5 Things I know about my Gibson Jeff Tweedy Signature SG
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- A year ago I started this UA-cam channel after buying a poorly set up Gibson SG. The guitar was consequentially set up by my luthier and now I year on I give my review of the SG.
Try using a String Butler, German made around $50.00 you will be pleasantly surprised as it will vastly improve your tuning issues. All my Strats & Tele's stay in tune only because the strings go straight through the nut & not angled at the nut, the butler brings your strings through the nut on your Gibson then angles to the pegs. No drilling needed goes on in minutes. I have some Gibsons that are great with tuning especially on stage & some not so much but I love their sound & playability, the butler solved my problems on those
. Cheeers
I'd research the vibrola on forums etc because there must be ways to make it more stable. I would never put a stoptail on that guitar, never.
It would be nice to keep her original I agree - she's such a good looking' guitar:)
make sure the string friction points are lubed. theres a guy on youtube that has a vibrola that stays in tune after dive-bombs.
Thanks for the advise mate much appreciated!
np dude keep on rockin'! I really want a vibrola SG now, i've been looking at these- its my next guitar, i'm probably going to sell my G&L tribute legacy '03 (only year I know with original USA pickups) to finance it. I'm not in a hurry but you can bet all you want its my next guitar. wether it be as Gibson (top pick, the G force would be great too in case the trem system has issues) or Epiphone.
Hey Matt, as a bibrola-installed guitar owner I feel your pain. Just an idea, but I have seen on a forum that you can essentially "block off" the vibrola by removing the functioning part (the bent metal plate and the arm assembly) and install a claw type tailpiece in its place. This "claw" looks like the tailpiece that's on the Gibson EDS 1275 double neck. You keep the long plate on the guitar as well. Below is a link to what I saw on the forum. Scroll down to almost the bottom of the thread and you will see the pictures of what I am referring to! Good luck and keep up the great videos!
www.mylespaul.com/threads/i-know-the-lyre-vibrolas-look-cool-but.148104/
Hey Steve that's an interesting option... I've seen those on old SG's in stores but never knew what they were. I'll investigate more! Matt.
+TONE Awesome! Can't wait to see what you settle on. It's a beautiful SG!
Thanks Steve cheers Matt.
Did you ever get the tuning stability figured out? I have a 68 SG Junior with a Vibrola. It has one of the lighting tailpieces.
Right now i have a guy in the UK making me this guitar with a PRS neck and some other tweaks to solve all the Gibson issues… i cant wait
Wow, how have I not found your channel sooner? This would have to be THE best for tone freaks on youtube. Now proceeding to work my way through all your vids thank you!. Not good for my GAS though! 😃
Haha us tone freaks have to stick together... thanks for watching! Matt.
What amp/pedals are you using here? Thanks!
one thing I know about Gibsons is that vibrolas look cool but otherwise tend to pull the guitar out of tune and reduces the break angle of the strings
They certainly do - I gotta say I'm not a fan of the! Cheers Matt.
6:23?? What riff is that? Sounds like Get Back, is it??
It's similar to that Get Back riff which I know and LOVE... Lennon was an underrated lead guitarist:) Just something similar I've been mucking around with...
Oh sorry I was thinking of another video - yes that is in fact the Get back solo (or my take on it:)... cheers Buddy!
I would suggest lighter strings like 10's (less tension on vibrola to pull it out of tune) and make sure the nut is cut and lubed enough that the strings can pass through easily. I think going up in string gauge would make things worse with the maestro vibrola. I would try everything not to drill it.
Hey Jesse I had 10-46 on her until last week when I treid 11-49's. With such little break angle over the bridge the 10-46 gave a very slinky string tension which didn't suit my playing... the heavier gauge seemed to make help with the tuning and tighten up the string tension which I like. And I agree I don't really really want to drill it but honestly that Vibrola is rubbish. I hear a lot of players say they aren't like the originals Vibrolas. It's hard decision:) Cheers Matt.
I'm relatively new to the channel. Great stuff, man. Really loving it. Production quality is top notch. Super refreshing to see great content alongside quality production. Thanks, my man.
Cheers Benjamin thanks for the kind words! Matt.
My Tweedy SG has been hanging on my wall for awhile. Just took it down again after I watched your video. My guitar tech tells me that MOST of my tuning issues (aside from an intonation issue with the E&A strings) while playing is my heavy left hand technique. Alas, I play acoustics 95% of the time and so my touch is too much for these high frets. When I concentrate on moving more lightly around the fret board, the sound is MUCH more in tune and my lead playing is more sure and swifter! That said, one touch of the V-arm and all bets are off. I've removed the arm so that is no longer an issue. Thanks for the review.
