LES PAUL Was A Smart Man, Hated The Gibson SG

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There are many reasons I love Les Paul (the man) even though I’m often on record as saying I’m not into Les Paul (the instrument). Not least of which, his incredible skill at jazz guitar, his inventive spirit (he created the solid-body electric guitar as we know it today, and was the first to sync two tape machines together to create multitrack recording), and his awesome personality, as shown in this interview.

I’m personally of the opinion that the Gibson SG is the worst guitar ever designed for a host of reasons (won’t stay in tune, ugly, neck-heavy as fuck, among others) and, giving me yet another reason to like him, in this interview Les Paul agrees with me! He says that he partially dislikes it because, basically, he fucking shreds and he would be going hard for a high note and bash his hand on the horns, not to mention the neck would bend too easily when playing, causing the pitch to go wild. These are all problems I’ve experienced when playing SGs and it’s comforting hearing someone that close to the instrument’s creating confirming them. Bravo Les!

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As Editor-in-Chief of Gear Gods, I've been feeding your sick instrument fetishism and trying unsuccessfully to hide my own since 2013. I studied music on both coasts (Berklee and SSU) and now I'm just trying to put my degree to some use. That's a music degree, not an English one. I'm sure you noticed.

Latest comments
  • Guys that play SG are typical douche bag in emo or indie bands anyway. Who besides angus isn’t a fag that plays one?

    • How about Tony Iommi creating an entire genre of music with the crunchy sound of that guitar?

      • Forgot about him. Let’s say after the year 1990 then :)

    • You calling Tim Sult a fag?

    • Im pretty heterosexual…

    • Brent Hinds plays an SG.

    • Frank Zappa.

  • Ive owned a few SG’s. Never have I ever had any neck problems or problems going for a high note. Why was it that les paul is often seen playing an sg?

    • E.g. check out the album cover of class act…

  • The SG is neck heavy because there’s as little body as possible to give high neck access, something shred never would’ve existed without.

    Imabalanced? Yes. But it was and remains the lightest of the classic solidbody Gibson designs, and it was a rough draft of the concept that would later give us ultra performance machines like the Parker Fly and the various headstock-less guitars. Like all guitars, you have to work around its flaws, which in this case means treating the instrument gently.

  • Ibanez is the shred axe. IMHO.

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