When (Numerically, Not Date) Did You Buy Your SG?

[NMA]

Hard to come up with a short title for this topic, but what I am asking is if you have more than one electric guitar, exactly when was your SG bought in that line of guitars that you own? What number guitar was the SG in your collection of electric guitars?

Me? I have 12 electric guitars and my SG was the eleventh one I bought. I know, very late in the game, but an SG was never on my must-buy list. I actually bought three Rickenbackers, three Fenders, and two Gretsches before I even decided to go for a Gibson SG.

I'm curious to see when exactly did you buy your SG in the list of electric guitars you own. (Do not count acoustic guitars or basses.)

 

[PixMix]

Very late, I'm at 25+, last two were SGs. I had many more in the past, and if I count them SGs would probably come at 45-50, perhaps even beyond 50.

 

[Worblehat]

2nd

I started on a Yamaha Pacifica. At that time I did not even like SGs. They looked weird to me. But after about 10 month in, that totally changed and I bought my dream guitar: Epiphone Tony Iommi SG.
Now I am probably going to get a second SG soon.

 

[Steve D]

I don't have a lot of guitars and when I buy one, I sell one because I have limited space. So my "collection" is fluid and small. Of what I actually still own, an SG is the one I've had the longest and I don't plan to ever sell it.

But I've had lots of other guitars and my very first guitar in the 80s was some super cheap crappy strat copy that I sold after about a month to buy my second guitar, an old '60s SG which were selling for chump change back then. I consider that my real first guitar and it was my primary for 20 years. I wish I still had it.

 

[arcticsg]

That would #3, but my second purchase. First electric, a strat copy (don't remember the name), was given to me, and then my first purchase was a used Fender strat.

I wish I still had that SG.

 

[Piper68Special]

My '69 Special was number 2 after a few years with a strat I bought new in '78.

 

[shreddy bender]

My first SG was my second guitar. My third guitar was an SG as well.

 

[gball]

I've owned so many guitars over the years, of all kinds of makes and models, that it would be impossible to tell where my first SG fell in line. Of the ones I currently own they'd be #3 and #5 out of 6 keepers. Order is: Les Paul, Firebird, SG, Les Paul, SG, Firebird.

 

[Chuteboxehero]

My 2nd electric was a G-400 followed up by a 2005 SG special that had a Super Distortion installed at the bridge. That was my first Gibson as well. Both were fantastic guitars. Both are long gone. I've picked up 4 SG's of varying years and trim levels since but that faded special was the one that got me deep into the SG.

 

[cerebral gasket]

1969 SG Special was my first electric guitar.
Been through 46 guitars in the past.
18 of them were SG listed below.
Currently have the ones listed in Yellow.

1969 SG Special
2004 SG Special
2010 SG '61 Reissue
2016 SG Special Faded
2007 SG3 Standard with Single Coils
2004 SG Special
2003 SG Special Faded (moons)
2003 SG Special Faded (dots)
1963 SG Special
2004 SG Special
2000 SG Special
2016 SG Special T
2016 SG Special T
2005 SG Special Faded
2004 SG Classic
1970 SG Junior
2006 SG Classic
2001 SG Standard Korina

 

[Didds]

My '15 is the first guitar I ever bought and the first electric guitar I ever owned. Before that I had a spanish acoustic that was gifted to me by my Uncle. Couple years later I'd buy an '06

 

[Logan]

For me? It was number 8, if you count the shoddy acoustic and basses I have bought.
Without the acoustics and basses, it would be 4.
Here's the list of guitars/stringed instruments I have owned:
1. 1980s Alvarez Acoustic
2. 1980s Charvette bass
3. Early 2000s Jackson Dinky
4. 2012 Fender CD100CE
5. 2012 Peavey Millennium AC5
6. 2014 Epiphone Wildkat
7. 2014 Fender Nashville Deluxe Telecaster
8. 2015 Gibson SG Standard
9. 1972 Gibson ES-335TDC
10. 2014 Modern Player Telecaster Bass
11. 2014 Fender Classic Series Lacquer Stratocaster
12. 2016 Gibson Firebird Lyre Tail
13. 2017 Fender AV65 Jazzmaster
14. 2015 Gibson SGS3
15. 2016 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
16. 2017 Gibson L-00 Standard
17. 2019 Gibson ES-335
18. 2019 Loar LM-310F
19. 1930s Gibson A-50
20. 2014 Jackson SLATTXMG3-7

I think that covers all of them. Ones in red I don't own anymore for one reason or another.

Edit: there's also a Violin between the 2019 335 and the Loar that I'm trying to learn how to play, due to the fact that it's been in my family for over 100 years.

 

[Corporal Scratchy]

Duplicate post. Sorry

 

[Corporal Scratchy]

CG, that's a fantastic list! I'm going to add mine.

