This video was a trip down nostalgia lane! My first two guitars were the Kay multi-effects model and the Sonex-180 Std. The Kay was traded for the Sonex and I enjoyed the playability and the sound of the pickups. What I realized fairly quickly, was just how comfortable the Sonex body shape is when compared to a buddy's LP Custom. The Sonex also introduced me to the snappable headstock feature (twice).
Did your sonex have the dirty fingers pickups? Because those things rock! My friend had one. The dirty fingers pickups, are my favorite pickups by Gibson. I don't care for this thing though, it just wouldn't suit my playing style.
+@@monstrok Awesome bro! Ya, I love those pickups, in fact, I have 2 epiphone sg's with those pickups, I just bought a set, getting ready to put into my 2017 Gibson sg standard cherry burst. Keep rocki'n bud! 👍🤘🤘🤘😎✌
I recall hearing one of these "in-the-day" around 1982. A guy was trying one out at a local (now defunct) music shop. The salesman and the would-be buyer were having one heck of a time making it sound like a Les Paul. I mean, that's obviously what the customer wanted with the guitar looking like this. I was with my brother and we were shopping for something else, and didn't stick around for the entire time. When we got back to the car we christened this axe the "Cheese-O-Phone." As always, you've made it sound 1,000 times better than I remember. I see the overall tone of this guitar as for to replicate that "plugged direct in to the recording board" sound that was popular on commercial / top 40 tunes of the day. I see the tones at the 20:08 mark perfect for using full volume when the drunks keep on asking for requests at 2:00AM. That'll learn 'em.
I actually love the tones coming out of this, even the one with everything on. I have a tele deluxe that’s overly bright and it’s my absolute favourite. If I had money I’d buy this in a heart beat.
No bro, the look, maybe, but not the tone, too brite. It wouldn't sound right with distortion, maybe if you had this guitar, just to play lead solos, and you had a different guitar for rythm. The tone is all wack.
@@mr.fancypants698 errr what? Joe Strummer of the Clash used a telecaster and those are VERY bright guitars. Punk isn't metal, you don't need active EMGs or whatever, and single coils can even do metal anyway, so they can easily do punk, and they have a more raw aggressive and bitey tone. Exactly what you want for punk. Maybe you're thinking more of pop punk and pop rock than punk?
+@@duffman18 No, I'm speaking of Punk Rock. Mike Ness, of "Social D"uses Seymour Duncan p-90's in all of his guitars. Everyone says those sound like single coils, but I completely disagree, they sound closer to a hot humbucker, like a gibson dirtyfingers pickup, or like a 498t, 500t, ect. Not all, but most punk bands use humbuckers. Like I said, if you used it as a guitar, to do solos, it would stand out, with the rythm guitar having a hot overwound humbucker. Btw, I hate emg's, they're garbage! I wasn't speaking of those at all. Nofx, Eric Melvin, he's got a lespaul, with humbuckers, and el heffe, he plays a tele, so there's the mix I was speaking of, just all depends upon what tone you're going for.
+@@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer I'm speaking of the tone ya jackleg! People say the tone of p-90's sound like single coils. Personally, I think they sound closer to a hot humbucker.
Great channel.. I watch this everynight.. Keep it up its awesome and also full of history and information... Maybe some day you will do fender and prs.. Take care.. 🎸 🎸🎸🍻🍻
Austin have you seen the Sweetwater exclusive American Professional Strats and Teles? Awesome guitars with roasted maple necks. Would be a cool addition to the new style Fender Friday! Cheers
The only one I was not aware of was the Firebird 2 Artist. Why do they have so much trouble just making a good Firebird line without slapping the neck on a piece of crap?
Funny, back in the 1980s this guitar fit right in! How times and tastes have changed. Great review, I've seen more than a few of the Sonex guitars over the years but never an Artist Model, great score Austin.
I definitely want that guitar! Love the color and the options. Now if only I had the money... My guitar teacher has one of the old Sonex guitars with the Dirty Fingers pups, white with the black pickguard. I have been trying to get him to fix it and update it.
I had a friend many years ago that had a Gibson Sonex model . Used to jam in his basement with it . Actually sounded pretty good paired with an old fender bandmaster amp and an old MXR distortion pedal !
The issue with measuring the pickup resistance is simple - you're getting the reading of all the electronics between the pickups and your multimeter. For virtually every other guitar the worst you have is the volume and tone pots and resistance they may provide if not set to 10. For this thing, instead, everything is being processed and then shot out - i would be like trying to read resistance through effects pedals that are on, or from a pre-amp before it goes into the main amp -- all that other stuff "gets in the way."
