Gibson Angus Young SG

Typical SG + tremolo.

Play mostly rock and blues and it fits perfectly. It is very very dynamic and responsive guitar. I have played many SG-s and this is the best sounding of them all, so 10 it goes. If you want even better, you better start diggin in vintage stuff.

The one I got had 1 piece mahagony body, dunno how much it affects the sound but its kinda cool:)

PS! I was just curious and tried some metal riffs as well - did real good for my ears at least.

I bought it online from canadian guitar shop. setup was perfect, dunno wether done by gibson or guitar shop. But in my case, 10 it goes.

1. Something rattles on the bridge sometimes. as on my ES335. as on many other gibsons I have encountered. does not affect tone, but still little annoying.
2. It's a gibson - so handle with care - those headstocks are fragile! For beating stuff up get a Telecaster (it's a bulletproof piece of wood):)

But yes, otherwise really satisfied.

havent encountered em.

Well it's my No 1 now:)

2008 model. The usual features. No neck tension tool supplied. The supplied case is a standard SG case (case does not have a shroud with AY insignia as previously supplied with earlier models).

I am using a Engl Screamer with a 1x12 extension cabinet. The signal path is guitar - boss tuner - MI audio crunch box - Boss eq (effects loop). I always play with the guitar volume and tone knobs on full. I also have a 91 Les Paul with 498T pickups. There are several differences between these two guitars as most of you will already know. I wanted a guitar that would harmonise with and compliment the Les Paul... a guitar with its own voice. The AY SG fits this perfectly. The Les Paul has quite a bit more sustain than the SG. This is more than compensated for by TONE! The Angus Young sounds beautiful - it has a very sweet and focussed sound that is articulate with plenty of presence. In comparison, the Les paul has a big fat creamy sound - the AY SG has a sharper more attacking sound. I really like it. The neck pickup is a 57 classic. It is a great match for this guitar. You can get some really nice blues lead tones here. The neck pickup sounds great clean. Given that the AY SG doesn't have the sustain of the Les paul I tend to play the AY SG with the MI overdrive pedal on to boost the input level into the amp. Just engaging the circuit sends the amp into overdrive frenzy.... wow what a great combination this is. I don't usually use the overdrive pedal for the Les Paul as the 498T bidge pickup is a fairly hot pickup to start with. The AY SG pickup has a lower output than the 498T pickup.... maybe about 85% or so. The AY pickup has more high end than the 498T. The AY pickup can handle any genre of music. Of course you can get great AC/DC tones, but it can cover metal as well with the right combination of gain and overdrive. It loves palm muted power chords. The AY pickup is a bit noisey though, sounds like it isn't gounded very well. The tremelo arm is not useable. You cannot do any bends without the strings going out of tune. I am considering taking it off but everybody who has done this has warned that it is almost impossible to put it back on correctly. I am using Nut Sauce liquid graphite on the bridge and nut to help it stay in tune. That made a big difference!

The guitar looked flawless when I got it. The timber is very nice. The guitar is well balanced, maybe because of the vibrola setup adds some body weight. The neck is great, very slim. The day I bought it I tried several other Gibsons, including SG standard, SG special and LP special. From the first note I played I knew I had found my guitar... it just blew everything else away. The AY SG was quite a bit more expensive than the others... but it selected me. I had to have it! The action was very low when I got it. I am surprised it was sent out in this condition. I raised the srings and bought up the pickup height. The pickup is a bit sensitive to pickup height. There is a sweet spot that you will find when setting it up.

I think the guitar is well built. SGs are always more fragile than Les Pauls. Time will tell.

Never had to contact Gibson.

I have been playing for 35 years. My musical ear is tuned to Classic 70's and 80's rock. The AY SG is a perfect match for this style of music. I would definitely buy it again if I had to. This guitar is great to look at, great to hold, and great to play. It sounds very nice. It leaves me with a smile on my face each time. It is a very inspiring guitar. Highly recommended.

