My new Epiphone SG, 61 reissue with Vibrola.

[Lino22]

After had had to return two Gibsons to Thomann last September, i decided to get the same thing but by Epiphone till i find a well done Gibson. I had a chance to pick from two, and they differed quite a lot. One was to bassy and lacked colour, this one was way more quackier (especially the combination of pickups quacks very nicely) and nicely mid-trebly. Also very resonant. About the same sound as my first returned Gibson (this may be just wishful thinking as that Gibson really good), and a hair better sounding than the second one. They were also selling a couple of late 70s Gibson SGs in that shop (for a fortune indeed), but this one sounded better.

It has veneer on both front and back, and when i looked into the pot cavity on the back, the mahogany is a sandwich of about 4 pieces. It also has flatter neck profile than the Gibsons i had - "a boat". But these things apparently all clicked here.

Well, do i need a Gibson now? Not sure any more.

 

[DrBGood]

... when i looked into the pot cavity on the back, the mahogany is a sandwich of about 4 pieces.

Hmm ... never heard of that before. Are you sure it is not simply 3 router bit marks. I bet that if you sand that cavity wall the lines will go away and reveal a thick single piece. Can you post a picture of what you see ?

And nice guitar !

 

[Lino22]

Actualy, you may be right. I see the line fades out on one wall.

 

[Lino22]

You were right. The body is one piece.

 

[Lino22]

I rewired the knobs to just one master volume and one master tone. I love the middle position and now i can control it by just one volume knob.
Now when i look at it, i may even remove the funny connectors so the cables are shielded all the way.

 

[plankton]

You were right. The body is one piece.

Probably not, but the section around the cavity might be. The different pieces would be side by side though and not sandwiched as you found out.

 

[DrBGood]

Probably not, but the section around the cavity might be. The different pieces would be side by side though and not sandwiched as you found out.

Right. You can usually see the glued joints on the end side of the body. If it is 2 pieces, the joint could be hidden by the strap button.

 

[The Wool]

About to buy this and was planning to replace the bridge with a roller bridge to make tuning more stable. Any thoughts on this? Does your guitar stay in tune after using the vibrola? Also, do you know the diameter of the bridge poles?

 

[Go Nigel Go]

About to buy this and was planning to replace the bridge with a roller bridge to make tuning more stable. Any thoughts on this? Does your guitar stay in tune after using the vibrola? Also, do you know the diameter of the bridge poles?

I don't have any feelings one way or the other on the roller bridge, some folks swear by them, some folks swear at them. Personally I could probably use either one happily. The concept is sound, and they look kinda' cool, so if your strings are binding in the saddles it will fix it. Polishing the saddles works too, but I don't feel the need to defend a single solution when the alternatives work equally well.

The main point I wanted to make is that most "tuning stability issues" have to do with the strings binding at the NUT, rather than the saddle. Get the roller bridge if you have the spare cash and it trips your trigger, but definitely have the nut looked at the same time (or if the problem persists). I would actually start there with sizing and polishing the nut notches for my preferred string gauge as part of my initial player's set up with any "new to me" guitar. Next a little powdered graphite (pencil lead) or other nut lube will eliminate most tuning issues you are likely to encounter.

 

[Von Trapp]

There's really no need to get anything before you actually have the guitar. If it turns out there are tuning issues then first check how you string the guitar, then the nut (as mentioned above, or get a Tusq nut) then the bridge. Chances are none of this will be necessary though.

 

[Lino22]

Right. You can usually see the glued joints on the end side of the body. If it is 2 pieces, the joint could be hidden by the strap button.

My miraculously stays in tune considering the thin neck and Vibrola, but i use the Vibrola just gently and not very often.

 

[papagayo]

I rewired the knobs to just one master volume and one master tone. I love the middle position and now i can control it by just one volume knob.
Now when i look at it, i may even remove the funny connectors so the cables are shielded all the way.

View attachment 47063

The phone cable look very light

 

[Von Trapp]

My miraculously stays in tune considering the thin neck and Vibrola, but i use the Vibrola just gently and not very often.

No miracle. With the right setup you can be as brutal as you like with the Vibby.

 

[gypsyseven]

About to buy this and was planning to replace the bridge with a roller bridge to make tuning more stable. Any thoughts on this? Does your guitar stay in tune after using the vibrola? Also, do you know the diameter of the bridge poles?

Just get some Nut Sauce and you‘ll be fine…

 

[gypsyseven]

View attachment 47057

After had had to return two Gibsons to Thomann last September, i decided to get the same thing but by Epiphone till i find a well done Gibson. I had a chance to pick from two, and they differed quite a lot. One was to bassy and lacked colour, this one was way more quackier (especially the combination of pickups quacks very nicely) and nicely mid-trebly. Also very resonant. About the same sound as my first returned Gibson (this may be just wishful thinking as that Gibson really good), and a hair better sounding than the second one. They were also selling a couple of late 70s Gibson SGs in that shop (for a fortune indeed), but this one sounded better.

It has veneer on both front and back, and when i looked into the pot cavity on the back, the mahogany is a sandwich of about 4 pieces. It also has flatter neck profile than the Gibsons i had - "a boat". But these things apparently all clicked here.

Well, do i need a Gibson now? Not sure any more.

Congrats man! Great looking SG!

 

[Les’s Nemisis]

Nice guitar. '61 Reissue is the way to go. Best fret access of any guitar, nice thin neck. The Epi '61 SG is a winner.

As for the Vibrola... you might have googled this up already, but they had a horrible reputation in the day for throwing you out of tune and not coming back. Notice in vintage photos that they're always tucked out of the usable position. There's a reason Gibson stopped making them. Like Billy Crystal's Fernando character, they thought it was better to look good than to feel good. And like that character, they look fabulous.

But now they're back for nostalgic reasons. With modern techniques like making sure the nut is just right and lubing it, maybe, just maybe it would work better. Or perhaps that roller bridge might help. I wouldn't be counting on it. But even with the Vibrola just tucked out o the way, that's a fine guitar.

 

[Von Trapp]

Nice guitar. '61 Reissue is the way to go. Best fret access of any guitar, nice thin neck. The Epi '61 SG is a winner.

As for the Vibrola... you might have googled this up already, but they had a horrible reputation in the day for throwing you out of tune and not coming back. Notice in vintage photos that they're always tucked out of the usable position. There's a reason Gibson stopped making them. Like Billy Crystal's Fernando character, they thought it was better to look good than to feel good. And like that character, they look fabulous.

But now they're back for nostalgic reasons. With modern techniques like making sure the nut is just right and lubing it, maybe, just maybe it would work better. Or perhaps that roller bridge might help. I wouldn't be counting on it. But even with the Vibrola just tucked out o the way, that's a fine guitar.

I'm very sorry to have to say this but that's bullshit. If a Vibrola equipped guitar doesn't stay in tune it's because the owner, his "luthier" and everyone else involved just don't know what they're looking at or what they're talking about. One can google all kinds of sh!t and get all kinds of "answers", not least when it comes to guitars, so muppet reports like that are a good example of what you can get when you create a tool with which any fool with a keyboard can post his ramblings as facts even though the things he's talking about he never owned, tried or understood.

 

[3bolt79]

You were right. The body is one piece.

If it were one piece, they wouldn’t need to veneer it.

 

[DrBGood]

If it were one piece, they wouldn’t need to veneer it.

I think he meant it's one piece thick, because he first thought it was 4 layers

 

[PermissionToLand]

If it were one piece, they wouldn’t need to veneer it.

I'd rather look at a multi piece body than their stripey veneers. Heck, there are famous artists with vintage Gibsons that clearly have multi piece bodies.