Angus Young SG Standard
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Shown with V.O.S. finish (also available with aged finish)
Angus Young SG Standard
For more than 35 years, AC/DC has represented the archetypal “big rock” guitar sound, setting the
standards for countless bands to follow. In particular, Angus Young’s incendiary lead tone and mammoth
rhythm crunch have inspired wave after wave of rock guitar heroes, and he has done it all on a Gibson SG
Standard. The SG replaced the underappreciated Les Paul Standard in 1961, and while the Les Paul would
surface later in the decade as a rock and blues classic, the new SG (originally named Les Paul/SG) was an
instant hit in its own right. Its simple yet inspired ingredients of thin, all-mahogany body and neck and
two Gibson humbucking pickups gave it a snappy attack with a muscular punch, and its slim, fast neck
yielded unprecedented playability. Now the Gibson Custom Shop offers its reproduction of one of the
world’s most renowned SGs in the form of the Angus Young SG, a Limited Edition that captures the tone,
look, and feel of this rare specimen among a classic breed, but which updates this legendary guitar with
custom modifications requested by Angus himself.
Angus Young acquired his 1968 SG Standard in 1970, and has used it on all major AC/DC recordings and
many tours since the band’s inception in 1973. Young’s ’68 SG is known to be a superb example of this
model, with an unusually slim neck, pickups that blend just the right proportions of power and sweetness,
and a resonant, vocal tone that represents the best of the SG formula. Listen closely to any classic AC/DC
tune, and the tone is huge, but not filthy or fizzy. Angus’s ’68 SG achieves a stunning clarity and definition
right within its bone-crushing thump and grind. With utmost attention to detail, the Angus Young SG
seeks to achieve that tone, aided by a pair of custom-spec Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucking
pickups. And with 50 guitars out of the total run of 250 aged in-house by Gibson and signed by Angus
himself, this outstanding Custom Shop reproduction also nails the look of this legendary guitar, with
upgraded modifications at Angus’s request, including an ebony fingerboard with “lightning bolt” inlays (a
further 200 guitars will receive the VOS treatment). The Custom Shop Angus Young SG will also be sold
with a custom Certificate of Authenticity, a Gibson Custom Shop hardshell case, and a full range of
owner’s manuals and instruction sheets.
Body
Species
The body of each Angus Young SG is crafted from solid clear mahogany with an offset
center seam. This simple but effective tone wood has yielded some of the most classic
tones in the history of rock.
Design
The Angus Young SG follows the classic lines of the SG Standard, instantly recognizable
with its sleek design, unmistakable twin cutaways, pointed horns and beveled edges.
Average Weight
The total average weight of a Angus Young SG body and neck together, before pickups
and hardware are added, is 5.65 lbs, which is par for the course for excellent examples
of the SG Standard, which are known for their lightness.
Tonal Characteristics
Mahogany is a medium-dense wood with excellent resonance and superior sustain, and
it offers a rich, round, warm tone, but with plenty of high-end sheen and good
midrange presence. The mahogany of the Angus Young SG also lends a percussive snap
and some added clarity to the tone of the guitar.
Finish
Color
The Angus Young SG is finished in Gibson’s custom-designed Angus Cherry finish.
Surface Texture
The Angus Young SG has a gloss nitrocellulose finish, but is given a pre-worn look that
enhances this artist’s model, and offers a smooth, comfortable playing feel. Of the full
run of 250 guitars, 50 are hand-aged in-house, and 200 will receive Gibson’s
proprietary VOS treatment.
Process
The Angus Young SG is hand-finished in nitrocellulose in a multi-step process that is
carefully monitored to ensure minimum build-up and authentic vintage-styled aging.
Utmost care is given to produce a finish that breathes with the guitar and enhances
natural resonance, and the final coat is hand-rubbed with a flattening agent to enhance
its aged appearance. Unlike many other manufacturers, who settle for a polyurethane
finish, Gibson opts for a nitrocellulose finish that will encourage the natural vibration of
the instrument for a purer tone. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous and actually
gets thinner over time.
Neck and Headstock
Species
The neck of the Angus Young SG is constructed from three pieces of top-grade maple,
cut using the superior “quarter sawn” orientation for improved strength and resonance,
and glued to the body at a 2.5-degree angle (pitch). Maple is among the strongest
woods used for electric guitar necks, and has the strength required for a thin carve as
applied to this model.
Truss Rod
Gibson’s traditional truss rod, found in most all of our guitars, is highly responsive to
the individual adjustments you’ll want to make to personalize and optimize string
action and sustain.
Profile
The neck on the Angus Young SG is carved to Angus’s own requirements and models
the super-slim, yet extremely comfortable profile of his own original ’68 SG Standard.
Neck Pitch
Like the original SG Standard, the neck of the Angus Young SG is attached to create a
slight pitch, which creates a gap of 0.70” when measured on a plane from the top of the
frets to the top of the body at the position of the bridge.
Headstock Angle
The Angus Young SG headstock is carefully angled at Gibson’s traditional 17 degrees,
which increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. An
increase in string pressure also means there is no loss of string vibration between the
nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain.
Logo
The Gibson logo — one of the most globally recognized logos of all time — is inlaid in
pearl across the top of the headstock face of the Angus Young SG, with a pearl crown
inlaid in the center of the headstock.
Tonal Characteristics
The angled, classical-style peg head and maple neck work together to provide
exceptional tonal richness and resonance from the neck, with outstanding string clarity
definition from the maple.
Neck Fit
Joint
Gibson uses what is known as the Mortise & Tenon joint to bind neck to body so that
the two pieces form one solid unit. This time-tested technique has been used for
millennia in all the great woodworking arts — from shipbuilding to cabinetry — to
create one solid wood unit from two separate sections, and has been proven to yield a
stronger neck and body than if the instrument was made from a single piece of wood.
