ago. Wasn't until much later I learned the guitar is considered Norlin crap. It sounds like a Gibson from Kalamazoo, the haters can go pound salt.
Not necessarily disagreeing with Dave, but IMO, the Non-Reverse Firebird with Mini-Hum's and Tune-O-Matic comes a lot closer in tone and playing feel (ESPECIALLY when standing) to the Strat with Rosewood 'board. I DO agree that the Computer was and is a GAME CHANGER (in MANY fields, including Music)...and that trusting one's "gut" (AND "ear") are ALWAYS essential to great recording. I love these "brainstorming" sessions, guys!!
I recently bought a 2021 61' SG Standard w/ maestro trem, and its blown me away. These guitars are resonant by design. Full neck access is very nice, especially as I set it up with baritone lights/tuned it to C#. The neck pickup is surprisingly warm & sweet, the bridge pickup barks and the brightness is mellowed when the tone is backed off to 7-8. There was an issue with 2019-late 2020 productions of the maestro trem, something to do with the screws? Anyway, the 2021-> onward maestro trems seem to be much tighter and less prone to throwing the guitar out of tune. However, I have to play more delicately with my fretting hand because gripping too hard will affect tuning. The SG should be a model that Gibson pushes (along with LP Specials DC & SC) because it is the model in their catalog that has closest intersection of Made in America + design choices that compliment the modern player + tonal versatility + least expensive premium instrument to manufacture (no carved top + solid body). Before I bought my SG, I was looking for a guitar with humbuckers. I primarily play a Tele with a Strat as the backup, and wanted something that could cover the other side of the spectrum + offer something different. I was really looking towards a 335 or a 355, but the SG was priced at $2699 CAD, the 335 dot was priced at $4099CAD, the figured + block inlay 335 was $4949CAD, and the only 355's I could find were like over 7 grand. Also looked at a Gretsch G6636T Black Falcon, but the same issues apply. I understand the level of craftsmanship and increased amount of time-on-guitar for these archtop & semi hollow models will directly increase the price of the instrument, and I think that its fair that they are more expensive than other models with less costly production. However, as a guitar player in my early 20's many of the Gibson's models are cost prohibitive, but it has always been this way. 1960's prices adjusted to inflation match up pretty evenly to the current catalog. Its fine, and even a good thing, to have aspirational/premium models to offer, but you can't blame the younger consumer for choosing to go with a brand that has an innate design cost advantage when your primary marketing strategy is to only focus on pushing increasingly cost prohibitive premium models. This brings up an uncomfortable conversation regarding Epiphone. Personally, I think Gibson would be better off continuing to use Epiphone as an affordable acoustic guitar option, while then operating a MIA/MIJ archtop department of Epiphone, reissuing models like the zephyr etc. That's a different thing though. Additionally, SG's benefit from not being bound to the incomparable standard from a previous era. Les Pauls will forever be matched up to the Bursts and 50's Goldtops. 335's will forever be matched up to the "Burst Killers" and Clapton's Cream era Cherry 335. Hell , they finally did right by Sister Rosetta Tharpe by releasing a collection with her estate and Gibson, including a white SG Custom with 3 pickup, sideways trem, and gold hardware. That's fine, and marketing with that messaging + vision of tradition has proven to be a valuable part of branding, but it can not be the exclusive audience targeted. The SG offers Gibson an out to the tradition recycling because it's their longest consecutively produced instrument. Everyone since 1961 has ripped an SG, in every genre. As far as my guitar history knowledge goes, there isn't one specific year or short range of years of the SG's production that is considered to be the "gold years" . This could be a beneficial starting point for the next phase of the company's marketing strategy. If you don't have a solidified standard, you are free to experiment. I think the SG has the potential to boom like the Jazzmaster has in recent years, and double cuts will be vogue like how offset guitars are currently vogue. Gibson has always had a harder time competing with Fender's colour options. Guitar players eat with their eyes more we'd like to admit. Les Pauls and 335's dont necessarily look the best with non-traditional colour options. I believe that this is because the carved/arched top + woodgrain of these models enhance the depth of a burst or stain. However, the SG's non-carved construction/plainer top are more forgiving to flat/solid colours. A good example would be the Chicago Music Exchange exclusive colour T-Top SG's. The combination of unique colour + nitro top is what Gibson can offer than Fender largely cannot. Introduce a range of solid colour and a range of bursts/traditional finishes, pickguard design variations, hardware material choices etc etc. This is the future. I really enjoy the products that Gibson makes, and the cultural iconoclast that the brand has become. Gibson will likely be a part of my future, as I've been been thinking of doing a project guitar with a Les Paul special + lollar goldfoils & a duesenberg tremolo. They have a chance here to turn that last corner and be a successful instrument manufacture that meets the needs of both the tradition-focused and modern-minded guitar player. Get SG's and Les Paul Special DC's in the hands of players from Hardcore to Neo Soul, let the kids hear it for themselves. The product is good, the platform is there, just have to make the right choices. I ended up with an SG because It was a solution to a problem, and it ended up being exactly what I needed. Hopefully Gibson can help other players like me figure that out too.
Holy F!! Dave was at Triclops in Georgia? I was there Late 92 into 93 with Smashing Pumpkins for the Siamese Dream recordings with Butch Vig. I loved the old Abby Road board and it's airliner style volume faders, and Butch got a chance to demonstrate the "Executive Channel": When some bigwig (not a musician) from Virgin showed up and thought he could help Butch Engineer he had it on standby. It's a channel he used as a placebo, and when the executives would meddle with stuff like "A little more bass on the guitar", Butch would tweak it until it it sounded "Just right" to them but it didn't do anything, and it was all in the power of suggestion. Once they did a few minutes of this, they would leave so they could tell people they "Helped engineer that album"; LMAO, it worked like a charm! ;^) I also jammed with Butch (a darn good drummer), D'arcy and James, but I'm way into Zappa, King Crimson, jazz/rock fusion... and Butch picked it up in a New York minute, so he started alternating timings... D'arsy was confused at first, but got a hang of it, James not so much, and he gave up, and someone from Triclops or a freind of theirs joined in (was it You?) and then Billy after he heard it ramp up, smoking everyone of course. He could play just about anything, including Paul Gilbert's Racer X stuff and the like! Oh, and the nutty "Triclops" decor: Priceless! I wonder how the collection has grown since then? So you worked there Dave? Sorry, but I have the worse memory, and in those days we met and worked with so many people, there was always so much going on I couldn't retain but a few names, and although pretty good with faces, even many of those faded quickly, it's been a long time since then to where it gets more difficult. You guys rock!
