SG players that made you choose the SG

[axemanv90]

I didn't really think about it before I got my SG-Z. I had a Gibson Flying V-90 and found out they made a similar SG model with the SG-Z. They weren't very popular and were selling cheap, so I got one and then another one and never looked back. Of course, the lightning bolt tail plate and headstock logo reminded me of Angus, but that wasn't why I bought them.

Warning: Extreme neck dive.

 

[Fuzzdelay]

For me, Clapton in Cream, Iommi, Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden (although it's not a Gibson)

 

[Kevinski]

Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk. She is a cord artist who uses the SG’s access to the upper fretboard to construct cord based song structures, and leads a three piece band without standing down stage and twiddling away uselessly. She has thanked Gibson in her liner notes and her primary guitar is an older Special “Jazz” model.

 

[Sparky84]

Iommi first, than many more. But I really loved this video:

RIP Dolores O’Riordan, gone way too soon. Great songwriter and distinctive voice, and when they weren’t jangling, she could crunch that beautiful white SG.

 

[nasticanasta]

Alright we have the obvious ones Tony Iommy , Angus Young , Pete Townsend
But for me with punk/hardcore it was Joey shithead Keithley (DOA) Greg Hetson (Bad Religion Circle Jerks) Ian mckaye (Minor Threat) but more (Fugazi) he didn't play guitar in minor threat. I think a lot of hardcore/ punk bands in the 80s used a lot of 70s Norlin era SGs and Lps because no one wanted em Van Halen and super shredder guitarists were all the hype and the super strat guitars with double locking floating Floyd Rose trems were all the rage so these punk rocker kids got their SGs and Lps on the cheap and rocked the hell outta em! "And just so ya know I do like Tony, Angus and Pete just thought it would be fun to hear of some others"

Does no one remember Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce from Alice Cooper??? All they played were SG’s.
I own a 94 special (ebony fret board), I’ve played it so much the paint has worn off the back of the neck

 

[straydogger69]

There were a few already mentioned here that I agree with. The one that cemented it for me was Mel Galley from Trapeze. This album has great guitar tones and after seeing this album cover I knew that was the sound I wanted. Shortly after that, I bought a 1973 walnut SG. A couple of years later life got in the way and I had to sell it. Been trying to get one ever since but the cost is too much for me these days. My 2004 Epi SG is a nice guitar but not near what that one was. :-(

 

[John Vasco]

Local players in Liverpool in 1969 who were playing SG Juniors and SG Specials.

And also seeing the English band 'Bronco' with Robbie Blunt (he who previously and later played with Robert Plant) playing an SG Special.

 

[sgpenguin]

If we're just talking about the influence of the shape/looks of the SG then I was probably just as influenced by EB bassplayers in the 70's as any SG player; I could not fail to miss them on shows we got on Australian ABC like GTK, Old Grey Whistle Test and some Top Of The Pops (to say nothing of Countdown). If course Angus was about, but I can't honestly say I zoned in on the sound or wanting to be a guitarist back then. When I seriously looked at electric guitars a few years ago I wanted an SG because of the guitars it wasn't, so most ofl the cool SG dude points are retrospective, but here's one anyway: Johnny Marr. I was struck by his use of an SG on Neil Finn's 7 Worlds Collide, I had no idea he used them.

 

[Philb]

Alright we have the obvious ones Tony Iommy , Angus Young , Pete Townsend
But for me with punk/hardcore it was Joey shithead Keithley (DOA) Greg Hetson (Bad Religion Circle Jerks) Ian mckaye (Minor Threat) but more (Fugazi) he didn't play guitar in minor threat. I think a lot of hardcore/ punk bands in the 80s used a lot of 70s Norlin era SGs and Lps because no one wanted em Van Halen and super shredder guitarists were all the hype and the super strat guitars with double locking floating Floyd Rose trems were all the rage so these punk rocker kids got their SGs and Lps on the cheap and rocked the hell outta em! "And just so ya know I do like Tony, Angus and Pete just thought it would be fun to hear of some others"

Alright we have the obvious ones Tony Iommy , Angus Young , Pete Townsend
But for me with punk/hardcore it was Joey shithead Keithley (DOA) Greg Hetson (Bad Religion Circle Jerks) Ian mckaye (Minor Threat) but more (Fugazi) he didn't play guitar in minor threat. I think a lot of hardcore/ punk bands in the 80s used a lot of 70s Norlin era SGs and Lps because no one wanted em Van Halen and super shredder guitarists were all the hype and the super strat guitars with double locking floating Floyd Rose trems were all the rage so these punk rocker kids got their SGs and Lps on the cheap and rocked the hell outta em! "And just so ya know I do like Tony, Angus and Pete just thought it would be fun to hear of some others"

 

[Keystone]

Robby Krieger.

