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!!!

I haven't been playing for a long time, so I don't know a lot of the technical aspects, but I can say that this guitar blew away any of the other SG's I tried. I don't use the vibrato, in fact, I removed the bar because it got in my way, but the Angus pickup added the ripping sound I was looking for.

Anyone looking to play pure hard rock will like this guitar. I use it through my Marshall half-stack and it is a perfect fit. I don't use hardly any effects, and the guitar/amp combo I have provide the exact full, rich sound I'm looking for.

I took this guitar to a tech about three months after I bought it for a check-up, and he didn't adjust a thing, I guess that means it was set up just right. I bought it new, and everything was perfect.

I've been gigging with this guitar for two years now, and I haven't had one problem. I've never had a backup when gigging, (which may be stupid), but hey, if this guitar went out, I would probably just cancel the gig...

No problems

I bought this guitar when it first came out, and I know I didn't get much of a deal on it, but I don't care.

I've been playing guitar for about 5 years now, and this was the first guitar I've purchased over $1000. I tried several Les Pauls and Fenders (which really suck), among others, and I can honestly say if I ever get a different guitar it will probably be a another SG. I like to spazz out on stage, and that's hard to do when you have a 40 lb. Les Paul on your shoulder. The SG's sound is excactly what I like, and I will stick with it. If Angus ever got lost or stolen, I'd buy another, then lock it in a fire-proof safe, buy one more, and play that one.

my angus young sig.series SG was completed in january 2001 ive owned it since oct. 2002. i like the tremelo feature. i dont bend the shit out of it, but it's a solid peice of steel so it looks like it can take a beating. love the sound of the pick-ups. two opposite sounds, my style of guitaring... no pedals needed. the case does its job it has a little lock on it... just enough to keep little fingers away from this rock guitar. this guitar is my second ( my 1st being a strat knock-off ) so my SG rules the planet as far as im concerned

like i said it suits my style perfectly. ive only used it on a large amp twice. i live in an apartment so i got a small fender amp. but the sound is there. this guitar screams "play me loud you bastard"

im not a guitar tec... so as far as im concerned its my baby... perfect. people that see the guitar are amazed with it. some are facinated by the body quality and others dont know what to say

im sure when i start playing live this thing'll kick ass. ive been told to get strap locks. id always carry a back-up in case of a busted string, but i use fat strings, and i'll play it hard wherever i am. ive got no questions about its durability.

sent an e-mail asking about my guitar, when it was born, how many were made... that kind of thing... i was totally satisfied with the responce. not sure about a warranty, i never looked into it... dont care to.

if this were lost or stolen, i already have a list of all the pawn shops with a fax ready to go out. the following days would be nerve racking... id probably kick puppies. would i buy another? i think so. i took me a total of 3 weeks to decide to purchase this guitar. i didnt know it existed till i went to gibson.com, then i asked about it at the store 2 weeks later, went home and my mind was made up.

My Angus was new this past Christmas (2001). I won't take your time describing the features because you can already read them several times over. The one thing I'll say is that the neck is the fastest, thinnest neck available on any new SG anywhere. Gibson told me it was once on the late 60's SG's, and has not appeared anywhere else except by special order. You have got to feel this neck if you haven't already. My only other opinion on features is that I find the "Angus"-engraved lyre trem OK, but the devil on the headstock is cheesy when comapred to the proper crown inlay.

When it comes to rock and blues, this guitar flat kicks ass. I have a '56 reissue Strat and an ES-335 DOT reissue, so I was surprised at how sweetly the Angus-signature bridge pickup cleans up.

This axe screams "Play Me"! You can feel its energy when you simply strum it, sans amp. Mine is a perfect specimen, but unlike what others have to say, I made Sam Ash show me 5 of these, IN BOX, before I found one that was perfect in appearance. I either found yellow color in the trapezoid inlays, or shallow lyre engraving that was almost imperceptible after the nickel was applied.

Once upon a time I played out and was very demanding. Today I'm an old duffer who has the money I never had when I played, so I collect vintage reissues (if I had serious money they'd be just plain vintage). My Angus feels just as road-ready as my '52 Tele, and way more durable than my RIC 381V69/12. It's iron-clad...but as someone else said, don't trust the neck-side strap button. Get straplocks.

