Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe

I have a 1982 Gibson Sonex-180 Deluxe. This little monster is a two-tone sunburst fade with two-tone knobs and two-tone humbuckers. the knobs are my own custom feature with the the cream colored ones coming from a destroyed Thunderbird Bass. I have always been told this is a beginner guitar cuz of the bolt on neck, but it is far superior to other guitars in the price range. cream colored toggle as well.

I have always loved the Gibson sound, and this guit-box is no different. In fact this "beginner guitar" crushes some other Gibsons I have played. I play Two-tone era ska, Rockabilly,and old style U.S. and U.K. Punk.It even works well with Hendrix, Parliament and N.W.O.B.H.M..An all purpose guitar. I play through a 25 watt Marshall practice amp at home, and a Fender Twin for outside activities, although this thing pounds through a Sun bass 16 with Orange head. I have played it through a Vox, and some hippies Mesa Boogie.

The action is a little high, but I am a slob so it keeps me in line. This guitar has been in my cadre of infidels since it's make date, so it has been raised and lowered to the players taste and ability. The Humbuckers have been re-set and wiring re-soldered on my watch. I also had tuning pegs and bridge honed.

This guitar is the guitar for everything. I am clearly no Yngwie, so it may not work for some virtuoso, but for a tool like me it is perfect. Roddy Radiation like licks work well. If I could re-string and tune faster I would not require a back-up.

I have been playing 20 plus years. I own a 1981 Gibson Explorer bass, 2003 Mexican Fender Jazz bass, and a Epiphone Firebird, I think it is a 1999. I would buy another Sonex in a heartbeat. I love the shape, feel, and weight, plus the sound and action were made for me. I do love Firebirds, and wish i had the real deal to back this baby up.

i've had this superb geetar for about a year now n i hav rocked out on it nearly every single day of that time. this beast really rocks. the 2 humbuckers give it a load of beef which i great 4 the kinda stuff i play. my actual sonex is the creamy white colour. i dont know why it was only made 4 2-3 years its a classic! when i bought it i also got a hard case & strap locks too.

this beast is great for anything rocky or generally any type of music. its got good crunch and a creamy neck humbucker sound. this literally kicks the shit out of my dads '73 SG 100! lots of variety. i use a marshall guv'nor distortion, jim dunlop wah and zoom 606 multi effects.

the finish is impecable! it has a nice low action which is perfect for widdlin' (you know you8 want 2 lol) & the both zebra pickups are in mint condish. i haven't needed 2 adjust anything on this beast. its perfect!

i have used it on gigs and never needed a back up & when its put with a gud ol' valve amp i didnt want 2 swap it! its quite heavy but thats rock 'n' roll son!

i haven't needed 2 have it repaired or anything!

ive been playin for about 5 years. i also own...
*a 60's hofner V3
*jackson jrr 94 concept randy rhoads
*an 80's charvel super strat
*a danelectro convertable
*an original 1st series fernandes monterey
*a yamaha pacifica (customised)
*hondo les paul custom with bigsby trem (customised)

it has one zebra pic up and than another all white one on the bridge it has 2 tones 2 volums i keep the rythum turn all the way down i like that the pick up switch is down by the tone because i dont hit it as much mines been beat up alot the necks fat and smooth its also been repainted and the finish is a worne platnum wich i love cuz vintij kicks ass im gonna put some strap locks on it and im going to fix the other volum nob since it never goes down

it makes a huge thik distortion which i love its my favorite sounding guitar of all time it out dose my band mates '96 sg it can get some cool feed back and has great sustain

no problems at all perfect intination tuners are awsome very very solid a duribul

its my only guitar and im in no hurry to get a back up enless its a white sonex

its the best guitar ever if some one stole it i would track them dow and beat them to death with it if you find one buy it!!!!

I don't know much about this guitar, I'm assuming the things I don't know, like the type of wood and what year it was made, are the same for mine as they are for everyone else who posted here. I've replaced a lot on mine. I bought it with a broken pickgaurd, which holds all the controls, including the jack. I fixed it with duct tape at first but than eventually made a new pickgaurd out of maple wood. That raised my action a little bit, but it's still as low as I want it, which is low enought to play a lot of fast heavy metal. I replaced the bridge pickup with a seymour dunken cause the old one broke. I also painted it and sanded the paint off the back of the neck, and put some sort of stain over it, so the neck feels a little different now. It's got all the features of a les paul, which is all you could ask for.