@@RickBeato also I was surprised Rick said he plays a lot on the LOW strings but at the top of the neck "and I don't know why". EASY EXPLANATION: THERE'S A THICKER-NESS (and different tone) to playing UP HIGH on the Low E that you can't get jumping to the next lowest string. It might be my FAVE part of the neck!
A disaster that ended up working in the track was when Billy Joel was recording the song Pressure with Phil Ramone producing. Normally you would try to keep the artist away from any controls but during a playback of an overdub where Billy yelled, "pressure" over the track, instead of soloing the vocal track to check it out Billy accidently punched out everything in that section except the yelling. The yelling heard next was Phil, "God what did you do? You erased part of the song!" So, what everyone later assumed was a conscious dramatic choice was really an accident that seemed disastrous at the time.
Apart from the time I spent as a musician recording in various studios (4, 8, and 16-track on someone else's nickel), I cut my own engineering teeth on my own TEAC TCA-43 4-track with an outboard dbx, and then later on an Otari 8-track machine and various analog consoles and outboard gear connected through a TT patch bay. And I loved it. So when Opcode came out with Studio Vision and then Digidesign coughed up ProTools, it was like a dream come true. Fast forward to Logic Pro, and producing music has reached orgasmic levels. But for my part, paying those analog dues has enriched the whole experience. Not only do I NOT take digital for granted, but I haven't let it spoil me into perfection. Some of those analog quirks made the sound magical. They're still available in the signal chain...if you have enough sense to let them in.
Think it was in terms of the double cutaway solid body follow-up to both fender and gibsons first single cut successes, if you look past pickups and at the actual history, that's where you'll see the connections between the two. Doesn't mean they are the same but the similarities are there. Either way the damn thing will never hold tune, gotta give the point to strats on that one imo.
I tried out a few SGs recently and I have to admit, I hate the ergonomics. The dealbreaker for me is that the bridge is halfway up the body so your arm is in this really weird spot. I always felt like the bridge eck was way too far forward. I couldn't get comfortable with it in the slightest.
Hmm. Maybe I just played one for so long (I went from my Strat to a hollow-body to the SG and then played the SG as my main guitar for over a decade), but I still find it to be the single most comfortable guitar I ever played. I don't play it much anymore but when I go back to it it still is just the easiest, most comfortable thing to play.
Interesting, I’m the exact opposite, but I hate the les Paul for similar reasons, I hate how it feels wether I’m sitting or standing. My Gibson is the sg.
Those are fair criticisms. Guitar playing is (and should be) a personal experience. If you're not comfortable with a particular guitar, let it go to someone else. There are enough variants in the world for you to find a good fit. I love the Stratocaster sound, but the main volume knob on them is in the wrong place for me. I was lucky to find an Ibanez Roadstar II, which has that placed in a slightly different spot and sounds good enough for my liking - especially after a pro shop set it up for me.
I'd just bought my SG yesterday, and you just did this video hours later! It makes me even happier about my purchase. Mine is the Special, which is akin to Rhett's but with two P90s. It's cool to to see Rhett with his first SG too! It came with a solid case too, so now it's time to open it and try it for the first time at home!
As a heterosexual teenage male the SG’s shape was a natural to me when I went to buy my first guitar. And as a Taurus the horns were equally appropriate. I have two now, but have owned many over the years. My current fave is an SG Special with two P90’s.
I paid $100 for a '69 SG in '75. Was tempted to change everything about it just to make it cooler. Thank God I left it completely original. I still love that axe!!!
You were wise. I wasn't: bought a '69 Tele Thinline in ~1975 (paid $CDN150), and tried to turn it into a Les Paul ... ended up being something like Steve Morse's old Tele. But my mods were most definitely a mistake. Still should have held on to it (moved it about 15 years ago for a Parker Nitefly, which was great).
I don't like the 'top hat' knobs and change them for more robust ones, like black Tele knobs.
Otherwise, I am done with modding my guitars.
Does that '69 have a narrow nut - like 41mm? I thought that was part of what Angus liked it so much. I think there were a few years they did 41mm, just not sure which years.
I had a black '77 SG Special and in my (young and dumb) teenage years, I wanted to add a floyd rose to it... the guy at the music gave me this real "wtf?" expression when I asked him if he could do it.... Looking back at it now I am glad I didn't.
@@-Thunder you know, I've never checked mine. Would make perfect sense, because I have unfortunately small hands. Good thing I'm a drummer first LOL
Rich tAMB
I really like these “ampside chats”. You guys have a great chemistry and the perspective Rhett brings from being from the younger generation is a nice counterpoint.
I worked in a live sound shop after college and Dave reminds me of the two bench techs there; super competent and someone you really didn’t want to have to bring broken gear to, but you know they could fix anything.
Ampside chats is gold :)
Absolutely!
“ampside chats”, good stuff!
During the pandemic, I had to sell several guitars. I am still heartbroken. I love this format; it reminds me of the days when we would sit in the pub after a practice or studio session and have conversations like this. Memories, ahhh.
Pete Townshend’s Live at Leeds tone with a SG Special into a HIWATT stack is phenomenal.
Dont forget the Univox Super Fuzz, its a key ingredient of this tone!
And an WEM Copycat Tape Echo.
Agreed. The best live album ever recorded.
His tone on that record is the only reason I’ve ever considered buying an SG special, much less a Gibson
@@BlueeyesofSkye Hope you got the HIWATT stack too.
The Rhett and Dave videos are some of my favorites. Could listen to y'all do this daily.