Gibson has great warrantys. I have a great relationship with a Gibson-certified, 4-star luthier, who takes care of me at Gibson's expense. For instance, I thought my E-1st bridge saddle was cut too shallow and the string would pop out if I finger picked double-stops. The luthier replaced the entire bridge, no charge, and hand-cut all 6 new saddles for me.

It's everything you read here. Enjoy yours.

Gibson Angus Young SG made in 2000. Solid shaped mahagony body, custom finished in Aged Cherry stain. Two humbucking pickups - Angus Young Signature in bridge position, '57 Classic in neck position, 2 volume 2 tone controls and 3-way pickup selector switch. Neck is slim mahogany - 22 jumbo frets with bound rosewood fingerboard and trapezoidal pearl inlays. Angus headstock decal. Comes with engraved Maestro Lyre Vibrola and ABR bridge. Tuners are Gibson Std (Green knobs). All hardware is nickel. Custom Angus Young case included.

I play mainly blues/rock and heavy metal. It suits these styles perfectly. The bridge position pickup cuts through in any mix. I use it with a Fender PA135 valve head with Boss GEB7 EQ, Ibanez Tubescreamer TS9, Boss SD2 Dual Overdrive, Boss DS1 Distortion, Crybaby Wah and Boss CS2 Chorus effects and an Ampeg 4 x 10" cabinet.
The clean sound is good especially in the neck position.
This guitar lacks the versatility of say a Les Paul or a Strat I would say primarily this guitar is designed as a soloing instrument.
This is the kind of guitar that benefits from a selection of both amplifier gain and effects overdrive and distortion.

*** I purchased this guitar brand new in an UNOPENED Gibson box ***.

The action was acceptable but requires work. A little paint run on the treble side of the neck looks unsightly.
Most importantly the Maestro unit rattled uncontrolably whenever playing. Apart from being incredibly annoying, it was a real disappointment.

I haven't used this guitar live yet. I think this guitar will withstanded live playing (taking care). The hardware (Nickel) unlike chrome is hard to maintain - especially if you sweat a lot. Easiest way is to invest in a impregnated silver polish cloth. This makes keeping the pickup covers clean and shiny simple.
I will invest in some strap locks - There's something about an SG's front pin !
I break too many string to not use a back-up.

Refer to my comments on Action, Fit and Finish.

I reported the vibrola rattling problem to the sales agent. I returned the guitar and it was fixed immediately (while I waited)without question. I was impressed.

I've been playing guitar on and off for 10 years. I also own a '89 MIJ Fender Stratocaster and a '97 Gibson Les Paul DC Studio. I'm a former bass player so I'm still getting my head around the 6 strings. I bought this guitar on impulse - it was worth it. I love the fact it sounds more "organic and earthy" than the Les Paul and has a lot more "balls" than the Strat.

I love this service that Harmony Central provides thanks to all you good people who contribute, so I try to reciprocate whenever I can. I bought a new Gibson Angus Young SG for $1459 and it is close to the best guitar money I have ever spent. I went back and forth about just getting the 61 SG reissue w/ vibrato, but I played one and played an Angus side by side and the Angus was worth the extra $. I could have done w/out the devils and "Angus" stuff but, hey, its what sounds best right plus you really can't make out the devil on the headstock or the engraving from a distance. Somehow though it still looks HOT.

Great sound. These pickups are very nice, responsive, dial them in however you want. If this guitar is nothing else, it IS a great sounding Gibson. Pickups are smooth and sustain for days. This guitar makes any amp sound better and no need to add artificial gain, so you get the au natural souunds. Will play "Back in Black" like a "mother".

Gibson has done well the last few years and is doing better. This SG's finish, binding and other details are a thing of beauty. I love SG necks and this is no exception. It is identical to my 72 SG Standard (my first real guitar) that I sold in 1981.

Never had to have repair. Set up was good. THe only thing that i worry about is the Vibrato as I have'nt dealt with this type before.

Don't know.

An Sg in my opinion is a Gibson that is light but still can muster up the sound of the LP, though not as dark and smooth. It is a workhorse, light enough on stage for acrobatics with a neck that allows someone with smaller hands to do his/her thang. The Angus fits the "SG Bill" perfectly and better than any other SG sold today.

