SeriesYamaha SG

I bought this guitar at a local guitar shop (Stockton) and paid £750 for it brand new. I went in with the intention of buying a Gibson Les Paul standard. With regards to tone, build quality and versatility it beat the Gibson hands down. All this and it cost half the Gibson list price. All I had to do was let go of the aspirational name. The tone! Wow! You can have ruanchy, chunky rock tone (Think of the ultimate rock tone and then make it better), but simply tap the coils and switch the pickup and your playing a telecaster. You know the sound you want that you can hear in your head, just imagine having that. The coil taps and control options on the pickups make this guitar exremely versatile. The action is one of the lowest Ive seen and the ebony fretboard is a piece of class to play on. This is a very heavy guitar, but anything less would have meant a compromise in tone. You will get a bad back after playing this guitar standing for a couple of hours and I know this sounds stupid but I think its worth the pain! Theres a full 2 inch thick, double cutaway mahogany body with a bound maple top. The neck is mahogany, glued and with a 24 3/4 inch scale. You get an bound ebony fretboard with mother of pearl inlays. 2 coil tappable alnico V humbuckers. 2 volume, 2 tone (with push/push coil tap control)and 3 way pickup selector. Tune o matic bridge. All the hardware is gold plated(even the washers & screws!). The build quality is top notch. I have given this guitar a lot of use and abuse over the last 14 months I have owned it(I study music and travel to college 4 days a week on the bus) and never had a problem with it. The finish is tough and very glossy. I honestly dont think I could have gotten a better guitar for less than £2000. The SG1000 does everything I could ask of it and then it does loads of other stuff too. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com