3 Pickup faded Gibson SGs and Vs?

[Mid_Squad]

I remember around maybe a year ago, Musiciansfriend.com was offering some 3 pickup faded white or faded black SGs and Vs, but now I can't find any information on them. (I remember they were cheap too, like maybe around 900-1000)

Does anyone have any information on them?

[Mid_Squad]

Found some information, thank you for Google, took some clicking though...

http://www.zzounds.com/item--GIBSGF3

Now does anyone know how good these things sound, or any other information about them. I'm thinking of getting an SG in white.

[Empty Pockets]

they are the same as the normal faded series with a middle humbucker.

try a bunch of them and see if you like them. don't buy site unseen from a website...

[blueman335]

I remember these. A 6-position chicken-head knob for the PU selector. Of course, being a Gibson, none of those will be coil cuts, so you're pairing HB's which has limited usefullness tone-wise. Making changes to which PU's are active would be confusing, as it doesn't look like there's any reference markers to tell you what's what. If they made these 6-way switches with coil cuts included, you'd probably have 6 usable tones. But like any factory-wired HHH guitar, you have no advantages over a traditional HH. And you get the downsides of the extra cost and weight, & the lack of space for picking.

Much better than HHH, would be a HSS using P-90's for the single coils. You'd get improved tones in the middle & neck, and those would also be better paired with the bridge HB. That's where a 6-way switch would shine. It would be a "Super SG" then, something Gibson should have introduced 25 years ago, instead of sitting on the sidelines & letting the Super Strat take over the market. Maybe we'll see Super SG's one day.

"Three screaming 490 humbuckers." That's a pretty creative description for low-output PAF's. Who writes this stuff?

[Empty Pockets]

i don't mind middle pickups or find it hard to pick with one. I would think a vintage neck humbucker, Phat Cat in the middle and a hotter bridge humbucker would give you tons of good tones.

[viewaskew2k5]

When the hell is Gibson going to start to listen to blueman???

[blueman335]

When the hell is Gibson going to start to listen to blueman???

You're too kind. Gibson just needs to listen to players & be more in touch with the market. They're hung up on being traditional, to the point of losing lots of sales. Yes, they should offer a wide range of 1950's & 1960's style models, but they should offer more for young players who aren't infatuated with what was going on 50 years ago. Since you brought it up:

- They invented humbuckers, and yet afterrmarket companies like Duncan & DiMarzio are far more innovative & offer a much larger selection. Too many Gibson owners replace their stock PU's with aftermarkets. This is a HUGE red flag. Something's wrong in Nashville. In that price range, their stock PU's should please almost everyone.

- Who in God's name paired the 498T with the 490R, & why is that disaster still perpetuated today. Overly bright bridge/overly dark neck. Doesn't anyone there listen to the guitars?

- Improve or dump the Varitone switch. Nobody's copied it for a reason.

- HHH was introduced in the late 1950's, and while it looks great, a middle HB is a big disappointment to most players (has been since day one). Another dud no one else copied.

- Gibson factory-installed HB's have a single lead; their aftermarket HB's are 4-lead. They have to scrimp like this on $3,000 guitars? Penny-wise & pound foolish.

- Why don't Gibsons have 5-way switches, giving coil cut and/or phase options? You have a guitar with 4 coils and only 3 choices. Keep the 3-way toggles on the historic ones, but modernize the newer models.

- Offer a number of HSS & HS models using P-90's. A number of players find Gibson A2 neck HB's to be too dark & muddy; a P-90 cleans that right up and gives life & some nice bite to the neck. Spend some of that R&D money on reducing noise in P-90's; technology & materials are very different now than in the 1940's. I'm sure they could come up with some improvements.

- Why, oh why, didn't they introduce a Super SG in the 1980's, when the world went crazy for Super Strats? They missed so many potential sales, possibly millions of dollars world-wide. Put a HSS configuration on a SG (using P-90's) and a 5-way switch. Use some wild colors on them. Offer Floyds on some, other string-thru. Do the same things with Flying V's. This is still a viable concept. Teenagers are buying most of the guitars today, and most of them aren't excited about having the exact same models their parents or grandparents played. Duh.

