Mary Fords axe? WOW!

[nostatic]

True, but if you say "made it what it is today", I think Fender has a much bigger shadow in the industry than Les Paul. That isn't to diminish what LP did at all.

[targa911S]

agreed. I feel as you that nobody really contributed more to the progress of the electric guitar than Leo. Yes he made it what it is today.

[JMPRO]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Yep SG stands for "solid guitar." Les was NOT a big fan of the style. Almost severed ties with Gibson over it.

SG does not stand for "Solid guitar". It stands for "Spanish guitar" A name that was used years ago to distinguish between a lap style guitar and and the upright guitar with fretts.

Jerry

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by JMPRO

SG does not stand for "Solid guitar". It stands for "Spanish guitar" A name that was used years ago to distinguish between a lap style guitar and and the upright guitar with fretts.

Jerry

Solid Guitar.

Originally Posted by The Gibson Website

When it first hit the scene back in 1961, the Gibson SG (short for Solid Guitar) was the most radical design the electric guitar world had witnessed so far, and it still makes a bold statement today.

Les Paul didn't like it, at requested that his name be removed from it, as it was originally a "Les Paul" too.

[targa911S]

thanks Wolfe.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

SG most certainly stands for Solid Guitar.

Les Pauls werent selling well in 1959-60, so they decided to change the body style to the SG, but still call it a Les Paul. The original Les Paul style was discontinued, hence why 1959 Les Pauls are worth north of $500K

Les Paul didnt like the SG style and asked his name be taken off it, but Gibson had excess stock of les Paul logos, etc.. so they used them on the very early SG's.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

The electric guitar goes back way further than Leo Fender and Les Paul, btw. Charlie Christian, George Barnes.. even Django played electric.

[JMPRO]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

Solid Guitar.




Les Paul didn't like it, at requested that his name be removed from it, as it was originally a "Les Paul" too.

I couldn't find that info on the gibson web site, however I did find it in a wekipedia article that I have found quite often to have many errors. Gibson used the "ES' code to indicate an "Electric-spanish" guitar and I still think the SG stands for spanish guitar.
Jerry

[slodave]

Solid guitar...

The Gibson SG: 50 Essential Facts

[JMPRO]

Originally Posted by slodave

Solid guitar...

The Gibson SG: 50 Essential Facts

Read it and I will yeld to a higher authority however I am still not convinced until I can check with someone that will really know the truth. Even the guys now at Fender somtimes have a hard time coming up with the real history and print Internet rumors as fact.
That does not alter the fact that its a cool guitar and I hope they get their asking price although it doesn't look like they will. I'm thinking about going to ebay with my old Strat soon and it would be nice to know there are big spenders out there willing to put out the big bucks.
Jerry

[targa911S]

Geez Jerrry...give it up.

[JMPRO]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Geez Jerrry...give it up.

I have a question out to a guy I know that wrote the book on Gibson and probably knows more about Gibson than they do. An interesting quote I read a few years back was a Fender big shot refering questions about Fender history to Richard Smith who wrote the book "Fender, the sound heard around the world", check with Richard he said, he knows more about our history than I do.
Jerry

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Geez Jerrry...give it up.

[azasadny]

Wow! I saw a video of her and Les playing "How High the Moon" (my favorite) and she wasn't playing this guitar, she had a gold colored Les Paul, I believe...

[slodave]

I'm sure she was allowed to own more than one guitar.

[john walker's workshop]

didn't paul tutmarc invent the electric bass before leo?

[targa911S]

But weren't those more electric bass "Fiddles''...it hurt to type that. I mean you didn't put it over yer knee. The early Gibson EB (electric bass) I. It could be played upright or as a guitar.

[wdfifteen]

The Smithsonian Channel has an entertaining show about the development of the electric guitar. It may even be factual.

Electrified: The Guitar Revolution - Smithsonian Channel

[JMPRO]

I just heard back from a guy I know. Robb Lawrence, celebrated author of at least a dozen books, 4 of which are about Gibson guitars and Les Paul. Robb was a long time friend of Les Paul and Leo Fender and can tell you what kind of toilet paper they used at the Gibson factory in 1949, well maybe not that much detail but he has done so much research he probably knows more than anyone about Gibson.
Robb response is that the "SG" stands for Spanish guitar not solid guitar. Spanish guitar was a very common name years ago to distinguish between what was called back then the Hawaiian steel guitar and the upright fretted guitar. When I was a kid people did not use the name "Solid body" to refer to any guitar. It was simply a Spanish guitar, acoustic or not. When I worked at Fender in 1960 nobody said "Hey, hand me that solid body".
Jerry

[Head416]

It's not Super Carrera, it doesn't stand for ANYTHING!

Oh, sorry... thought I was somewhere else.