Rick is the clear winner here. His denim outfit looks wonderful with that Pelham Blue SG. The other guys need to learn how to properly pair a guitar to your outfit.
Rhett went with the Jerry Seinfeld from the waist down look.
This was such a fun session, thank you. I use to record in Studio Morin-Heights back in the day. The studio where Rush recorded most of their albums but also The Police and Cat Stevens and so many more. The atmosphere when stepping in a legendary analogue studio brought so much energy and inspiration.
These episodes with the three of you talking is the best guitar content on the internet
Can you do this on a weekly basis? Just talking about all your experiences, would love to get more of these videos with you three
That would be reeeeeaaaly nice
Agree
Agree
Dave talking about recording “Siamese Dream” should probably be its own episode!
I agree these are some of my favorite videos, with you three guys talking shop.
Finally! I've been waiting for this to happen again so bad, I'm glad you sat down together again. Love these conversations.
Hey Rick, as a 35 year veteran Director of Photography, and amateur musician, I can relate totally to your Analog to Digital stories, the same thing happened to us when we went to digital NLE editing, and Digital Acquisition on set , rather then Film Acquisition, rock on Rick!!
I just bought my first SG this year...'19 Pelham Blue Standard...and I'm pissed. Pissed that I waited until I was 54 to buy an SG. It's fantastic. AC/DC and Tesla songs pretty much play themselves.
These 'Three Amigo' bull sessions are my favorite of all of Rick's videos.
Great conversation. As a radio station manager and DJ in the '70s with so much use of reel and cart decks, I remember how much time our engineers spent tearing the decks down to keep them running right. The turntables, too. They taught me how to coil mic cable; I've never forgotten.
The SG is a lovely guitar more in line with a Les Paul sound in my personal opinion,only much lighter and comfortable,again my personal opinion. Never a bad guitar. Only good and better. 👌
I have an SG, and I love playing it. I will say that I don’t quite like the tone. Not saying the tone is bad, but there’s something missing.
Makes sense since the SG was originally a Les Paul reboot
They generally sound brighter , imo. I love my Paul and I love the beefy tone you can get , but as we know , those beefier tones can be harder to fit in a mix
@@juanvaldez5422 good for rhythm. And also perfect for shoegaze when trying to achieve a complete "wall of sound"
I love that you can tell it was the first time Rick heard the term “case queen.” :)
Great video.
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard it, and it cracked me up, my own reaction and his.
Rick comes across as condescending to me a lot
@jaykelley103 Hell no, I've never felt that. He speaks his mind but always makes it clear that its his opinion or his experience. 🤔
I loved you guys sharing all your expertise and memories about the old days using analog tape. It still blows my mind that the Beatles recorded Sgt. Pepper on 4 track tape.
It really is though! The strat was Fender's attempt to improve the tele. The SG was Gibson's attempt to improve the Les Paul. I'm not saying either was successful, just that they were attempts.
They both were and weren't. That's why they're all still staples in music. My humble opinion.👍
@@sirkayda7205 I still prefer a tele and a les paul, but yes, they're just different.
@@tonekilltech - I hear you. I'm primarily a Strat guy but I enjoy playing Teles, SGs, etc as well. Whatever the song in question calls for. I feel they're all indispensable as different tone options.
And both go from single cut to double cut
@@krokovay.marcell yup, Dave mentions that and the contours in the vid.
Loving the Rick, Rhett & Dave talkshows.
@@JPDESS the 3 AMPmegos.
I like these casual meanderings. Kinda relaxing, but get good info at the same time. Big fan of this trio.
Well it did fit the role for Gibson's "Strat" position at its launch. It was much lighter shapelier but gave the raw punch and sound of a Gibson. So you had Start style (closer anyway) with lighter comfort but with powerhouse sound.
I have owned in my life close to 25+ different guitars from Les Pauls, 335, Tele, Strats, PRS. I’ve come to find that all you need is an SG a Tele a Fender amp and a Marshall amp and you are set. You can do 90% of music made from the 1960s to today. Get a Floyd Rose guitar for that last 10% of 80s tunes. That’s it. Great content Rick!
I'm sure I read in a historical book on Gibson that it is exactly what they were trying to do, compete with the Strat and update the Les Paul to have double cutaways. Add a tremelo system and voila! I own and love all the above.
It is, that’s exactly what they were doing. Hell, the Strat wasn’t even that popular by 1960 but Fender had identified a market - double cut, solid body guitar that was thin and light - and Gibson knew they couldn’t let a competitor to dominate part of the market place.
@@jimherleva4541 Yes that sounds right, cheers. It seems the strat took a while to catch on. Buddy Holly helped, and then all that surf rock etc. Was good timing for Fender but Gibson really wanted to stay in the game. Alot of great futuristic designs of their own though, but not all took on great popularity.
I don't play guitar but love hearing you guys talk about the classic ones. Did have a studio with a 48 channel Neve built in 1972 for the BBC and then brought over to California when it was decommissioned by the Beeb. Huge floppy disks for the automation, glorious sound. 2" SONY tape deck and yes it was hot in the studio but the sound was worth it !
Great one Rick (and guys). I used to drool over those SGs as a kid - my dad was a Gibson rep in the 70s and those and many other guitars would pass thru the house on a weekly basis. Also, nice to hear the technical aspects of recording in the studio. As a layman, I’ve never heard that stuff before and it’s fascinating! Love your work!
My first guitar I worked all summer for in 1991 was a 1991 Gibson SG Standard. Though many other guitars have entered my life, I'm celebrating 31 years with that guitar. It's the one guitar that will stay with me until the day I die, and then my kids can inherit or sell it. I have another SG Les Pauls, Teles, a Strat, but nothing feels like "home" for my fingers like an SG and especially my 91 number 1!
I think the best of both worlds is to learn to cut on tape, then go to work on a DAW. You really learn to make decisions, to be precise, to be conscious of what you're doing on tape, you learn to be disciplined. Then you can shift to digital, be endlessly grateful for its speed and convenience, but you still have the tools you learned in the analog realm. I'd say the same thing for celluloid and digital video. When your'e learning I think anything that slows you down, makes you think, makes you commit and limits the potential for option paralysis can be a good thing.