The pickups are buffered by the electronics, so you will NOT see typical resistance readings at the output jacks. You need to connect the meter leads to the pickup coil leads, & even then the circuit may load down the pickup outputs & you may still see lower than normal readings. The only way to know for sure is to disconnect the pickup leads from the circuit and measure the coil resistance at the pickup leads.
I'd like to see Austin do a tone comparison between the Standard RD guitars but with the different scale lengths. I don't think I've ever seen a comparison of those, and I am sure I've never seen both Scale Lengths together in the same room at the same time. Interesting idea (IMO)
Willies Guitars in St.Paul has one of these right now as well....I love their description regarding the Sonex....."One of the more peculiar products of the South American beer-and-concrete conglomerate-turned-musical instrument manufacturer Norlin during their control of Gibson". :)
interestingly I just saw a video of the Band 10K maniacs and the guy playing guitar had one of these , with a lot of chorus plus a little gain and shortstrap up high, a very high resister plinkety jangly tone fit the fidgety melodic style of the band
That is NOT simply brightness. With that treble at max it is adding a severe amount of harshness. That is partly due to the carbon resistors, partly because of the TL072 Op Amp, and also due to the use of a feedback based tone control circuit. At least that is my best guess.
I owned an RD Artist bass for about... 10 minutes. What a COW that thing was! It wasn't the shape, the shape was kinda cool. It was everything ELSE about that thing that made me get rid of it.
Would you do a video on how you clean a guitar top to bottom? Your techniques and tools used. People need to know the proper way so as not to damage their guitars.
I just saw that Lee Malia has a signature Epiphone RD now, I had his Les Paul and wanted the Explorer but it was the same electronics as the LP so I didn't spend the money. I wonder if his RD has the same as well? Austin, I kind of lime this guitar oddly enough. With all of the added buttons and switches and some playing with an amp I bet a person could really knock out some great tones!! I actually really liked how it sounds bare bones and with the first two Moog board effects, even the compression sounds like with some tweaking on your amp a person could get some cool effects. I am not that familiar with Fender products so maybe someone who is can fill me in, but why does it seem that Gibson has a history, no matter who is the CEO, of trying weird modern things that just never seem to work properly? Is it that difficult to make stuff work and if it is, why do they let it hit the streets? The same for the paint job, it seems Gibson is always having a disclaimer of , " don't buy from this year to this year because Gibson was having issues with ___________". Like that Sully Erna, Now I find out that basically most signature models and some regular models between 2013 and 2015 had issues with the nitro aging prematurely. Since every Sully Erna model I have come across including mine seems to show issues within the first year, why did Gibson continue using that nitro and since it was found only on those specific models, obviously they must have tried a product from a new vendor or some cheaper version so it should have been easy for them to pinpoint what the trouble was caused from, but nope, they just kept cranking them out and screwing the buyers over and will not stand behind their product and fulfill their promised warranty. If I had the money I would take them to court over it!
Big companies like Gibson are like a very big machine. It takes a long time to stop or change direction, in this case it took years! Where I work we will test a finish, be pretty satisfied we have tested everything and then purchase a years worth! Due to investors and profit quotas I can almost guarantee you that whole year of finish product is going to be used come Hell or High Water! At the end of the day Gibson is a money making company 1st and foremost and a builder of fine instruments 2nd. Somehow I think re-work and warranty expenses are separated into a different bucket of costs. So what you end up with is we hit our profit goals using the $hitty finish material, Yeahhhh The warranty/re-work costs come later and effect operations costs and overhead, so all of the re-work costs kind of get swept under the rug! I purchased a then new 25th Anniversary Stratocaster in Pearl White. At the time of the build Fender was implementing a new water-based poly finish to comply with newer and stricter Kalifornia EPA regulations. As such they didn't work all the bugs out of the finish. Not sure they even really tested the stuff. The result was I came back from the Service in 1980 and the guitar had turned a beautiful shade of urine-yellow! I stripped the guitar's finish and modified the Hell out of it (an original 25th Anniversary Stratocaster), gosh how stupid was I. By the time I was done is was a black-pearl HSS configuration. Once I became an adult in 1988 I contacted Fender about the finish as many people had the same problem and Fender was trying to make it right. Fender paid for half the cost to refinish my instrument even restoring the pickup route to the original SSS configuration. I then sold the guitar for 20% more than I originally paid for it. Original cost w/case was $1200 in 1979 from Al Nali Music in Ann Arbor. Point being, Fender most likely hit their profit goals in 1979 when that guitar was built. The cost of the refinish was most likely absorbed in 1988 because big Companies are great at kicking the can/problem down the road!
