SG

how do you turn a cat into a dog??? well, that's what you are asking.
an SG and a strat are two different beasts and should be approached that way.

you can put a lighter gauge set of strings on the SG.

All SGs neck dive. It's just the nature of the beast.

There's really not much you can do about it I'm afraid. The SG comes with two humbuckers which does sound different from a Strat's three single coil pickups, and even if the SGs are quite bright sounding they will never sound like a Strat. The neck heaviness has always been a problem with SGs and I guess most players find a way to support the guitar with their right arm to keep them balanced,- personally I think that your arms/hands only should be used to play the guitar and not hold it in place, so that's always been a huge turn-off for me regarding SGs (despite always wanting one because of my initials.. :lol: ). Check this photo of Derek Trucks, looks like he's holding it in place with his lower right arm:

damn, I was hoping the neck diving was easily sorted. I changed the straps around so the leather style strap is now on the SG, but its still not good enough to hold the guitar in place. Anyone know if the gel style shoulder strap additions would be worth it?

I know what you mean by the initial thing, I'm lucky enough to actually have Gibson as a surname :lol:

.. if it is a big issue - (I've never had an SG but my DOT dives a little too) - maybe you could try one of these things for accoustics where you attatch a band around the neck above the nut and attatch the strap to that. - disclaimer - never tried it myself - could it bend the neck??

Well, many years ago a friend of mine had this SG that he loved everything about except the neck heaviness. Eventually he got so fed up with it that he tied a piece of led to the back end of the strap, where you'd normally put a wireless transmitter.
It wasn't pretty, but it worked! :wink:

I've heard similar stories about the use of weights, Steinar. An "artsy" person can probably make something more visually attractive. Or weights could be sewn onto the butt-end of the strap.

Not sure I would tie the strap end to the headstock of an SG. Thin-necked SGs can be too easily flexed, and even the heavier ones have a lot of unsupported neck length that would put quite a moment on the neck joint -- Second weakest point of an SG behind the infamous headstock.

Levi makes several "grippy" canvas straps that might mitigate this somewhat (or maybe just pull one's loose shirt down on one side -- def YMMV ). These straps are also sort of rough looking and have large, decorative grommets. They can be tough on a guitar's finish while sitting in a stand or in "tossed" a gig bag. These are among my favorite straps, but I restrict their use to my beaters.

That's what I found out when I bought my SG which was the first guitar I owned. major pain in the a@@ because it wnated to dive bomb everytime you let go of the guitar which for a beginner was a killer.

Not sure how to really fix that though..probably hwy I don't play it much I don't want to have to fight with the guitar.

Not sure how to really fix that though..

:idea:

:idea:

:lol: :shock: :lol:

My Faded SG is a little neck heavy, but it stays in place. This may because I use a very wide leather strap. So try that.

As far as making it sound like a Strat, forget it. It is not just the humbuckers, it is the mahogany body and neck too. Even if you put single coils on it, it would still sound darker than a Strat.

Thanks for the responses guys. I guess I'll have to learn when to use it, or see if I can get a trade in for a Les Paul black beauty. :P Gutted though, $400/£200 and I dont like the guitar! Doh!

I almost bought an SG but wanted something more versatile - I ended up with a PRS Mira instead. I'm told it's not as neck-heavy - I'm not sure about that - but it looks nicer, weighs under 7 lbs, and it has a coil tap so I can get vaguely Strat-like tones out of it when I want to.