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Gibson Custom Shop SG Guitars

Born Under a Bad Sign

Back in 1961, the folks at Gibson decided it was time to refresh and re-imagine the Les Paul, and boy did they ever hack and slash! In order to freshen things up, they did away with the maple top and the sunburst finish. Instead of Les’s design, they presented Mr. Paul with a sleek, contoured horned devil made out of lightweight mahogany. ‘Ol Les was NOT pleased and asked them to kindly take his name off the truss rod cover. This left the Gibson marketing team in a bit of a lurch, so they scrambled to find a name for their new axe and landed on “Solid Guitar.”

After its inauspicious birth, the SG did indeed prove itself to be a Solid Guitar in every sense of the word (who knows, maybe the SG works so well for rock and roll because it was born under a bad sign–it does have horns, after all!). Its aggressive styling and muscular tone quickly made it a favorite of a whole host of guitarists from Angus Young to Pete Townshend to Tony Iommi to Dickey Betts. When you step back and think about it, it’s pretty wild that the dude from Black Sabbath played the same guitar as the dude in the Allman Brothers! A staggering amount of players in many genres have made classic records using an SG. The length and breadth of the list of SG aficionados are a testament to its incredible versatility and universal appeal.

Though the SG has plenty of muscle, it sounds less like a bodybuilder and more like a scary dude in a leather jacket picking his teeth with a switchblade. And, it has a sensitive side. Though there’s an exciting rawness and attitude to the SG’s sound, it never loses its inherent woody warmth. It may be raw, but it has plenty of range. So, in Tommy Iommi’s hands, the SG snarls like a hellhound. In Derek Trucks’s hands, the SG cries like a female blues singer from the Delta circa 1927. What’s the common thread? Both players aim to bottle raw, intense emotion with their playing, and the SG is the perfect instrument for the job.

We’re proud to showcase our collection of Custom Shop Gibson SGs. We invite you to take a gander at our selection and find the Solid Guitar that suits you best. Once you do, we’re sure it will help you make all sorts of joyous racket!