this is a despicable tale. one evening in a dingy room in north london, we were getting ready for our second ever gig. as we were stashing our gear in one corner, i saw this brown gibson hardcase amongst the guitar cases piled across the room. in true sour grapes mode, i went , “hah. ini case aje kot…”.
this tennessee-hewn piece of mahogany is owned by wan “yeah yeah yeah!” adrie, a mate of ours who was studying engineering in sheffield a few years back (well known amongst our circle for his “business, love? no, engineering” story). he and his housemates (for the life of me, i can’t remember what they called themselves) were churning out original tunes at that gig in london, and gave a stupendous performance with great audience participation, despite being the first band onstage. when asked on why he chose to play the guitar, the prompt reply was, “slash!”. yes.
his gibson SG standard seen here is a rightie, but adrie is a southpaw. not just any old southpaw, but a typical melayu* southpaw. in the old days, lefthanded guitarists learnt to play the guitar using right-handed ones. the lower gauged top strings would then be the bottom strings, and so forth. unlike uncle jimi who strung his rightie strats the leftie way, meaning a new nut and setup to account for the reversal of string tension blah de-blah. if i’m not mistaken, guys like man keedal and joe of wings play the guitar the melayu style (trabye, can you confirm? -ed.)
the SG has a gorgeous tone despite the lightness/thinness of the mahogany as compared to the chunkier les paul. it has the same 498T/490R humbucker combo as the pre-2002 les paul standard. and if you remember lmsn rds’ entry on the guild, they do share similar traits. i remembered when he left his SG with me for a couple of weeks and it was a joy to play. had to be extra careful that time though, as the vintage-styled kluson machinehead for the G string was buggered. gibson only sold them in threes, and i was lucky to get just the one for him from this guitar repairman-cum-luthier in newcastle.
being a typical gibbo, these guitars are ‘easier’ (strat players would know what i mean). the last time i saw this guitar rocked onstage was the 1999 sheffield gig. it was a memorable set, where they went metal full on. what with lmsn rds singing screaming “the police! the police!” on a sepultura cover (this story will be in another upcoming entry).
* so that southpaws get to just pickup a righthanded instrument and perform in circumstances like band orang kahwin.
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signature tune: back in black by ac/dc
she’s a beaut!
try reading this with ‘back in black’. feel some vibe going on here.
hoi… hoi… sorg lagi nak main kasar nampak?!
Lmsn sejak jadik papa ni dah sensitip siot… heh heh.
Hahahahaa… And I’ve seen THE VIDEO!!!
“The POLICE, THE POLICE!!!”
You’d think he was serious.
aduihs…
its my turn, is it? 🙂
question: this has nothing to do with the SG, just wanna ask how much is an american fender strat in the UK?
Melayu style ek? Correct on both counts…
er…I have an epiphone SG. Never picked up the Gibson variant. Tonality wise though what’s the difference? Can you guys enlighten me?
I used to have an Epi 56 Goldtop, and Lmsn has the Gibbo variant (if I’m not mistaken it’s a 56 Goldtop lah) and I’ve played it. Not exactly the same elements in the equation, but I guess it’s comparable.
I’d say that the Gibbos sound ‘full-er’. It’s got that darker, heavier sound to it. But it can also be bittersweet-mellow. I think it’s got to do with the (better?) wood, since it does weigh a ton, but the Epis are slightly less heavy. And maybe the pickups too. The Gibbos have more ‘bite’.
I’m not saying licenced copies are shite, since I only own one American guitar, and the others Japs and Mexs. Hey, I bet SRV can smoke anyone even on a kapok, mahn.
But as much as we think it’s the guitar that’s important… what’s slightly more important but ALWAYS overlooked, people? C’mon say it with me – THE AMP, THE AMP! Wooo hooo…
the way u type (say) THE AMP, THE AMP exactly like I said THE POLICE, THE POLICE…
…hohohohohohohoho…
yeah, a GOOD amp and GREAt set of pickups…
🙂
just to add to what the neon and lmsn had said about the epi. due to the difference in the type of wood used, the tonality will be different. it may not be a bad thing, as the unique characteristic of a guitar will be of some use in a particular song that you play (in the case of a player with… err.. too many guitars 😆 ). also epi pickups are a tad microphonic. my les paul custom os hotrodded with seymour duncans and it makes a big difference.
Nothing like a valve amp. Nothing like a NINETEEN EIGHTY TWO, PAUL RIVERA DESIGNED, POINT-TO-POINT WIRED, ALMOST BOUTIQUE amp, that’s for sure lah…
Walaupun main tak seberapa… hehehehehe…
I now someone who can make a fixed bridge guitar solo like it’s got a whammy bar… albeit for a couple of notes only…. by accident… and proud of it….hmmm
He wouldn’t by any chance be Jeff Beck, would he? HiHiHIHIhihIHi…
kudo & guyz,
aku baru jumpa tuan punya ini gitar kat Bentley semalam…
asked him to surf this site. gave him the url… hopefully he’ll be in soon!
😉
The Neon: no no… someone close to home… he is one enthusiastic CAT though…