@@hkguitar1984 Maybe I am wrong but it just seems to me that Gibson seems to have more trouble with this type of stuff than any other company. Look at all those Firebird X's that were destroyed, some of those instruments were brand new, in fact I think they were all brand new? And some of them dated back to 2010, so Gibson sat on that failed product that long? Another subscriber to this channel who I am also friends with on Facebook purchased a used 2014 gold top Les Paul for his 17th birthday and that guitar left Gibson not only with finish issues but also the neck was glued in at the wrong angle and Gibson will not do anything about it. They claim it's because he is not the original purchaser, but in the case of both my brand new Les Paul's I am the original purchaser and they still will not do anything. Gibson once made the finest of instruments, that is not the case any longer and even though I love the Les Paul, I will not purchase another new Les Paul until I KNOW that they have taken care of their QC issues AND they will stand behind their own warranty!
@@alabamahebrew That is really a horrible, and shame on Gibson for not making it right. I purchased a mid-priced Martin guitar years ago that started to show evidence of the bridge pulling away from the top. I contacted Martin and they not only paid to have the guitar repaired by an authorized Luthier but they also upgraded the piezo system at no cost! In fact, the Martin Repair Rep even reached out to have me list her as a "connection" on my Linkedin Page. So yeah, Martin is in it to win it and their Customer Service is (IMO) Crazy Good. Gibson, not so much so. And that irritates the crap out of me because I really like many of Gibson's guitars.
@@hkguitar1984 - Yeah man I waited over 30 years to buy my first real brand new Gibson Les Paul and it was such a disappointment! I think I can safely say that it was finding Austin's channel here that saved Gibson from being put on my "never buy from" list lol. I really want to get like a late 70's or 90's Les Paul since Austin says those are great years for my favorite guitar. But alas I still haven't heard back from Publishers Clearing House so I cannot buy one of those guitars yet lol.
@@alabamahebrew I purchased my 1986 LP Custom back in 2001, I couldn't be happier with the quality. I don't know if mine was a fluke or it has something to do with it was a special ordered instrument. My experience with Gibson's is sort of limited to the 1976 Les Paul I purchased new (a great guitar) and the 1986 LP Custom I have. Not much experience, but both times have been positive. It's funny, when I examine a new Fender guitar I'm not really expecting much and am usually impressed with the quality. I think we all hold Gibson to higher standards due to their higher cost. In actuality I believe the higher cost is due to more man-hours required to build a set-neck instrument with binding, it is not due to higher quality. Just my $.02 Cents
Agreed. It would take a skilled/experienced technician with a factory schematic to restore those two circuit boards. Cost to refurbish just the Moog circuitry would most likely never be recouped with the overall cost/worth of the guitar. As we used to say "BER", Beyond Economical Repair. Too bad too because it would be interesting to experience one of these guitars as it was intended/designed in new condition.
Hello! I just saw this video today for first time! I see that guitar has the “diamond” shaped strap buttons. I have a Gibson Amp 1981 Flying V which came with those diamond strap buttons. I had them removed and Dunlop strap locks installed back in the day. I still have one but lost the other. Do you have access to one of these in either chrome or nickel? Thanks in advance!!
I can imagine a lot of noise and industrial rock bands loving the sounds that this guitar is capable of... the one thing I've learned is that NO sound is "unusable." There is always SOME way to use even the worst, most ear-bleeding, torturous tone... it depends on the song, style of music, and what the artist is going for... and of course, what you're listening fancy is... bands like Medicine, Lush, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and even heavier bands like Godflesh would likely have a LOT of use for what this guitar can do.
Odd that you list all of the gear used, all the way down to the George L cabling and amp cab mic, yet you say nothing about what kind of amp or cabinet you’re using?
Hey I was wondering I have a 2014 RD artist and not a lot of information is out there about them such as the gem pick ups how many were made and so on do you happen to know that information could you hook me up
@@moonchild4806 I almost bought a G&L, and I tried the PTB circuit and it's very different from what I meant. I meant an circuit like on an active bass :)
What is the real difference between a Lespaul and the Sonex?!! Im considering buying a gibson with the shape of a LP, lespaul are expensive tho.. Sonex vs LesPaul?
Are you aware of a band called "Sonic Youth?" They have a song called "Eric's trip" which is played on a fretless guitar with only four strings and with drumsticks jammed underneath the strings. Before a thief ran off with all of their gear, that role went to a Les Paul copy with the nickname "The drifter" because it used to be that guitar which was owned by everybody one time or another within the band's circle of friends. www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gtr01a.jpg But with their guitars stolen it was feared that "Eric's Trip" would vanish from the band's setlist, until a roadie helped them out, took a Gibson Sonex, pulled out the frets and that pickguard and made the band a new Drifter. www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gtr113c.jpg It's the one Gibson Sonex which has gotten street cred.
