61 SG Reissue

JCP · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject: 61 SG Reissue

I was going to buy a black Standard, but Herb has raved here about the '61 Reissues so often that I wanted to check those out. I've always prefered that small pickguard over the large one anyway.

Picked up a new ebony/gold VOS. What a nice guitar! I don't mind the fatter neck on the Specials because I've got big hands, but really like the 60's profile. The "aged" VOS treatment to the neck binding looks good with the gold hardware. Now I don't see the ebony/gold on MF anymore, so I might have been just in time.

SG#8, and my new favorite. Thanks for steer, Herb!

herb · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:17 pm Post subject:

Anytime, my friend! Wink

If you ever get the chance; you need to play a real '61 Std. Cool

I wish I had never sold mine. Crying or Very sad

JCP · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:56 am Post subject:

We've all got those stories of "the one that got away", don't we? If we knew then what we know now...

I'd love to play a real '61. Would like to own one even more Smile

Jack Daniels · Growing Lion Joined: 29 May 2004 Posts: 883

JCP,

Funny, I used to always look for guitars with fast/skinny necks. I loved the Gibson's 60 neck for years. In fact I still own several LP's with that neck. I would play a 50's style neck and it was so darn foriegn to me I couldn't play.

Whe I recieved my Supreme, it had a larger neck. It took me months to fully appreciate it. THEN my 58 arrived. It is quite simply the biggest neck I have ever played. Much larger than any real 58 I have played. But you know what? It is a playing machine. In fact, I don't even notice it anymore. I just grab it and go. In fact strange enough, I can now go between any size neck and hardly notice the differenc. Two years ago this was not true.

The only necks I still struggle with are the mid to late 60's necks with the narrow nut. They seem really small in my hands.

JD

thunderhawk · Not So Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2008 Posts: 8

The '61 LP/Sgs did play GREAT,
I've had 3,
2 Standards and 1 Special...
Sold them because I couldn't keep em in tune for more than 5 minutes,
That neck moved a lot,
A lot of the necks tended came off too,
had to be reset?
The weak point was the Neck Joint back then.

But they did play/sound good!

Hawk

JCP · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:49 am Post subject:

Joe, I know what you mean. Some of my guitars like the '61, the Iommi, '05 335, etc, have the 60's neck, then my LP Studio and all my SG Specials have baseball bats. That never bothered me. This '61 just feels very nice. (My '83 CS 335 is somewhere in the middle)

I used to have a 60's 335 with that very narrow nut, and with my big hands, It was never right for me.

What I hate are the "shredder" necks found on a lot of Ibanez and some other guitars. So thin/flat there's just nothing to hold on to. I think a fat neck can have a playing advantage...I feel like it gives better leverage for bending heavy strings, etc., and I know it effects tone and sustain.

Gibson seems to list their necks in one of two catagories; 50's and 60's, but I've sure seen a big variance that doesn't always seem to equate with either...

SAguitar · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:47 am Post subject:

Yah mon. If you've read about the guys at Gibson who worked on the Reissue Les Pauls, they talk about getting many samples from those eras, and they were all over the map in sizes and shapes. Remember, that was long before the CNC machines, and a lot of handwork went into shaping necks. Probably, everyone was different in some way. But they played them, measured them, and discussed every factor before deciding on the "50s" and "60s" model necks. What they put out today is much more consistent than any of the vintage guitars ever were.

JD, I went through the same valley you did in the last two years regarding big necks! Two short years ago, I couldn't get around on one of those things at all, and was a '60s neck junkie for sure. But then I got my Faded Studio SG (with a '59 rounded neck), and at first I couldn't get into it at all, but I kept at it. In time, I did get used to it. And then I got a couple of LPs with bigger necks and adapted to them rather quickly. These days, I grab whichever one I feel like playin' and the size of the neck doesn't seem to matter too much.

I was really bad at that kind of stuff way back when I only had one electric guitar! I couldn't seem to be comfortable on anybody else's! I guess that's one hurdle I've gotten over. Cool

Play on,
Stan

JCP · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:48 am Post subject:

I finally got a chance to play that guitar for hours last night...more impressed than ever. The '57's sound great for anything. They drive my amps hard enough for the most heavy distortion if I need it, and clean up beautifully. I'm starting to get over the idea that the pickups always need to be upgraded. I don't plan to change this one a bit.

As far as an unstable neck, I heard that for years in regard to the originals. Altho these are supposed to be duplication the original neck joint, it would appear that Gibson figured out a better way over all these years. This thing is a stable as a rock. I had zero tuning issues in several hours of playing.

On a side note, I've been a .009 player for most of my life, but this guitar came with 010's, and I'm liking them. There's no doubt they have a major effect on sound. I'm going to keep playing the 10's and see how it goes.

herb · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject:

There were three major reasons for tuning issues on the "Slim Taper Neck" SG's. First - and biggest - the Rube Goldberg sideways Vibrola. If you ever used it; it never returned to the exact same spot or angle. If you didn't use it, it had no effect. Second, strings sticking in the nut slots - a normal source of tuning problems for any guitar. Third - 9 gauge string sets. These guitars were originally designed for 13's - the only gauge even offered in those days. The beginnings of "9 gauge sets" - at least in my history, was when we bought a regular gauge set of strings (13's), bought an extra 9 gauge high G string from a 12 string set, moved the others down a slot, and threw away the Low E string that was left over. In those days we called them "cheaters". Then after I had been using these for about 5 years Ernie Ball came out with "Slinkys", the first 9 gauge set I can remember. Why are 9's so easy to play? Because when they are brought into tune, they are still loose. Remember a 9 is ideally designed to be used for a G above E. Loose strings move, and they are usually too small for the nut slots - therefore a tuning nightmare. The skinny neck of the SG itself was never any reason for tuning issues.

SAguitar · Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:34 pm Post subject:

I'm glad the love affair is deepening! That's cool! And I agree, those '57s are a great set of pickups. They do seem to do everything very well. I've also grown fond of the Burstbucker Pros, a very close relative. They are also very versatile. Cool