Gibson SGJ – The Underdog

Body And Neck:
Hardware:
Electronics:
Sound:
Value:

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Gibson's SG series are probably the second most popular model this brand has to offer next to the Les Paul. Over time, it has become a signature guitar for certain bands like AC/DC, which only added to its ever-expanding popularity. However, classic SGs costs a pretty penny. With that in mind and the fact that not a lot of people see Epiphone's version as worthy, Gibson decided to push out a model that is between the two. It goes under the name of Gibson SGJ and it's among the best electric guitars to grab for less than a grand. Besides that, it's massively underrated.

Body And Neck

Featuring the well know SG shape, SGJ sports a nice, traditional mahogany body. One of the things you'll notice is the lack of trademark details such as the pickguard. This is the reason why so many guitar players simply disregard this awesome ax right off the bat. The neck comes in form of a maple design that sports Gibson's legendary slim taper profile. Build quality is standard Gibson, so don't expect any issues with this bad boy.

Hardware

One aspect where Gibson SGJ doesn't differ all that much from your regular SG is the hardware. We are looking at a standard Tune-o-Matic bridge with a stop bar on one end, while the headstock hosts a set of Gibson's standard tuners. These two combined work impressively well in terms of intonation and tuning retention. Sustain is great and so is the height of the action.

Electronics

The meat and potatoes of any guitar is the combination of pickups it comes with. In the case of Gibson SGJ, we are looking at a set of '61 Zebra humbuckers. These are relatively new and rather colorful, but we will expand on that topic a bit later. Two humbuckers are controlled using a set of two tone knobs, two volume knobs, and a pickup select switch. Naturally, each pickup has its own set of controls, as we are used to by now.

Sound

Once you plug the SGJ into an amp and start rolling off the volume, you will immediately understand why this thing is so underrated. Not only does it have a powerful, balanced tone, but it's so close to the original SG that it's often times hard to tell. People mistakenly think that SGJ is a ‘cheap copy of the real thing' but that couldn't be farther from the truth. This guitar is a beast, plain and simple.

Conclusion

If you are not a collector or someone who is so hellbent on having a traditional Gibson SG, this SGJ variant might just be the perfect guitar for you. It lacks some of the details that we are used to seeing on the standard SG, but that doesn't really matter all that much. In terms of functionality, these two guitars are too close to each other for anyone to dismiss the SGJ right off the bat. For the money, it's a great alternative.

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