I was in Amsterdam today and I went to one of the most elaborate musicstores to check out some axes made by the big "G" brand. Since my 2005 Gibson SG is serving me so well I figured that there's no harm done in checking out other Gibsons for a future purchase.
I tried these two.
The SG 3. I always loved the look of a three pickup SG and this warm brown color (the picture doesn't do it justice, it's a really deep shade of brown) made my mouth water and with a price of around 1400 bucks it wasn't that much different from what I paid for my SG Standard. What also wasn't much different from my own SG was the way it played, again I felt that familiar wide and flat neck profile and all the curves were there where I expected them. The guitar sounded really full and creamy and the in-between settings were very un-Gibson sounding although the rotary selector doesn't make for a quick pickup switch.
Then I tried one of these.
The Les Paul BFG in "Ripped Goldtop" finish. The salesman and I were joking that "BFG" could stand for "Billy F Gibbons" to which I promptly launched into "Tush" This guitar blew me away, the raw body and the rough top did nothing to me looks wise ("If i buy this one, I'll sand it smooth and refinish it in a proper Gold top finish." I told the guy) but the feel and sound made up for it. Because of the hollowed out body the guitar is a featherweight and that also translates in a wonderful responsive tone. I loved it's fat neck and even fatter neck pickup, this is one mean snarling P90. The Humbucker was also great, just a light touch of overdrive and your hair is standing up, I tuned it in open G and I was rocking away, what a great blues machine this LP is.
So, if I ever get a GAS attack and I got some cash to buy me something cool, It'll probably be the BFG but I'll modify it so it ends up looking like this.
I tried these two.
The SG 3. I always loved the look of a three pickup SG and this warm brown color (the picture doesn't do it justice, it's a really deep shade of brown) made my mouth water and with a price of around 1400 bucks it wasn't that much different from what I paid for my SG Standard. What also wasn't much different from my own SG was the way it played, again I felt that familiar wide and flat neck profile and all the curves were there where I expected them. The guitar sounded really full and creamy and the in-between settings were very un-Gibson sounding although the rotary selector doesn't make for a quick pickup switch.
Then I tried one of these.
The Les Paul BFG in "Ripped Goldtop" finish. The salesman and I were joking that "BFG" could stand for "Billy F Gibbons" to which I promptly launched into "Tush" This guitar blew me away, the raw body and the rough top did nothing to me looks wise ("If i buy this one, I'll sand it smooth and refinish it in a proper Gold top finish." I told the guy) but the feel and sound made up for it. Because of the hollowed out body the guitar is a featherweight and that also translates in a wonderful responsive tone. I loved it's fat neck and even fatter neck pickup, this is one mean snarling P90. The Humbucker was also great, just a light touch of overdrive and your hair is standing up, I tuned it in open G and I was rocking away, what a great blues machine this LP is.
So, if I ever get a GAS attack and I got some cash to buy me something cool, It'll probably be the BFG but I'll modify it so it ends up looking like this.
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