Ive had my 2017 SG standard now for a reasonable amount of time , enough to notice a couple of things regarding how it sounds when played very loud. I am doing a like for like comparison with my main guitar a 2015 les paul trad. The SG is a very easy guitar to play, great for lead work better than the les paul but when playing chords with my amp cranked there is a definite mid focused sound to the guitar , almost harsh. very prominent on the g and B strings. to much actually. Its not a bad sound ,but was wondering if its a side effect of the 57 pick ups or is it the guitar itself. The les paul has 59 pick ups on it but it sounds really fat and full when playing chords but as i said the sg is light and easy to play. Does anyone have any tips for taming this , im not really one for messing with pick up heights and bridge adjustments but i would be grateful for any input you have for correcting this. it might not even be a fault just a characterisic of the guitar, but i find it annoying. cheers
The SG sound is known for being a bit brighter than the Les Paul. But the individual pickup screws are there for a reason. If a string is coming on a bit strong, lower it.
Have you experimented with your amp’s EQ? Because some guitars sound better at different EQ settings...you may need to adjust it to get your desired result. And also, experiment with pickup heights.
Like others mentioned try adjusting the screws on the pickups to balance the sound to taste. You can make a little cheat sheet with each string name on it and then every time you adjust that screw make a note of how many turns to each so you can always go back if you don't feel comfortable just relying on your ear.
Thanks everyone, that definitely helped lowering pick up screws, I’ve never attempted that before. It is definitely a more aggressive sounding guitar , I will just need to get used to it. It needs eq adjustment on the amp as well when I switch between the les Paul and the SG but I can get a sound now I can live with . Thanks again
I don't know about the part about sounding harsh, but the part above is a common sound quality of almost every SG I've heard or played. It's for that reason that I miss owning a Les Paul sometimes but I have some disabilities that makes it very uncomfortable to play any guitar much over 8 - 8.5lbs sitting or standing these days.
You have 2 knobs called "tone controls" Yeah, I know, radical concept, but they DO move, and can take out some of the harshness.
tone controls are hopeless on this sg as is the taper on the volume control. problem is solved anyway with the screw adjustment on bridge pick up. cheers anyway
I almost sold #2 because it soumds very different from #1. A few turns of a screwdriver on the pickups levelled out volume and dial in tone. Now #2 has replaced #1 as main guitar. Not much one for tinkering at all but it's easy and worth a try IMO
I have an 2018 SG special that sounded harsh and stale at the same time. Mega mid range and honky, but with fuzzy sounding high end, if that makes sense. I swapped the bridge (stainless steal) for brass posts and thumbscrews, one of those tonelock or something bridges, and it really made a huge difference. I was going to sell the guitar because it didn't have a soul. Now it resonates on equal ground with my older gibsons. The result, to my ears, was a smoother top and more bass. The guitar had no bass and harsh highs before the swap.
I have a hard time conceiving someone being reluctant to adjust pickup and/or pole piece heights. It is BY FAR the easiest/fastest/cheapest/most effective way to alter the tone of any electric guitar. All you need is a tiny screwdriver. Never will such a simple tool impress you more in what it can do. If height wans't meant to be adjusted, there wouldn't be screws to do it. I've guided people who wanted to get rid of one guitar because it sounded like crap to their ear. Once they played with the pickup heights, that guitar became their #1. I have this LP Jr '57 RE with a P90. It took me some time to find its sweet spot. I'd read and listen to anything and everything that's out there on that Holy Grail guitar, but couldn't make it work. Pickup height had a lot to do in that quest. Then when I thought I couldn't do better, I played with pole pieces. I now know that this single pipkup guitar has tons of different tones in there, you just have to choose which one suits you better. And then there's the amp EQ.
Shouldn't be hopeless... should be quite useful. They won't solve the mid heavy EQ, though. If you like the middiness for leads, but not for rhythm, consider reducing the mids on your amp to get a good rhythm sound and then using a pedal to add mids for your leads. That works musically because mids are heard more prominently in a mix. I know many boost/distortion type pedals have mid controls, or you can use an EQ pedal.
