Gibson SG Diablo

2008;
24 frets;
1 volume, 1 tone;
3 way pick up selector;
H/H;
passive;
red metallic nitrocellulous;
gold hardware;
narrow, thick neck;
nice white plush interior case

huge, fat, destroy-all-monsters-type-big.
no single coil sounds, but it is a Gibson, after all.
I have other instruments to fulfill that need.

Action was a little higher than my typical set-ups. I like ultra-low action, spoiled by my Ibanez Wizard. But great for digging in; acoustically impressive tone. Have not played slide on it yet, but would hate to ding the guitar, so probably will wait some time for that.
Cosmetically beautiful. Some microscopic flaking of the binding at the neck terminus in front of the neck pickup.

I guess I bought it as a show guitar, although I am scared of dinging it... or wearing the gold plate off. My Ibanez has performed for 18 years without a broken string or, frankly, a need to retune. Thank you Floyd Rose. My 1979 SG is very tempermental, never stays in tune. All hail the locking nut. The Diablo is holding up as well as any guitar with a standard nut could be expected to.

I have written Gibson at various times throughout the years. They tend to return messages. If I need a guitar doctor, there are a few trusted ones in the metropolitan area north of me.

I can almost not believe it, but I own this guitar. Ogled it for 18 months on the Gibson website, found a brand new one in a most unexpected outlet, tagged with a ridiculously low price. Took the wife and kids down to look at it. Paid what I suspect is the lowest price on the planet for one, less than used SG Diablos on ebay, or anywhere else. I could have never have afforded the list, or even the prices found around on the internet. My lucky day, and a dream come true. This guitar is so insane, and sounds so mighty and huge and fat. It is unspeakably gorgeous. I bought a 'The SG' brand new in 1979, and if you want to talk about the evolution of guitar, this thing is like peering thousands of years into the future. I have played a Wizard neck for the last 18 years, so Gibson necks feel a little narrow and deep in my long, skinny fingered hands, but I have always loved the 24 3/4" scale. The action is a little higher than I have been used to, so I am going to lower the bridge a bit. My 79 SG is very buttery, but it really needs a fret job, as it has a few fret-out spots along the fretboard. 30 years of bends, it happens. Back to the Diablo: played it through a vox modeling amp, it was godhead. I felt like the king of the world. My wife loves the tones, she says it sounds much fatter and huger than my Ibanez (which frankly is a pretty spectacular guitar, custom built for me 19 years ago). Something that I am really struck by is the balance between the bridge and neck pickups. While there is a shift in tonality and harmonic overtones, the levels are perfectly matched. They really complement one another. The carved body is just stunning, the red/gold (diablo, perfect) color scheme, well... it is not something that I would normally go in for (more of an orange, black, or white person), but it is just so beautiful. It is the first guitar that I have ever been so swayed by its cosmetics before even hearing it. But what a growl! The SG Diablo just oozes rock, even bluesy rock. Some instruments kind of just take you over, dictate what or how you will play. I do not know if subliminally I am just returning to 1979 and my first SG, or if it is just the nature of the beast, but my inclination is to dig in and bend and hold those notes. A beautiful, musical breakup out of these pickups, so warm. I want to say crunchy, but it is so much smoother than that. It is a golden tone. This guitar does not have any single coil type vibe at all. I am not a huge humbucker fan, but this is just so right, it just rocks, the power in your hands when you play this guitar is astonishing, inspiring. Here is the caveat: I would never have thought once about playing this guitar if it were not for the 24 fret neck. It has always driven me out of my mind that SGs did not have 24 frets. For heaven's sake, they put that little plastic Les Paul plate where they could have had the next two frets on the original models. The voluptuous carved top, the sexy metallic red finish with gold hardware (even the cream binding and pickup frames are all right), the tone for as far as the ear can hear, the 24 frets to take you to the nth level... I am so satisfied and delighted with this guitar. I always regretted not finding a way to buy a 24 fret Les Paul DC back when Gibson made them (not the 22 fret imposter of the same name that they sold recently). I could not let another masterpiece pass me by again. If you can get your hands on a 24 fret, carved top SG of any flavor, do yourself a sweet favor and do it. I am a deliriously satisfied guitarist. I have been jamming it through my vintage Fender Champ at home, was so inspired by it that I had to record a little tune that the Diablo muse brought on. Three tracks of this lovely devil sounding mighty fine. I am too giddy about my Diablo now (I guess I am in the infatuation phase of the relationship). I had best sign off. People, guitar people: This guitar rules. Sonically crushing, aesthetically breathtaking. I love it.

this is a limited edition Sg, guitar of the month.
guitas has a special carved arch top and a red - metallic finish.
burstbucker 1-2 neck bridge p.ups.
really amazing semi-fat neck.
very light and balanced guitar.

