The Guitar Magazine – November 2019
English | 149 pages | pdf | 162.57 MB
The Gibson SG Standard is the Nashville company’s best-selling guitar of all time. Surprised? Although you might think it would be the Les Paul, the SG has more years of continuous production behind it and has always been the more affordable option. People might point to aspects of the design that make it a somewhat fragile creature, but that hasn’t stopped the SG featuring on some of the greatest and most incendiary rock records of all time.
As well as reeling off a list of the SG’s greatest hits, this month’s celebration of Gibson’s horned red devil includes an in-depth look at three of the company’s fantastic new Original Collection models. We also reveal what the likes of Tony Iommi, Derek Trucks, Jimmy Page and Johnny Marr think of the iconic best-seller. Special thanks to Matt Martin for the loan of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle – another stone cold rock ’n’ roll icon – for our photoshoot. The festivities begin on p20.
Elsewhere this month, we talk to artists old and new in the shape of Foals, Hank Marvin and Ian Noe and check out hot new gear from the likes of Kemper, Supro, Eastman and Fender. And if you’ve ever wondered to yourself what a guitar and banjo double-neck might look like – and who hasn’t? – then turn to p125 immediately!
Finally, on a sad note, our art editor John Thackray soon heads off to pastures new. Thackers did a fantastic job of redesigning the pdf magazine at the tail end of last year and we’ll miss his peerless expertise when it comes to craft beer, The Dandy Warhols and Barnet FC. I’m sure you’ll join myself and the rest of the team in wishing him all the best for the future.
Chris Vinnicombe
Chief Editor, Guitar.com & Guitar Magazine
[email protected]
VINTAGE VOICES
Dear Guitar Magazine, I wanted to drop you a line to thank you for the excellent buying vintage feature you carried in last month’s magazine [Issue 363]. I’ve owned various vintage guitars over the years, but I’ve always wondered whether I was doing it ‘right’, and the mix of practical and more philosophical advice from your various contributors was really encouraging, and certainly hasn’t helped my GAS since I read it!
I particularly appreciated how much of the advice encouraged people to get into vintage guitars for the love of it, not for the sake of speculation or the desire to turn a buck by sitting on something for a few years. I also appreciated Kris Blakely’s advice to not worry about buying ‘cool’ guitars when buying vintage.
Back in the 90s, I bought my 1963 Fiesta Red Jaguar for an absolute bargain price, because back then, nobody wanted offsets full-stop, let alone short-scale ones – but I loved it then, I still love it now, and even if it was now worth half what I bought it for, I’d still be happy.
Of course, the reality is that offset guitars have experienced something of a resurgence in recent years, and now my guitar is probably worth 10 times what I bought it for!
Because I followed my heart and went for something that I truly loved, even though I could make a handsome profit on my Jaguar by selling it today, I don’t think I ever could. Vintage guitars have a way of getting under your skin – they feel unique and special, and if you get into them for the right reasons, it can be a wonderfully rewarding pastime.
JAMES GRAYSON
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