everythingSG.com

(2-2006)
It's funny, but of all the great guitarists ever to play an SG, very few stuck with the model throughout a full career... save for Angus Young and Tony Iommi, of course. Of those who jumped ship, it's also odd how their adoption of an SG coincided with some of the best playing of their careers. Santana, Townshend, Mick Taylor... did swapping to a Yamaha or a Les Paul really lift their playing to another level? We would venture that it did not, but hey, there's always time to change back again. But discarding such idle speculation, we here offer a list - in no particular order, mind – of some of the greatest SG players to strut their way upon life's wide stage. Disagree? Of course you do. Write to us, and tell us who we should have included...

FRANK ZAPPA

As well as being a beyond‑remarkable lead guitar player -'air sculpture', he called it -Zappa used his SG to produce tones that no-one, as far as we know, has come close to reproducing. He owned at least two, plus a 22-fret custom, and put them through Marshalls or sometimes even a tiny Pignose for recording.

PETE TOWNSHEND

Tommy, Live At Leeds, Woodstock, the Isle of Wight -the classic Who period from 1968 until 1971 during which Townshend depended upon the Gibson's bower-boy roar. Our Pete is possibly responsible for the dearth of clean, unbroken big-pickguard mid/late '60s SG Specials in the world today.

ERIC CLAPTON

Though Eric bought his first SG in 1967, it was a second hand 1964 example. After the crazy paintjob - which left the neck feeling rather sticky - he used it right up to the demise of Cream in November 1968. The guitar passed to Jackie Lomax, then Todd Rundgren, and was sold once more in 2000.

SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

Gospel queen and blues shouter Tharpe was not just a marvelous singer - she was also a fluid and utterly feral blues guitarist who went from a National in the '40s to various Gibsons including a '52 Les Paul and then, in the '60s, to a white SG Custom. Her Newport Jazz Festival appearance is a classic.

ANGUS YOUNG

The man who revamped Chuck Berry licks with extra-wide finger vibrato for the rock generation has been through a fair few SGs, from his favourite '68s to a '64. `I liked SGs 'cos they were light,' admits the stature-challenged Aussie whizz. `Fenders were too heavy and they didn't have the balls. I liked the hard Gibson sound.'

ROBBIE KRIEGER

With no bass player The Doors had their work cut out, but Krieger and his white three-pickup SG Custom rose admirably to the task of weaving around the ever‑present keyboards, eschewing common-or-garden blues licks for subtle lines influenced by jazz and flamenco.

OLLIE HALSALL

Under sung British guitar genius Peter `Ollie' Halsall (Timebox, Patto, Tempest, John Otway, John Cale, The Rutles and many more) was one of the most skilled and unique players of his time. He used an SG Custom in the '70s and a '68 SG Standard- later with Kahler – through the 1980s and up to his untimely death in 1992. Checkout Patto's Hold Your Fire or some mid-period Kevin Ayers for some amazing playing.

TONY MCPHEE

The inestimable Groundhogs were propelled by the jagged guitar explorations of McPhee and his trademark SG Standard played through a Laney Supergroup amp. The final track on '87's Back Against The Wall is 54146, the serial number of the now stolen guitar. Got it? Give it back.

GEORGE HARRISON

1966's Revolver bristled with new sounds: Epiphone Casinos, a Rickenbacker bass, assorted Fender amps, hybrid 120W Voxes and, of course, George's cherry-red '64 SG Standard. Lennon played the same SG on The White Album, and the actual guitar sold for half a million dollars in 2004. Bargain!

TONY IOMMI

The crushing guitar sound of early Sabbath was the result of a Gibson SG not through a fuzz box but a specially‑customized Dallas Range master treble booster and then into a Laney amp. Though Iommi's allegiance lay or a long time with his 24-fret John Birch SG, he's currently back in the Gibson saddle with a suitably all-black model fitted with Iommi humbuckers.

Reprinted with permission/copyright of Guitar & Bass Magazine . IPC
Country & Leisure Media Ltd.
This article originally appeared in Guitar & Bass Magazine , February 2006.
http://www.guitarmagazine.co.uk