Upgrade- Paul Reed Smith Vs. Gibson Sg

[Amour For Liars]

Well I am going to buy a new guitar soon,I really was going to go with a gibson sg,then lately Ive been seeing a new trend with Paul Reed Smith custom 24's. They sound amazing and versatile and run about 200 cheaper then the SG.I'll be doing all types of musics with no limiting as far as genre,its all experimental..I guess to give you an idea of what ill be doing,Blink182/All time low/TBS/Armor For Sleep/The Used/Motion City Soundtrack/I set my friends on fire are some of the bands I plan on covering.

Anyway who here has Played these guitar,what did you think of them,and what type of music did you play?

[Blague]

Where are you finding PRS 24's for 200 cheaper? Do you mean the PRS SE series?

[patrickhowell]

Yeahhh, PRS Custom 24's are in the $3k-$4k range... the SE series is more comparable to high-end Epiphone guitars.

Also, fwiw, I can't stand playing SGs... the neck dive is just unbearable... A lot of people like them though... Before you buy one, play one standing up with a strap and see how annoying it is.

[Yontsey]

fwiw, I can't stand playing SGs... the neck dive is just unbearable... A lot of people like them though... Before you buy one, play one standing up with a strap and see how annoying it is.

This exactly. So annoying. I had one and it was a decent guitar but I hate the dive. I didn't play it for like 2 years because of that and then I just got rid of it.

[splitsecond]

My suggestion would be the Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany if you are looking for that "sound" at a decent price point. It is a really hot guitar for the money. I am considering getting one for a stage slave because it is so much lighter than the LP I use now.

[smorgy]

Yeahhh, PRS Custom 24's are in the $3k-$4k range... the SE series is more comparable to high-end Epiphone guitars.

Also, fwiw, I can't stand playing SGs... the neck dive is just unbearable... A lot of people like them though... Before you buy one, play one standing up with a strap and see how annoying it is.

hmm ive never had a neck dive on an sg but i must be lucky of some sorts

[rawkandrowl]

SG neck dive issue can be alleviated pretty easily a couple of ways:
1. Get a strap that has some friction. They make no-slip straps with a rubberized type bottom. For me I just ran some strips of duct tape across the bottom of my strap (side to side not lengthwise) and that did a pretty decent job.
2. Put some weight on/in the SG body somehow. You can probably put some fishing weights in the cavity (run electrical tape over them) for instance and it would be a solution no one would see.

Les Pauls would do the same thing if they were so light. I kind of appreciate SGs for their lightness.

[The Boathouse]

Tell me where to get a custom 24 for $200 less than an SG and I will do it RIGHT NOW. Fuck, love those guitars.

Though, if you've got cash to burn, check out the PRS Singlecut Semihollow. Gorgeous!

[ShimmerAndSpill]

I love my PRS, but you have to be thinking of the SE.

[Theseventhson]

Yeah, you're probably thinking of an SE, but I'd still take it over an SG

[Crowe41]

You really just have to put some time into both guitars before you buy. They sound fairly similar, one is going to feel better in your hands though. I would recommend the SG, the neck dive issue is so minor...unless you spend a lot of time on stage without your hands on your guitar. Either way, you'll be getting a very good guitar!

[kaafka]

You really just have to put some time into both guitars before you buy. They sound fairly similar, one is going to feel better in your hands though. I would recommend the SG, the neck dive issue is so minor...unless you spend a lot of time on stage without your hands on your guitar. Either way, you'll be getting a very good guitar!

I don't want to sound like a dick here, but I don't think a PRS and an SG sound alike at all. There's a lot of different factors which both lead the guitars to sounding very different.

But an SE PRS compared to a Custom 24 is going to sound very different, as is an Epiphone SG to a Gibson (well maybe not these days, the quality control of Gibson/Fender is really going down the crapper.)

The real questions you want to ask yourself are what you want to be doing with it, what abilities you want the guitar to have and what kind of sound you want to be getting from the guitars.

Like I said before both guitars are real different and have their own strong points and weak points.

[SD_John]

Gibsons are sooooo cliche these days. I personally (like most people in this thread) hate the SG. I haven't played one standing up, but when I played one at Gtr Center, I hated the neck immediately, so I put it away. I recommend getting the PRS. They are realllly nice, imo.

[Crowe41]

Well I am going to buy a new guitar soon,I really was going to go with a gibson sg,then lately Ive been seeing a new trend with Paul Reed Smith custom 24's. They sound amazing and versatile and run about 200 cheaper then the SG.I'll be doing all types of musics with no limiting as far as genre,its all experimental..I guess to give you an idea of what ill be doing,Blink182/All time low/TBS/Armor For Sleep/The Used/Motion City Soundtrack/I set my friends on fire are some of the bands I plan on covering.

Anyway who here has Played these guitar,what did you think of them,and what type of music did you play?

Judging by the bands you listed as influences, you should strongly consider the SG!

Blink-182 - recorded with Les Paul's (http://www.tomdelongeguitar.com/Old-Guitars.html) for Enema of the State, basically an SG
All Time Low - both guitarists play the SG (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2450114751_f34823721f.jpg?v=0)
TBS - Fred played an SG (http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/2007+Projekt+Revolution+Tour+3YbcmX BvLQLl.jpg)
Armor For Sleep - Lead Singer uses SG (http://media.photobucket.com/image/Armor%20for%20sleep%20gibson/ecapsekilpils/Ben%20Jorgensen/afs111.jpg)
The Used - Quin plays SG
(http://media.photobucket.com/image/The%20Used%20guitarist/betachick/quinn.jpg)Motion City Soundtrack - Fender Telecaster lol (which is what you should buy!)

[kaafka]

^Yeah, that's true.