I like your comparison with visual medium and pointing out the similarity. 'Option paralysis' good phrase!
I still have an SG I bought as a teen in the 80s. As you say it feels just right. Light. Action is beautiful. My favorite. Learned recording on a Neve with Pultecs, 2 inch etc in the early 90s. Nodding my head thru this entire video. More of this format please, guys.
Yup, it's totally true what Dave says about AC/DC's guitar sound! I had listened to them a while ago for the first time in a looong time and was really surprised by the lack of distortion, too! And great discussion as always, guys! 😀👍
I’m a pre MIDI analog synth guy..
this is so lovely to watch, guys loving their instruments talking about guitars, amps , desks and taperecorders.. all familiar but the guitars..
what a joy to watch
I recently went to see a band in Melbourne, Australia called Truck. OZ rock. The guitarist played an SG through a light brown Fender Deluxe combo. The sound was meaty and awesome with great clarity.
These are some of my favorite videos Rick does. I find myself rewatching these a lot.
Dude, great show. Had me hooked from the beginning, and I loved listening to all the discussion about analog vs. digital. Analog may be expensive and generate a lot of heat, but it still beats digital in many ways. Please do more like this.
What an enjoyable conversation! I was in the Atlanta studio scene in the ‘90s, and it was great to hear Triclops’ name come up!
Wow, Rick, your content just gets better and better. I loved this and don't own an SG. I am grateful to have been long term loaned a Les Paul, a guitar I have never believed I would enjoy (I'm not Gary Moore). It's fantastic!
I liked the appearance of the les Paul, but I never cared for the action.
I have a 1984 SG that I bought in 95. The guitar has been through the ringer in countless hardcore and metal shows over the years. Constant pick up and hardware changes. It still delivers. My old, dear friend.
Love an SG. I have a 62 SG/les paul Jr. Rockin guitar! Mine actually has Les Paul on the headstock.
Love when these three get together and do this. Love em all. Dave is especially Knowledgeable! 👍👏✌♥️
After years of playing strats and teles I picked up an SG from a friend a few years back and I absolutely love it! It's great for slide, soloing up the neck, driving rock tones but it cleans up nice with rich tones for chordal stuff. It has also become my main axe on Sundays at Church. It's very comfortable too. Light weight. The only downside side is I know it is probably the most fragile guitar ever made. So I am very careful with it.
The LP is just too heavy. I had a 3-pickup SG but indeed the headstock cracked.
I agree. Let's just keep it in its case!
I absolutely love that so many guitar player interviews and chats on TH-cam showcase the interviewer and all participants holding a guitar the entire time. I know there was some reason in this case (to show the different SGs) but I've seen them where they don't play a note. It's such a guitar player thing.
My best friend Andy (RIP) and I were very much into audiophile vinyl recordings in the 1990s and recognised the worst albums were ones marked DDM for direct digital mastering onto an analogue record where the digital was mixed down for the CD and then cut on the disk. As he improved his system culminating in a crazy air suspension air bearing Rockport beltdrives System 11 Sirius Limited Edition MK2 with the series 7000 air tonearm. With each improvement he got more depth and stage and moved back decades on the recordings. Culminating in the best being studio recordings made live with two microphones direct to tape. It was like being in a small club with the artists just there. Unfortunately most music is mixed to sound ok on most things but this was in a different league. He used a pair of monoblocked Krell KSA 200 a Naim 52 Preamp and proac reference 3.5 speakers although he did get a better preamp later.
I am one of those who started to play during the pandemic. I got a Strat Bullet starter pack and quickly got rid of the amp and bought a Boss Katana. Now I have a Ltd Ec256 and a Taylor 110e too. These have been great to learn on. I have enjoyed these talks you 3 have even though most of it is way above my head in understanding. Please keep these talks up, they are not only fun to watch but I learn so much. Thank you for these.
Yeah, in my teens and 20s I had almost no idea how the professional production works. In my small town (post USSR Ukraine) we were playing concerts with drive pedals going directly to mixers, nobody was even aware that there should be guitar amps and cabinets captured by a mic and I was so obsessed with playing guitar and composing music that it was keeping me busy enough anyway, but I had become really interested in how to produce music in the right way and started to learn it all basically by just using the internet in my early 30s, when the technologies have become much cheaper and there was finally a plenty of information from people all around the world. I have would never gathered the knowledge and developed the skills I have right now without any direct contact to professional music producers and studios, if not computers, mighty internet and kind people, who were and are sharing their precious experience and knowledge online.
You are filling me with nostalgia. My brother, God Rest His Soul, never missed a punch. Thinking back on it is just shocking. It never occurred to me it might get clipped or jumped because he just didn't miss. I still do all analog except the recorder. What a great conversation. I still want a Studer, I just don't want to maintain it. LOL
I have the Epi SG copy , and I can say it is versatile . I wanted to sell it, but since 1997 I just can't 😁
I've been mucking around with music since I was 17 and now I'm 62. I've had tape machines and a piles of outboard and to be honest I do not miss any of it. I can sit in front of my DAW and just get stuff done. Using a console and tape machines was fun, but now it's simply better, easier and more productive. Glad to see the back of tape and everything that went with it.
I bought a Gibson SG back in 1997 that I absolutely loved. The thing sounded great and was so incredible to play that I would just play for hours. It was a $1400 guitar that I bought for just under $700 at a "green tag sale" they used to have to reduce inventory.
Unfortunately, I ended up having to sell it a few years later and it's one of only a couple real regrets I have in my life. I ended up replacing it with an Epiphone copy of it a few years later and while it was okay, it just wasn't the same. Now Gibson's pricing is so ridiculous I don't ever see myself buying another one.
I'm currently playing a Fender Tele. While it's a completely different beast, I'm really enjoying it and it's sound fits what music I'm making quite well. I still miss that SG though.
You can find used SGs for 800-1200$ CAD all the time on marketplace so don't give up hope. I got a 2020 sg new and it felt mass produced even though it plays well, just small finishing details and lack of tlc. So if you can find a good used SG that in my opinion is the way to go.
