Well, if it continues to bug you, heed this advice. Take the guitar, and wrap it very carefully in bubblewrap. Pop it in a hardcase and send it to me, and I'll navigate the horrors of that hideous top on your behalf. Public service. Anyone else with an SG they're not enamoured with, I'd do the same for them too.
When it really starts to bother you, do the unthinkable (had a friend do it with a lester and nobody could tell) take a piece of exotic wood veneer, cut it to match the top, glue it on and refinish it, VIOLA instant one piece top, or better , get someone to carve you a maple or mahogany cap, always liked the carved top SG's. All custom shops are not one piece, some are just matched better than regular shop guitars.
I say you are lucky to have those two figured pieces of mahogany! They have character and unique shapes, not just plain boring pieces of wood I've seen on other guitars!
+1 on that... your guitar is a lovely thing. Especially with witch hat knobs and a Grolsh strap lock. The line on your SG does not appear obtrusive to me. Think of how many Les Paul guitars there are out there with that strange looking mismatched line running down the middle. (the majority of them, I fear)... That's one of the things I hold against the Les Paul guitar. THE LINE! The Les Paul I would buy is the mahogany one, with no figured maple top and no line. Or an Epi with a veneer... *laughs ...or an SG like yours, that's matched better. But I'm obviously in the minority, as players happily spend thousands on their mismatched Les Pauls without nary a second thought. And then lord it over the humble Epiphone owners, as if spending too much on their guitar makes them into some kinda royalty. Sorry, don't mean to start anything with Lester lovers. I just think your guitar looks great, and you shouldn't ever question it. Just rock that sucker.
My number one is a 3 piece body. Don't even mention it to her or she will beat me to submission with huge tone!
You know, my friend has a custom shop SG Standard. I have a regular production SG Standard. We both have Alnico 4 pickups in there, use the same strings. His is a tad lighter. Otherwise the only way I can tell them apart is that the binding on my guitar is white and his is pink. They look, feel and sound the same. The same. I've never found the seam(s) in my guitars body, but I have to assume I have a 2-piece because the odds are it is. P.
my 61 reissue is a single piece body.. i dont for a minute think it does anything for tone, nice piece of lumber though
In the mid '50's Gibson introduced Les Pauls with Sunburst finishes. A lot of folks with Gold Tops wanted their guitars to be refinished to look "new". Gibson refinished some, and folks found out they had terribly matched or uneven sized pieces, and some even had 3 piece tops.
I think that upgrading to a one piece body is a question only you can answer. I have a 3 piece SG, am I crazy about that? not really ... would I prefer a one piece body ? 100% yes, looks way better .... would I keep my 3 piece and also buy a Brian Ray or Standard Historic SG with a one piece body?? there are two answers to that question A) if I could easily afford it, yes B) or if I was so passionate about a beautiful one-piece top that I just HAD to have it, also a yes answer .... I would love to have the TRUE HISTORIC LES PAUL .... do I want it so bad that I will spend the $8,500 to buy it?? nope ... the choice is yours my friend
isn't that kind of a rather nasty generalization ?? Didn't Dickey Betts and Gary Rossington own one piece SG's ?? .. just sayin'
I guarantee Dickey Betts, Gary Rossington, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Frank Marino, Robin Trower, and every other great SG player didn't spend a lot of time stressing over construction of their SGs. :-)
This thread caused me to go look harder at my '17, just to see lol. It's never bothered me one way or the other and I've never really cared over the years with various guitars. I guess the only way it would bother me would be if something was advertised as a 1p but it wasnt. I've been playing this new one for 6 months and never bothered to pay attention but after giving it a close look, it seems to be a 3p. I can barely see the lines. :)
Eric Clapton was too busy having his painted to give a rip about the number of boards used. Didn't we just do this BS in the Epi section? Bottom line, you like what you like, go play.
well people have a right to buy what they wish in our free society, Charlie Watts owns a Lamborghini and he has never been licensed to drive. I don't think too many people would put him down for it. You do have a valid point though, I have spent a lot of time on the web lusting over real cool/expensive guitars and then I come to my senses and realize I'm not good enough a player, and realistically my 3 piece SG is all I'll ever really need. I need to kick my own ass sometimes, give myself a wake up call, reality check, I just didn't feel that it wasn't cool putting someone down over something they choose to buy I wouldn't say my neighbour is a heartless, soul-sucking, narcissistic, capitalist pig because he can afford a new BMW, could be the nicest dude in the world. I'm new to this game but I was always under the impression that musicians were pretty friendly, helpful people which I'm sure the majority are .. the kinda' mean spirited generalization just surprised me I guess
reminds me of a recent YouTube video I viewed of Joe Bonamassa playing one of Keith Richards guitars which was I believe was an Esquire body with a Telecaster neck slapped onto it seems it suited Keith just fine, nobody was really sure what it was, Joe then mentioned that had had witnessed guys in Nashville, arguing for three hours over whether a single screw was original or not ... point being I don't think anyone really NEEDS a one-piece SG body .... but one beautiful slab of mahogany shore is purdy to look at ...
People like to argue....a friend of mine said if you put a tooth pick down on the table his uncles and his father would argue all night about what kind of wood it was.
