I have a 2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard and a 2008 Fender American Standard Stratocaster, but lately I have been itching for a Lightweight guitar with full humbucker sound for practicing.
The Les Paul is like bending down to pick up a brick everytime I want to jam and the Stratocaster is fairly thick and not quite as light as I thought it would be.
So, out I went searching for a Gibson SG Standard or 61 Re-issue, but always keeping my eyes open for a Faded Special if it felt right.
In the last couple of months I had played a new SG Special Faded that had sharp frets and high action, a SG Standard that played and sounded ok, but not quite worth spending $1000 for, and I also played a 61 Re-issue that definitely did noit play well enough to warrant $1400+.
Sunday I decided to head out to some local Music stores in search of the perfect SG for me, I had seen some good deals on ebay, but with SGs I have found a wide disparity in how they play, so I figured I better pay a little more and find one I could play in person first.
The second music store I went to had quite a few SG Standards, 1 61 Re-issue and 2 Special Fadeds.
Of course I played them all. The store had a DVD video of some excellent blues/rock/funk going and this gave me a great chance to jam along and check out how the guitars really played.
For some reason, maybe the low price , but I kept coming back to this one Faded SG.
I am not one to buy a guitar for retail, but this guitar was too good to pass up. As a bonus, they had it marked at the old price of $579 and after an hour or so of playing all the guitars I said wrap it up.
The big question, Was it really that good or was I just infatuated with a new guitar?
Well, back home I have been playing all 3 my guitars back to back night after night.
I have to tell you, yes the Les Paul Standard has that great sound and a solid Fretboard feel like no other guitar has, the Strat has that distinctive Strat sound, but the Faded SG just is so comfortable to play, like wearing your favorite T-shirt and jeans.
It is light and has lower fret access that blows the Les Paul away.
It has a nice sound, very warm and bluesy, not as raunchy as other SGs I have played, I like it better.
The sustain is amazing from such a light guitar.
Another surprise, the frets are finished nicely and don't bite or cut my fingers like other lower end Gibsons I have owned did.
I gotta tell you, if I could keep just one of my guitars, this SG would be it.
Last year I traded in my Gibson SG Special that I had originally bought in 1981 or 1982, that guitar never played or sounded as good as this one. I never liked it all that much, but this 2007 Faded SG just blows me away. The Worn Brown looks amazing and I wouldn't change a thing.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I have even thought about selling my Les Paul?
Howard
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This post has been edited by yell03: Feb 28 2008, 06:55 PM
yell03 Just Bought A Gibson Sg Special Faded Feb 28 2008, 12:54 PM