Well sorry, one of those "gushing" reviews I hate to read. All I can say is I have a number of trashing reviews on this board re: newer Gibsons. Hoped the signature SG would have more go than show, unlike alot of signature crap. Wanted vintage vibe, without the creeping crude of a 30 year old guitar. Dark, well finished cherry, nickel finish, classic lyre trem system, subtle ANGUS engravement on trem assembly and dark gold decal on headstock (not garish at all), black and black w/black liner case, Angus pickups, mahogany joined neck, mahogany body, thin neck, like other reviews have said. Refined and classic looking, does remind me of the standard SG I had, +lyre, but this one's got a decidedly better neck and pickups.

First, amazing sustain. Damn, I'm just really surprised how much sustain this thin, light-weight guitar generates. I kept comparing to my other Gibsons and thinking I must be really off. Using 10s. Plugged in, sustain for years. yea, it is a dark vibe, but will brighten up sufficiently with the bridge pu toned up. The gain sensitivity of the neck and bridge pickup is just perfect, assuming you want to go from deep/slightly overdriven to arena distortion. The heavy SG vibe is right on. This is sort of the anti-christ to single coils.

The quality is obvious, the binding, dressing and finish are well done. The body shaping is really first class, even down to the points on the cutways. The neck is thin, vaery close to my ES345. Not too narrow - I was worried about this after playing a slim-taper LP Re-Issue - yuk. This SG's got enough room for med-large fingers, good spacing at the nut. Great upper fret access. Best of all it's super comfortable for extended play, thin with good curves, not heavy. Frets are,,, medium jumbo I think I would have preferred thinner wire but at least its not the industrial jumbo that's in vogue now.

Well, it's thin and light with a minimum of neck support. When not around my neck it's going directly into the case. I consider SGs to be fragile guitars.

Would never call them. Have never submitted a warranty card.

Yea, I've got alot of gear, some 60's / 70's, some modern. Like guitars with real character, a unique voice and depth. Really pleased with this SG, frankly, surprised Gibson pulled it off as well as they did. Now I have to stop bashing Gibson, for a while anyway. Wished I had this a year or two ago, would have probably avoiding buying a selling a few guitars. Hey, if your looking for a quality and very playable guitar with genuine vibe you should search one of these bad boys out and give it a try. I think they're worth the price.

This is a very nice guitar. Year 2000 or 2001 Gibson 'Angus Young' signature SG. I think it is based on a SG standard but it has 1 or 2 refinements which give it a bit more character, and make it a little more special. Firstly, 1 piece of very nice mahogany for the body. The colour is very different from most newish cherry finish SG standards that i have seen. It is very dark cherry red, almost brown but not quite. The standard of finishing is very high and the grain of the wood shows through really well. The fingerboard, binding and frets are all quality and beautifully finished. 'Angus' engraved on the tremolo plate (big piece of metal) and large ivory coloured tip on the arm. Mr. Young signature pick-up in the bridge position and a '57' classic at the neck. The neck profile is slightly slimmer than on my SG standard which suits the small handed among us very nicely indeed. Headstock has the usual amount of machineheads and the 'Angus devil' motif on it for the finishing touch. VERY GOOD KIT !!

It sounds like a 'Angus Young' signature SG should sound. Like a big fat man who is feeling very fat after just winning a pie eating contest, it really does sound FAT!! On the bridge sig. pick-up, it does that 'loud and distorted sound that isn't really that distorted at all' (AC/DC fans will know what i mean)the classic 'Angus' sound. Turn up the gain (but not to much) a wee bit and it really sings. The '57' at the neck is a real 'sweetie', does jaaazzz club to a T. Very quiet all round, surprisingly versatile but built to ROCK !!

Factory set up was ok, but i will probably get the action lowered and intonation thouroughly checked if i start to use it often. The guitar has ZERO flaws and i have examined it all over. Whenever i buy a guitar, i'm always super critical over the condition of the instrument. From my experience and in my opinion, if you buy imperfection then it will just become more imperfect, be very fussy before you part with your big pile of wonger.

This guitar has never been gigged so i can't really comment on its durability. It is very well made and i think i would probably cry if it got damaged.

1 year warranty. I have called the UK importer once and found them helpful and not patronising. However, if i did have problems within the year, i would go through the retailer where i bought it from. Outside the year, i would use John Diggins (JayDee guitars) in Birmingham, England because he is the master of 6 string devilry.