I think if I had one of these guitars I'd just take all the original wiring out as a whole and keep it in case I wanted to sell it but rewire it to play with simpler wiring
The thought of not throwing away equipment or guitars must've gone out with the changing of the guard. Would've been nice to experience what an explorer x was like.
Those huge pickguards and the bolt on neck on the Sonex 180 just make them look like Fenders, and that is NOT a compliment. Huge plastic pickguards just look cheesey.
DOES ANYONE IN HERE KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THE SONEX ARTIST CAME WITH DIRTY FINGERS OR VELVET BRICKS ? Sorry for the CAPS, Trogly doesn’t mention it, and I’ve been all over the internet reading conflicting reports on which pickups came with the guitar.
Better than the orig sonix. Had one bought then found a IBZ RRSR. this was '82 backed out ha, never knew there was a second whatever. I hate mini switches if there's more than one.
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the brightness + treble boost is like staring at the sun, but for your ears
Love the brightness/quirkiness of this guitar, not for everyone I know haha. Reminds me of D. Boon's guitar tone from Minutemen.
"They didn't want to throw things away" oh wow, how the Gibson mindset has changed over the years...
I'm a luthier and an owner of 2 Sonexes and this comment made me laugh my balls clean off
This video was a trip down nostalgia lane! My first two guitars were the Kay multi-effects model and the Sonex-180 Std. The Kay was traded for the Sonex and I enjoyed the playability and the sound of the pickups. What I realized fairly quickly, was just how comfortable the Sonex body shape is when compared to a buddy's LP Custom. The Sonex also introduced me to the snappable headstock feature (twice).
Did your sonex have the dirty fingers pickups? Because those things rock! My friend had one. The dirty fingers pickups, are my favorite pickups by Gibson. I don't care for this thing though, it just wouldn't suit my playing style.
@@mr.fancypants698 It did indeed have Dirty Fingers!
+@@monstrok
Awesome bro! Ya, I love those pickups, in fact, I have 2 epiphone sg's with those pickups, I just bought a set, getting ready to put into my 2017 Gibson sg standard cherry burst. Keep rocki'n bud!
👍🤘🤘🤘😎✌
(Me too! Mine was a Sears Effector)
Run that everything on tone into a Metal Zone and see what happens.
You know I like the sound of losing my hearing why not
You'll get a real shitty sound and big Bill from the ENT doctor 😜
Also known as black metal
actually, metal zone sounds good when acting as a pre-amp :D
You can replicate that sound with an old metal ironing board. Just unfold it and fold it back up. SKREEEERREE
This is the first demo that actually hurt my ears.
Exactly!!! , he’s garbage lol , that’s what happens when a player thinks gear makes them better players
6:52
@@Mrturtlestomps don’t get mad because you can’t play well, LMAO.
The phrase "blizzard of nails" was coined within minutes of the release of this model. Ouch!
20:08 - pretty sure that this goes against the Geneva Convention..
I can’t imagine being in a room where that was played... Recording, RUclips and my headphones saved me from the worst
Yep
I recall hearing one of these "in-the-day" around 1982. A guy was trying one out at a local (now defunct) music shop. The salesman and the would-be buyer were having one heck of a time making it sound like a Les Paul. I mean, that's obviously what the customer wanted with the guitar looking like this. I was with my brother and we were shopping for something else, and didn't stick around for the entire time. When we got back to the car we christened this axe the "Cheese-O-Phone." As always, you've made it sound 1,000 times better than I remember. I see the overall tone of this guitar as for to replicate that "plugged direct in to the recording board" sound that was popular on commercial / top 40 tunes of the day. I see the tones at the 20:08 mark perfect for using full volume when the drunks keep on asking for requests at 2:00AM. That'll learn 'em.
I actually love the tones coming out of this, even the one with everything on. I have a tele deluxe that’s overly bright and it’s my absolute favourite. If I had money I’d buy this in a heart beat.
@@tiarahuddleston1763 On the inside, yes.
DonicsM lololil
Never heard of that model. Thanks for finding these rare items. I love seeing early 80's guitars.
I have to say, man. I really do not like 99.99% of Gibson guitar but I do really like this channel. Some good stuff here.
I have not come across anyone who know more about guitars than this guy !!! Period !
Its perfect for many genres especially funk
Probably you’d get much more usable result out of using a strat and a compressor
TheZooropaBaby middle pickup gang
That Sonix looks rad! Perfect punk rock guitar.
No bro, the look, maybe, but not the tone, too brite. It wouldn't sound right with distortion, maybe if you had this guitar, just to play lead solos, and you had a different guitar for rythm. The tone is all wack.