- The mid-price import market is getting fierce, and Epiphone needs to step up and: 1) Put high quality American or European-made PU's in almost all of their models, and ) use set necks on everything. Bolt-on LP's and SG's are embarassing. The international market is fighting for every sale, and Epiphone needs to offer more guitar for the money. Send the Gibson techs to China & teach them how to wind a PU the Gibson way; they could crank out great-sounding PU's for a few dollars (and keep the newer, innovative PU's to be made in Nashville). Make Epiphone the best value in it's price range.

A few ideas to help Gibson restore it's role as the world's leader & innovator of quality electric guitars. Bring back the Ted McCarty spirit.

[guitarded]

blueman335..... I think you are 100 percent on the money with your assessment of Gibson.

[lex666]

Yep. If I could vote for blueman to be President of Gibson, I would.

Blueman, I agree with what you said. If I may add to that, I think Gibson has seriously neglected some of their most popular models, the Explorer, V, and 335. There must be a dozen current offerings of Les Pauls at different price points, but the Explorer and V are usually very limited when it comes to color choices and configurations. This is a huge oversight in my opinion. The 335, Explorer and V would be in the hands of more musicans if they created more options. How many dual humbucker guitars does one person need? Offer some with different pick up choices, colors, etc, - all the things you mentioned - and there wouldn't be a need to look anywhere else. The 335 is probably the best sounding guitar I've played yet. Not much effort goes into promoting the 335 or making it available at a price point for working musicans. HUGE mistake IMO.

[blueman335]

Yep. If I could vote for blueman to be President of Gibson, I would.

Blueman, I agree with what you said. If I may add to that, I think Gibson has seriously neglected some of their most popular models, the Explorer, V, and 335. There must be a dozen current offerings of Les Pauls at different price points, but the Explorer and V are usually very limited when it comes to color choices and configurations. This is a huge oversight in my opinion. The 335, Explorer and V would be in the hands of more musicans if they created more options. How many dual humbucker guitars does one person need? Offer some with different pick up choices, colors, etc, - all the things you mentioned - and there wouldn't be a need to look anywhere else. The 335 is probably the best sounding guitar I've played yet. Not much effort goes into promoting the 335 or making it available at a price point for working musicans. HUGE mistake IMO.

+1. By not offering more options, colors, and designs on V's and Explorers, Gibson has let the competition fill the void, and get most of the sales. The average teenager doesn't care that these have a 50-year history. He wants a wild-looking and innovative guitar to rock with today.

The 335 family was the world's most advanced guitars when they came out in 1958, with their semi-solid body, full fret access, PAF's, tune-o-matic, varitone, & stereo output. There's still more that can be done with them, like HSS & HSH, 5-way switches, alternative wirings, neck-thru, etc. With many of their models, Gibson should preserve the traditional features, and simultaneously offer modern versions. They can multi-task.

Like you said HH guitars have been done to death by most manufacturers. Why not 335's with twin P-90's and HB/P-90? Why isn't something like coil swap standard on most Gibsons? How about some new PU designs? Mix it up boys. Stand out from the competition. Listen to players and take some initiative. Create!

Back when Gibson thought it was funny to jack up their prices for no reason and target rich yuppies, they lost touch with the average player. And that let the competition take over most of the guitar market, and kept Gibson from developing products that players really wanted. By becoming a high-end niche market novelty, instead of a working man's instrument, they lost sight of Ted McCarty's visions. He led the greatest innovations in electric guitar history. Who's filling Ted's shoes today? You can only redo the 1950's for so long.

[tc]

Being young and whatever, I really agree with Blueman on plenty of things...I love vintage inspired stuff but that's the word. "Inspired". I could care less about 100% accurate top dish on a Les Paul. Give us neck access and tummy cuts on more LPs, not just on the Axxess...

btw it really sucks they killed off the Explorer Pro. That was a nice guitar.

As far as the OP goes they're faded Gibsons. Not too expensive and I've only played one of each, both were real nice.

[Aceman]

Blueman for President of Gibson? Ok -

I think I'd do better, but don't even get me started on their business model.