My new pickup sounds great for heavy metal. The one that came with it sounded good for the punk rock I was playing at the time, but it'd be hard to really describe the sound from memory. The sustain is great, there's no fret noise, the guitar sounds great with the new pickups in it. The neck pickup is the original, and it kinda sucks. It's got a kind of bite to it like an old stereo or something. It is not a very full sound, but I don't use that pickup anyways. If I ever get into a style where I would use the neck pickup, I would definately replace it. The original bridge pickup was decent, it had a crunchy, dirty sound with distortion (I use a boss metal zone mt - 2 through a highly underated 100 watt Carvin amp and 4 12" celestion speakers in a Hughes and Kettner box). I really can't remember the sound it had clean. The guitar sounds freaking awesome now, but my rating is based on the original pickups.

If you put the work into it that I did, it'll look and play great, the action can be lowered to a good distance and, well, I repainted mine.

Definately a sturdy guitar. The thing is freaking heavy, though. Mine is pretty fragile, though with the pickgaurd I put on it. It tends to warp, which strips all the screws, which is a pain in the ass. For this reason, I would want a different guitar to tour with. Based on the way it was before my modifications, it's pretty sturdy with one serious problem. The input jack is attached, along with the other controls, to the pickgaurd, which is a thin peice of plastic. This is where mine was broken when I got it, and I'm sure it's happened to plenty of other people with this guitar.

For the price you can get these things for now, I'd say definately buy it if it's in good condition. Even if you do like I did and slap some seymour duncans in it, you'll still have a guitar that's much better than an Epiphone for about what you'd pay for one. It's not a 10 because of the pick gaurd and the original pickups and the weight, and it's not a 1 because it's durable, never goes out of tune, has great sustain, plays fast, is capable of setting the action low without getting fret noise, and is reasonably priced. If you're looking into buying one of these, I say do so because you can always buy new pickups and strap locks and all that other stuff, but all the stuff you can't upgrade like the neck and the body don't need replaced.

This guitar has fabulous features. The dials are esily accessable and the fact that there's four of them gives a massive range of tones. Perfect for volume swells. Really low action, which is definitely key for fast players. The tuning pegs/machine heads are the best i've ever seen on a Gibson. This thing stays in tune like a mofo, it is great. And the pickups just WAIL!!! these things are loud, my friends, and are perfect for crunchy garage funk, for blues, and especially heavy metal. The only complaint i have is that it needs strap locks... desperately.

Sounds like god on the overdrive. Depending on the settings, it can be wierd and shaky on the clean, though. I use a Traynor Custom YCV80 and it sounds pretty good cranked on that for chording and stuff, but I usually keep it on the overdrive.

Very good setup, although it has intonation problems sometimes. I picked it up a year or so ago, and it had 21 years on it before that. This things has taken a beating alright, but it's hard as a rock. Very good quality. Action is beautiful. So nice. Nice. It makes it easy to cut shredding solos and face melters, and fast jazz chromatic things too.

You could drop your amp on this thing (like i did once...) and it wouldn't budge, whereas i dropped my amp on my leg once and didn't walk for a week. You can depend on this thing alright. Dance in circles with it, jump on, light it on fire, it'll still sing.

No problems with the guitar yet. Good sign....

If you see one, buy one. I have only been playing for two years, and this thing has given me so much room for improvemnt that i can hardly keep up with myself. BUY ONE NOW.

'81 or ' i think, made in the USA. typical LP body shape, supposedly budget minded beginner's guitar. made from some sort of extra-hard wood-plastic composite. after palying this guitar for one day, dedided it needed straplocks for playing shows{don't they all?} stripped two screw heads driving them in about halfway, then decided to consult a professional. the same thing happened to him, but he finally got them in, and only charged half-price because he had to file the heads of the screws to the point at which they were flush with the body, and then try again with fresh screws. theses pick-ups absolutely scream! very loud! clean channels don't really sound that great to me, but overdriven this thing won't quit. neck is really beefy, which took some getting used to, after playing my SG for years.

the sonex is a pretty good fit to my band's sound, which is proto-punk garage stuff. i use a crate vintage cab 50 watt tube amp with a boss super distortion/feedbacker, and it sounds great, very crunchy, full sound. tends to feed back sometimes too much, so i back off the the tone and volume pots ever so slightly, and problem solved.

the action was set too high for me, and it was alittle too much work to play, but this isn't hard to adjust. the neck isn't as fast as i would like it, but for the sound this guitar gets, i can live with it. thhis guitar appears to have been refinshed in a gun metal grey, which i like a lot, but chips off really easily. the original finish appears to be a sort of cream color, according to what my belt buckle has discovered.

this guitar has taken a beating in the 20 odd years before i acquired it, and will most assuredly play for 20 more, with a little luck. i can and do depend on it, and this may shock some of you, but i never use a back-up, and i'm a lefty! only rock stars and losers carry multiple guitars to a show.

i have been playing for about ten years, and i alternate using this one my SG, which is all i really need. if ti were stolen or lost, i would be heartbroken because it is such a rare guitar and has such a unique sound. i purchased mine for less than $200.00, and it was the only lefty the guy had in his shop, so i couldn't pass it up. it looked like a piece of crap, but when i got it home and put new stings on it and plugged it in, i loved it. i wish mine had the coil-tap option like some other models,c'est la vie. if you can find one, buy it! they sell on e-bay from time to time for about 2-300.00 dollars.

