'I Love My SG': 10 Guitarists on Record About Their Favorite Guitar
Last week we ran a story quoting 10 guitar legends about their Les Paul lust, but this week it's the SG's turn in the spotlight. That's not to infer that the SG always comes second to the Les Paul. In fact, it's taken top billing in the hearts of guitarists Angus Young, Frank Zappa, and Allman Brothers Duane Allman and Dickey Betts.
Since its introduction in '61, the SG has become our best-selling guitar in company history. And in a historical move, prices were recently dramatically reduced on the SG Standard, SG Special, and SG Special Faded, making them more affordable to all guitarists. Shop for yours now!
Here are 10 famous guitarists on record about their SGs.
Angus Young, told to journalist Steven Rosen
"It was light [weight-wise]. I'd tried the other ones, Fenders, but you've really got to do a number on 'em. They're great for feel but the wiring just doesn't got the balls … When I first started playing with the Gibson SG there was nothing to think about … With the SG, you can do plenty of tricks with them."
Robby Krieger on the SG Special, told to Gibson.com in April '09
"I really liked the look of [the SG]. It looked very psychedelic to me. Also, the fact that there were so many frets available really appealed to me. Compared to a lot of guitars, it's just very easy to play up high. It's also very light, which I like as well. When The Doors got going, of course, I could've had any pick of many guitars, and I tried them all. But I stuck with the SG because I really loved the way it sounded. There was never any problem with feedback or anything like that. It's a very good working man's guitar."
Derek Trucks, told to Gibson.com in February '09
"When I first started playing at nine or 10 years old I wanted the sound on Allman Brothers records like Live at the Fillmore. That Gibson tone is exactly what I wanted. Originally I wanted a Les Paul, but I only weighed about 80 pounds at the time, and I had a picture of Duane with an SG. So the SG had the tone I wanted and weighed quite a bit less. Now it's years later and anything else I try to play feels foreign to me. When I pick up the SG it is second nature."
John Cipollina in an a '75 interview, discussing his famously modified SGs
"I use a lot of equipment myself, always have … The guitar I'm using now is a 1959 Les Paul SG, which has been extensively modified … It's been rebuilt and refinished. The fingerboard is the original but is heavily inlaid with mother of pearl, the peg-head is inlaid with ebony and mother of pearl, the back has been shaved and overlaid with rosewood. It has new frets and Shaller pegs with Grover deluxe buttons. Dan Armstrong rewired it for me, and a guy called Doc Kauffman, who designed the prototype of the Telecaster, checked the pickups, which are original. It's really been through the mill. I'm having another one done - just having it cosmetically fixed; it'll be all black and silver. That's one of my hobbies, my real loves; I used to be an artist and I love designing."
Lynyrd Skynrd's Ed King, told to Gibson.com in '07
"As soon as I got the money I went down to my local guitar store and I got this Gibson SG Special, which is the same kind of guitar that Robby Krieger of the Doors used, and I really loved the sound he got. I bought one of those in, and in Memphis I bought a Gibson SG Standard once I finally got on the road with the Strawberry Alarm Clock. That guitar was probably two years old, sitting in the shop, when I found it. Those two were my main guitars for a number of years, and just to make a long story short, when I joined Skynyrd as a bass player, okay, I had these two Gibson guitars."
Frank Marino, in a '99 interview when asked about his original '61 SG
"The second guitar [I ever got] was an SG Special, which I used professionally in the early days of high school gigs, and even on part of Maxoom, I believe. But that guitar was stolen from the stage of a gig I did near Montreal, while we were all running for cover from a rainstorm. I was pretty devastated by that, and I learned then to never develop a love affair with any particular instrument. As it turned out, I got that guitar back from a 16 year old fan 12 years later. He had bought it from a local pawnshop, and everybody knew the guitar's history, and he wanted to right a wrong. I was impressed by his honesty, so I gave him my Limited Edition Flying V and took back the SG, even though the SG was, by then, completely broken up and really quite unplayable. I kept it more as a memento than anything else, and I felt really good about the fact that at least it came home. The kid was also overwhelmed with the fact I gave him the V, which was in impeccable condition. I never saw him again, but I hope he got good use of it. He was a good person."
The Cars' Elliot Easton, told to Gibson.com in '07 about the inspiration for his Custom Shop SG
"I've always thought that the white SG Custom with gold parts was one of the most beautiful solidbody electric guitars ever introduced."
Pete Townshend, told to Guitar Player in '72
"The first time I started to use the Gibson SG model guitar is when I got fed up with Fenders, because they were too clean ... So I went to the manager and said 'I really need an alternative to this' and he said 'I think you'd like the newest SG' and I looked at it. I played it and it rang, it sang to me, not humbucking pickups, the plain pickups, and I've used SGs ever since. They took the old SG off the market like about a year ago, so we used up every old SG in the country … I raided every music store in the country practically, looking for old SGs."
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Gary Rossington, told to Gritz in '03
"I play a Gibson SG. I always play it on 'Freebird.' I always played the slide part on that and still do today."
David T. Chastain, told to Guitar World when asked about his biggest breakthrough as a guitarist
"I guess that is a good question but the only answer I can think of was getting a Gibson SG. Before that I had been using either a very hard to play acoustic guitar and/or a cheaper very hard to play no name electric. While I appreciate my mother getting me those early guitars to get me started they were very difficult to play. Getting the SG made playing the guitar a much more pleasurable and playable experience. I went 18 straight years without missing a day of at least one hour of practice after the acquisition. When someone tells me that they want to learn how to play guitar I tell them the most important thing is to get the best playing guitar they can find."
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