My first proper guitar was an Epiphone G400 – a budget licenced copy of a Gibson SG – and I really loved it. I played it to death but when I got my first Telecaster a few years later, it got packed up, fell into a state of disrepair, and was more or less never used again. For the last few years I have really wanted to replace it with a proper Gibson. SGs are the only solid body Gibsons that I like playing. I just feel like Les Pauls don’t suit me and while I’d love an 335 they are absurdly expensive and for me, Gibson’s quality control has not been good enough to warrant the price tags. I have flirted with the idea of a new SG Classic, the current SG Standard or the various Specials, but I found them all quite underwhelming for the money. In addition I was massively put off by the g-force tuning system which Gibson has inexplicably decided to put on so many guitars. So I had given up on the idea of owning a Gibson.
Then I found this curious 2011 SG Special on Gumtree for a very modest sum and couldn’t resist it – quite heavily used, but with zero fret wear (possibly refretted?) and it plays really nicely. It’s a bit odd, because it has a wrap around one piece bridge (instead of the stop tail and tune-o-matic) and it has just one tone control, instead of the usual two. The most striking thing is the dark walnut finish which I’ve never seen before, and makes a great change from cherry red! It’s a genuinely great guitar and although it’s probably not going to be my go-to axe, but I reckon I’ll get a lot of use out of it!
I sold my 1996 Fender Floyd Rose Classic Strat on Gumtree to get this. Most would consider that a far superior guitar, but I don’t regret it in the slightest and the best thing is that all told, I’m still a couple of hundreds £s up!
Planning to post a video soon, so look out for that if you want to hear it!
AWC Guitar 
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