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I have played guitar for 25 years. I studied music in college and guitar was my instrument of emphasis. I taught private lessons for several years. The guitar by which I compare all others is my 2013 Gibson Custom Les Paul Axcess stoptail - truly, an amazing guitar. Now that you know a little about my background and basis of comparison; here's my review. This is the second SG Standard I received from zZounds after the first one arrived without a back plate and with a pickup squeal. The second one is notably lighter than the first and the neck and action required some serious attention before it was even playable. I've come to expect the need to set up my own guitars but when you pay over a grand for an instrument, I really feel it should arrive pretty close to ideal. Again, this one was barely playable and it took hours to get right. The finish on this SG is perfect. The tone of this guitar is exactly what you want from a Gibson: big, ballsy, crunchy goodness. Sustain is every bit as good as any of my Les Pauls. These pickups are pretty hot but clean up fairly well. This guitar will appeal to a lot of players for many styles. For a professional-level instrument, it is very affordable. I would recommend this guitar for the working musician who wants great Gibson tone and playability without the heavy Les Paul body weighing him (or her) down night after night; also, this would be a wonderful guitar for the advanced student player who wants to take his (or her) tone to the next level.

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More than 10 years have passed since I lost my first U.S. made guitar, an SG standard, in a foolish stage stunt accident. I was devestated. When i recently found myself prepared to purchase another American made guitar, i was naturally drawn to the SG. From the moment i hung it on my shoulder, it felt like coming home. The neck is fat and solid, which i hadn't realized i had been missing. Most publications, particurly those focused on heavy metal or 'shredding' laud slim fast necks and this sort of thing seeps into the subconscious. The finish is beautiful and flawless. The frets are wonderful with no rough edges etc... The pickups sound good, the bridge pickup is SUPER bright, and i've found myself needing to roll back the tone pot a bit. I am loving this beauty, and as a bonus, the finish on it smells exactly like vanilla pudding.. Wth? I am giving less than 5's on features and sound mainly due to the pickups. I don't love them and will probably be replacing them. I gave a 4 in value due to the lack of a hardshell case. Bogus...

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The SG was listed as having a "cosmetic blemish". I still haven't found it. The SG sounds great, looks great, and had a great price. The only problem that could arise is that the guitar is not covered under the Gibson warranty, but my experience with Gibson does not make that much of a problem. It was also delivered promptly despite the snow that hit the Eastern US.

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Before we get started I'm going to do a little bit of back ground. I'm currently 24. I've been playing music since I was 7 starting with the clarinet. Picked up playing guitar in 2010. I was primarily a noodling bed room jamming guy. Played with some friends as I taught myself, got into busking, etc. Over the course of the last five years I've had too many guitars to count. All different brands and flavors but I typically gravitate towards fender's. I was working full time (and by that I mean 80+ hours a week as a manager) and bought and sold many relatively expensive guitars including a 2012 Gibson Explorer and a Gold Top Les Paul signature T. I'm extremely picky and an avid tone hunter. Now what can I say about this 2016 SG. Well I got it today at 9 am and I just now put it down at 7 pm. I had been eye balling one of these at a local shop for a while now and played that one to death in a sound booth too. They sold it before I could get to it but thanks to zZounds I've got it! Fit and finish is absolutely top notch. Looks gorgeous. The setup was also fantastic right out of the box. All I had to do was stretch out the strings and tune it. Plugged it into my Vox AC15 and ran it through my TS 808 clone. Totally blown away by the tone. The bridge pickup gets down right nasty with the gain and doesn't lose fidelity at all. The neck pickup is the same story but with that bit of creamy warmth you would expect a neck pickup to have. Chords? Leads? Soloing? Yeah it does it all and excels at it. I was expecting totally bada** dirty tones but the cleans.... the cleans though. The cleans BLEW ME THE F*** AWAY. Seriously. As a primarily fender guy (my other main axe is an 80's 52' AVRI tele) I consider good clean tones to be crucial. Was not excepting how good these cleans would sound. The pickups are extremely articulate to my ear and react very well to pick attack. I can be a bit of a boutique pickup cork sniffer but man, I am in love with these pickups. As far as quality control I've gotta say Gibson is pretty solid this year. I've played a lot of the new 2016 models in local shops and they had all had great fit, finish, sound, and play-ability. The one that was shipped to me is no exception. I was worried because of some of the reviews about the setup being bad out of the box. Was not my experience at all. I realize I'm still in the honey moon phase but man, I love this guitar to death. It does everything I wanted it to do and much more. Oh and on one last note, the whole "NO HARDSHELL CASE?!" thing... I mean I guess it would've been nice however the gig bag that it comes with is great so I can't really complain. If I feel like I need the added protection I'll pick one up eventually (probably from zZounds). :"Gibson's best year ever"