 

[Scott Hutchens]

For me (when I was 13 in 1967), the very first guy was Robbie Krieger on the first Doors album especially on "The Crystal Ship" and "Light My Fire" and then stuff from the Strange Days album. Was after the real pretty slightly Strat-like tones he got on the early albums. Of course at the same time Cream came out with Clapton playing his which was a major influence, to this day seeing Clapton with a Strat does not seem right. Then I noticed James Gurley and Sam Andrew used them with Janis Joplin. Hendrix' use of the white Custom sparked my interest a lot too. Also was aware later Ed King (SAC) John Cippolina (QMS) used one. When we did Alice Cooper songs in the early 70s in the band I was in I especially liked Buxton/Bruce's use of them, they were the right guitars for that band. Didn't know until later on that Jerry Garcia used one for a while in the late 60s/early 70's. I liked Tony Iommi's tones and use of them but related SGs more in general to the psychedelic/San Francisco sound. I never related to Angus Young's use of it like I do the early players. While a Strat was futuristic in the 50s, and more so later, the SG was created more for the 60s. At the time in the mid to late 60s, you saw lots of them, and although there were other Gibson models, until I got into Les Pauls, SGs (and also the Black Beauty LP Custom and LP Deluxe) were what I thought of when I thought of Gibson, but until that time SGs were the most accessible and to me were in the forefront.

 

[Philb]

George Harrison , Paul Weller , Steve Craddock and how about Noddy Holder from Slade..All influences on me especially Mr Weller. Wilko Johnson , although not known for playing an SG he did scratch his autograph into the back of my mates 72 SG and gave it a strum so near enough for me.(Happy Days)

 

[Zeugitai]

way back when ... Mahavishnu (and Page) played a double-necked SG that looked awesome and seared people's eyebrows. That image is iconic. Frank Zappa played Black Napkins on Merv Griffin using a nice SG. Previously it had been Santana playing Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock. I wore out Black Sabbath records. Duane Allman's slide work. Also listened to a lot of Uriah Heep and there was that totally set-up black SG. I think SGs were everywhere then. They always looked good, and with the right amps and hands working them, could sound good. I never bought one, though, until they put out the specials with single coils. People like Trower were getting the tone I wanted, and that appeared to be a combination of Marshalls with tubes and Fender Strats with single coils (and some kind of vibe pedal or real Leslie speaker). I have the 2007 SG 3. The neck and frets are great, if a little fat for my hands.

 

[Dapperdan199]

The two guys who made me really want an SG are Tobin Bawinkel of Flatfoot 56, and Josh Scogin of ‘68. I named my first son Tobin Joshua after the two of them. Tobin Bawinkel of Flatfoot sent me one of his SGs for my son for when he is older.

 

[deeaa]

I never chose SG as my preferred guitar really, I always wanted a Flying-V but they turned out to be too big. I've had two. For the same reason I sold off my Explorer...they are HUGE guitars with cases like caskets and I'm rather a lean guy...they Look like I'm carrying a canoe unless I hang them really low.

And even after dismissing those as options, I played a Les Paul for 13 years, until they became too heavy for me to carry on my shoulder.

So, enter SG. It's so light and comfy and all that, and also looks almost as cool.

Still, my main "live" axes are custom instruments that are closest to superstrats in shape and style really, but with Gibson style bridges and active electronics.

 

[John J]

Way back in about late 1965 there was a local guy named Bruce Riddiough that had a SG Standard. He was probably 16 years old at the time and he was really good.
I wasn't able to cough up the 300 or so dollars that Standard cost at the time. Some how I managed to save enough money washing dishes on Friday and Saturday nights at a local restaurant and bailing hay during the summer to fork over the $225 that a special cost in 1966. To me that was all the money in the world.

 

[gball]

The beginning and end of SG players for me

 

[Bijou Drains]

Pete Townshend. Received my first Who LP (Who’s Next) from my Dad in 1972 when I was 12, purchased my first Who LP April 1974 (Quadrophonia) as soon as it was available at the base Exchange (Army “brat”) in Germany.

PT primarily used SG Specials to record Who’s Next as well as Quadrophenia although Townshend had already begun a slow transition to the Les Paul Deluxe beginning circa mid-late ‘72, he continued using SG Specials during early live Quadrophenia shows in October through December ‘73 he was also playing Quadrophenia shows with LP Deluxes. By the time The Who returned to the stage in the Spring of 1974, Pete had completely switched to early 1970’s Les Paul Deluxes as his main stage guitar and with the exception of a few tracks, Quadrophenia had been completely abandoned.

The Isle of White shows,Woodstock and the lone Leeds University show on February 14, 1970 are the most well-known and widely available vintage shows during which Pete used the SG Specials - and to think that Live at Leeds was recorded and released in a desperate act because Pete didn’t want to listen to all of the ‘69 tour recordings. Absolutely love those amazing vintage P90 PuPs.

 

[Todd Westfall]

2 players. Steve Marriott has what I believe is a white SG in one of the pictures on the inside of the gatefold cover to Fillmore. The second is Garcia who played a 68 in 69 when the band was at the peak of their powers. Think Live Dead.

 

[BluJ]

For me, it was Zappa. His guitar licks still amaze me.