I guess OP answered his own question.

[johnnyperfect]

i have an sg standard and i fricken love it for harder distortion stuff. but i have a fender tele deluxe and its the best fucking guitar ever!

[xmicxcorex]

This exactly. So annoying. I had one and it was a decent guitar but I hate the dive. I didn't play it for like 2 years because of that and then I just got rid of it.


I'm in the same boat. I'm actually about to craigslist (or ebay, not sure) mine to fund a new acoustic. I wouldn't be giving it up if it weren't for the horrible balance. For a short period of time I considered drilling some holes in the tail of it and sliding some lead weights in just to see if itd help. Thank god I didn't i guess....try explaining that one on an auction site...

[patrickhowell]

I'm in the same boat. I'm actually about to craigslist (or ebay, not sure) mine to fund a new acoustic. I wouldn't be giving it up if it weren't for the horrible balance. For a short period of time I considered drilling some holes in the tail of it and sliding some lead weights in just to see if itd help. Thank god I didn't i guess....try explaining that one on an auction site...

A lot of people take off the control cavity cover on the back and add weights in there to help with the dive

[xmicxcorex]

A lot of people take off the control cavity cover on the back and add weights in there to help with the dive


thats actually a great idea thats less damaging than what i would have done...mind you when I was considering doing this I was like 16 and considerably dumber than I am now. I never did it, but i thought it would be a great idea at the time. On top of all else, it's just one of the best 3 in my collection to be sold to fund the acoustic, otherwise Id probably take the time to do like you said there.

[ninthandash]

sg's just feel really awkward to me. They're really strangely weighted (the neck is heavier than the body) - I would encourage you to actually play one first before you spend the money on it. I have a custom 24 and it was worth every penny - however, it's not something I play live with on a regular basis because it's more of an investment/studio guitar.

[SmallFrailBoy]

i have an sg standard and i fricken love it for harder distortion stuff. but i have a fender tele deluxe and its the best fucking guitar ever!

I just bought a US tele deluxe maybe two months ago ... i gotta say it blows my other am.standard teles to bits. Plus it looks sharp as hell. That binding is just killer. And the contouring on the back is appreciated. The S-1 switch makes that middle pickup position so much more valuable. Sounds great on rhythms!

[guitarman2189]

Ive been using my PRS Santana SE since around 2001 and it works wonders. Its so versatile, I can tune down to drop C, play jazz, and it sounds great pumping through my Mesa F-50 Amp.

[duhpunk]

PRS all the way. I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom and the PRS SE, and I'd rather play it any day of the week. In fact, I want to sell my Gibson and get a Custom 24.

[matthonest]

I would go with a Fender Tele or an SG. I wont even consider the PRS lol I hate the body..
Fender is the real deal, Epiphone is just a Gibson knock off and PRS is just so blehh

Good luck!

[duhpunk]

I would go with a Fender Tele or an SG. I wont even consider the PRS lol I hate the body..
Fender is the real deal, Epiphone is just a Gibson knock off and PRS is just so blehh

Good luck!

Everything about this post is cringe-worthy. Epiphone is owned by Gibson, by the way.

[fanberlinboy]

Judging by the bands you listed as influences, you should strongly consider the SG!

Blink-182 - recorded with Les Paul's (http://www.tomdelongeguitar.com/Old-Guitars.html) for Enema of the State, basically an SG
All Time Low - both guitarists play the SG (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2450114751_f34823721f.jpg?v=0)
TBS - Fred played an SG (http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/2007+Projekt+Revolution+Tour+3YbcmX BvLQLl.jpg)
Armor For Sleep - Lead Singer uses SG (http://media.photobucket.com/image/Armor%20for%20sleep%20gibson/ecapsekilpils/Ben%20Jorgensen/afs111.jpg)
The Used - Quin plays SG
(http://media.photobucket.com/image/The%20Used%20guitarist/betachick/quinn.jpg)Motion City Soundtrack - Fender Telecaster lol (which is what you should buy!)
Les Pauls aren't "basically SGs." And both Jack and Alex have been playing almost exclusively PRS guitars lately. But I do agree on the Telecaster. Those things are great for pop rock, they can do post-hardcore kind of stuff, blues, jazz, country. Fantastic guitars.

[ibmx08]

Judging by the bands you listed as influences, you should strongly consider the SG!

Blink-182 - recorded with Les Paul's (http://www.tomdelongeguitar.com/Old-Guitars.html) for Enema of the State, basically an SG
All Time Low - both guitarists play the SG (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2450114751_f34823721f.jpg?v=0)
TBS - Fred played an SG (http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/2007+Projekt+Revolution+Tour+3YbcmX BvLQLl.jpg)
Armor For Sleep - Lead Singer uses SG (http://media.photobucket.com/image/Armor%20for%20sleep%20gibson/ecapsekilpils/Ben%20Jorgensen/afs111.jpg)
The Used - Quin plays SG
(http://media.photobucket.com/image/The%20Used%20guitarist/betachick/quinn.jpg)Motion City Soundtrack - Fender Telecaster lol (which is what you should buy!)

i know that for all time low, thats not true anymore. they both use PRS guitars. the singer uses a few Mira's

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/2778224909_4d057f4a5c.jpg

and the lead guitarist uses a couple SE 245's or 250s (i cant tell the difference)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3514947668_83e976fbec.jpg

along with a custom 24. i personally prefer PRS guitars (more preferably the SE series) over anything including fender and gibson, with the only exception being the les paul custom. nothing will ever beat the sound of a lp custom, ever. but prs is a solid 2nd

[smorgy]

though i agree prs' are great i think one of the reason for all time low switching to prs is that prs is from their home state.
but besides that prs sound great.
i do love me some gibson but they are totally over priced