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I was guitar shopping and was going to buy a Gibson Les Paul Studio faded until a friend who is more into guitars lead me to the SG standard T and after comparing the two and factoring in my needs it was obvious that the SG Standard was a better fit for me. The guitar came out of its padded case with flawless looks and exceptional quality. The tone and volume pots were slightly bent and I had to delicately position them back into place. My guitar stays in tune and with some minor adjustments the instrument has no problems with intonation. The pick ups sound good clean or distorted through my tube amp. I own several cheaper guitars that sound good but the Gibson SG Standard T looks, sounds and feels better than them. I'm happy with this particular guitar and look forward to buying different Gibsons in the future.

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Been a player for 20 years. All i can say is this is one of the nicest guitars i've owned and played. Guitar came with a beautiful setup without needing to make any adjustments. The guitar also shipped in the case i purchased with it which was nice. I was looking for a guitar that would last me a life time and feel this SG Standard will do just that.

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I always told myself I would hold out for a real Gibson SG. I passed on a lot of Epiphones etc. I ordered a Cherry SG Standard and man is worth the wait!! I am an intermediate player at best, but this guitar has opened the door for me. It has the best neck I have ever held and the sustain is unreal. They are a little pricey, but I fully recommend one. If you like classic rock, ACDC etc, this is your axe. I like my les paul, but it feels like carrying a boat anchor compared to the SG. Angus has it right!!!! I would only say that the strings do bind at the nut and must be tended constantly to keep in tune, but well worth it.

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After what most thought was a horrible 2015 model year, Gibson came out strong in 2016 with their "T"raditional lineup. I have ALWAYS wanted a Cherry SG, but was reluctant to buy due to some negative comments I've read about this year's SG. I am so glad I pulled the trigger on this guitar! Fit and finish is fantastic, beautifully precise while still managing to feel hand-made. This is the perfect neck for me, I can play for hours without fatigue (after a proper warm-up). The binding and fretwork is spot on. String bends are BUTTER! I'll hazard to say the best playing guitar Ive owned, and Ive had a few including top line Gibsons, Fenders, and PRS. I keep waiting for the honeymoon period to end, but it has not after 2+ months of playing everyday. It came out of the gig bag set up perfectly. Intonation spot on, and it was in tune. I was afraid to even change the strings b/c the setup was so nice. The nut was cut fine. Stays in tune very well. I do wish the tuners were more precise. Im not a fan of the vintage ratio klusons on the SG. Luckily I dont have to use them much lol. I did experience the "popping" when rubbing the back control plate like another user posted. Turns out it was just static electricity. Tip: dryer sheet or static guard fixed this right away. If I could complain about something, it would be the pickups. I find the 490/498 set really shouldn't be a "set" at all. Very hard to EQ an amp for both these pickups. I am tempted to try swapping an A8 magnet into the bridge, and an A5 into the neck. Although I have to say it may be worth keeping this guitar bone stock. First time ive ever felt like that about a guitar, as im a habitual tinkerer. Ive been dialing in my amp for a nice filthy rythm tone for the bridge pickup, and rolling volume down on the neck for cleans. Works well. Amazing guitar. This one is only parting ways with me when im dead and buried.

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I am a metal player but I love my SG!!! The crispness of the sound and the look is my go to guitar regardless the style of music I play.

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The Good:The guitar itself is flawless. Perfect finish, fretwork, binding, etc. Even though it is a Gibson, my cynical side prepares for something to be overlooked, screwed up, or ignored during the manufacturing process. With my SG, I can't find a flaw. After a proper set-up (*cough*), it plays like a dream. What a perfectly awesome guitar and for about a grand.The Bad:The only surprise was the factory set-up. It was pretty awful. I don't expect a new guitar to be dialed in perfectly, but mine arrived and needed a major soup-to-nuts overhaul. I spent at least a couple hours adjusting the truss rod, the bridge, the saddles, and pickup heights. Side note: my D string saddle is very close to maxed out to the neck side to get the intonation right, but it's all good.The Ugly:My ex wife.