First, in response to OP, my first SG was my 3rd ever guitar, a beaten up, much abused 1963 SG Standard (no strings, missing pickguard, warped neck, home-made tail stop), bought in 1978 for £150!

I've had 18 SGs too, out of a total of 54 guitars since 1975.....

= Bonded with/adored

= Not bonded with/disliked

1963 SG Standard

1974 SG Standard

1988 SG ’62 Reissue

1991 SG Standard

1966 SG Junior

1961 SG/Les Paul Standard *

1967 SG Special

1964 SG TV/Junior

1997 SG Standard

1965 SG Standard

1963 SG/Les Paul Standard

1961 SG/Les Paul Junior

2000 CS Historic SG/Les Paul ’61 Reissue

2006 SG Standard

2008 CS Historic SG/Les Paul ’61 Reissue

2016 SG Standard **

2016 SG ’61 Reissue

2016 SG Junior


* This bad boy was one of my favourite of all my SGs. I bought it from my local dealer in 1993 for £1275. It had been previously modded, then subsequently restored back to roughly original specification and was therefore sold to me as “player" grade. Thereafter I played it at all our shows throughout the UK until 1995, when I began to fear it getting damaged or stolen. So it went into new role, practise and studio use only. In 2000, I traded it back to the dealer I bought it from for £2,000 and they sold it on within a couple of weeks.

I recently noticed it is back there on sale again……. Look what they're asking for it now!!!!

https://reverb.com/item/30440011-gibson-sg-les-paul-1961-cherry


** This is my current SG and it is the devils spawn/illegitimate son of ETSG!

How so? Well I found this site not long after buying this SG. I rapidly learned huge amounts of interesting info from the highly knowledgeable members here and developed an appetite for modding/improving my guitar. I started by adding a Bigsby B5 on a Vibramate, then…..

Re-set pickups so they’re parallel to strings, not body (Thank you, Col. Mustard)

Set action using Biddlins methodology (Thank you, sir)

Added Creamtone wide bevel pick guard (Thank you, Permission to Land)

Deep joy! Happy days!

 

[skelt101]

2016 SG Standard **

** This is my current SG and it is the devils spawn/illegitimate son of ETSG!

How so? Well I found this site not long after buying this SG. I rapidly learned huge amounts of interesting info from the highly knowledgeable members here and developed an appetite for modding/improving my guitar. I started by adding a Bigsby B5 on a Vibramate, then…..

Re-set pickups so they’re parallel to strings, not body (Thank you, Col. Mustard)

Set action using Biddlins methodology (Thank you, sir)

Added Creamtone wide bevel pick guard (Thank you, Permission to Land)

Deep joy! Happy days!

How 'bout a pic, Corporal Scratchy?

 

[Corporal Scratchy]

No problem, here you go...

 

[Gahr]

My second electric was a 1975 Gibson SG-II, bought in 1993. I still have it. It was my main guitar until 2014, When I bought my third one, a 2014 Derek Trucks signature SG. That one is still my number one guitar. I think I bought things in this order:

1979 Tokai Stratocaster (sold)
1975 Gibson SG-II (kept)
2014 Gibson Derek Trucks SG (kept)
2009 Gibson Les Paul Junior (sold)
Epiphone 335 Dot (kept, but probably selling))
Epiphone 1961 Special 50th anniversary reissue (kept, but probably selling)
Epiphone EB-0 bass (kept, but probably selling)
2005 Gibson Faded Special SG (sold)
Danelectro Dano '63 (kept)
2014 Gibson Future Tribute SG (sold)
2011 Gibson Les Paul Traditional (kept)
1965 Gibson SG Jr. (kept)
2018 Gibson SG Standard (kept)
2016 Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Firebird (kept)

I just bought a 1963 Gibson EB-0 bass. When I get it, I guess all the three Epiphones will go, in order to partially finance the vintage bass. I don't play them these days anyway.

Somewhere along the line I also put together a Telecaster from different parts, just for the learning experience. I still have it, but it just doesn't get any play time, so I think I'll take it apart sell the parts individually.

 

[Dale]

In the 20's first. Latest in the 30's. Then most recently 55.

 

[Col Mustard]

No problem, here you go...

That one IS the devil's spawn, excellent description Corporal...
in two words. I respect that. And I should.

Thanks for the photos, this one just oozes rock an roll.
Now you must remember one of our other maxims here:

IF YOU NEED MONEY, DON'T SELL YOUR SG...
SELL SOMETHING ELSE

 

[Col Mustard]

Uh oh... long post disclaimer.... If you don't want to
read my story, I'll answer quickly that my Gibson SG was
the eighth guitar I bought in my long life, COUNTING
acoustics and basses.

I know we're not supposed to discuss acoustics
and basses, and I'll do me best to comply with this.
Discount acoustics and basses and the SG was my
second electric guitar (that I bought with my own money).

