GIBSON USA ’61 SG STANDARD ELECTRIC GUITAR SIDEWAYS VIBROLA
On one hand it’s hard to believe that in 1961 Gibson dropped the slow selling Les Paul and replaced it with their new cutting edge design SG! For lovers of all things Les Paul, this iconic model resurfaced in 1968 but history has gone on to prove that the SG is Gibson’s biggest selling model of all time!
The SG is a classic that has stood the test of time.
The SG has a thinner and more contoured body than the Les Paul. This makes the SG much lighter and more comfortable. The lighter, thinner, one-layer body means the SG, unlike the Les Paul, is particularly suitable for harmonic feedback playing techniques making it the guitar of choice for Hard Rock and Metal styles. This attribute also makes the SG an incredible instrument for soloing.
The neck profile is typically shallower and thinner than that of the Les Paul and unlike the Les Paul’s neck, which joins the body at the 16th fret, the SG’s neck joins the body at the 22nd fret, allowing easier access to the higher frets. Despite the differences in body design, the SG and Les Paul models share similar electronics and controls. The sound of the SG is often described as having more emphasis across the midrange frequencies which adds presence and bite – enhancing it’s ability to “cut through” a crowded mix.
This brand new USA built Gibson SG Standard ’61 has more in common with its ancestor than ever before.
In recent times Gibson have re-invented themselves and part of that journey involved buying vintage Gibson models – good vintage Gibson models and faithfully re-creating what made those instruments so special in the first place.
In retrospect it seems crazy that by simply benchmarking prized examples of classic models, Gibson have come up with a range of guitars that sound and play as good as the originals. The other challenge they set themselves was to make these new guitars as affordable as possible – and we – and our customers, believe that they have succeeded.
The Gibson USA SG Standard ’61 Sideways commemorates the original design with authentic, period-correct styling and features such as the Slim Taper Mahogany neck with ‘60s-style mortise and tenon neck joint, thinly bound Rosewood fingerboard, solid Mahogany body with deep scarfing, 5-ply full-face pickguard, Burstbucker 61R and 61T humbucking pickups and the iconic Maestro Sideways Vibrato tailpiece.
BODY AND SOUL
The Rosewood fingerboard is a mainstay throughout the Gibson Standard range. There are not many timbers that can beat the feeling of a beautiful, grainy Rosewood fretboard for effortless playing on the 22 rolled and Plek’d frets.
The slim taper Mahogany neck provides the lightning-fast playability which the SG was originally designed for. The matching resonant Mahogany trans finished body still offers huge sustain and suoerb tone. The SG is still as light as ever making it the perfect performance axe for high-octane live shows or comfortable playing for hours on end at home.
TONE, TONE and TONE
At the heart of every Gibson electric guitar are the pickups. The ’61 SG Standard features a pair of Gibson Burstbuckers – a ’61 R and ’61 T – both echo the legendary tones of the classic era. They’re designed to faithfully recreate the PAF sound in a modern form with their. The unbalanced coils give them their top-end bite and punchy tone.
The classic combination of to tone and two volume knobs offer plenty of room to manoeuvre and shape your personal sound or emulate that of your heroes.
HARDWARE
The premium combination of the Graph Tech nut and Grover Machine Heads ensures stable tuning so that you can go wild with bends, vibrato and aggressive playing.
PLAY FOR ME MAESTRO
Anyone that has ever taken an interest in Gibson’s SG range has probably looked at the Maestro Sideways Vibrola and thought “why not?” For this iconic model Gibson have chosen to resurrect the iconic and classy Maestro Vibrola floating bridge, which now begs the simple question, “why don’t you?” An undeniable classic, the original Les Paul/SG Standard of 1961-’62 was released with one well-recognized flaw: its stylish Deluxe Vibrato unit (commonly known as the “Sideways Vibrato” for its side-to-side action) never functioned quite as smoothly or accurately as intended. Now Gibson USA has not only recreated this legendary guitar in all its period-correct glory, but totally re-engineered the Sideways Vibrato for smooth, efficient action with perfect pitch return.The Maestro Sideways Vibrola is a lovely device, producing gentle, musical vibrato effects. It’s easy to clean and extremely comfortable for the picking hand. Unleash your creativity.
SPECIFICATIONS
• Body Shape: SG
• Body Material: Mahogany
• Finish: Cherry Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer
• Neck Material: Mahogany
• Neck Profile: Slim Taper
• Nut width: 1.695″ / 43.05mm
• Fingerboard Material: Rosewood
• Scale length: 24.75″ / 628.65mm
• Nut: Graph Tech
• Fretboard Position Markers: Acrylic Trapezoid Inlays
• Bridge: ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic
• Tailpiece: Gibson Maestro Sideways Vibrola
• Control Knobs: Black Top Hats with Silver Reflector
• Tuners: Vintage Deluxe with Keystone Buttons
• Hardware Finish: Nickel Plating
• Neck pickup: Burstbucker 61R
• Bridge pickup: Burstbucker 61T
• Pickup Selector: 3-Way Toggle Switch
• Controls: 2 x Volumes, 2 x Tones (Hand-wired with Orange Drop Capacitors)
• Setup: Plek
• Case: Gibson SG Case