I've sat it out for two years before deciding to submit a review on this instrument. Plenty of time to give a fair, unbiased opinion without all the post excitement of buying one.
As it's a 2006 model, it was not constructed in the same plant or by the same people as my 2001 '61 Re-issue, and sad to say, it showed! I bought it because it was a reasonable price, and I'm a bit of a dab hand at setting up guitars, and Boy! if a guitar ever needed setting up properly, it was this one! Talk about slack work! I'll get into this further down the review.

There's no doubt that the heart of this instrument lies in the Angus Signature bridge pickup. Take that away (plus the engraved name on the vibrola, the devil headstock insignia and the different control knobs) and you've got a bog standard "Standard" with a better grade of mahogany.

The Dark Cherry finish is excellent, as is the fret work, but there are one too many sharp edges for my liking. The most obvious being the edges on the front of the headstock between the nut and E tuners. It was like a razor at first, but has smoothed over with playing. This is where the difference in finishing from the '01 Re-issue is most noticeable. That particular guitar was smooth from Day One.

The Vibrola tailpiece definitely has its pros and cons. Because of the additional rear weight, the guitar feels much better balanced than a stop-tailpiece fitted version, but I find that it doesn't hold accurate tuning anywhere near as well as the simple type of setup.
At the same time, that lovely engraving work gives the instrument a look of real class, but the useless tremolo arm sticking up like a fence post in a gale is a damned nuisance!
Removing it is NOT recommended, as it never seems to fit as tightly again if you decide to re-install it. Better off to just shove it back next to the jack hole.

The usual Gibson "Kluson" type tuners which generally wear out in 3 years of heavy use (I've replaced the ones on my '61 twice). Beautiful case (Canadian) as we've come to expect from Gibson. I don't think there are any better cases currently supplied as standard by any other company. NO NECK WRENCH AGAIN! Come on Gibson. How much extra is it going to cost you to slip one in? I didn't get one with either guitar.

You buy this model for one reason only, without stating the obvious. Take a look at AC/DC's "Family Jewels" DVD to see what Angus was using as an 18 year-old. This is it.

Once set up properly, and plugged into my old JTM45.... Oh Boy! Say no more! No effects necessary, but it does have a little static noise that seems to be the result of insufficient grounding. This is nothing new to SG's, and I've come to live with it. You don't even notice it after a while. With the Marshall Gain control set near minimum, this guitar (or should I say pickup?) delivers those delicious Angus tones we all strive for, but with my small Marshall AVT20 combo, it turns into one groovy Jazz guitar. A very versatile instrument with considerable sustain, regardless of what Les Paul lovers have to say.

There's nothing too dislike about it apart from the way it arrived from the factory.

Here's where I saved my criticism for. The factory setup (what there was of it) was absolutely appalling! Apart from the above-mentioned sharp edges, the nut, bridge & neck all needed drastic work to make it playable.
The nut would be a joke even if you saw it on a $100 Chinese copy. It was so badly cut that there was hardly an impression where the A string should sit, so I pulled out Dan Erlewine's repair book, took a look at his specs for Gibsons, and spent an hour or so getting the nut just right.
Next came the Tune-O-Matic. Again, hardly any depth to the string slots, and what was there looked like it had been done in two minutes with a nail file! Disgraceful!
But I've saved the worst till last. The tension on the truss-rod nut was zilch. Hence the neck relief looked more like a bow than a guitar. An 1/8" at the 7th fret? Come on... what is going on down there in Tennessee?
I realize it's not a Custom shop model, but for a $2300 guitar this was appalling.

A few hours of work (that should have been unnecessary), plus an additional tweak to the neck over the next couple of weeks turned a very amateur job into a fantastic instrument.

Now some may consider these trifling matters, but I've had the experience over 43 years of playing to know how to set up a guitar properly. My concern is for the unsuspecting newcomer who has no idea of how to go about it. I've seen so many poentially fine instruments ruined by people with little know how.

GIBSON.... your legions of followers deserve better than this.

