Both have mahogany bodies Both have maple necks Both have two 61 Zebra pickups Both have a satin bridge and tailpiece Both have no pickguard Both have 24 frets. The only difference are the robot tuners, the volume and tone tuners and the finish. Oh and the nut and larger fret board. Just look at them! Too bad there's one big difference... The price tag.
Ah yes! That and the headstock logo. But they don't make that much of a difference, or at least that scribble would!
Gibson SG special 2015 neck is Mahogany, Not maple. Also SG Special finish is high gloss.. these are difference that i know.
I forgot about the neck, thanks for correcting me. I too think the SGJ is the better guitar, mainly because its my #1 SG!
my '14 SGJ is one of the best guitars I have ever played, at any price. I picked up a 2015 in the store a few times and I thought the neck was just horrible (width) and I don't trust the brass zero-nut thing at all. So glad to see they've returned to their senses at Gibson for 2016.
The SGJ was an amazing value and a great player. I got a 2015 DC and I'd say the build quality is top notch. I bought it mainly for slide, with the adjustable nut and fast tuning changes. For slide the 2015 changes work OK. If only they hadn't made the changes across the whole range. That was just bizarre. One or two models maybe, sure.
Actually the sound difference between SGJ and Special cannot be much, but u have to check them with the same amplifier. If not, you can be easily mistaken. Yes wider neck is difficult after slim ones, but your hand can quickly get used to it. I have SG special 2015. if anyone want to know anything about, i try my best to answer.
+1 on that. I feel the same way about my '07 SG faded special... I just came down from a shootout with other guitars up in the music room, and the '07 SG has really no contenders. She's simply the best. I like my other guitars quite well, but my '07 SG Special is the one I'd grab if the house was on fire. I'd make it to the door with my SG in one hand and my girlfriend in the other. Oh and Welcome to ETSG, Omer... Excellent SG! I agree with you that the shape or width of the neck makes only a small difference. Not many on this forum feel this way. But some others are with us. I believe that of all musicians, only guitarists make such a fuss about neck shape. And maybe only Electric Guitarists. It's my experience that the human hand can play any instrument from a mandolin to a double bass with no trouble. All you need to do is practice. That's my humble opinion anyway.
Hmmmm, well since you brought it up, the finish is very similar and they share 61 zebras. I must admit that I am drawn to satin more than gloss but do like the "ringier" 61 pickups quite a bit. As it happens, I played a 15 Special for a couple of tunes last night and liked it a lot. I noticed the wider fretboard, but got over it pretty fast. The guitar sounded great through my Crate tube amp. G-force worked ok. The guitar was heavier than my older Specials or my SGJ and the nose wanted to touch the floor, but the strap buttons were sufficiently corpulent to dissuade the kiss of faux bamboo and mahogany. While I was playing it, the owner was playing my 02 cherry Special. After a couple of songs we switched back and complimented each others guitars. My SGJ is, to me, in a different sub-category. The "stripped down" nature of the SGJ is like an old 49 Mercury, cut down to the bone for drag raciing. I cannot help but misbehave when I play it by vamping and shredding and being a juvenile delinquent. (I have similar issues with my N-225 and 2014 LPMMs.) I suspected that the SGJ (and my LPJ) would not be as durable as some of my other guitars. This is proving to be a false assumption. My 02 worn brown Special is still my "fits like an old pair of Levi's" guitar. My SGJ quickly became the one that I always throw in the car and take to the gig. ;>)
"The "stripped down" nature of the SGJ is like an old 49 Mercury, cut down to the bone for drag raciing." So true. I want mine with baby moons and lake pipes.
I think that the SGJs are closer to the SG Specials 2014 than the 2015. The only differences are the pickups, '50 necks vs '60 for the Specials, the paint, the pushpull and pcb vs wiring. The 2013 sgj even more since they have (slightly different black cover) 490s pickups as the 2014 specials By the way here is my new 2014 SG Special