AMAZING Features!!! pick ups sound awsome! they have great distortion and acoustic-like sound clean. It has the good ol' Gibson tone ive come to expect. It is U.S.A made so its definitly well made. The Mahogany gives it a really awsome lows and the gibson humbuckers SCREAM. The single cutaway gives easy access to the higher frets. The Tune-O-Matic works just fine, but i really want to see a Gibson with a Floyd Rose. Its neck is kind of weird, not in a bad way but it feels a lot bigger than my ibanez. The shop where I bought it threw in a free TKL hardshell case

Awsome tonality. It suits all of my musical needs. It has thundering lows for heavy metal, also SCREAMING highs for the metal monster in me. It also has great clean acoustic sound on clean. right now im using a marshall 10 watt and it sounds great but i played it on a Line 6 Flextone amp and it blew me away. Well its not noisy exactly but on the flextone it made that sound u get when you slide your fingers on the strings. it has a very full deep sound and im totally lovin it. It really can sound like anything you want it to, Except maybe a fender but the only decent feners are the american made ones and they cost $900 so this a much better deal. No dislikes at all for the tone.

All I have to say is American Made. Oh ya i bought it used and it had some dings in it but nothing major

I would play this guitar in the frigin rain if the cables wouldnt short out! this thing is 20 years old and it still plays like brand new!

Great company very helpful indeed.

GO FUCKING BUY ONE RIGHT NOW!!!!

This guitar is perfect for the music I play. Im into the chevell, tool type rock and this guitar is just perfect for my style. I play through a marshall JCM 800 and a 1960 cabinent. I also have a fender stage 160 with boss metalzone distortion. This guitar is average on producing loud sound. This gibson has one of the best sounds I have ever heard. It hgas nice clean high tones and a nice creamy low tone. You can make just about any sound through this guitar. The humbuckers will pick up anything. The thing I like about this guitar is thhumbuckers and the finish. It is unique in its own way. Gibson should still be makin this kind of guitar. Its one of their best.

The guitar is set up perfect. The action was alright, I tweekedwith it a little to make it sound better, but overerall it was good. The pickups were adjusted fine. The7y made the sound i wanted to hear from it. Overall the finish of the guitar is great. I've had it for over 20 years now and it still looks brand new.

This guitar will withstand live playing. The hardware has lasted 20 years and still it is in alright shape.The finish wears off pretty easy witgh lots of playing that is the only disapointment about this guitar.

.............no

THIS GUITAR IS THE BEST. IF YOU FIND ONEBUY IT. YOU WNOT REGRET IT!!!!!!!!

excellent sounding and playing guitar... and iagree with others that if this guitar was lost or stolen that i would buy another, if i could find one in good condition and for the right price....as you know how cheap we really are , welove to buy things for little or nothing because its in our natue to be cheap... but in actual reality, the sonex is worth a good $1000 us, in great condtion.. if you can find one.. and i think that it would be a great collectors item just from all the testimonials about the unit...as time goes on they become fewer... so whos to say that their opinion is mor truer than mine regarding it being a collectors item? this guitar is still in great demand for those who know about and know a fine playing instrumentlike the 180....

30yrs

All the other reviews have pretty much covered it. Standard poor man's Les Paul set up. Mine is a 1982 Candy Apple Red. It was beat to hell, and the finish is chipping. But the neck and electronics are perfect. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard, and its wide and FAST! As good of a neck on any Gibson I have ever owned or played. I love it.

This thing HONKS!!!! I play 70s style rock and some blues and jazz, and it handles them all quite well. But this isn't your father's Gibson, boys. This thing is mean and growly, sort of a cross between my old 72 SG Standard and a Les Paul Standard. I play it through a Peavey tube amp, and my bandmates Ampeg and Fenders, and it has a unique style all its own no matter which amp you use. The bridge pickup gives decent highs and the neck pickup is not as muddy as some Gibsons. All in all a very nice sounding humbucker!

I bought this off e-bay and had it set up by Stew and Stew' Guitars, so I don't know what the factory settings were like. But with a good guitar tech, this thing plays like a dream. It's a 1982 and the neck is straight and the frets still good.

Like I said, its a 1982 and I have no idea where its been. The paint is chipped and the finish is cracking, but the thing seems to be solid as a rock.

Don't need it when you buy used and have a good guitar tech!

I am 48 and have been playing guitar for 38 years in rock bands and for my own enjoyment. If this were stolen, I would find another one and buy it if the price was right. Not a collecto's item, but a solid and good sounding Gibson.