This is now a guitar that could be played anywhere, anytime. Even by Angus himself, I might add. It feels plain solid in every area, with the possible exception of the tuners. Never have liked the durability of this type, or their ability to stay in tune for very long.

The hardware is great, the pickups are absolutely outstanding, the body/neckfinish (as I said) are first-rate, the strap buttons are indestructable.

I'd stake my life on it as far as reliability goes, as I would the 7 year-old '61 Re-issue, which would always be there as a backup or used equally as a substitute. The two have vastly different tones, strangely enough.

By all means buy one if you want to replicate Angus' tone, but check around for one that's been setup properly. In other words, no Internet shopping!

No need, as I'm over here in Japan, and obviously the new agents here don't see fit to check their instruments before dispatching them to stores. Most peculiar for a Japanese company. They're usually so scrupulous.

The two above, an Epiphone Casino "Revolution", Maton "Tommy Emmanuel" TE-1 Electric/Acoustic, Larrivee Acoustic, and a Warmoth Strat with Kinman pickups that I built (One of 22).
Marshall JTM45 (getting on a bit), Marshall AVT20, Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb, Fender Pro Junior with a Jensen speaker. Few effects to speak of.

I love the guitar as it has worn into shape, but I think I'd skip on replacing it if Gibson's quality control continues down this path. I'd probably go for an NOS version from the Custom shop next time, and may do that anyway. I love SG's, and have always preferred them to Les Pauls even if the sustain is a little less. The light weight and their playability are second to none whether you're on stage or just sitting on the sofa.

Great guitar, just keep your eyes open, and don't get starry-eyed and overwhelmed at seeing the Angus references.

'57 classic humbucker in neck pos. and Angus Signature humbucker in bridge; very cool looking Lyre Vibrola; rosewood fingerboard; Mahogany neck and body; lil' devil on headstock, made in US of A.

I started out as a metalhead/hard rocker in 1991, so needless to say I was mostly interested in making a guitar go WIDDLEY-DIDDLEY-WIDDLEY-BLOOoop-Chugg-chugga-chug. My sound revolved around an Ibanez Sabre, Destroyer and a Boss Metal Zone. I grew to hate that lame 'honk' of Ibanezs. Once I got the SG my life changed. I A/B between a Fender Performer 1000 and a 1959 SLP reissue (& Hotplate)through a JCM 800 Lead series quad. You can't beat the option of switching clean Fender, neck position AND Marshall crunch in bridge. I can't understand people who say that an SG sounds sorta like a Les Paul. The SG is way different: lighter(not thinner) sound, clearer notes, less sustain, more of a 'snarley' bark than a 'growling' bark...

Although I lean more towards clean folk finger-styles these days, I'm always surprised how easy it is to turn to the dark-side, crank everything and have a furious wank over the fretboard. I use to think that the neck on the Sabre was the fastest neck out, but now I find the SG more comfortable and quicker! I dropped the action a little from the factory set-up, but not enough to take away the balls of the sound. The plastic tip of the tremolo arm showed up with a crack in it. Toggle switch cut out on bridge pu but I fixed it simply by undoing the cover and prying the metal switch out a bit.

This guitar holds up in live situations. Compared to my Les Paul it's a pleasure to have this strapped over your shoulder(check out what LPs have done to the curvature of Page's spine). Tuning will never be too stable because it doesn't have a fixed bridge. Compared to a Floyd Rose though, the Lyre is solid. There were meant to be other reasons why tuning isn't that consistent, but after 15 odd years of playing I find if you get too picky about that, you should consider giving up playing guitar and take up trainspotting.

I emailed Gibson when I first got the guitar to ask for a certificate of authenticity to prove the guys in ACDC signed the scratch-plate. The Gibson dude promptly emailed back saying I'd have to sort that out with the radio station. His tone was friendly and polite - I appeciated his quick response. Fixed the toggle switch myself in about two minutes. Was under warranty, can't remember when it ran out.