@@mr.fancypants698 errr what? Joe Strummer of the Clash used a telecaster and those are VERY bright guitars. Punk isn't metal, you don't need active EMGs or whatever, and single coils can even do metal anyway, so they can easily do punk, and they have a more raw aggressive and bitey tone. Exactly what you want for punk. Maybe you're thinking more of pop punk and pop rock than punk?
+@@duffman18
No, I'm speaking of Punk Rock. Mike Ness, of "Social D"uses Seymour Duncan p-90's in all of his guitars. Everyone says those sound like single coils, but I completely disagree, they sound closer to a hot humbucker, like a gibson dirtyfingers pickup, or like a 498t, 500t, ect. Not all, but most punk bands use humbuckers. Like I said, if you used it as a guitar, to do solos, it would stand out, with the rythm guitar having a hot overwound humbucker. Btw, I hate emg's, they're garbage! I wasn't speaking of those at all. Nofx, Eric Melvin, he's got a lespaul, with humbuckers, and el heffe, he plays a tele, so there's the mix I was speaking of, just all depends upon what tone you're going for.
@@mr.fancypants698 why do you hate Emgs?
+@@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer
I'm speaking of the tone ya jackleg! People say the tone of p-90's sound like single coils. Personally, I think they sound closer to a hot humbucker.
It's a piece of history
reverb.com/item/29115838-video-1981-gibson-sonex-artist-candy-apple-red?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly
Episode Guide:
0:39 - Gibson "Artist" Series
4:11 - Gibson "Sonex" Series
5:50 - Inside Look / Specs
13:33 - Controls Explained
14:01 - Just Pickups Demo
15:12 - Bass Boost/Cut Demo
16:05 - Treble Boost/Cut Demos
16:47 - Bass/Treble Combo Demos
17:41 - Bright Switch Demo
18:46 - Expander Switch Demo
19:13 - Compression Switch Demo
19:46 - The Worst Sound You'll Ever Hear
21:04 - Distortion Demos
22:36 - Final Thoughts
23:45 - Condition
26:14 - Blacklight Test
27:20 - Case
Great channel.. I watch this everynight.. Keep it up its awesome and also full of history and information... Maybe some day you will do fender and prs.. Take care.. 🎸 🎸🎸🍻🍻
Kudos Trogly,just scrolling through the shows,you are a wealth of information Great Thanks !
Austin have you seen the Sweetwater exclusive American Professional Strats and Teles? Awesome guitars with roasted maple necks. Would be a cool addition to the new style Fender Friday! Cheers
Your playing has really improved over the course of your videos, and it wasn't bad to begin with. Keep it up!
Dude... Just stop.
*I had a Sonex Standard and I thought it sounded great! The composite body was heavy as all hell but it played great.*
Jeez these videos are great i’m surprised I stayed this long
Your playing has gotten better Austin
That’s a great sounding and versatile guitar👍🏻🎸🤘🏻
The only one I was not aware of was the Firebird 2 Artist. Why do they have so much trouble just making a good Firebird line without slapping the neck on a piece of crap?
Funny, back in the 1980s this guitar fit right in!
How times and tastes have changed.
Great review, I've seen more than a few of the Sonex guitars over the years but never an Artist Model, great score Austin.
I definitely want that guitar! Love the color and the options. Now if only I had the money...
My guitar teacher has one of the old Sonex guitars with the Dirty Fingers pups, white with the black pickguard. I have been trying to get him to fix it and update it.
Thank you for pronouncing Bob Moog’s name correctly.
I LOVE that really bright tone, it will then make the bass m ore prominant as well
I had a friend many years ago that had a Gibson Sonex model . Used to jam in his basement with it . Actually sounded pretty good paired with an old fender bandmaster amp and an old MXR distortion pedal !
A sonex in car popped up on Facebook, almost bought it, but what made it so memorable was that it was next to the dirtiest toilet I've ever seen.
Early Release Crew, have a great day.
The issue with measuring the pickup resistance is simple - you're getting the reading of all the electronics between the pickups and your multimeter. For virtually every other guitar the worst you have is the volume and tone pots and resistance they may provide if not set to 10. For this thing, instead, everything is being processed and then shot out - i would be like trying to read resistance through effects pedals that are on, or from a pre-amp before it goes into the main amp -- all that other stuff "gets in the way."
I really like this guitar, i would play it..
the electronics would be great for a 12 string, tuned low or 6 string with an open tuning
I was actually thinking the same
I get some PRS vibes off it, kinda cool
The super bright kind of had the Outlaws sound that was on Green Grass and High Tides.
What a great guitar ! Super tone controls. I did a search. Noting on eBay . Probably non-existent now
You said Moog the correct way! You're a serious documentarian!