These are still some of my favourite videos on youtube, the three of you together are great
My introduction to the SG came from John Cippolina of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Always enjoy listening to the three of you hanging out.
My first and only Gibson is an SG. Got more compliments on my tone with that guitar than most others. Sure was a weird feeling at first with the neck sticking out farther left.
Which pickups do you have?
@@raymondlugo9960 Stock ones. Unsure. It's a tad darker sounding than other SGs. Still twangs, though. I think it's more in line with my gear and the way I play. Not that it's a better guitar than my others. A better fit for certain applications.
@@user-oy7gz5bf2h I was curious to know if p90 or humbuckers. I found out recently that the first couple of Sabbath albums used P90s. I had always thought they were humbuckers. I saw Thrash of the Titans show for over 12 hours and the one guy's tone that stood out that night was Skolnick and he played a goldtop LP with P90s.
@@raymondlugo9960 Oh I would love a p90 SG!
Wow, this conversation brings back memories. Back in 1989, just after highschool graduation, I laid some vocals down at Master Tracks in Crowley, LA. Similar set-up (from what I remember) to what Dave was referring to at Triclops.
As an EE by education, I really dig the conversation about transformers and such. But I really love my digital audio. I am a Sonar user, and the console emulator is really great for adding distortion to loud tracks.I have gotten great comments on the crunch guitar tone when I use it along with a Bogner amp and an MD421. Good stuff man!
I personally own a 1969 SG purchased at “Gracins In Town on Music Row next to Manny’s, Sam Ash, and “We buy guitars”! Thank god I still own this phenomenal “players guitar”. Thank you!
I love SG’s. I have three: a Standard, a ‘61 Reissue, and a Special with P90’s- all cherry Red - and if I bought another one it would be the same color. Great players all the way up the neck and great, great tone that you can’t get from a Strat.
Strat's volume knob location is the deal breaker for me.
@@treeherder2201 if you play mainly neck and 4th it's really OK and good for swells, occasionally I'll flip down to bridge for a lick but I'm almost always strumming around the neck pickup.
But yeah anytime I need to rock out or get that bridge sound I'll switch to my SG. They do play differently but switching between them isn't too bad.
It was interesting to hear your comments about rewind time. I used to work on film mixing stages. They used to use big mag recorders ( think magnetic tape with sprockets) where the rewind speed was the same as the forward speed. The people mixing the film soundtrack would practice the mix while the mag machines were rewinding if they had to do another pass… they complained when the stages switched to 2 inch, 24 track machines…” rewind was too fast”
This show brought back so many memories, cleaning tape machines, neve consoles that needed their own air conditioning….now it is all computers.
I love this video. Listening to the three of you is interesting and very enjoyable. More gear talk and stories from this power trio, please.
I love my ‘72 SG. My only real electric guitar I have owned. Never found anything I liked better. Always amazed how much volume and sustain it has without being plugged in.
Certainly the SG was designed because Strats were selling like hotcakes and you couldn't give away a '59 Les Paul at the time. The SG is much easier/cost effective to build. (side note... I always hated SGs in stores. I finally bought one on Craigslist and once I strapped one on I fell in love pretty quick. Currently the only guitar I play every day)
I have never enjoyed playing an SG in a store. They just never fit my hands right. I should find one and try to live with it a while.
I have an SG junior! When I was at GIT it got a lot of comments because people would always do a double take, Oh that’s a junior! It feels like a super uncommon guitar. And there were times the instructor would say switch to the neck pickup, and then look at me and be like, just dial the tone down or something. I still love the way it sounds and feels.
you guys have to do more long form sessions like this- these are my favs
Sg's 🤔 I have 5 now but been through at least 24/28 & can't get sick of them! Being a small guy they are perfect for me the ones that don't neck dive I always try to keep. Great show boys 🙌
The reason the Les Paul name came off the SG shape WAS NOT because he didn’t like it, it was because of his divorce and contracts. There’s an interview with him explaining it. His comment about the neck is taken out of context. During development he didn’t like the neck and asked them to strengthen it… and they did hence his name went on the guitar. But the name came off when his divorce with MAry Ford and his contracts forced it to change.
Yes, Les terminated his endorsement contract with Gibson to keep it out of the divorce settlement.
Yes, this is the real reason. Les had a 10 year contract with Gibson that expired in 1962 and if had resigned with Gibson any profit from a new contract would be part of the "marital assets". Since he was in the process of divorcing Mary Ford he decided to put the new contract on hold until his divorce was final so he asked Gibson to remove his name from the SG. He mentions in his autobiography that this was his worst business decision he ever made. Since from the day they removed his name from the SG he no longer received any royalties for that modal which for many years was Gibson's biggest selling guitar modal.
I got my SG around ‘90ish. It was a 1987 SG Elite, Pearl white with gold hardware. Traded my first Japanese no name for it and paid $321 with tax. Still have it and will never part with it. A bit banged up in one spot and has aged to the slight yellow/white and is a daily player to this day save for the time when I stopped playing for quite awhile (still kicking myself for it). Back to playing the past year or so and love every minute of it. Haven’t changed anything to it. My first “real” guitar. Not sure how I fell into that one but I sure am glad.
Does a cassette recorder on the garage floor count as "tape experience"?
No?
OK.
But I did at least have a '65 SG Special (my tribute to Pete). And a '63 Strat. Still have both. Strat= $190. SG= $200 (got it at the "original" Guitar Center on the Strip, up the street from Gazarri's). Those were the days.
I started in radio in 1989. Got my broadcasting license, boy was the morse code part hard!!! WIQH 88.3fm Concord Ma, my first station, was my High Schools A/V program station. It was almost entirely analog. 8 rotopot board, carts, 2 turntables, a reel machine, and 1 fancy new Cd player(but we only had like 10 cds in the library) I used to love cutting psa's from the reel to reel, and loading the carts. Cutting tape is absolutely an art! Listening for the wash, and cutting perfect on tempo was so satisfying. Sadly... I went on to work at 3 more stations, but mid 90's, everything seemed to go digital, and big corps came in and bought most local stations, and became syndicated rebroadcasts...
