Snake Plissken
Active Member
Been SG-less for a while now after parting with an SG Classic that I regretted selling some months back. Was in a shop a week or two ago and while on my way out noticed an SG on the wall. Went over to it and noticed it was a '61 Standard w/ Vibrola. All I did was wrap my hand around the neck while it was still in the wall hanger and thought to myself, "Hmm, that's really nice", then walked out.
Ended up going back yesterday and that guitar was still there. Played it for a bit along with another of the same model they had in stock. Was a bit surprised when I looked on the back of the headstock and saw that the one on the rack that I had eyeballed on my was out a couple weeks ago was a 2019. The other one was fresh out of the box (they left me unpack it) 2022.
Both guitars has the same specs of course but the finishes were very differnt. The 2019 was much lighter, almost orange, while the 2022was a much deeper, darker cherry color. Both guitars felt about the same weight. The 2019 was set up much better. Nuts looked to be differnt material, with the nut on the 2019 looking liek what I've had on SG's I've owned I the past, and the 2022 having a much brighter/whiter nut (wasn't bone, but definitely lighter in color than what I was used to). Both guitars had 2-piece bodies. Grain matching was pretty bad on the 2022 and there was an obvious, glaring seam down the middle, where the 2019 was only really noticeable if you looked along the edge by the strap button to catch the seam.
The 2022 right out of the box had a horrible set-up. I have no clue what's up with Gibson QC, but Ive seen it before where the pickups are canted/slanted a ton in the pickup rings. I realize this is an easy fix and you jsut have to remove the ring and mess with the way the springs because they end up binding up on themselves causing the pickups to can't liek that, but it just looks sloppy. Nut was cut horribly too, but this seems to be a Gibson specialty. Every new SG I've bought had always had a horribly cut nut. I get leaving the nut slots high from the factory to have it one-tined for the player's taste and preference, but it cant even close. Every note on the first couple frets was pulling sharp. They could have paid a LITTLE more attention to it. Comparatively on the 2019 the pickups were level with the rings and the nut wasn't bad at all. Action was way too low on the 2019 and a bit high not he 2022, with proper amount of relief on both. Both guitars had 61R/T pickups. The 2022 sounded very bright and a bit harsh, while the 2019 was a bit more balanced, but again, the pickup heights and the dramatic way they were canted on the 2022 along with the fact that the strings on the 2019 were dead, compared to strings on a guitar I just puled out of the factory box, so not a very well controlled comparison.
Necks felt a little different. The 2019's neck felt a touch fuller with slightly fuller shoulders, especially as you went up the neck compared to the 2022 that felt slightly less substantial with less shoulder. Much preferred the neck on the 2019. Vibrola on both looked and functioned the same. Neither's trem arm was overly stiff, and easily adjusted to bring into place or swing out of the way when not in use. Both would hit the tone knob if you were trying to swing the arm into place and had to go up and over from the top to get it into place. I only mention this because I've read that sometimes the arm will clear the knobs on some guitars and not on others, but I find this a moot point ebcause you won't be able to do that once you ahve a cable plugged into the guitar. Neither guitar had an issue with the bridge rocking when using the Vibrola, and both seemed very solid. Was also surprised how both guitars stayed in tune fairly well when using the Vibrola, with the caveat that I was using the Vibrola very subtly.
The next thing I noticed were the differnt cases. Both cases were brown with red interiors. The 2019 was was your basic case with the same latches that every other hardshell cases uses. The case for the 2022 had significant'y larger and wider latches which looked like a nice upgrade/improvement over what's been used for yers previously. Interiors were the same though. I forgot to look at what came with the 2022 as far as case candy, but the 2019 had a fairly inexpensive black Gibson (leather?) strap, a multi-tool, associated paperwork and an actual photograph of the guitar sitting on some sort of workbench (my guess is the bench where they QC the guitars?). Not sure if they still do this for the 2022.
Both guitars were new and I asked about the 2019, still had the film on the pick guard, etc., unmolested, etc. They said they'd only had it for a short period and suspected that it was just sitting somewhere in a warehouse previously, but who knows what the real story is. In the end the 2019 seemed to edge out the 2022, but who knows how they would ahve compared after a quick, basic setup done on the 2022. Was a bit disappointing though with the lack of grain matching, pickups and nut on the 2022. The beefier patches on the 2022's case were a nice change.