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What a nice guitar, mine was perfect out of the box. I'm impressed after buying and returning a few so so Les Paul's this was a nice surprise. Great action,tunes great and sounds incredible. It's an affordable solution if your on the fence like I was.

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I received my first SG in the mail and it seems Gibson sprayed too much nitro finish on the back of the guitar because it was clearly lumpy. After touching it to see what exactly it was it cracked and paint and wood from the back just fell right off. I called Zzounds and explained the situation and they sent me a return label within a couple hours after getting of the phone with them. I dropped it off at UPS and the next day my replacement was sent out. My replacement is flawless and its everything I have ever wanted in a classic rock and roll machine.

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I was so happy to see Gibson ditch all the experimental changes from 2015-the reason I didn't buy a 2015 Gibson-other people may have liked it but it wasn't for me. So when the "traditional' style came back, I jumped on a SG because I thought Gibson was getting back to quality guitars-wrong. This SG came with the worst setup I have ever seen, the bridge and bridge pick up was raised up nearly as high as it would go-you could practically slide your hand under the strings at the 15th fret. As I always do, I started to restring and do a set up and I noticed that the nut wasn't cut properly-only the 6th & 5th string was cut where the string laid all the way across in the slot-the rest of the slots were only partially cut. OMGWTF, I have had $400 Epiphones that had a much better setup and quality control than this. Hey Gibson, QC,QC,QC. I was appalled that a Gibson would leave the factory in such piss poor shape. The frets seem to be uneven because I can not get the action set low enough to be playable without buzzing-may just be the nut. The pups are weak and gutless, which I can live with (gain & overdrive helps)-this definitely wasn't the same quality that we used to get from Gibson. I bought a D'Angelico Goldtop and a Schecter hybrid Tempest in the last year because of Gibson's changes and both were playable right out of the box-way to go Korea, you are kicking Gibson's @$$ on quality. I really hope someone from Gibson reads these reviews so they know they have a lot of catching up to do and a very disappointed customer. I have always been a Gibson guy, but this last couple of years has made me a non-believer. I'm going to give it to a guitar tech I know and hopefully he can fix the nut (or replace) and set this up where I can live with it. This may be my last new Gibson I will purchase (if I can afford an older model, when quality was important to Gibson, I will not hesitate.)Anyway, Zzounds was great to deal with as usual, customer service is a priority with them.

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It was love at first sight! I've always wanted an SG Standard; it's signature tone and striking looks pulled at my heart strings for the longest time, but for one reason or another I never pulled the trigger. Upon opening the box and removing this piece of rock history, however, I was awestruck. Having been primarily a Gibson Custom Shop guitar aficionado due to its uncanny attention to detail I didn't know what to expect for a "regular" production line instrument. But I was pleasantly surprised at the perfect, filler free fretboard inlays, the flawlessly installed neck binding that was flush with the neck(no ridges felt), and the smooth, thin, evenly applied nitro lacquer finish. The nut was cut to ideal height for low, comfortable action, with no pings to be heard when tuning up. And get this, the frets, holy mackerel the shiny, smooth frets were filed and crowned to a round shape. Not the squared off frets that were a common sight earlier in the decade. Bends are executed with ease with no gritty resistance. Comparing a typical early 2000s SG, to this 2016 Standard, it was a night and day difference. Oh and the sound? Well if you're a fan of the Highway to Hell honking mids tone, and were not able to get it with the more even sounding '61 style small pickguard SGs, well, those honking mids are back with the large pickguard, TRUE SG Standard. The large pickguard necessitates a higher neck angle due to the fact that the bridge has to sit higher off the body than a '61 style. Don't believe me? Check both types of SGs out, there is a marked difference in neck angle. And that higher neck angle on the 2016 SG Standard gives it a more middy tone than the '61 SG that can even be heard unplugged. Once again if possible go to a guitar store and plug in the 2 types of SGs; you'll hear what I hear. All in all, I was very pleased with this stunning guitar and would not hesitate to buy another one in the future.

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This guitar comes with no hard case. When I opened mine up the frets were awful. Overall it looks poorly made. The sound isn't that rock n roll machine an SG should deliver. Buy an older model. This one just shouldn't have Gibsons name on it.

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It's a straight up Gibson SG Super light easy to play guitar looks great feels great. super sweet and warm clean tone and adds a narly bite/aggressive feel to the dirty channel great buy for a quality Gibson product

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