No more need for me. I tried getting a job at a bunch of the recording studios in the area... no dice. So, I joined the Marines. But thats another story.
Great video.
In the summer of 93 I started at a new station that had been open for two weeks. KRQC was 92.7 K-Rock. We didn't have any vinyl. We had 3 CD players, knobs for pots on the board and all the production was tape. We had 2 track machines and cart machines. Digital audio came in right before a format change in 1998 when I left. After I left, the company bought a computer and was transferring audio to it to automate the music, the spots, the breaks. Say goodbye to live requests and the art of the segue.
Love this episode!!!! Was just talking with one of the bands I’m in about old school versus new school recording etc. How nasty my time looks when you zoom in too close. But it feels right in the track. I called it “time grit”. That human life in a real track. And just playing back programmed keyboard tracks on two inch enhugenates them. Tools are great but somethings only come from tape or humans…
Great to hear you mention Brother Cane. I met Damon Johnson a few years ago at the Dallas International Guitar Festival. He is a great guitar player, but the nicest part was that he took time out to just talk to a fan. Another great memory from the Dallas festival was talking with Gary Hoey while watching Johnny Winter. Something I'll never forget.
Hey Rick, love your channel! Have you ever considered making a “What makes this song great” video about “That Lady” by the Isley Brothers? Some terrific guitar by Ernie Isley in there. Keep them coming!
These are always my favorite videos, with the three of you guys just talking gear
My favorite guitar is a late 60’s SG that I purchased for $175 at a small pawn shop near Scranton PA. Not a case queen. So funny people don’t know what a 2” machine is;-).
My first guitar was a new 1968 SG Special. Lightweight, resonant, thin neck. I loved that guitar. What made that guitar comparable to a Strat were the single coil P90 pickups. SG Standards with humbuckers really sounds pretty similar to ES 335s or Les Pauls with humbuckers. That’s the comparison - the single coil P90 sound with the single coil pick ups on the Strat.
You 3 together are some of my favorite episodes
Always enjoy the conversations between the three of you
My father had a ’69-‘70 crossover SG Standard that he bought new way back then.
He played it every Friday and Saturday night in local bars and clubs until he got too sick with cancer to play. So, it got about 40+ years of hard playing. He used heavy gauge 13’s on it and was was a heavy handed player.
The glue joint at the neck started to separate. So, he had it glued back together. He was a machinist by day and made a plate to reinforce the neck joint, kind of like a Strat. It tightened it up and amazingly did no harm to the tone of the guitar
He also got tired of the Vibrola trem making the guitar go out of tune. So he removed it and had a stop bar installed. He left the large chrome tail piece on for looks.
Then it started to rot and rust away in my nephews basement for the next ten years.
He sent it down to me about five months ago in terrible shape. I spent about a month rounding up the parts and some tools to put it back into playing condition.
The original TOM bridge was slotted badly and the string spacing was all wrong. I bought a Gotoh bridge which has extra room for intonation and no spring to vibrate. They work well for me. I have one on my Epiphone LP. The nut was also cut wrong and needed to be replaced. I bought a blank and made one for the narrow nut of that year, 40mm.
Then after deep cleaning the whole guitar with naphtha, I found that half of the fretboard inlays needed to be glued and clamped down. After a fret level, crown and polish, I had to replace the worn out tuning machines. But my old man drilled the headstock out for a set of Grover Imperials. I bought a set of double line, double ring Kluson machines like the original ones.
Kluson went out of business for a few years and the name was bought by a company in Florida. They make an improved 15:1 version instead of the 12:1 originals. They are exact replicas. I had to buy adapter bushings from Kluson to make them fit properly in the 10mm holes in the headstock.
This guitar has real aged checking on what’s left of the paint. You can see where my father’s arm wore through the lacquer and the deep buckle rash from his big western belt buckles he was fond of.
Everything else is original. T top humbuckers, the pots, wiring, switch, jack. Surprisingly even the frets were original. The binding still had the nibs that go up the sides of the frets.
This 52 year old guitar sounds incredible. It looks it’s age but plays so sweet. Just took a lot of TLC. My old man’s mojo is imbedded in this guitar. I feel it when I play it.
Thank you for sharing that cool story John…That’s an awesome heirloom and beautiful tribute to your Dad, which is priceless. I appreciate the specific details that you described, as I’m trying to learn about vintage electrics myself. Stay safe and be well ! Best Regards, Shawn
These videos with Rick, Rhett and Dave are some of the best on TH-cam. I’m glad this series is back so I can stop watching re-runs of the other ones
Man I give anything to spend one day hanging out in rick's studio with you guys.
Even Rhet?
Love SG’s! Silver Strings Music in St Louis, MO used to carry lovely vintage guitars and I would go in and play those Gibsons. Johnny Winter bought his Gibson Firebird V from Silver Strings Music.
I know Ed Seelig the owner!!! a great vintage shop that is missed….:(
The great Frank Marino should take part of this discussion. Rick, when an interview with this legendary beast of a guitar player?
Come on Rick, you can't have a SG conversation without Frank Marino.
Years ago I got my '64 SG Jr in a trade. Relicked by life! Bent tuning key. Had been dropped to break the corner off through the controls and control cavity - white glued back on. Finish completely crackled. Always played like a dream!
As a Bass player, this video was primarily for the guitarists though I did enjoy it. Maybe a bit strange to me that nobody plugged in and played. My first exposure to the Gibson SG was through Pete Townsend and Carlos Santana. Of course there was also Clapton's "Fool" SG, that was a gift from George Harrison, that I believe is now owned by Todd Rundgren? I always liked the body shape and of course it had the Gibson ballsy sound IMO.
In my younger Rock and Roll days, the guitarist in our band had a Les Paul Jr (I believe) in brown that had the SG shape and I really liked that guitar. Single Humbucker pick up and it sounded fantastic. We went to see Rory Gallaher perform in NYC way back when and then my buddy traded the Jr for a Strat! I was bummed but that's the way the guitar crumbles I suppose. Best to all.
