GIBSON SG

Gibson SG Standard

The story of the Gibson SG begins with low sales for the Gibson Les Paul. It seems that the legendary guitar wasn't doing too well in the late 1950s, causing Gibson decided to redesign the line. In 1959 they gave the Les Paul Juniors and Specials a quirky double-cutaway, and then in 1960 they stopped making the original single-cutaway Les Pauls altogether— replacing them with the two-horned design of the current SGs. So the guitar we call the SG today was originally called a Les Paul.

Les Paul did work on the new design with Gibson, but he never really liked it and asked that his name be removed from the instruments. In 1961 Gibson promised to remove his name from these guitars and simply called them "SG" (Solid Body) guitars. Of course, they still had a lot of labels leftover that said "Gibson Les Paul," so they didn't actually get around to taking his name off the headstock until 1963. Les was not happy about this fact. In 1962 Gibson and Les Paul parted ways.

There were other reasons for the split. Apparently Les hadn't had any hit records for a while, so his popularity had declined. Also, Les was getting divorced from his wife Mary Ford, and he didn't want to sign any new contracts while the divorce proceedings were underway. From 1963 until 1967 Gibson issued no guitars with the Les Paul name. In 1968 Les and Gibson got back together, and the company revived the original design. By this time the SG had become a popular guitar line in its own right, and of course it's still manufactured today.

The SG is much lighter than a Les Paul, with a thinner body and neck. It also joins the neck at a higher fret, so it's easier to reach the upper register. It's a bit top heavy, with the heavy headstock wanting to lean toward the floor. THe original model came equipped with two P-90 humbucking pickups. It has two volume controls and two tone controls just like a Les Paul.