This guitar, plus the set up with my amps, gives me very satisfying clean and overdriven TONES (not mush, razorblades, or super-processed Mac Digital sounz). The SG complements the basic set up I have. There is no real need for mods. The Hotplate and Boss NS2 are necessary evils. I did't choose the SG - it chose me, so I don't believe that I will ever lose it. Physically, it might get stolen but it being with me has always been and always will be. I might be able to realize one medium with it, I might be able to become the message.

2001, nashville. bought it with both gig bag with the angus-figure on, and with a case. bought used for an extremely low price on eBay, from USA. Feels like new, solid and beautiful.

This is actually my first electric, and I'm still learning. But I have no problem using it, it's simple to use and I sense that I can use it for a long time as I get better and learn more. I tend to lean towards Ac/Dc, Def Leppard and such, but I can just as well play more pop-related things like Roxette.
The sound is marvelous, feels like knife through butter.
Friends who have borrowed it are impressed, two have bought themself the same gitar.

My guitar have been used a couple of times by a friend of mine on concert. Never a problem. This one is designed for that use, no dubt about it.

have been playing for two years. i would undoubtly get the same guitar if I had to replace it. it is perfect as far as I know. doubt I ever would get one for the same price though

production year: 2003
al specs are available on the gibson website.

the finish is soft, the decals are nice: "angus" incription on the tremolo.
and i realy like the little "angus" devil on the head of the guitar

bindings on the neck and inlays are same as SG standard.
colour of the wood is much better.
it comes with the tremolo from gibsons custom shop.


this guitar comes with a nice "angus young" case with the same "angus" devil on the black protection cloth inside, muth better then the pink cloth on standard cases.

i play classic rock and hard rock, ac/dc (ofcourse), smashing pumpkins, black sabbath, deep purple, etc.
SOUNDS GREAT, the (angus)bridge pickup just makes the difference.
its great with less (tube)overdrive. (no effects) the sound comes straight of a ac/dc album. great treble. fantastic for leads.
with much distortion the guitar sound great too.
(much more treble then sg special)

when played clean, it still sounds a bit crunch, i like te sound.
but you cant get a clean note from this guitare.
then again, you dont buy a SG for clean sounds.

came perfect, no adjustments required.

pickup covers look old very soon, because its nickel instead of chrome. but it gives it a vintage look!

tremolo looks nice but is not constructed for heavy use
the tremolo can only be used for little vivrato.
heavy tremolo-use is not possible, when you do the bridge-studs bends by the moving of the strings.
fixed bridge and a tremolo is not a good combination.

its a gibson!!!
guitar is two years old, no defects, everyting is still very solid.

tremolo-arm looks fragile. (i mean the plastic end of the arm)

never dealed with them

i use it on a marshall valvestate 8100amp (will be replaced by a tube amp soon). sounds great.
its a pleasure playing this guitare, feels great.

a frend has a gibson SG special ans we compared both guitars,
the neck is slightly differend, frets are bigger.
pickups are much better, etc.
its realy a big difference, from a distance both guitars look the same but they are not!

if it were stolen, i would buy it again!

Nice thin, fast neck. Light weight compaired to my b.c. rich beast. Very gourgous antique cherry finish that you can only get on this model SG. the finish is gorgous everytime i polish it. I also took the trem bar off..BUT BEWARE..it has a nut under the bottom of it that is impossible to get back on when you get it off. The Angus pick up will overdrive anything with ease. the 57 is very warm. the tuning stays in tune. My guitar teacher told me one time that ALL SGs tuning goes out of tune ALOT cause he had an SG one time. He must have never had this guitar. The weight is great and is Very balanced. it never moves while standing up. The neck scale is the same as my epiphone flying V, yet on the Angus when you are playing the higher frets, its like a runway compaired to the flyin v.

I use Marshall AVT150 head with 1960B cab and avt speaker A cab. I also have a GT-6 processor pedeal that i used to get a nice sound with my epiphone flying v and b.c. rich beast...BUT when i got this guitar..i just plug straight into to amp and use the processor for tuning. It has the sound that i love..the 57 pickup can sound like you are playing 5 notes at once when you play 2. And at high volumes with my stack the 57 gives a warm but over driven sound. The angus pickup is my fav though. It begs to be turned all the way up and it can handle it without any wailing and crying. I live in the country so im able to take my stack outside and turn all the way up. My sister lives 1/2 a mile away and she can hear it as plan as if i was there. I always have my tone knobs at full 10. there is no dislikes about the sound.