You say strange, I say disappointing.
My '67 SG standard was thrown out a 2nd story window and all that broke was the headstock. It was broken diagonally. SG's are tougher than you think, I accidentally backed my car onto mine and it didn't break. Two inch tape is the only way to fly. Digital just doesn't have that sound. I'm glad we recorded before the invention of Pro-Tools when you recorded straight to tape and live off the floor.
I love how it went from SGs to recording studios
I know right? Total click bait. LMAO!
Probably should've split it into two parts with different names. Imagine you casually listened to their talk on studios and then tried to find the video again later, you'd NEVER guess it was supposed to be a video about SG's haha
I have an SG Supra in Natural Maple… she’s beautiful and sounds magnificent.
Still kicking myself for not buying a Pete Townshend signature SG back around 2003 when they came out. Pete on the Live at Leeds album is iconic!
Back in high school I would play Live at Leeds on my 72 SG-200, and I could nail the tone. That was 46 years ago. Wasn't until much later I learned the guitar is considered Norlin crap. It sounds like a Gibson from Kalamazoo, the haters can go pound salt.
@@davidsteinberg8024 Screw the haters! “This is a f***ing rock & roll concert, not a f***ing tea party!” 🤣🤘🎸
"Young Man Blues". 'Nuff said.
@@michaelward9880 Hell yeah. Epic!
Not necessarily disagreeing with Dave, but IMO, the Non-Reverse Firebird with Mini-Hum's and Tune-O-Matic comes a lot closer in tone and playing feel (ESPECIALLY when standing) to the Strat with Rosewood 'board. I DO agree that the Computer was and is a GAME CHANGER (in MANY fields, including Music)...and that trusting one's "gut" (AND "ear") are ALWAYS essential to great recording. I love these "brainstorming" sessions, guys!!
I recently bought a 2021 61' SG Standard w/ maestro trem, and its blown me away. These guitars are resonant by design. Full neck access is very nice, especially as I set it up with baritone lights/tuned it to C#. The neck pickup is surprisingly warm & sweet, the bridge pickup barks and the brightness is mellowed when the tone is backed off to 7-8. There was an issue with 2019-late 2020 productions of the maestro trem, something to do with the screws? Anyway, the 2021-> onward maestro trems seem to be much tighter and less prone to throwing the guitar out of tune. However, I have to play more delicately with my fretting hand because gripping too hard will affect tuning.
The SG should be a model that Gibson pushes (along with LP Specials DC & SC) because it is the model in their catalog that has closest intersection of Made in America + design choices that compliment the modern player + tonal versatility + least expensive premium instrument to manufacture (no carved top + solid body). Before I bought my SG, I was looking for a guitar with humbuckers. I primarily play a Tele with a Strat as the backup, and wanted something that could cover the other side of the spectrum + offer something different. I was really looking towards a 335 or a 355, but the SG was priced at $2699 CAD, the 335 dot was priced at $4099CAD, the figured + block inlay 335 was $4949CAD, and the only 355's I could find were like over 7 grand. Also looked at a Gretsch G6636T Black Falcon, but the same issues apply.
I understand the level of craftsmanship and increased amount of time-on-guitar for these archtop & semi hollow models will directly increase the price of the instrument, and I think that its fair that they are more expensive than other models with less costly production. However, as a guitar player in my early 20's many of the Gibson's models are cost prohibitive, but it has always been this way. 1960's prices adjusted to inflation match up pretty evenly to the current catalog. Its fine, and even a good thing, to have aspirational/premium models to offer, but you can't blame the younger consumer for choosing to go with a brand that has an innate design cost advantage when your primary marketing strategy is to only focus on pushing increasingly cost prohibitive premium models. This brings up an uncomfortable conversation regarding Epiphone. Personally, I think Gibson would be better off continuing to use Epiphone as an affordable acoustic guitar option, while then operating a MIA/MIJ archtop department of Epiphone, reissuing models like the zephyr etc. That's a different thing though.
Additionally, SG's benefit from not being bound to the incomparable standard from a previous era. Les Pauls will forever be matched up to the Bursts and 50's Goldtops. 335's will forever be matched up to the "Burst Killers" and Clapton's Cream era Cherry 335. Hell , they finally did right by Sister Rosetta Tharpe by releasing a collection with her estate and Gibson, including a white SG Custom with 3 pickup, sideways trem, and gold hardware. That's fine, and marketing with that messaging + vision of tradition has proven to be a valuable part of branding, but it can not be the exclusive audience targeted. The SG offers Gibson an out to the tradition recycling because it's their longest consecutively produced instrument. Everyone since 1961 has ripped an SG, in every genre. As far as my guitar history knowledge goes, there isn't one specific year or short range of years of the SG's production that is considered to be the "gold years" . This could be a beneficial starting point for the next phase of the company's marketing strategy. If you don't have a solidified standard, you are free to experiment.
I think the SG has the potential to boom like the Jazzmaster has in recent years, and double cuts will be vogue like how offset guitars are currently vogue. Gibson has always had a harder time competing with Fender's colour options. Guitar players eat with their eyes more we'd like to admit. Les Pauls and 335's dont necessarily look the best with non-traditional colour options. I believe that this is because the carved/arched top + woodgrain of these models enhance the depth of a burst or stain. However, the SG's non-carved construction/plainer top are more forgiving to flat/solid colours. A good example would be the Chicago Music Exchange exclusive colour T-Top SG's. The combination of unique colour + nitro top is what Gibson can offer than Fender largely cannot. Introduce a range of solid colour and a range of bursts/traditional finishes, pickguard design variations, hardware material choices etc etc. This is the future.
I really enjoy the products that Gibson makes, and the cultural iconoclast that the brand has become. Gibson will likely be a part of my future, as I've been been thinking of doing a project guitar with a Les Paul special + lollar goldfoils & a duesenberg tremolo. They have a chance here to turn that last corner and be a successful instrument manufacture that meets the needs of both the tradition-focused and modern-minded guitar player. Get SG's and Les Paul Special DC's in the hands of players from Hardcore to Neo Soul, let the kids hear it for themselves. The product is good, the platform is there, just have to make the right choices.