The pickups are buffered by the electronics, so you will NOT see typical resistance readings at the output jacks. You need to connect the meter leads to the pickup coil leads, & even then the circuit may load down the pickup outputs & you may still see lower than normal readings. The only way to know for sure is to disconnect the pickup leads from the circuit and measure the coil resistance at the pickup leads.
On the note of having the active moog electronics, please get an Rd on the channel!!!
I'd like to see Austin do a tone comparison between the Standard RD guitars but with the different scale lengths.
I don't think I've ever seen a comparison of those, and I am sure I've never seen both Scale Lengths together in the same room at the same time.
Interesting idea (IMO)
Willies Guitars in St.Paul has one of these right now as well....I love their description regarding the Sonex....."One of the more peculiar products of the South American beer-and-concrete conglomerate-turned-musical instrument manufacturer Norlin during their control of Gibson". :)
interestingly I just saw a video of the Band 10K maniacs and the guy playing guitar had one of these , with a lot of chorus plus a little gain and shortstrap up high, a very high resister plinkety jangly tone fit the fidgety melodic style of the band
I Love these odd Gibsons. Cheers Austin.
So preoccupied with the thought that they could do it, but never stopped to think if they should
when he boosts everything at 17:03, it sounds like he’s about to play Pretty Little Ditty
perfect tone too
Ahhhhh... You weren't lying! Best Regards
These models are like the analog ancestors of the Firebied X.
Somedy know if thé circuit cut to Split humbuker to single coil
That is NOT simply brightness. With that treble at max it is adding a severe amount of harshness. That is partly due to the carbon resistors, partly because of the TL072 Op Amp, and also due to the use of a feedback based tone control circuit. At least that is my best guess.
There are some really terrific tones coming out of that guitar - but nothing you can't get with one switch and two knobs.
i need to learn more circuitry so i can make my own effects chipsets.
i have a 79 les paul artist but i rip the electronics out put new pickups in an the toggle are split, split and out of fase imlove this les paul
D. Boon would've loved that tone
Amazing guitar!!!!
Actually... I like this.
I owned an RD Artist bass for about... 10 minutes. What a COW that thing was! It wasn't the shape, the shape was kinda cool. It was everything ELSE about that thing that made me get rid of it.
I'm suprised I didn't get a headache from this!
use cycling handle bar tape. Im sure a cork tape would be nice and it wouldnt leave no crazy residue on the handle. wrap it like a base ball bat
that thing is a punk machine when you get it real bright
Would you do a video on how you clean a guitar top to bottom? Your techniques and tools used. People need to know the proper way so as not to damage their guitars.
Maaaan! What a torture device!!! I think the design inspiration came directly from Hell!!
I just saw that Lee Malia has a signature Epiphone RD now, I had his Les Paul and wanted the Explorer but it was the same electronics as the LP so I didn't spend the money. I wonder if his RD has the same as well?
Austin, I kind of lime this guitar oddly enough. With all of the added buttons and switches and some playing with an amp I bet a person could really knock out some great tones!! I actually really liked how it sounds bare bones and with the first two Moog board effects, even the compression sounds like with some tweaking on your amp a person could get some cool effects.
I am not that familiar with Fender products so maybe someone who is can fill me in, but why does it seem that Gibson has a history, no matter who is the CEO, of trying weird modern things that just never seem to work properly? Is it that difficult to make stuff work and if it is, why do they let it hit the streets? The same for the paint job, it seems Gibson is always having a disclaimer of , " don't buy from this year to this year because Gibson was having issues with ___________". Like that Sully Erna, Now I find out that basically most signature models and some regular models between 2013 and 2015 had issues with the nitro aging prematurely. Since every Sully Erna model I have come across including mine seems to show issues within the first year, why did Gibson continue using that nitro and since it was found only on those specific models, obviously they must have tried a product from a new vendor or some cheaper version so it should have been easy for them to pinpoint what the trouble was caused from, but nope, they just kept cranking them out and screwing the buyers over and will not stand behind their product and fulfill their promised warranty. If I had the money I would take them to court over it!
Big companies like Gibson are like a very big machine. It takes a long time to stop or change direction, in this case it took years!
Where I work we will test a finish, be pretty satisfied we have tested everything and then purchase a years worth!
Due to investors and profit quotas I can almost guarantee you that whole year of finish product is going to be used come Hell or High Water!
At the end of the day Gibson is a money making company 1st and foremost and a builder of fine instruments 2nd.
Somehow I think re-work and warranty expenses are separated into a different bucket of costs. So what you end up with is we hit our profit goals using the $hitty finish material, Yeahhhh
The warranty/re-work costs come later and effect operations costs and overhead, so all of the re-work costs kind of get swept under the rug!