I have not been playing long at all. However, i have been around guitars for about 15 years (my elder brother played in bands for a long time). To me, nice guitars are a joy to behold, more than just a tool to make a noise. Through patience and hard work, i have managed to obtain a fine if small collection of guitars, as follows: Ernie Ball Music Man EVH1 in translucent black (very rare colour in Europe apparently), made in 1995. This is my pride and joy. Peavey Wolfgang in translucent red, made in 2001. Beautiful guitar, unusual 'ripple type' quilt top. Cherry red Ltd. Edition Gibson SG standard with short Maestro trem. 'Angus SG' as detailed above and a Tokai Love Rock Les Paul in honeyburst (if interested, see my review under Tokai Love Rock). The 'Angus' SG is a damn fine guitar and if you could stretch to it, a better buy than a SG standard. Gibson prices seem to be going a bit mad in the UK again which brings me onto my final point. I bought my 'Angus' SG (and my SG standard) from a shop in West London called 'Peter Cook's guitar world'. I travelled from Worcester (about 120 miles) south and saved myself between #500-#700 ($700-$900). The train ticket cost me #18. I could not believe that shops in the west end of London could charge #700 more for this guitar than Peter Cook's. I got on a tube and 20 mins. later i was buying my SG and saving myself a whole load of dough. If you're in the market for a new Gibson and want to save yourself a 'few quid', and don't mind travelling (if you live outside London)go to Peter Cooks. Very friendly, no rush or pressure (unlike many music shops, patronising bastards). I don't work for Peter Cook's, this is my opinion and my experience.
One more thing, if anybody out there just wants to talk nice guitars, especially from the states, i'm all eyes and ears. E-mail below.
Cheers !!

Well,lets see.This is a 2000 model made in october.it has a cherry finish and has a maestro vibrola,i think.Two humbukers,the bridge being an angus signature model,tune-o-matic bridge.A very nice looking tone maker.Little devil on the head stock and his name engraved on the vibrola.The case is a very nice one indeed.A little too small though,you almost have to force it in at the body of the guitar,i hope it streches out over time.

I play rock,blues,metal and some country.Even a little jazz now and then,but this one is strickly rock and blues folks.with a marshall,it is easy to get angus tones,almost too easy.but crank the gain and you will get sabbath,lower the tone you get cream era clapton.this thing sounds real sweet.i normally run it with a marshall TSL 2000 combo,with a GT-5 from boss for effects.I usually bypass the effects with this one it just screams straight into the amp.not noisy either,the signature pickup is very good,he should sell those seperately.i don't use the bar on it too much,but it is nice to have,lets just say i wouldn't do dive bombs with it.all around sg sound.if you like SG's you will totally dig this one.Plugged into my recording set-up it sounds really nice as well.It is not an all around axe,but for rock and blues it is damn fine.....damn fine.

Action was set up nice.No fret buzz.Pickups set just right for me,but all that stuff is to be adjusted to suit the player.the wood is matched up nicely,and i see no glue on it anywhere.everything looks good,it looks like the guys at gibson paid attention to this one.

everything on it looks durable on it,but i have not had it long to judge this.i will say i think it is durable enough and that i can depend on it,only time will tell.

I own several gibsons and everytime i ask them something,be it by phone or e-mail,they respond quickly.all my guitars are under warranty.this has the gold warranty on it.Very friendly,i know some people don't care too much for their customer support,all i can say is they haven't let me down yet.

i have been playing for over ten years now,i own a jimmy page les paul,a les paul studio,a prs ce22,taylor 310ce,peavy wolfgang special,and now this one.i run them thru a marshall TSL-2000 combo,Peavy trans-fex pro 212s,fender vibro champ and a pod with a 2.0 upgrade.effects wise i have a gt-5,rockman sustainor/chorus/delay rack,and so many pedals i can't name them all,well not that many but i have a few.I went to sam ash just to look around and when i seen this beauty i had to have it.Kudos to the staff at Sam Ash in Nashville they were helpful and took care of me while i checked it out we even riffed on a few bars of shot down in flames.Well enough of that ,the bottom line is this,If you want an SG that sounds like it should,you should check this one out.i believe you get what you pay for and even though this is slightly expensive ,it is worth it. I believe Gibson is making fine guitars these days,especially in the past 5 years or so.And this one ranks as one of the best in their signature series.

