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tjon901 « Black SG Standard »
Published on 09/04/11 at 08:56This was Gibsons first attempt at making a metal SG. Back then Gibson thought if they painted a guitar black it automatically became metal. Not really but it looks cool anyway. This SG Gothic is pretty much an SG standard with a black finish. The later Gothic models actually came with good pickups to give it an actual metal sound. With this guitar you get a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck. The neck has an ebony fretboard which only has a single inlay at the 12th fret. You get 6 non locking tuners with a non locking tune-o-matic bridge. Standard SG pickups with standard controls. But it has a black finish.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays decently well. The black finish is a bit smoother than a fully gloss finish so the neck and body feel fast to the touch. The ebony fretboard is nice and smooth. No inlays may hurt some players but there are always side dots. The guitar is pretty neck heavy like most SG's. This is because the neck is set so far out on the body. This also gives good upper fret access..
SOUNDS
With the average pickups in this guitar the tone is pretty average. Like I said this is an earlier model. Later models come with active pickups, some even had EMG's which are many times better than these pickups for metal. These pickups do not have a metal voicing. They have more of a classic rock tone than anything else. The bridge is a bit crunchy and has a bit of gain to it but is pretty insufficient for metal. It is not very smooth either so it does not have the best clean tone. The neck pickup is a little better in the realm of a clean tone but it can get a bit muddy. It is smoother for lead playing and you can get some bluesy and even jazzy tones with it. If you are getting this guitar for metal like it is intended you will probably want to swap out the pickups for something with more output.
OVERALL OPINION
There is nothing really gothic or metal about this SG. It is just a black SG standard. If you were to swap in some metal pickups than it would be a great metal guitar. If you are looking for a metal SG I would recommend the Gothic 2 or the Gothic Morte guitars. Both of those come with active pickups specifically designed for metal. If you can get a good deal on one of these get it but know that they do not have a sound that matches their metal image.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays decently well. The black finish is a bit smoother than a fully gloss finish so the neck and body feel fast to the touch. The ebony fretboard is nice and smooth. No inlays may hurt some players but there are always side dots. The guitar is pretty neck heavy like most SG's. This is because the neck is set so far out on the body. This also gives good upper fret access..
SOUNDS
With the average pickups in this guitar the tone is pretty average. Like I said this is an earlier model. Later models come with active pickups, some even had EMG's which are many times better than these pickups for metal. These pickups do not have a metal voicing. They have more of a classic rock tone than anything else. The bridge is a bit crunchy and has a bit of gain to it but is pretty insufficient for metal. It is not very smooth either so it does not have the best clean tone. The neck pickup is a little better in the realm of a clean tone but it can get a bit muddy. It is smoother for lead playing and you can get some bluesy and even jazzy tones with it. If you are getting this guitar for metal like it is intended you will probably want to swap out the pickups for something with more output.
OVERALL OPINION
There is nothing really gothic or metal about this SG. It is just a black SG standard. If you were to swap in some metal pickups than it would be a great metal guitar. If you are looking for a metal SG I would recommend the Gothic 2 or the Gothic Morte guitars. Both of those come with active pickups specifically designed for metal. If you can get a good deal on one of these get it but know that they do not have a sound that matches their metal image.