Gibson releases the Pete Townsend SG....

[Nitro Express]

If you buy one pop for a hardshell case because you are going to need it. The most easy to break guitars on the planet. I saw one fall out of a guitar stand and the headstock broke right off. The necks break off easy too. You probably could snap the guitar right in half with your bare hands. So you are going to want to make sure it's not going to come off the guitar strap or get banged around.

[FORD]

Only briefly, during the period The Who first started touring Tommy (1969) through the recording of Quadrophenia (1972). After that he used the more durable Les Paul Deluxe associated with mid-period Who livework until the start of the eighties, when he started using a series of Strats and Telecasters that he has used to this day. So it is kind of surprising that Gibson would create a tribute model of a guitar that he in fact (by comparison) rarely used. More than likely, this is because it appeared in the film Woodstock and is associated with the recording of Live At Leeds.

Or maybe because that just happens to be the time period when The Who were unquestionably at the top of their game, and arguably the best live band on the planet?

Not saying it was the SG that made them that way, but it's a Hell of an odd coincidence how the timing worked out.

I would think that Gibson would prefer to name their guitars after someone who has consistently used them though, like Angus Young or Tony Iommi, for example. (Probably the two biggest fans of the SG, that I can recall, and yeah, they both have their own models too)

[Nitro Express]

The SG was originally the new Les Paul model. The original Les Paul was considered dated in 1961 and dropped out of production, so Gibson came out with a new lightweight double cutaway model engineered for the new rock and roll music that had become popular. It was one of the first real rock guitars. The only thing is Les hated the things. So they called them the SG short for Solid Guitar.



Here is one of the rare original 1961 Les Paul Customs. Awsome guitar. I wish it was mine.

[Matt White]

The SG was originally the new Les Paul model. The original Les Paul was considered dated in 1961 and dropped out of production, so Gibson came out with a new lightweight double cutaway model engineered for the new rock and roll music that had become popular. It was one of the first real rock guitars. The only thing is Les hated the things. So they called them the SG short for Solid Guitar.



Here is one of the rare original 1961 Les Paul Customs. Awsome guitar. I wish it was mine.

They should rename that model the GLEN BUXTON SG!!!

[Matt White]

FARKIN' BRILLIANT!!!

[Nitro Express]

Another famous SG. The Fool.

[Hardrock69]

Hendirx had an SG custom as well. Saw it at the Hard Rock Cafe in London in 1989.

Friend of mine once had a coffee-table book of photography from Rolling Stone magazine. This was in the late 70s. One page was great....a series of about 20 photos of Pete Townsend with a single-pickup version of the SG special.

The title of the series was "The Guitar".

The first photo simply showed the body of the guitar, with Pete's hand clenched around the neck at the upper frets.

The rest of the series showed him in various stages of destroying it. It was hilarious.

The same friend (my best friend who lives in Everett, WA) had a 1961 Les Paul for awhile. I think he traded a guitar or two and some cash...the asking price at the time was $1,000. The previous owner took the original PAFs out and sold them, as he got almost as much for the three original PAFs as he did for the guitar. My friend had it for awhile, then sold it for a bit more than a grand...so he made a small profit on it.

I don't care for single-coil pickups, just due to the noise. If I can have pickups that do not have the noise but get the same tone, that is fine. I do have a Lead II with a pair of EMG single coils in it, and it sounds like a crazed, starving, rabid beast on crack.

I do think SGs are pretty cool. Have only owned one, for a short period of time.

And I saw Clapton's psychedelic-painted one on display once somewhere...can't recall exactly where.

I think this one looks neat. I like Alpine White on SGs.

Ok so how many fucking thousand dollars is this because it is a "Pete Townsend" model?

[Hardrock69]

Oh, and GOOD TO SEE YOU POST AGAIN SARGE! :D

[FORD]

Townsend....Clapton....Hendrix....Iommi.... and Mick Taylor on the Stones 1969 tour too.....

Apparently it was a very popular guitar that year

[FORD]

I think Keef is playing a white SG here (or at least pretending to be playing it, since only the vocals are live). A little hard to tell with all the damn smoke machines though....

[Nitro Express]

Townsend....Clapton....Hendrix....Iommi.... and Mick Taylor on the Stones 1969 tour too.....

Apparently it was a very popular guitar that year

It was Gibson's rock and roll guitar. The original Les Paul was going the way of the do do bird then. I believe they became popular again when Jimi Page started playing them. The Stratocaster was going obsolete until Jimi Hendrix played it. A famouse guitar player can make what would normally go out of production popular. Jimi saved the Les Paul and Hendrix saved the strat.

[FORD]

So who saved the Telecaster? Keef? Or Buck Owens?

[Nitro Express]

One of the best sounding guitars I ever played was a Gibson double neck. The same model Jimi Page plays during The Song Remains the Same. It had the thin SG type body but man did it resonate in all the right ways. I wanted that one bad but the price was out of range.

[Nitro Express]

So who saved the Telecaster? Keef? Or Buck Owens?

Amazingly that model was never in danger of going out of production. I think it was so popular with the country western players that the market was always good for it. I read a book on the history of Fender and basically the Jazz Master and Jaguar line had replaced the Stratocaster. If you look at the players in the mid 60's they are playing hollow body guitars mostly.

[Nitro Express]

We can't forget Robby Krieger of The Doors. Another SG poster child for sure.