Adhesive
The adhesive used to join neck and body is Franklin Titebond 50, one of the strongest
glues on the market today.
Tolerance
When fitting the neck and body together, we take advantage of our precise measuring
equipment so that all angles, pitches and alignments maintain a tolerance within .005 of
an inch. Not only does this help to keep your guitar in tune but it also maintains proper
string alignment relative to the fingerboard.
Fingerboard
Species
The Angus Young SG is equipped with an ebony fingerboard, which enhances note
attack and articulation. A hard, dense, dark-black exotic wood, ebony has commonly
been regarded as a deluxe, upgraded option on electric guitars, and has been used by
Gibson in the past on the Les Paul Custom. Ebony is also extremely hardwearing, and
more resistant to humidity and climate and weather changes than many other
fingerboard woods. This fingerboard carries a single-ply white plastic binding.
Radius
The 12-inch radius of the Angus Young SG fingerboard provides smooth note bending
capabilities and eliminates “dead” or “choked out” notes, common occurrences on
fingerboards with lesser radiuses.
Frets
The Angus Young SG sports 22 frets, all immaculately dressed and polished.
Inlays
The Angus Young SG fingerboard carries pearl “lightning bolt” position-marker inlays,
as a custom appointment requested by Angus himself.
Tonal Characteristics
Ebony is a very popular up-market fingerboard material, known for its strong, clear
tone.
Nut
Material
The nut on the Angus Young SG is made from genuine bone, the material used for the
nuts of most vintage Gibson guitars. It is installed into the top surface of the neck,
butting up to the end of the fingerboard to ensure proper tone and sustain transfer, and
its nut slots are cut with Gibson’s PLEK system to ensure precise fit, break angle, and
string spacing.
Width
The width of the nut on the Angus Young SG is approximately 1.555” to reflect the
width of the nut on Angus’s original ’68 SG Standard, which he has always preferred for
its comfort and slimness.
Pickups
Model
The Angus Young SG is equipped with a pair of Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups,
which includes a standard unit in the neck position and a bridge-position unit that has
been modified for higher output. Between them, the two pickups offer outstanding
output balance. Seymour Duncan’s Pearly Gates pickup was designed after close study
of the original Gibson PAF pickups in Billy Gibbons’s 1959 Les Paul Standard, which are
known to be slightly hotter than the average PAFs of the day, and provides an authentic
vintage-humbucker tone that Angus Young seeks in his guitars.
Magnet Material
Seymour Duncan uses alnico II magnets in the Pearly Gates pickups, to produce a
smooth, sweet tone.
Tonal Characteristics
The Pearly Gates is a moderate-output humbucking pickup, and provides a sweet, rich,
warm, vocal tone in the neck position of the Angus Young SG, with more midrange
punch and plenty of cutting power for leads in the bridge position. The coils of these
pickups are wax potted to enable them to withstand high volume levels without
succumbing to annoying feedback.
Electronics
Volume & Tone Controls
The Angus Young SG uses an individual volume control for each pickup, which utilize
high-quality CTS potentiometers. Tone controls are bypassed as is the case with Angus'
original.
Toggle Switch
The Angus Young SG features one three-way toggle switch made of stainless steel with
cream plastic tip, which acts as the instrument’s pickup selector. In the down position,
only the bridge pickup is active. In the middle position, both pickups are active. In the
up position, only the neck pickup is active.
Output Jack
The guitar features a 1⁄4” output jack made by Switchcraft. Its super heavy duty
construction holds your guitar cable securely in place.
Hardware
Tuning Keys
The headstock of the Angus Young SG is equipped with chromed Schaller tuners with a
12:1 gear ratio. Schallers are recognized as a leading tuner in the industry, and were
frequently added as an upgrade to guitars in the ’60s and ’70s.
Bridge
Included on the Angus Young SG, the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic provides a firm seating for
the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height
in a matter of minutes. The Angus Young SG features nylon saddles which yield
excellent coupling between strings and body. This bridge is made from zinc then plated
with nickel.
Tailpiece
Every Tune-o-matic bridge is combined with a separate “stopbar” tailpiece, which is
essentially a modified version of the earlier wraparound bridge that’s designed to
further enhance the connection between the strings and the body. The Angus Young
SG’s stopbar tailpiece is made from Zamak then plated with chrome.
Strap Buttons
The Angus Young SG’s is equipped with unique aluminum strap buttons.
Hardware Finish
All hardware on the Angus Young SG is pre-aged, either by hand (50 guitars) or by
Gibson’s proprietary VOS process (200 guitars).
Plastics
Truss Rod Cover
As with most Gibson guitars, the truss rod cover on the Angus Young SG is made from
black and white vinyl plastic.
Pickguard
The Angus Young SG carries a three-ply black/white/black pickguard in the style of the
late-’60s SG Standard.
Control Knobs
The control knobs on the Angus Young SG are Gibson’s black witch-hat knobs with
silver inserts, found on many vintage and modern Gibson guitars.
Strings
Gauge
The Angus Young SG is fitted with genuine Gibson strings, sizes .010 - .046.
Accessories
Case
Your Angus Young SG comes protected in black, red-fur-lined Gibson Custom Shop
hardshell case, silkscreened with the Gibson logo and the Angus Young model name.
Certificate of Authenticity
Each Angus Young SG comes with a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity, which
carries an Angus Young photo insert and the details of your guitar. Fifty will be signed by
Angus Young himself.
Manuals and Extras
Each Angus Young SG also comes with a full Gibson Owner’s Manual, and instructions on
changing strings and truss rod adjustment.