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tjon901 « One of the coolest SG »
Published on 09/03/11 at 11:14The SG Supreme is a discontinued model. For a while it was the highest end SG you could get. It was a step above the SG Custom. SG's because of their design rarely get pretty tops but thats what you got on the SG Supreme. This was the coolest finish I think they did. You dont see black flamed maple much but it looks really cool when done right. The top is a AA piece of flamed maple on a mahogany body. The neck is mahogany with a set in neck construction. The fretboard is ebony and features 24 frets with the rare Gibson split diamond inlays. The headstock is the Les Paul Custom headstock with the big diamond inlay. The tuners are standard Grover tuners and the bridge is the standard Gibson Tune-o-matic setup. The pickups are a set of Gibsons Classic 57s. The controls are standard Gibson fare with a set of volume and tone controls per pickup with a 3 way toggle switch.
UTILIZATION
The SG was designed to play better than the Les Paul and it does. This guitar has 24 frets which is pretty unusual for an SG. It has split arrow inlays like you use to see on some Flying V's. The fretwork on these from the factory is perfect because Gibson uses a Plek machine to level the frets better than any human could. The ebony fretboard feels great under your fingers and is super smooth. Because of the scale the upper frets can get kind of crowded but the perfect fret level helps this a bit. The tuners are non locking as well as the bridge. Even Epiphones now come with locking bridges so I dont know why Gibson doesnt. Being a Supreme and not a Custom you do not get the useless middle pickup to get in your way when you are playing. This is nice because its rare that Gibson puts out an SG Custom nowadays that only has 2 pickups instead of 3.
SOUNDS
Im glad Gibson put some 57 Classics in this guitar instead of their normal pickups. These pickups really fit the guitar. Gibsons other pickups to me dont really give the Gibson sound you hear in your head. Classic 57 pickups are Gibsons modern version of the classic PAF pickup. These pickups are in the guitars people think of when they think classic Gibson tone. The neck position has that sweet sound that a PAF produces. It is nice and smooth but a good amount of sag. You can really get a bluesly or jazzy tone out of the neck position on this guitar. The bridge position is slightly hotter but not by much. You can rock out some nice lose classic rock riffs on this and throw some gain on it and it will handle it. This with an old Marshall or Fender Deluxe is heaven. If you want to play heavier music you can change the pickups and the swap is like any other SG. Unlike the Les Paul Supreme this guitar has a control cavity plate so you can easily get at all the electronics for a swap if you do not like the Classic 57s. If you are playing metal a set of Duncans or EMG's would fit perfectly.
OVERALL OPINION
Gibsons SG selection is pretty thin nowadays. Its all signature models based on old standard models or useless stuff like the SG goddess and whatnot. They have some SG's with nice tops as well but they are not as good overall guitars as the SG Supreme. You cant even get a SG Custom without the useless Maestro tremolo now. If you are looking for a great SG and see one of these you should pick it up because overall it is a better SG than anything Gibson has been selling recently.
UTILIZATION
The SG was designed to play better than the Les Paul and it does. This guitar has 24 frets which is pretty unusual for an SG. It has split arrow inlays like you use to see on some Flying V's. The fretwork on these from the factory is perfect because Gibson uses a Plek machine to level the frets better than any human could. The ebony fretboard feels great under your fingers and is super smooth. Because of the scale the upper frets can get kind of crowded but the perfect fret level helps this a bit. The tuners are non locking as well as the bridge. Even Epiphones now come with locking bridges so I dont know why Gibson doesnt. Being a Supreme and not a Custom you do not get the useless middle pickup to get in your way when you are playing. This is nice because its rare that Gibson puts out an SG Custom nowadays that only has 2 pickups instead of 3.
SOUNDS
Im glad Gibson put some 57 Classics in this guitar instead of their normal pickups. These pickups really fit the guitar. Gibsons other pickups to me dont really give the Gibson sound you hear in your head. Classic 57 pickups are Gibsons modern version of the classic PAF pickup. These pickups are in the guitars people think of when they think classic Gibson tone. The neck position has that sweet sound that a PAF produces. It is nice and smooth but a good amount of sag. You can really get a bluesly or jazzy tone out of the neck position on this guitar. The bridge position is slightly hotter but not by much. You can rock out some nice lose classic rock riffs on this and throw some gain on it and it will handle it. This with an old Marshall or Fender Deluxe is heaven. If you want to play heavier music you can change the pickups and the swap is like any other SG. Unlike the Les Paul Supreme this guitar has a control cavity plate so you can easily get at all the electronics for a swap if you do not like the Classic 57s. If you are playing metal a set of Duncans or EMG's would fit perfectly.
OVERALL OPINION
Gibsons SG selection is pretty thin nowadays. Its all signature models based on old standard models or useless stuff like the SG goddess and whatnot. They have some SG's with nice tops as well but they are not as good overall guitars as the SG Supreme. You cant even get a SG Custom without the useless Maestro tremolo now. If you are looking for a great SG and see one of these you should pick it up because overall it is a better SG than anything Gibson has been selling recently.