Standard, to me, means the normal one. All the others are variations on that theme. (And please, it is normal, not regular. Regular implies repetition at fixed intervals which you don't get with one guitar).
Interestingly, the fancier the name the sh!ttier the product usually. (deLuxe...) I stayed at the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen once. It was on the hooker street with knifemarks in the bed and floor... What's in a name?
Interesting story, but if I'm reading it correctly, I think that at least some of it might just be folklore. My '67 SG Standard (which I purchased in early '68) came with a booklet with the Model, Serial and Price listed on the back. The serial and price are hand-written, but the model is ink-stamped as "SG STANDARD", and is perfectly aligned on the booklet in such a way that it suggests it was done by machine at the factory. BTW, the price is $335, the case cost an extra $28.
Implies "Can't afford the second pickup" BTW, not an elitist.... I owned one until someone knocked over the stand it was sitting in during a break and the headstock snapped clean off. I was never fond of that particular guitar because it had a baseball bat neck (YMMV), still, I wasn't happy it broke- it was my backup.
One thing all too standard - unfortunately - is that the bridge is in the wrong place, and attempts to intonate have run the saddles off the back edge.
Like the name Standard, the name Custom for SGs is also completely bonkers. The name Custom - as most people know the word when it comes to jewelry - means that it is manufactured to the buyer's own personal tastes. A Custom SG does imply that the guitar was customized for you. Let me ask you, did you call up Gibson and request certain things on that guitar? Probably not, so the Custom is also a poorly named Gibson guitar. When it comes to SG names - Special, Standard, and Custom - Gibson really struck out in the name department. Three swings and three misses. Strike out. Gibson couldn't even put a ball in play.
Gibson makes, basically, 3 models of SGs: Special, Standard, and Custom (or, SG3). The differences involve their features. The Specials have no body or neck bindings, and no headstock crown inlay or trapezoidal fretboard inlays. The Standards have those features. The Customs have 3 pups. These aren't the only differences between/among them. Stop obsessing over its name and just play it.
1. SG Junior 2. SG Special 3. SG Standard 4. SG Custom 1961-1971 SG Specials had bound necks with dots. 1999-2010 SG Classics had bound necks with dots. 2019-present SG Specials have bound necks with dots. Not all SG Customs have 3 pups. The defining features of the SG Custom are a bound neck with large block inlays, bound headstock with split diamond inlays.
There was a thread about that. The conclusion drawn was that SGs are not "beautiful" guitars. The Rickenbackers and Gretsches are beautiful. SGs can be seen as a design that favors function over form. In other words, they are built with only playing a guitar in mind rather than being built with any goal to make them look good. Let's be honest, it's just a slab with two cutouts to allow access to upper frets. Nothing really beautiful about that.
I see great beauty in the SG's design; much moreso than Rickenbackers or Gretsches, which I find over-fussy and a bit clumsy.
No one concluded it but you. The Ricks and Gretsches you posted got no love, even though you kept saying they were prettier than SGs. Everyone else disagreed with you. You're on an SG forum, and that thread made it to 12 pages as you just kept repeating yourself about how beautiful your White Falcon was. I'm glad you like your Gresch and your Rick. I'm one of many guitarists who finds Ricks ugly in a midcentury sort of way. I personally think SGs are gorgeous, which is why I own one, and follow a whole freakin forum devoted to them.
I ain't here to compare if SG's are beauty , if Gretsch is beauty or Rickenbacker guitar is. It's subjective. I personally find SGs GORGEOUS ! Yes it's just a double cut guitar , i agree with you. But that color, that shining , that playing , the comparison with devil horns, small pickguard , big pickguard. i think it's a great looking guitar. Since you brought Gretsch and Ricks guitars up , i think Rick guitars are ugly as hell and they are nowhere near the beauty of an SG (but still that's subjective , my opinion) and Gretsch is an ok-good looking guitar, i think Gibson's jazz/premium guitars are more beautiful.
Rics are another one I didn't think looked very good until I saw one in person. Photographs just don't do justice to what I now know is there.
Sorry mate but i prefer the SG. Maybe not in that color you posted , which is an unusual color , but in the vintage cherry SG is way more beautiful than the Rick
