Burny SG

Late 70's early 80's "lawsuit" SG Standard. Made in Japan by a sister company of Fernandez. To my understanding they were the same company and while Burny made Gibbo copies, Fernandez made Fender copies. These "lawsuit" are just about the hippest thing ever. So, yeah, it's everything a Gibson is in terms of features. Here's the run down of this particular guitar:

-White finish (Flawlessly applied. The only problems are due use, i.e.- scratches, buckling... See below for binding, inlays, etc)

-black "half wing" pickguard (Like 61 reissue Gibbo for clarity. Actually nicely beveled. Some copies will just slab on a piece of plastic but not here.)

-two tone, two volume (The knobs don't sit straight for some odd reason, but everything works very well and smoothly. No crackling or shelfing and mind you this guitar is old as me)

-tune o matic/ stop tail with grover style tuners (The bridge was a little cheesey. Just didn't look sturdy. Swapped it for a Gibson and much to my relief it fit and works just fine. Tuners are great vintage style low ratio with tiny holes. I dig the older machines a little more for some reason.)

-PAF clone pickups (This is where I was really surprised. I expected them to be garbage but was completely surprised-- no amazed by the stock units. See below for more.)

-Plastic nut (Here I am little disapointed. Strings do stick a little, had to fight with it to get it intonated, etc. Not horrid and easily remedied but annoying.)

I expected worse so for that I'm rating higher despite some of the above quibs.

Okay, here's what's important.

The guitar sounds amazing. No doubt about it. Surprisingly loud and full for a 70's SG, let alone a 70's SG copy. Much louder, clearer, and more refined the my Gibson SG Special (even with the Gib Classic 57's in the Special). Not nearly as big of a sound as my 80's Les Paul Standard (which the Burny was purchsed to replace... Fucking bills!), but it almost has more character/ dimensionality to it than the Paul.

I play post-hardcore/indie/emo/rock/trip-polka-belt-core or whatever the hell music critics are calling it these days. And it suits me just fine. I don't think it's fair to judge a guitar's versatility. It's an inanimate object. It does nothing until you pick it up. The guitar has a high quality sound and is built well. It's an SG. Period.

My rig is as follows:

Guitar (primarily the Burny but also an SG Special, previously a Les Paul Standard and occasionally a heavily abused Squire Telecaster)-> Boss tuner-> Boss EQ-> Morley Volume-> early 80's 50 watt Marshall JCM 800 2204-> Avatar 4x12 loaded with Eminence GB 12's (very, very nice speakers!).

I was using the EQ as a mid boost/ treble cut for finger taps, but I just started leaving it on all the time. With some subtlety that pedal can improve your tone ten fold. The Morley is my "clean channel."

Honestly, I'm the most happy than I've ever been in 12 years of playing with this set up. The guitar and amp/cab combo is nearly perfection and with the EQ I can fatten up the mids on the input stage without muddying up the sound by messing with the amp EQ much. It's warm, big, clear and crunches more than sizzles.

The only dislike I have at the moment is pretty universal with SG's and that's that they do feel fragile at times. Especially older ones (lots of experience here--I'm on SG number 5 because I'm a fickle shit). For some reason though I approach SG's differently than any other guitar (I think a lot of players have that experience). Therefore can't really complain about that as they make me play more creatively. Maybe it's because of that feeling. Who knows.

Well, nothing's a ten...

The intonation did take some time due to age and the shitty nut. I'll have it replaced when I feel comfortable having the guitar out of my reach for few days (I really do love this thing!).

Finish is excellent. The neck binding is awesome--no gaps, peeling, etc. The inlays do have space between themselves and the wood but it was obviously filled during production and are as smooth as any I've played on. Only noticeable on close inspection.

The neck feels a little weak but this is a trait that all SG's have. It's a design flaw of having such a long neck set that far apart from a thin body. It's already survived 20+ years and I've personally only snapped the neck of one SG. So I'm sure it's fine.

After a little more work than I'd have liked it plays like a dream and intonates just fine. That nut just really pissed me off.

It's 20 years young and still rocks the party that rocks body! No worries here.

Doubtful.

12 years plus of playing. And have owned more equipment than I care to remember. In the ball park of 25 guitars, 15 amps, 5 cabs, and countless pedals that i rarely ever used ever.

Honestly, I'm a nut for SG's. I'm a huge fan of Townsend, Ian Mackaye, Iommi, etc. Ever since I saw Ian Mackaye's white SG I've wanted one. The originals are so overpriced these days that it's not worth dropping that much on a guitar that will most likely be destroyed on tour. I bought it aesthetically and hoped for functionality and I got both. That's a first.

I'm going to just start buying these and others like them (Greco, Orville, Tokai, etc) whenever I can afford to. They're great guitars, they have a cool vibe and are reasonably priced (unlike most of their American counterparts).

This is without a doubt my favorite guitar. If you see one, buy it, get ahold of me, and I'll gladly take it off your hands.