I ordered mine online because i couldnt try it out at any of the stores anyways and i would have took a chance there and been charged sales tax. The guitar came very perfect. I was very surprised at how small the case and guitar was, since this is my first "Real" guitar. It is SO easy to carry around compaired to a HUGE!! B.C. rich case. That thing needs paul bears, i swear. The guitar is about the same weight as my epiphone korina flying v. I played the guitar right out of the box and it wasnt even out of tune. the action is amazing. Everytime i take this guitar out, it gets attention!

I put strap locks on it but the strap buttons were real good. I just didnt want to drop it. With proper care, this guitar will last forever. BUT if you are very rough with it, it wont last very long. the finish is very soft. Im lucky to say that ive owned mine for alittle over a year now and there is no scrach. and i do play it alot. its my main guitar. Im not in a band or anything. but i have played in front of people all alone and even with a drumer one time. I didnt bring another guitar cause i have alot of confodence in this guitar. But if you are in a band, always bring a back up just for string breakage. My hardware hasnt faded yet at all, still like new.

The warranty is lifetime as long as it wasnt droped or exposed to extreme change in temp. Before i bought this guitar i wrote gibson and they were very helpful. they wrote back with in 24 hours. They even told me why this guitar didnt have the lighting inlays in the fret board. they said that it was already used on the ace fretley guitar in the custom shop or it would have probly had them. I know this isnt a custom shop guitar, BUT i just wanted to say that if a custom shop gibson guitar doesnt come with the Certifecate of authentisity, or the care kit..just give them your serial number and if you are the original owner, they will send you one FREE. I am now trying to buy a 58 reissue and they are very helpful with questions that i have on it.

Ive been playing for 5 years. I taught myself and then took a few guitar lessons to polish my skills. Unfortantly i wasnt lucky enough to have this guitar while i took classes. It would have been much easyer to learn faster and been so much easyer to carry around than a b.c. rich beast case. And it would have been easy on my fingers and promoted more practice. I asked everything before i bought it and was always answered. I could have bought a les paul standard for $200 more and considered it. But ended up getting the Angus SG instead and have NEVER regreted it. I love everything about it. the weight, sound and color is my fav things. Playibility is very great. I can play it for 2 hours straight and my fingers barely hurt. I chose this one over the les paul because of weight and the fact that it could have been discontinued the next year. I will give it a 9 because I wished it had lighting bolt inlays in the fret board like one of Angus's SGs. Other than that small thing, its the best guitar i have every had.

2000
Angus Young Signature SG
Manufactured in: Nashville, TN

BODY
Species: Mahogany

NECK
Species: Mahogany
Peghead Pitch: 17?
Thickness at 1st fret: 0.775"
Thickness at 12th fret: 0.875"
Neck Joint Location: 19th fret
Headstock Inlay: 'Devil Signature' decal

FINGERBOARD
Species: Rosewood
Scale length: 243/4"
Total Length: 18.137"
Nut Width: 1.625"
Width at 12th fret: 2.032"
Frets: 22
Inlays: Pearloid trapezoid
Binding: single-ply

HARDWARE
Plating Finish: Nickel
Bridge: ABR
Tailpiece: Engraved Lyre Vibrola
Knobs: Black Witchhat with silver insert
Tuners: Green Key

ELECTRONICS
Neck Pickup: '57 Classic Humbucker
Bridge Pickup: Angus Signature Humbucker
Controls: Two tone, two volume controls, 3-way selector switch

CASE
Exterior: Black Reptile Pattern Hardshell
Interior: Dark Grey Plush with Black Signature Shroud
Silkscreen: Silver 'Gibson USA' logo

STRINGS

We are a classic style hard rock band. This is one of the few guitars I use with the factory pickups, the bridge pick up is bright/powerful yet very clean and clear even at hard overdrive. It is a bit different sounding than Dimarzios I use, but makes for nice contrast when recording with both.