Basically my 2000 Angus Young signature model SG is the only signature ANYTHING I'll ever own. It's pretty much a duplicate of his favorite '68 SG Standard, with a couple of "personal" appointments. It's your regular SG Standard setup (like the current late 60's style SG Std's), with the addition of the infamous lyre-plate long Maestro Vibrola. This vibrola is a little different, because it has 2 lightning bolts in place of the twig thingies engraved behind the harp/lyre, and in place of "Gibson" it says "Angus". Yeah, it's a little cheesy to some people, but I dig it. On the headstock there's a little gold screen decal of Angus' little Devil cartoon character instead of the inlaid crown. The volume and tone knobs are like on later 60's SGs (kinda look like Fender 70's amplifier knobs). The bridge position pickup is an "Angus Signature" pickup--this one sounds sorta like a beefed-up Classic PAF with more low's. Otherwise the layout is the same 2 humbucker, 3-way toggle, 4 knob, trapezoid inlaid SG Standard we've come to love. The color is "Aged Cherry", and is a wonderful medium dark shade of the famous "heritage" Cherry translucent finish. I will add that the body is a little more rounded at the edges than the stock Standards of today-this makes it a little more "vintage" in appearance, and thus more accurate a repro of Angus' own SG. The neck is sort of a cross between a slim taper and the regular '62 rounded style necks. The Angus case alone is really cool too. Outside it's all black, and the hardware and Gibson logo are all silver. The interior is all black, and on the little flip-out cover there is a silver screen-printed "Angus" cartoon devil like on the guitar's headstock. This case looks a billion times cooler than the brown & gold case with that gay pinkish-purple interior.

Since I play AC/DC-ish kind of hard-edged rhythm-&-blues based loud rock, this one's THE guitar! Paired up with my VOX and Fender amps (and a little help from "Ol' Yeller" (my old Boss overdrive), this thing gets a convincing Angus-tone (you'd never know it wasn't plugged into a Marshall JTM-45!), and with the Big Muff also can get great Tony Iommi or Monster Magnet type sounds. But I gotta give cred's to the clean tones too, cause with no gain and both pickups on, it gives a pleasant clean tone. I am one of the few people who aren't scared to USE the Maestro vibrola, so that lets me pretend I'm Gary from the Jayhawks for a few songs too! No complaints on the tone factor.

For once, I was actually pleased with NO complaints about a Gibson finish! This thing looks immaculate, and the underlying wood is beautiful. I will only fuss about a couple very minor things. First off, they put .009 gauge strings on it, and I'm used to .010's or .011's, so it feels a little to limp when bending and fretting. Not a major thing though. Next, the bridge pickup was a little high, as was the string action. But a little adjustment with the old screwdriver fixes that for good. Overall, still VERY satisfied.

I have always played SG's, and always relied on them without ant tests of faith. I'm not one of those dummies who purposely puts his guitars through unnecessary Hell, nor do I leave my high-end SG's leaning somewhere they could easily be tipped over or lying on the ground (headstocks are fragile, DUH!). This one will withstand reasonable live playing, and I will not feel the need to have a backup for it. It will get strap-locks to avoid dropping while doing the scoot or while spinning around on the floor. And although Gibson's finishes aren't the most durable, as long as you keep them reasonably clean and don't be too abusive they will last just fine (hell, ANGUS'S HAS!).

I have had minimal dealings with Gibson's Customer Relations. The few things I have dealt with them on were irrelevant to the quality of their guitars. I haven't ever encountered a serious quality issue with Gibson. The only things I have dealt with them on are certain aspects of the accuracy of their new Historic SG/Les Paul Standard reissues. I have one of those due in any day now, and will post a review as soon as I get it. They say if it does not meet my approval (I have owned literally dozens of 60's SGs and know what it SHOULD be like), they will make it right. If this is the case, I will give their Relations Dept rave reviews.

Having owned many SGs, I am extremely picky about SG reissues and similar instruments, but this one was a pleasant surprise. A great combination of vintage features and "signature" appointments make it a must have for AC/DC fans, or for those wanting a late 60's type SG with the long vibrola. I did not buy this one for vintage accuracy, but was pleased at how close this one really is to Angus' own '68. I will wait for my Historic SG Std. to be picky about historical accuracy. But for the money, this one's a keeper!