I love this sound of Gibson guitar. Neck is never muddy while remain woody and warm. great in between position - a little out of phase - and hot bridge p.u.
great balanced sound - rock from bridge / jazz blues from neck / country from both p.ups

finish is perfect and action good.
This is may perfect neck size, fat - but not as fat like an old les paul.
fretboard seems wide, a little moore then a regular sg
great for articulated arpeggios.
all the frets are in tune and easy to play

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this is my best Gibson. I love the light, confortable body and easy to play fat neck - I hate slim neck !
body and pickups give you a lot of sounds, from jazz (I play jazz/blues) to country to rock.
this is my guitar for life.

2008 Gibson SG Diablo in Red Metallic. First run 1000 made. All mahogany body/rosewood 24 fret fretboard. First carved top(and back)SG. Looks 3D. Looks sick! Grover tuners (bonus!), Burstbucker Pro 1 and 2 pickups (unique to this model?) cause there's Burstbucker Pros then there's Burstbucker 1,2, and 3's. Dunno...? Pros are wax potted and burstbucker 1,2, and 3's aren't. These are...Twilight Zone anyone? Moving on it's got (2) 300K CTS pots (Volume/Tone) and a 22k cap. The controls have been moved closer to the bridge and it's a lot easier to get to them now. Comes with white plush interior/black exterior case with "Guitar of the Month" written on it.

I'm using this guitar with a Gibson Super Goldtone GA-30RV 30 watt class A amp and it screams. I'm a tinkerer and took out the cheap ceramic disk cap Gibson uses for cost cutting and put in a Sprague Orange Drop. Much much better...ahhh. This guitar will sustain forever I think. I can't get it to stop sustaining. The notes evenly turn from fretted note to beautiful harmonics with ease. I've owned several SG's (SG Custom, '65 SG Special) and neither had the balls of this beast.

I set up my own guitars and hate that Gibson leaves the tailpiece up in the air instead of all the way down so it can capture more resonance. Action was a bit high for my liking but I lowered it and now it plays like buttah. Neck pickup is HOT and had to be lowered.

It's an SG..Don't drop it and treat it like it's made of glass and you'll have a great guitar for a long time.

HA!

Been playing for 22 years. I've worked in 2 music stores and owned 3 SG's, 3 LP's, currently own a CS-336 (AMAZING GUITAR) and play through a Gibson amp. I'm a Gibson nut and consider myself an expert on Gibsons. This is a BADASS guitar. There's my rating...

Gibson SG Diablo. Only one thousand made for February 2008 Guitar Of The Month series. Candy apple red/metal flake paint finish. One piece mahogany body. Carved top/carved back. Burstbucker pickups. 24 frets. One volume and one tone knob, three way pickup selector. Block inlays on fretboard. Grover tuners. Special Guitar Of The Month hardshell case. I'lll give the Diablo an 8 for features because only having one tone knob for both pickups prevents me from generating that lovely howl I can get on my '61 SG ri by cutting one knob and fully opening the other.

I purchased the SG Diablo because it displayed everything I've wanted in an SG for a long time.
I've wanted the SG to have a carved top for years. The Les Paul has had carved tops for decades, and I've always felt that the SG was neglected by Gibson's design department. The SG has been treated like a red-headed stepchild.....until now.

The Diablo's most radical departure from the norm is the body carving. The original outer routing is still intact, but now it's got an inner bowl carve from the routing edge inward to a rise in the center.

The new body is absolutely stunning. It has a flowing liquid quality.

All I can think: "Wow. Gibson finally finished designing the SG. It is now complete".

The Burstbucker pickups are remarkable, and belong on this guitar. Playing through my Budda 18-watt combo, this guitar sounds like a living, breathing demonic being. "Diablo" is undeniably the proper name for this gorgeous beast.

Many people were concerned about the placement of the volume knob being so close to the bridge, that it might interfere with comfortable hand movement, but this is not the case. The knob sits in the trough of the carve, and resides below the string height, and sits almost evenly with the bridge pickup. It's not in the way at all, and in fact, I don't think my fingers have bumped it once.

Gibson designed this guitar wonderfully. It's very well thought out, through and through.

The solid metal-flake red paint is beautiful. This guitar resembles an exotic Italian sports car. Its hard to take one's eyes from it. Hypnotic and mesmerizing this guitar is.

I jumped on this guitar when it first went on sale, and I'm glad I did; most vendors are now sold out. Comes with a very nice special case.

Buy one while you still can! You will not regret it. :)

This guitar was put together very well. Solid build. I've not found any flaws yet. I'm still looking. I know about Gibson's history of weak quality control. My 1961 SG reissue had to be sent back to the factory for a clearcoat rework (masking tape not removed before applying clearcoat, began to rot and peel away). This Diablo seems to have no issues.

Seems solid as a rock.

Gibson fixed my 1961 SG reissue and did a very good job, however it took them 10 months to get it back to me.

I've been playing guitar for 20 years. I would buy it again if lost or stolen, but it might be difficult to come up with another $2100 !!