I purchased a then new 25th Anniversary Stratocaster in Pearl White. At the time of the build Fender was implementing a new water-based poly finish to comply with newer and stricter Kalifornia EPA regulations. As such they didn't work all the bugs out of the finish. Not sure they even really tested the stuff. The result was I came back from the Service in 1980 and the guitar had turned a beautiful shade of urine-yellow! I stripped the guitar's finish and modified the Hell out of it (an original 25th Anniversary Stratocaster), gosh how stupid was I. By the time I was done is was a black-pearl HSS configuration. Once I became an adult in 1988 I contacted Fender about the finish as many people had the same problem and Fender was trying to make it right. Fender paid for half the cost to refinish my instrument even restoring the pickup route to the original SSS configuration. I then sold the guitar for 20% more than I originally paid for it. Original cost w/case was $1200 in 1979 from Al Nali Music in Ann Arbor.
Point being, Fender most likely hit their profit goals in 1979 when that guitar was built. The cost of the refinish was most likely absorbed in 1988 because big Companies are great at kicking the can/problem down the road!
@@hkguitar1984 Maybe I am wrong but it just seems to me that Gibson seems to have more trouble with this type of stuff than any other company. Look at all those Firebird X's that were destroyed, some of those instruments were brand new, in fact I think they were all brand new? And some of them dated back to 2010, so Gibson sat on that failed product that long? Another subscriber to this channel who I am also friends with on Facebook purchased a used 2014 gold top Les Paul for his 17th birthday and that guitar left Gibson not only with finish issues but also the neck was glued in at the wrong angle and Gibson will not do anything about it. They claim it's because he is not the original purchaser, but in the case of both my brand new Les Paul's I am the original purchaser and they still will not do anything.
Gibson once made the finest of instruments, that is not the case any longer and even though I love the Les Paul, I will not purchase another new Les Paul until I KNOW that they have taken care of their QC issues AND they will stand behind their own warranty!
@@alabamahebrew That is really a horrible, and shame on Gibson for not making it right.
I purchased a mid-priced Martin guitar years ago that started to show evidence of the bridge pulling away from the top. I contacted Martin and they not only paid to have the guitar repaired by an authorized Luthier but they also upgraded the piezo system at no cost! In fact, the Martin Repair Rep even reached out to have me list her as a "connection" on my Linkedin Page. So yeah, Martin is in it to win it and their Customer Service is (IMO) Crazy Good.
Gibson, not so much so. And that irritates the crap out of me because I really like many of Gibson's guitars.
@@hkguitar1984 - Yeah man I waited over 30 years to buy my first real brand new Gibson Les Paul and it was such a disappointment! I think I can safely say that it was finding Austin's channel here that saved Gibson from being put on my "never buy from" list lol. I really want to get like a late 70's or 90's Les Paul since Austin says those are great years for my favorite guitar. But alas I still haven't heard back from Publishers Clearing House so I cannot buy one of those guitars yet lol.
@@alabamahebrew I purchased my 1986 LP Custom back in 2001, I couldn't be happier with the quality.
I don't know if mine was a fluke or it has something to do with it was a special ordered instrument.
My experience with Gibson's is sort of limited to the 1976 Les Paul I purchased new (a great guitar) and the 1986 LP Custom I have.
Not much experience, but both times have been positive.
It's funny, when I examine a new Fender guitar I'm not really expecting much and am usually impressed with the quality. I think we all hold Gibson to higher standards due to their higher cost. In actuality I believe the higher cost is due to more man-hours required to build a set-neck instrument with binding, it is not due to higher quality. Just my $.02 Cents
19:50 I can relate this to that Back to the Future scene when Marty blasts that giant audio system EDIT 20:47 this is the real deal
Sounds awesome!!
i need one of these in my life
Sounds awesomely out of some New Madmax Movie Soundtrack!
The pickups alone sound good
Mine had a terrible finish that seemed to melt with arm sweat. The pickups on mine were thicker than those maybe?
Just a thought but the electrolytic capacitors in these will be way outta spec by now and it probably doesn't sound as it would new
Agreed. It would take a skilled/experienced technician with a factory schematic to restore those two circuit boards.
Cost to refurbish just the Moog circuitry would most likely never be recouped with the overall cost/worth of the guitar.
As we used to say "BER", Beyond Economical Repair.
Too bad too because it would be interesting to experience one of these guitars as it was intended/designed in new condition.
I saw a 335S artist on Reverb once, but was listed as a prototype with a silly $50k price tag
Hello! I just saw this video today for first time! I see that guitar has the “diamond” shaped strap buttons. I have a Gibson Amp 1981 Flying V which came with those diamond strap buttons. I had them removed and Dunlop strap locks installed back in the day. I still have one but lost the other. Do you have access to one of these in either chrome or nickel? Thanks in advance!!