I ended up with an SG because It was a solution to a problem, and it ended up being exactly what I needed. Hopefully Gibson can help other players like me figure that out too.
good post. just wanted to let you know the word is vogue, not vouge.
@@Asshat237 appreciated
Holy F!! Dave was at Triclops in Georgia? I was there Late 92 into 93 with Smashing Pumpkins for the Siamese Dream recordings with Butch Vig. I loved the old Abby Road board and it's airliner style volume faders, and Butch got a chance to demonstrate the "Executive Channel": When some bigwig (not a musician) from Virgin showed up and thought he could help Butch Engineer he had it on standby. It's a channel he used as a placebo, and when the executives would meddle with stuff like "A little more bass on the guitar", Butch would tweak it until it it sounded "Just right" to them but it didn't do anything, and it was all in the power of suggestion. Once they did a few minutes of this, they would leave so they could tell people they "Helped engineer that album"; LMAO, it worked like a charm! ;^)
I also jammed with Butch (a darn good drummer), D'arcy and James, but I'm way into Zappa, King Crimson, jazz/rock fusion... and Butch picked it up in a New York minute, so he started alternating timings... D'arsy was confused at first, but got a hang of it, James not so much, and he gave up, and someone from Triclops or a freind of theirs joined in (was it You?) and then Billy after he heard it ramp up, smoking everyone of course. He could play just about anything, including Paul Gilbert's Racer X stuff and the like!
Oh, and the nutty "Triclops" decor: Priceless! I wonder how the collection has grown since then?
So you worked there Dave? Sorry, but I have the worse memory, and in those days we met and worked with so many people, there was always so much going on I couldn't retain but a few names, and although pretty good with faces, even many of those faded quickly, it's been a long time since then to where it gets more difficult.
You guys rock!
Surprised that Rick has seemingly never heard the term "case queen" to describe an old guitar in great shape due to not being used much.
Haha! Never heard that!
@@RickBeato also I was surprised Rick said he plays a lot on the LOW strings but at the top of the neck "and I don't know why".
EASY EXPLANATION:
THERE'S A THICKER-NESS (and different tone) to playing UP HIGH on the Low E that you can't get jumping to the next lowest string.
It might be my FAVE part of the neck!
and Shull made a VERY IMPORTANT POINT:
Generally NEVER second-guess your ideas.
Always great to see you three together for a show
A disaster that ended up working in the track was when Billy Joel was recording the song Pressure with Phil Ramone producing. Normally you would try to keep the artist away from any controls but during a playback of an overdub where Billy yelled, "pressure" over the track, instead of soloing the vocal track to check it out Billy accidently punched out everything in that section except the yelling. The yelling heard next was Phil, "God what did you do? You erased part of the song!" So, what everyone later assumed was a conscious dramatic choice was really an accident that seemed disastrous at the time.
Apart from the time I spent as a musician recording in various studios (4, 8, and 16-track on someone else's nickel), I cut my own engineering teeth on my own TEAC TCA-43 4-track with an outboard dbx, and then later on an Otari 8-track machine and various analog consoles and outboard gear connected through a TT patch bay. And I loved it. So when Opcode came out with Studio Vision and then Digidesign coughed up ProTools, it was like a dream come true.
Fast forward to Logic Pro, and producing music has reached orgasmic levels. But for my part, paying those analog dues has enriched the whole experience. Not only do I NOT take digital for granted, but I haven't let it spoil me into perfection. Some of those analog quirks made the sound magical. They're still available in the signal chain...if you have enough sense to let them in.
The single coil melody makers are gibsons strats. The sg is an sg.
Think it was in terms of the double cutaway solid body follow-up to both fender and gibsons first single cut successes, if you look past pickups and at the actual history, that's where you'll see the connections between the two. Doesn't mean they are the same but the similarities are there. Either way the damn thing will never hold tune, gotta give the point to strats on that one imo.
These are my third favorite Beato vids after the “what makes this song great?” And the top 20 lists. Wish we had more Dave!! Good job, guys.
I tried out a few SGs recently and I have to admit, I hate the ergonomics. The dealbreaker for me is that the bridge is halfway up the body so your arm is in this really weird spot. I always felt like the bridge
eck was way too far forward. I couldn't get comfortable with it in the slightest.
Hmm. Maybe I just played one for so long (I went from my Strat to a hollow-body to the SG and then played the SG as my main guitar for over a decade), but I still find it to be the single most comfortable guitar I ever played. I don't play it much anymore but when I go back to it it still is just the easiest, most comfortable thing to play.
Interesting, I’m the exact opposite, but I hate the les Paul for similar reasons, I hate how it feels wether I’m sitting or standing. My Gibson is the sg.
Those are fair criticisms. Guitar playing is (and should be) a personal experience. If you're not comfortable with a particular guitar, let it go to someone else. There are enough variants in the world for you to find a good fit. I love the Stratocaster sound, but the main volume knob on them is in the wrong place for me. I was lucky to find an Ibanez Roadstar II, which has that placed in a slightly different spot and sounds good enough for my liking - especially after a pro shop set it up for me.
Ended up working (learning by osmosis) in the studio where my soon-to-be-wife's piano duo was recording. Invaluable time and training.
I’ve always loved how easy the SG is to play. That dorky looking square Gibson headstock completely ruins the beautifuly curved body though.
I'd just bought my SG yesterday, and you just did this video hours later! It makes me even happier about my purchase. Mine is the Special, which is akin to Rhett's but with two P90s. It's cool to to see Rhett with his first SG too! It came with a solid case too, so now it's time to open it and try it for the first time at home!
As a heterosexual teenage male the SG’s shape was a natural to me when I went to buy my first guitar. And as a Taurus the horns were equally appropriate. I have two now, but have owned many over the years. My current fave is an SG Special with two P90’s.
P90's are the greatest✌️
Great to see the 3 of you chatting again. Really love these vids. Would be nice to hear you play those SGs for comparative purposes too.