I bought this used on ebay. After reading reviews on the Angus Young SG I decided to look into buying, only to find out every store in the country was sold out. It had some minor damage (Wood and finish is a bit soft and if you use it, it will show) but an absolutely beautiful work of art! Intended on displaying this axe as a collectable (Maybe some studio use). But showing some ware already... once I played this guitar I was glad becouse I didnt feel the need to protect it and will use it for our live shows also.

Like I said above. The finish is soft, but this thing plays too nice and sound too sweet to not use it. Has a solid feel. You can tell your holding quality!

NA

I have been playing 27yrs. If it were stolen I would buy it again (If the new one was the same as the old). The trem almost does nothing, wich is good, as it stays in tune well. Can still get subtle dives and whah effect. I own: 2000 Gibson Les Paul Standard,1991 Jackson usa limited custom, 2002 Gibson VooDoo SG, 2004 Gibson 1961 ReIssue SG, 2000 Taylor 410 Acoustic. This Angus Young SG Runs with best of these guitars. You can hear the Angus SG on the album "Angels Calling", Free streams and downloads at GTOROCKZ.com

2001 made
Angus Young signature SG

Marshall 900 twin reverb
Distortion Pro
ds-1 silverscrew
sd-1
dd-3
Angus SG makes super lovely tone.
Compare to lespaul59 / charvel sandimas,,
It has superb sustain, deep and clean distortion sound.
Because of its fender like pickguard,
you can also feel the single coil sound.
For clean tone,,well,,you better go for ACDC
Only matter is half tone..you can never expect les paul.
If you want gibson half tone, go for the one for small pickguard
10 for ROCKERS
8 for Blues

The feel of the neck is great
Not as thick as 59,,
Not as thin as 60 or classic
very good feel
For Angus rear humbucker, I think it's little drier than 57 classic
which is also proper for 7080's rockers.

I've been playing for 20 years, done one album,
I strongly recommend this one for gibson 2nd time buyer.
My wife really loves the shape of SG with Lyre Vibrola
Actually, the lovely shape of SG, she was easy to prevail upon.

The Classic SG features and i don't think i need anything else.Oh!And that nasty Angus humbucker ;) . Also i love the black case that this guitar cames with. It's a little heavier than the standard SG (lyre vibrola and stuff).

The sound is..Perfect!..No, it is PERFECT!!No,no.. IT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
I've played it with a JCM 2000 Marshall at the shop and i wasn't surpized that it sounded like hell.The real surpize came when i've played it home in my louzy Vester AMP.I couldn't believe what i was hearing!!And believe me after playing for 12 years i know my stuff.
If you are an AC/DC fun you will end up with a stupit smile on your face!The guitar is capable for any style of music from Jazz and blues to Hard rock and metal.

Perfect.I've bought it from the official Gibson technician shop in Greece and their opinion was that it didn't need any adjustment at all. So i don't think i should say anything else.

It will lust forever if you are carefoul and you don't misthread it.Yeah i know about the neck so be carefoul. If you complain about some scrathes made now and then, hand the guitar on a wall and don't play.Some straplocks just to be sure and you're fine.

Mm i don't know

I've been playing for 12 years and my fingers have tasted some Fenders(hate them!) Jacksons and Gibsons. I think for what i'm playing it feats me perfect.Consider this..Saxon(sg's -all their early super albums),Accept (Gibson flying V forever), Judas Priest(SG's till the early 80's then Hammers's), Helloween(Weikath-Gibson les paul).Running wild(Gibsons),Maiden (occaisonally Gibsons), the big asholes Metallica(How dare they!),AC\DC :)
Anyway if you thinking of buy it i recomend you do. If you are an AC/DC fun and you have the cash, what the hell are you doing here!? Go and buy it..NOW!!!