If you get the job Blueman, hire me on as Director of Quality or Business Process Management or strategic Planner or whatever. We'll get Artie, Zhang, and a couple of others and be good to go.

[blueman335]

Blueman for President of Gibson? Ok -
If you get the job Blueman, hire me on as Director of Quality.

You're hired. They sure need consistent quality, and should have a sterling reputation in that regard. For high-end guitars (which is their entire line), there should be no problems, period. No excuses. If it's a Gibson, you should be able to count on everything being right. It doesn't go out the door until it's fully inspected, even if that means that upper management has to get out there and do it.

[dg.riff]

This is really unusual - a thread that starts on a specific point and quickly turns into an anti-Gibson rant. Just to be controversial, here are some comments that actually relate to the title of the thread.

I've actually got one of the 3-pickup SG Specials and therefore I am able to report that it has 6 different and usable sounds. In fact the three 'in between' tones are more interesting than the stock middle position on a regular 2-pup Gibson - no idea why (for comparison purposes I've got a LP and a RD). Obviously the guitar could have had coil splits instead, but IMO coil splits usually sound fairly poor and frankly if I wanted single coil sounds I wouldn't be buying a Gibson in the first place. The only valid criticism I've read here is the lack of markers on the rotary switch, although you do get used to it.

Oh, and I bought it mail-order. For £450 (new), which I didn't think was too bad for a Gibson. And it was absolutely fine.

[the guy who invented fire]

This is really unusual - a thread that starts on a specific point and quickly turns into an anti-Gibson rant. Just to be controversial, here are some comments that actually relate to the title of the thread.

That is actually pretty common in these parts...there is a lot of Gibson hate and most of it is from guys that have never even owned a Gibson...

[blueman335]

This is really unusual - a thread that starts on a specific point and quickly turns into an anti-Gibson rant. Just to be controversial, here are some comments that actually relate to the title of the thread.

It's called a conversation, and like in real life, people express ideas and things take various courses. And just like in real life, no one has rigid control over the content or direction it takes. Certainly not the first time that's happened here. There didn't seem to be much input regarding the original post (including from you guys), so the conversation continued since we were here anyways, even though it wasn't to the exact 'letter of the law.' Not really a big deal, but my apologies to the latecomers.

[Zhangliqun]

Blueman & Co., Gibson is making 335's with dogear P90's.

[blueman335]

Blueman & Co., Gibson is making 335's with dogear P90's.

Whoa! Current production? That would be nice. Now if we can only get some of the other 335 manufacturers to get on board. P-90's and 335's seem like such a natural combination.

(Well Zhang old boy, we've managed to take this thread even further off course, and we're both going to be in hot water about it. But, to make a half-hearted attempt to redeem ourselves, I'd like to flirt with the original topic and go on record as saying that I think the 3 PU SG's and V's would be especially nice with P-90's, and the 6-way switch would be even more useful. There, think they'll buy it?).

[SinNombre]

[QUOTE=blueman335;2202538]Whoa! Current production? That would be nice. Now if we can only get some of the other 335 manufacturers to get on board. P-90's and 335's seem like such a natural combination."

I heard a while back that Gibson was reintroducing the
330. Does this mean they will have a 330 (with P90s) and a 335 with P90s? I'm still thinking of putting a P90 in the neck of my Dot Deluxe. It's always nice to be ahead of the curve .

[blueman335]

I heard a while back that Gibson was reintroducing the 330. Does this mean they will have a 330 (with P90s) and a 335 with P90s? I'm still thinking of putting a P90 in the neck of my Dot Deluxe. It's always nice to be ahead of the curve .

It would be like a dream come true, 330 & P-90/335. Are you thinking of going the Phat Cat/P-94 route, or modding your guitar for dog-ears? I've got a Dot Deluxe with a '57 Classic on the bridge (A4), and a Phat CatN (A5/A4) that sounds great. I'm also looking for a deal on a Dot to put a pair of dog-ear P-90's in. Exciting stuff.

(I took the bait again! Are you trying to get me in trouble with the Topic Police?).