Long thread on the GearPage about SG's "flawed" design. Anyone else see it?

[TheDixiePig]

Are SGs just an inherently bad design?

I’ve wanted one for years, mainly because of the weight and look. I can afford good guitars. Every time I pick one up, I’m underwhelmed. Feels strange, bad balance, doesn’t sound very good. Even a custom shop model wasn’t impressive. What am I missing?

www.thegearpage.net

I don't participate on that forum as the conversations turn juvenile too much, too often. But I do see and read things from time to time I like. This thread lingered for a while and I read it all as it went down. I think some of our members here may have chimed in. It was interesting to see what non-SG fans have to say, and the defenders as well. Personally, I love mine, but I AM on an all SG forum, so that's a given right?

 

[Go Nigel Go]

People like to endlessly debate "bugs" vs "features" on the internet. Sometimes it is interesting, but most of the time I just find it tedious. At the end of the day everyone gets to decide for themselves what sort of guitar they want to spend their hard earned money on. We are certainly spoiled for choice these days, but most of the internet arguments boil down to people looking for external validation that they are the best and the rest are flawed.

 

[Decadent Dan]

Yea, they suck so badly that they’re one of the biggest sellers for over 60 yrs now. Just terrible.

 

[PermissionToLand]

I have a rant for every predictable complaint or criticism. "tHe nEcK iS wObBlY!" Uhh, why are you putting forward/backward pressure on the neck at all while playing? It's a guitar, not a baseball bat. If Angus Young can flail around on the floor and jump off amps while staying in tune, the problem isn't the SG.

Headstock breaks don't prove that the design is somehow flawed. Simply put, fine instruments are often delicate and are to be treated with care. You wouldn't call a Stradivarius violin "flimsy". You wouldn't complain that your lamp was poorly made because it broke when you knocked it off the nightstand. Generally speaking, SGs were not treated with care until they started gaining vintage status in the 1990s, much later than the Les Paul. Also, people seem to assume the early '60s heel design is weak simply because of how it looks from the outside, without knowing the design of the mortise and tenon. The design featured a substantial tenon spanning the entire width of the neck, which reached nearly to the back of the neck pickup cavity as well. Meanwhile, modern Custom/Historic SGs use a functionally identical design and have not gained a reputation for neck breaks. Also, it's not like there aren't Les Pauls with broken necks; no guitar is immune from breaking if dropped or otherwise mishandled. Guitars are not designed to withstand impacts; they aren't crash-tested like automobiles.

 

[plankton]

I am pretty active on TGP, but there's lots of threads I choose to stay away from because they're just way too dumb. I did make a few short comments on that thread though. It's pretty ridiculous how long that thread has gotten.

Bottom line, people need to come to terms with the fact that we're all different and therefore all prefer different things. Personally I don't like Les Pauls, but that doesn't mean they're a flawed design, just not right for me.

 

[Sootio]

People like to endlessly debate "bugs" vs "features" on the internet. Sometimes it is interesting, but most of the time I just find it tedious. At the end of the day everyone gets to decide for themselves what sort of guitar they want to spend their hard earned money on. We are certainly spoiled for choice these days, but most of the internet arguments boil down to people looking for external validation that they are the best and the rest are flawed.

I read TGP for comedy and that thread was a hoot. I agree that kind of thread is usually a PRS fan needing validation. I personally don't care what anyone thinks about SGs. They feel like home to me..

 

[TheDixiePig]

I read TGP for comedy and that thread was a hoot. I agree that kind of thread is usually a PRS fan needing validation. I personally don't care what anyone thinks about SGs. They feel like home to me..

Preferences stated as fact seem to be endemic over there. I've also never seen the need to elevate my choices by denigrating others choices. I can be strongly opinionated about what works for me, but at the end of the day I realize others have different wants and needs from my own.

 

[SGBreadfan]

There are a thousand threads on the same topics over there, people should learn how to use the search function and stop being lazy. I agree with DixiePig’s last post, it’s as simple as that really.

 

[Maguchi]

Are SGs just an inherently bad design?

I’ve wanted one for years, mainly because of the weight and look. I can afford good guitars. Every time I pick one up, I’m underwhelmed. Feels strange, bad balance, doesn’t sound very good. Even a custom shop model wasn’t impressive. What am I missing?

www.thegearpage.net

I don't participate on that forum as the conversations turn juvenile too much, too often. But I do see and read things from time to time I like. This thread lingered for a while and I read it all as it went down. I think some of our members here may have chimed in. It was interesting to see what non-SG fans have to say, and the defenders as well. Personally, I love mine, but I AM on an all SG forum, so that's a given right?

I read TGP for comedy and that thread was a hoot. I agree that kind of thread is usually a PRS fan needing validation. I personally don't care what anyone thinks about SGs. They feel like home to me..

I read some of that TGP thread about SGs being flawed. Yeah TGP itself is a little flawed. There seem to be a lot of PRS fanboys over there that have a bit of a complex about their guitars being the equal of Gibsons and Fenders. Seems to be the same comments over and over highlighting differences between PRS and the big G and the big F. For example 17 degree headstocks break too easily, or quality control at Fender and Gibson not being good. Well a PRS non 17 degree headstock will break too if it is dropped. I have never broken a Gibson headstock in 35 plus years and I haven't seen the quality control problems on my Gibsons and Fenders that TGPers rant about.

 

[TheDixiePig]

The headstock "flaw" was brought up ad nauseum in that thread. I think the best observation on that was someone stated that if you drop a violin it will break too. Fine instruments aren't meant to be dropped, so they aren't made to survive one. If I drop my coffee cup and it breaks, is the cup flawed or should I have expected that it would?

 

[NCJR]

TGP, I'm banned from TGP for not agreeing with the majority. Either way 90% of them just like to pull chains. I can't stand Les Pauls or Custom 24s. Major design flaws