I was a bit surprised at how different the colors were, but I'm sure it has a bit to do with each piece of mahogany and how it accepts the stain/lacquer. Just for comparison I uploaded a couple pics of how different the finishes were (pics are not of the the actual guitars). The 2019 was much lighter, almost a bit orange, while the 2022 was even deeper and darker than the example below.
Ended up going back yesterday and that guitar was still there. Played it for a bit along with another of the same model they had in stock. Was a bit surprised when I looked on the back of the headstock and saw that the one on the rack that I had eyeballed on my was out a couple weeks ago was a 2019. The other one was fresh out of the box (they left me unpack it) 2022.
Both guitars has the same specs of course but the finishes were very differnt. The 2019 was much lighter, almost orange, while the 2022was a much deeper, darker cherry color. Both guitars felt about the same weight. The 2019 was set up much better. Nuts looked to be differnt material, with the nut on the 2019 looking liek what I've had on SG's I've owned I the past, and the 2022 having a much brighter/whiter nut (wasn't bone, but definitely lighter in color than what I was used to). Both guitars had 2-piece bodies. Grain matching was pretty bad on the 2022 and there was an obvious, glaring seam down the middle, where the 2019 was only really noticeable if you looked along the edge by the strap button to catch the seam.
The 2022 right out of the box had a horrible set-up. I have no clue what's up with Gibson QC, but Ive seen it before where the pickups are canted/slanted a ton in the pickup rings. I realize this is an easy fix and you jsut have to remove the ring and mess with the way the springs because they end up binding up on themselves causing the pickups to can't liek that, but it just looks sloppy. Nut was cut horribly too, but this seems to be a Gibson specialty. Every new SG I've bought had always had a horribly cut nut. I get leaving the nut slots high from the factory to have it one-tined for the player's taste and preference, but it cant even close. Every note on the first couple frets was pulling sharp. They could have paid a LITTLE more attention to it. Comparatively on the 2019 the pickups were level with the rings and the nut wasn't bad at all. Action was way too low on the 2019 and a bit high not he 2022, with proper amount of relief on both. Both guitars had 61R/T pickups. The 2022 sounded very bright and a bit harsh, while the 2019 was a bit more balanced, but again, the pickup heights and the dramatic way they were canted on the 2022 along with the fact that the strings on the 2019 were dead, compared to strings on a guitar I just puled out of the factory box, so not a very well controlled comparison.
Necks felt a little different. The 2019's neck felt a touch fuller with slightly fuller shoulders, especially as you went up the neck compared to the 2022 that felt slightly less substantial with less shoulder. Much preferred the neck on the 2019. Vibrola on both looked and functioned the same. Neither's trem arm was overly stiff, and easily adjusted to bring into place or swing out of the way when not in use. Both would hit the tone knob if you were trying to swing the arm into place and had to go up and over from the top to get it into place. I only mention this because I've read that sometimes the arm will clear the knobs on some guitars and not on others, but I find this a moot point ebcause you won't be able to do that once you ahve a cable plugged into the guitar. Neither guitar had an issue with the bridge rocking when using the Vibrola, and both seemed very solid. Was also surprised how both guitars stayed in tune fairly well when using the Vibrola, with the caveat that I was using the Vibrola very subtly.
The next thing I noticed were the differnt cases. Both cases were brown with red interiors. The 2019 was was your basic case with the same latches that every other hardshell cases uses. The case for the 2022 had significant'y larger and wider latches which looked like a nice upgrade/improvement over what's been used for yers previously. Interiors were the same though. I forgot to look at what came with the 2022 as far as case candy, but the 2019 had a fairly inexpensive black Gibson (leather?) strap, a multi-tool, associated paperwork and an actual photograph of the guitar sitting on some sort of workbench (my guess is the bench where they QC the guitars?). Not sure if they still do this for the 2022.
Both guitars were new and I asked about the 2019, still had the film on the pick guard, etc., unmolested, etc. They said they'd only had it for a short period and suspected that it was just sitting somewhere in a warehouse previously, but who knows what the real story is. In the end the 2019 seemed to edge out the 2022, but who knows how they would ahve compared after a quick, basic setup done on the 2022. Was a bit disappointing though with the lack of grain matching, pickups and nut on the 2022. The beefier patches on the 2022's case were a nice change.
I was a bit surprised at how different the colors were, but I'm sure it has a bit to do with each piece of mahogany and how it accepts the stain/lacquer. Just for comparison I uploaded a couple pics of how different the finishes were (pics are not of the the actual guitars). The 2019 was much lighter, almost a bit orange, while the 2022 was even deeper and darker than the example below.
