Gibson seems to have gone wild with reinterpretations of its classic designs over the last few years, from voodoo Les Pauls to mirror-topped Explorers. The SG GT takes its cues from classic cars of the 70s, but the hot rod vibe is not just limited to the visuals, as we shall soon see. But before we go on, I’ve gotta point out that this model was released a few years ago has since been discontinued. Having said that, you can still find them on the racks of quite a few guitar stores, so look around and you might not have to turn to the used market just yet to get your hands on one.

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNIN’
All the classic SG elements are present and accounted for here: mahogany body with mahogany neck joined at the 19th fret, 24 3/4” scale length. Ebony fretboard, 22 frets, two humbuckers, separate volume and tone controls. Yep, sounds like an SG alrighty. But this bad boy has been pimped out and tricked up. The tuners are locking, metal button Grovers, and their chrominess is matched by a massive tailpiece assembly, shiny Dunlop strap locks, and equally shiny pickups and that little trapezoidal cover most SGs have between the neck and the neck pickup.

The volume pots are of the push-pull variety, for coil tapped humbucking tones, and the volume controls are fully independent, unlike most such designs which are interactive. The pots are also fitted with high pass tone filter capacitors to maintain the high frequencies at any volume setting – ideal, if not crucial, for those who like to run their gain levels from the guitar. A Neutrik locking cable jack is also installed as stock, so there’s absolutely no chance of ripping the cord out of the guitar during a drunken onstage stumble.

Back over at the neck end of things, we have over/under dual truss rod reinforcement, a Graph Tech nut, and a round and chunky classic ’61 SG neck profile.

HEAD OUT ON THE HIGHWAY
The 490R neck and 498T bridge humbuckers are a little hotter in output than your standard classic Gibson PAF, and they suit this hotted up guitar perfectly. If it’s Angus tone you’re after, it’s here. If it’s Clapton ‘woman tone’ you want, roll the tone down on the neck pickup and have at it. But it’s the coil tapped sounds that really won me over. The ability to summon single coil-spirited tones as well as muscular rock ones is a highly coveted attribute, and many try and fail. But the combination of coil tap and high pass filter results in heavenly edge-of-clean Rolling Stones style vintage tones, immediately transformable into a snarling metal firestorm just by flipping back to humbucker while simultaneously cranking the guitar volume back up.

Action on the test guitar was extremely low, and while it could have used a decent set-up to get the most out of the neck (there was noticeable fret buzz at a few points – definitely setup-related though, rather than a construction issue), even at such a minimal string height the unplugged tone was almost freakishly loud, especially smack bang in the centre of the midrange frequencies. This translated well to the SG GT’s muscular tones, and made it a fun guitar to play unplugged on the sofa too.

You could spend hundreds pimping out an SG with the features this baby comes with as a stock instrument. Or you could pick up an SG GT and give it a test drive and save yourself a lot of hassle. Oh by the way, I’ve seen this model in the hands of one of those Jonas brothers all the kids are crazy about. But don’t let that put ya off.

FEATURES:
Locking metal button Grover tuners
Neutrik locking cable jack
Dunlop strap locks
Classic ’61 SG neck
Over/under dual truss rod
Push/pull pots for coil-tapped 490R & 498T humbuckers
Fully independent volume controls
High pass tone filter
Graph Tech nut
Chrome/Mirror Trapezoid inlays
Colors: Daytona Blue, Candy Orange, Muscle Green, Phantom Black, Candy Apple

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