Gibson has given the SG the Custom Color treatment, refreshing the doublecut electric guitar with six new finish options, including two ‘burst finishes that even the Les Paul Standards didn’t get when they inaugurated the series in August.
The new drop comprises the SG Standard and SG Standard ’61. As we saw on the Les Pauls, the new Custom Color finish options range from the borderline traditional to something a little more daring.
A Translucent Teal or Silver Mist SG? Now you are talking. Maybe the old-school SG acolyte might find TV Yellow or Classic White more their tastes. Then we have the ‘burst finishes; Pelham Blue Burst and Cardinal Red Burst, and both are quite exquisite.
There is a case to be made here that the guitar used and abused by the likes of Angus Young and Tony Iommi has never looked better. Choosing between the ’61 and the Standard won’t be easy. They are both rock ’n’ roll machines in their own right.
The SG Standard presented as a new-look retro build, inspired by late ‘60s models. These all have the long tenon 19th-fret neck joint. They all sport the five-ply full-face pickguard – in black, it goes with all six of the new colours, with 490R and 490T Alnico 2 humbucker pickups at the neck and bridge positions respectively.
The SG Standard ’61, meanwhile, has a five-ply black teardrop pickguard, and a pair of ‘60s Burstbucker humbuckers at the bridge and neck positions. The neck joins the body at the 22nd fret.
The six new finish options are available across both models. The core recipe is the largely the same; mahogany body, glued-in mahogany neck, the 24.75” scale length, a 12” radius fingerboard of Indian rosewood with acrylic trapezoid inlays.
There are however some key differences, some of them in how the guitars feel. The SG Standard ’61 has a SlimTaper neck profile while the SG Standard has a fuller rounded shape.
There are some hardware differences too, with the Standards having Grover Rotomatics with nickel kidney bean buttons and the ’61 model having vintage deluxe tuners with keystone buttons.
The Standard’s truss rod cover bears the SG designation while the ’61 model’s is left blank. And where you have nickel-plated hardware on the ’61 model, the SG Standard has chrome.
The Custom Color SG Standard is priced $1,799 and ships in a soft-shell guitar case. The Custom Color SG Standard ’61 is priced $1,999 and ships in a hard-shell case. You can check out more over at Gibson.