I can imagine a lot of noise and industrial rock bands loving the sounds that this guitar is capable of... the one thing I've learned is that NO sound is "unusable." There is always SOME way to use even the worst, most ear-bleeding, torturous tone... it depends on the song, style of music, and what the artist is going for... and of course, what you're listening fancy is... bands like Medicine, Lush, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and even heavier bands like Godflesh would likely have a LOT of use for what this guitar can do.
I’d like to hear it while you play it with a metal pick! Lol
damn the title didnt lie
steve albini's trademark guitar sound is at the 20 mins full brightness setting... go listen to Big Black/Rapeman Mr Trogly
Can I have one of these with a single p90 please
Keep the blacklight on and sell it as a TV Yellow. And yeah, set list on the back is my guess
That tone test at 19:46 was like listening to a thousand marbles rolling across a glass table in an empty bathroom with tile walls. Yikes.
Odd that you list all of the gear used, all the way down to the George L cabling and amp cab mic, yet you say nothing about what kind of amp or cabinet you’re using?
If Moog actually made a guitar synth that would have been freaking amazing
sounds like metallic c
ats fighting in a ring made of steel trash cans
There are some good tones in there, but good grief, there is a lot of crap too!
These guitars kind of remind me of the prs s2 single cuts with the same bevel cut and pickgaurd
Its got an interesting sound tho
Hey I was wondering I have a 2014 RD artist and not a lot of information is out there about them such as the gem pick ups how many were made and so on do you happen to know that information could you hook me up
I played this outside on my phone and all the dogs in the neighborhood went nuts.
Bass and treble boost and cut should return in modern guitars.
Change my mind
G&L has them on a lot of their guitars. Personally I like the passive tones more as a surf guy, but I can definitely see why they're liked.
@@moonchild4806 I almost bought a G&L, and I tried the PTB circuit and it's very different from what I meant. I meant an circuit like on an active bass :)
What is the real difference between a Lespaul and the Sonex?!! Im considering buying a gibson with the shape of a LP, lespaul are expensive tho.. Sonex vs LesPaul?
Sonex have Bolt-on necks, Resinwood bodies and Japanese electronics to name a few big ones
Thanks for the anwser! I'll consider it on my next guitar!
@@Trog not japanese yhat was moog sinteiser system
I played this at 10% volume and still got a tinnitus flareup from this
Are you aware of a band called "Sonic Youth?"
They have a song called "Eric's trip" which is played on a fretless guitar with only four strings and with drumsticks jammed underneath the strings. Before a thief ran off with all of their gear, that role went to a Les Paul copy with the nickname "The drifter" because it used to be that guitar which was owned by everybody one time or another within the band's circle of friends.
www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gtr01a.jpg
But with their guitars stolen it was feared that "Eric's Trip" would vanish from the band's setlist, until a roadie helped them out, took a Gibson Sonex, pulled out the frets and that pickguard and made the band a new Drifter.
www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gtr113c.jpg
It's the one Gibson Sonex which has gotten street cred.
What polish do you use and can you show us how you use it please
oww. trogly just stuck an icepick into my forehead several times.
I heard Ghost play 2 Gibson RDs. Kinda want one
They actually use Hagstrom Fantomen which are basically copies of an RD
I think if I had one of these guitars I'd just take all the original wiring out as a whole and keep it in case I wanted to sell it but rewire it to play with simpler wiring
I feel like itd be perfectly adequate with the wiring it has. Just refrain from screwing with the knobs
The thought of not throwing away equipment or guitars must've gone out with the changing of the guard. Would've been nice to experience what an explorer x was like.
Is that 3M paint? Would've been around that time that they started having issues with paint finishes in the auto industry alone.
That nasty spot on back looks like melted styrofoam
The electronics are effecting your ohmmeter not allowing you to read the pickups.
Sounds like a cheap effects pedal somebody gave me when you played with it all on.
I actually like it.
Those huge pickguards and the bolt on neck on the Sonex 180 just make them look like Fenders, and that is NOT a compliment. Huge plastic pickguards just look cheesey.
DOES ANYONE IN HERE KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THE SONEX ARTIST CAME WITH DIRTY FINGERS OR VELVET BRICKS ?
Sorry for the CAPS, Trogly doesn’t mention it, and I’ve been all over the internet reading conflicting reports on which pickups came with the guitar.
Better than the orig sonix.
Had one bought then found a IBZ RRSR. this was '82 backed out
ha, never knew there was a second whatever. I hate mini switches if there's more than one.