Great video(s), thanks! My personal theory is that the reason Gibson does not want to reproduce the original shapes of their guitars to a 100% because they preserve the uniqueness of their vintage models this way. And this in turn increases the value of the Gibson brand itself, thus justifying the high prices of the newer guitars. That's what I call a positive feedback loop, eh! There a re even more slight differences in the SG shape. An important but often overlooked one is the deeper arm contour on the upper front part of the guitar. But yeah, the upper horn is the most f___ed up detail, I fully agree. So sad. Would love to have mine CS reshaped properly but over here in Germany I'm afraid I'm not going to find anybody who I would trust with that task.
I just finished doing this… I’ll be filming a follow up video soon, but you can also see on my instagram the photos and process. I fixed the bevels, tapers, heel, and finish.
I pretty much agree with everything you've noticed here. I've noticed everything that you've said here in this video, too. The bass horn being too thick, the diamond not being close to the trussrod, and yes, don't use the Vibrola. 😂 It never returns to neutral. I think it's a great guitar, but I wonder what happened to those scans that they had in the video. The 50th Anniversary SG Standard 24 that I had in 2011 had thinner horns; as does my SG Diablo Tremolo, and USA Iommi SG. Some of those SG cutaways also vary from what I've seen, too, on original '61s. Anyway, I still love the guitar, but for what I paid new, yeah, it could've been closer to the original. :] Great video!
Also, I wonder if they just used their modern day '63 Les Paul/SG body, and just changed the tailpiece, and the pickguard, because the bodies, and the cutaways look quite similar.
@@EmperorSvar Sorry just seeing this reply. I compared the 64 and this and they seem to be close… but actually different. The 64 has a slightly better horn taper and the bevels are all cut differently. I bet they just carried over the heel to be lazy
I also believe the originals were 'fretless wonders' and the middle pickup was out of phase. I can understand why they didn't add these features but it doesn't make them true to the originals.
About tve tapering on the horn (and alsoat the bottom) that ”all modern reissues are like that” is not true! The horns on my 2007 custom shop V.O.S les paul 61 custom looks exactly like your vintage one. Slimmer and pointier. (Got pictures to proove it) 🙂 Same goes for tve pickguard.. more yellowish and more like your original one. Maybe they messed things up on more recent reissues?
ADHD much? Just kidding-but the lack of taper on that horn doesn’t bother me a bit! But then, I’ve never owned an SG Custom, although I’ve always wanted one. My first SG was a ‘67 Standard that I bought new, and I can’t remember what sort of taper that had on the horn. I wouldn’t have one with the sideways Vibrola anyway. I’m thinking of getting one of the new Epiphone ‘63 SG Customs with thr Lyre Vibrola, as I can’t afford the $8K that Gibson wants for their reissue Custom with the ebony-block Vibrola, and I see that’s what’s on your ‘61. Although I’ve always associated those with 1962 ones…I’ve also seen ‘62s with the sideways Vibrolas-I think Gibson was casting around back then trying to find something that would work.
Yeah. It's cork sniffing stuff. There's a decent set of SG folks who really care how Gibson is doing the details. It doesn't have any bearing on it's quality as a playable instrument, because it's a fantastic guitar on all levels. As a recreation or reissue of an iconic design, it misses some important details. The Les Paul single cut shape gets a silly amount of detailed analysis and effort put into recreating the tiny details... But why not this body style? Either way... Yeah the new Epiphone is fantastic for the price. You get all the same hardware. Speaking of price, the Gibson at retail is ridiculous money.... But used or demo shop is doable.
I have the 60th anniversary SG Custom and I think it's fantastic. The 61 rounded neck profile is new to me (I've always loved the 59' profile) and I absolutely love it. It's my first SG (I have a few other Gibsons) and I love the upper fretboard access. The pickups are nice really although I don't use the middle/bridge setting much. I lowered the middle pickup so I stopped hitting it with my pick, just as I did on my triple humbucker 355. I've found myself playing with less fuzz and distortion and more just mild OD since getting the SG. It's a cracker. I was very disappointed with the QC though. The final checklist wasn't done at the factory and when I got it the store hadn't opened up the box. I opened it to find the bridge volume knob was missing it's little gold plate and I found it all bent out of shape. I also found a screw floating around in the case. Once I picked it up and strummed it the bearing from the vibrola fell out. I'd never used a sideways vibrola before but I worked out how where the screw and bearing went and spent ages adjusting it and yes it's useless. Which sucks as I love Bigsby's but I guess the vibrola has always been useless. Recently the bridge tone plate fell off that knob too. And I noticed the spare blank cavity cover has really rough burred edges like it hasn't been sanded and finished properly. The store is replacing all the parts but for an expensive Custom Shop (my first) it's really disappointing. I've always loved Gibsons but they do need to lift their game still. The horn profile doesn't bother me. I didn't know it was different anyway. I do have to ask though, why did you compare it to a modified and non complete late 62', with the Maestro, if you have an actual 61'?
I didn't get a notification of the comments. Sorry... I compared it at the time for a custom to custom direct comparison. But I need to do a follow up video on this guitar soon. It's gone through a major transformation
Great video(s), thanks!