Problem is, acoustic and bass is what I spent my whole
career playing, so for me it's the elephant in the driveway.
(Or the brown bear in the living room). I bought my first
electric guitar in 1965, and my second one (the SG) in 2008.

Anyway, in my long and checkered career, I began on a
hand me down acoustic classical guitar, because I was
a teen with limited resources. I delivered newspapers on
a bicycle.

Soon, I nicked my dad's electric guitar out of his closet.
It was a pre-WWll Gibson ES-125 that he bought in a pawn
shop in the fifties. He probably paid $20.00...those were not
respected at that time. It had a Charlie Christian pickup.
That was the first electric guitar I played, but it warn't mine....
and it would NOT have been my choice.
I thought the Gibson was weirdly old-fashioned and out of
date, but it was the only by-gawd electric I could get my
sticky palms on, so I played it, plugged into my dad's record
player through the mic jack.

He refused to allow me to take his guitar to college,
fearing that I'd become distracted by sex, drugs and rock an roll,
and not do my homework. He was right.
So I bought my own... (in secret) with money I made working
on the fuel dock at a marina. I made $1.25 per hour, and I couldn't
afford any Gibson guitar. In 1965 a Gibson SG special might
have cost $300.00, an impossible sum for me. So I bought
a Crest MIJ ES-335 copy at a pawn shop. I might have paid $60.00
...cain't recall. To my eye it was a lovely thing, and I could
practice my licks without needing to buy an amp. (important)

I knew I was NOT a performer then, I was a learner. So the Crest
was actually a wise choice... unusual for me at that time.
I could learn on it without alerting anyone to the fact that I
owned it. In my dreams, I could plug it into the Vox Super Beatle
and play Tiger Stadium, with screaming groupers...

Why am I telling you all this? I've always actually treasured almost
every guitar I've been able to own. I always thought the Gibson SG
was COOOOOL... but too expensive for the likes of me. So after my
college career crashed and burned and my first marriage exploded
and sank, I bought a used acoustic and a used bass and set forth
to seek my fortune.

Fast fwd a few years, (1977) I was playing in a trio, doing mostly bars.
I visited my parents and managed to nick another of my dad's guitars:
an Orpheum arch top jazz guitar, full size, single cutaway, twin P-90 p'ups...
I still couldn't afford any Gibson guitar, playing bars and making diddly squat
as usual... so the Orpheum was a by-gawd electric even if it was weirdly
old fashioned and out of date in the seventies. My dad had bought it in a pawn shop
out of curiosity, but had lost interest in it and said I could have it.

I thought the P-90 pickups were totally obsolete... so I stupidly paid good money to have my
local guitar shop remove them, rout the top for hum buckers and install them for me.
Of course they sounded excellent, they were likely T-tops or Tarbacks, I had no idea.
I knew there were humbuckers, and there were Strat pickups, and then there
was all the rest, which were also-rans. So I ordered humbuckers... which at that
time meant GIBSON humbuckers. The only way to go.
I played it through a used '65 Fender Twin, which weighed like 80 pounds, but I was young
and tough and I didn't mind.

I bonded with the Orpheum, but didn't get a chance to enjoy it long. My car was broken into
while I was in a roadside restaurant getting a carry-out coffee (ten minutes). The thieves got
the Orpheum, and my Gibson acoustic, and my Twin Reverb amp. They didn't get my old Fender
bass, that was in the trunk. (the elephant again).

See, I wasn't a guy who bought and sold guitars all the time. I knew guys who did, but couldn't
understand it. Every single instrument that I counted out my green cash to buy was a treasure.
And every one has a story. And my hand was able to adapt to each and every neck,
what ever shape it was carved into by the makers.
And I loved them all, or almost all.

(I have been disappointed a few times, but that's a whole 'nother thread.)

Fast fwd thirty years from the above photograph... because I played all those years with my one
bass and my two acoustics... I figured mine were among the best, so I didn't look much at other
guitars. But I was pushing thirty in the bar photo above... when I was pushing sixty I became
restless and ambitious, and got the G.A.S. in a bad way.

2008 was a terrible year for me... Carnies in suits had tanked our economy, my business was
in trouble, another relationship had blown up in my face, my circle of friends was shattered, my
mother died at 94, and I was afraid I might lose my house to the loan sharks and the suits.

So my gift to myself (for turning 60) was a Gibson SG special. I gave myself a gift for having
lived through so much, and not gotten lynched, or moshed by a truck, or shot by a jealous man.
I've described how I bonded with this special instrument a number of times. So I'll just say
that the Gibson SG was life changing... the feeling of bonding with it kind of took the top of
my head off. And it's more than ten years later, and I still feel the same, every time I play
that SG. I have other instruments, but that one SG remains the Queen of my music room.

The others are all hand maidens and jokers. ...Too bad I waited so long to
have this experience. But maybe I needed to go through all of what I went
through in order to be ready for it, or worthy of it, or something.
That's what my SG means to me.