My personal theory is that the reason Gibson does not want to reproduce the original shapes of their guitars to a 100% because they preserve the uniqueness of their vintage models this way. And this in turn increases the value of the Gibson brand itself, thus justifying the high prices of the newer guitars. That's what I call a positive feedback loop, eh!
There a re even more slight differences in the SG shape. An important but often overlooked one is the deeper arm contour on the upper front part of the guitar. But yeah, the upper horn is the most f___ed up detail, I fully agree. So sad. Would love to have mine CS reshaped properly but over here in Germany I'm afraid I'm not going to find anybody who I would trust with that task.
I just finished doing this… I’ll be filming a follow up video soon, but you can also see on my instagram the photos and process. I fixed the bevels, tapers, heel, and finish.
My 2013 white SG 61 standard has a thin beveled horns just like the real deal
I pretty much agree with everything you've noticed here. I've noticed everything that you've said here in this video, too. The bass horn being too thick, the diamond not being close to the trussrod, and yes, don't use the Vibrola. 😂 It never returns to neutral. I think it's a great guitar, but I wonder what happened to those scans that they had in the video.
The 50th Anniversary SG Standard 24 that I had in 2011 had thinner horns; as does my SG Diablo Tremolo, and USA Iommi SG. Some of those SG cutaways also vary from what I've seen, too, on original '61s.
Anyway, I still love the guitar, but for what I paid new, yeah, it could've been closer to the original. :] Great video!
Also, I wonder if they just used their modern day '63 Les Paul/SG body, and just changed the tailpiece, and the pickguard, because the bodies, and the cutaways look quite similar.
@@EmperorSvar Sorry just seeing this reply. I compared the 64 and this and they seem to be close… but actually different. The 64 has a slightly better horn taper and the bevels are all cut differently. I bet they just carried over the heel to be lazy
I also believe the originals were 'fretless wonders' and the middle pickup was out of phase. I can understand why they didn't add these features but it doesn't make them true to the originals.
Great comparison video 👍
About tve tapering on the horn (and alsoat the bottom) that ”all modern reissues are like that” is not true! The horns on my 2007 custom shop V.O.S les paul 61 custom looks exactly like your vintage one. Slimmer and pointier.
(Got pictures to proove it) 🙂 Same goes for tve pickguard.. more yellowish and more like your original one. Maybe they messed things up on more recent reissues?
ADHD much? Just kidding-but the lack of taper on that horn doesn’t bother me a bit! But then, I’ve never owned an SG Custom, although I’ve always wanted one. My first SG was a ‘67 Standard that I bought new, and I can’t remember what sort of taper that had on the horn. I wouldn’t have one with the sideways Vibrola anyway. I’m thinking of getting one of the new Epiphone ‘63 SG Customs with thr Lyre Vibrola, as I can’t afford the $8K that Gibson wants for their reissue Custom with the ebony-block Vibrola, and I see that’s what’s on your ‘61. Although I’ve always associated those with 1962 ones…I’ve also seen ‘62s with the sideways Vibrolas-I think Gibson was casting around back then trying to find something that would work.
Yeah. It's cork sniffing stuff. There's a decent set of SG folks who really care how Gibson is doing the details. It doesn't have any bearing on it's quality as a playable instrument, because it's a fantastic guitar on all levels.
As a recreation or reissue of an iconic design, it misses some important details.
The Les Paul single cut shape gets a silly amount of detailed analysis and effort put into recreating the tiny details... But why not this body style?
Either way...
Yeah the new Epiphone is fantastic for the price. You get all the same hardware.
Speaking of price, the Gibson at retail is ridiculous money.... But used or demo shop is doable.
I have the 60th anniversary SG Custom and I think it's fantastic. The 61 rounded neck profile is new to me (I've always loved the 59' profile) and I absolutely love it. It's my first SG (I have a few other Gibsons) and I love the upper fretboard access. The pickups are nice really although I don't use the middle/bridge setting much. I lowered the middle pickup so I stopped hitting it with my pick, just as I did on my triple humbucker 355. I've found myself playing with less fuzz and distortion and more just mild OD since getting the SG. It's a cracker.
I was very disappointed with the QC though. The final checklist wasn't done at the factory and when I got it the store hadn't opened up the box. I opened it to find the bridge volume knob was missing it's little gold plate and I found it all bent out of shape. I also found a screw floating around in the case. Once I picked it up and strummed it the bearing from the vibrola fell out. I'd never used a sideways vibrola before but I worked out how where the screw and bearing went and spent ages adjusting it and yes it's useless. Which sucks as I love Bigsby's but I guess the vibrola has always been useless. Recently the bridge tone plate fell off that knob too. And I noticed the spare blank cavity cover has really rough burred edges like it hasn't been sanded and finished properly. The store is replacing all the parts but for an expensive Custom Shop (my first) it's really disappointing. I've always loved Gibsons but they do need to lift their game still.
The horn profile doesn't bother me. I didn't know it was different anyway. I do have to ask though, why did you compare it to a modified and non complete late 62', with the Maestro, if you have an actual 61'?
I didn't get a notification of the comments. Sorry...
I compared it at the time for a custom to custom direct comparison.
But I need to do a follow up video on this guitar soon. It's gone through a major transformation
Did the originals have the fret nibs?
Yes but very very tiny compared to modern ones. They were VERY rounded/rolled edges on the vintage guitars. The Customs especially rounded