You know, I admire that fact that you are sticking to your instrument, I really believe that owning tons of guitars (in my humble opinion), is not good in the sense of you will never get to really know them. Most folks would have said, screw it I am getting rid of this one... But you Will find if you play and play, let time pass, you get to really know your instrument, and REALLY grow to love it, when you can see it makes you vibrate inside, makes you feel so good, then as the time passes, you figure out what needs to be done it, and figure out all quirks, you reach a point where you KNOW what to do... THAT is what's so very special about owning 2-3 guitars maximum. You get to know them in and out!!!! The bond, (which few people can understand) is just there. When I was younger, I changed guitars often, with little experience, and kicked myself in The rear for having sold a Gibson Les Paul of an early year. I didn't take the time to understand it...and years later it all dawned on me. I just didn't know what I had in my hands, or what I was doing!!! As many years have passed, I now understand, and the experience after all this time has shown me that, if a certain guitar makes you that special something, stick with her and get to know her inside out. As the months pass, it will only sound better and better. My life long guitars are now , a very special L.P. and a fantastic. Stratocaster, as my main guitars. The 3rd one is a copy, when I go south to the beach just to feel the 6strings under my fingers, and keep up the daily scales up. A guitar which I would not use in a studio, nor doing a live show. But the other two professional guitars are with me for life!! Thanks for such an honest video, loved it!!! Take care my friend.
1. Get a small tub of vaseline and flat tradies pencil.
2. Shave the pencil lead (graphite) into the vaseline tub and mix it all up until it's black.
3. Add a small amount of the mixture to the nut slots. Your strings will be catching in the nut slots because of the break angle from the nut slots to the tuning pegs - a Gibson design flaw that affects tuning stability.
4. Add some of the mixture to your saddle grooves. It's likely your strings will be catching on the bridge saddles also. This is common for these guitars.
5. If tuning is still an issue, try nylon saddles on the bridge before you replace the vibrola.
Also...
SGs with the shallower neck tenon (joint) have tuning issues when the neck is moved around. Hit a couple of open strings while standing and gently move the body back and forward, holding with both hands, not touching the neck. You'll hear a warble.
It could be that the guitar neck was on a different angle when you tuned it to when you next checked the tuning resulting in slightly off tuning. either in the first place or when you checked.
Good luck :)
Hi Bud. I’d keep the vibrola if you like the sound and try a String Butler V3T. I don’t think the vibrato is the crux of the problem,it’s just exaggerating the real problem- the dreaded 3 a side headstock design! Keep well Will
I've had a handful of SGs over the years. The one I've kept is a '71 with a Bigsby. I've disabled the vibrato part, though, by removing the arm. Even with the spring still in place the guitar holds tune very well. I've left it like this mainly because, as you note, the extra mass at the body improves balance. I wouldn't recommend replacing your SG's vibrato with a partial Bigsby, though. :) I like the Derek Trucks approach. I honestly don't think the stop-tail brand matters much. Anything properly made will do the job.
Great video. I had a Tweedy SG since I bought it new in Macari’s, Denmark St, London in 2012. That was until it was lost (along with 5 other guitars) in a storage unit fire at New Year. Gutted isn’t the word and searching for videos on it brought me here. Interesting to hear about all the issues you had with the Maestro. Mine was always rock solid tuning-wise (though it was light and neck-heavy), so hearing you talk about the common tuning problems makes its loss a bit worse, as I obvious had a good one. STILL, I’ve just found a brand new Custom Shop M2M SG based on a ‘61 with VOS Maestro in a stunning and rare TV Gold, which I love possibly even more, so I should be thankful as I wouldn’t have been looking otherwise. Sorry you had issues with the vibrola but glad you modified it and kept it. It’s a really beautiful guitar.
It's a shame, the necks on those are amazing.
Stunning neck on it - it's the reason I've persisted with the guitar actually. I took the Vibrola off and made it a stoptail and that sorted out the issues:) Thanks for watching! Matt.
One more thing. Maestro is a part of the sound. I like it a lot. Yours sounds great too!
Cheers mate thanks:)
Just found your channel. Didn't take me long to subscribe. Great stuff! Love that SG bite.
I own one of these. The tuning stability is quite good on mine, even when using the vibrola. I had mine strung with 11s, and 12s for awhile -- Tweedy himself uses 13s I believe. Oddly, the vibrola on mine has *over time* raised away from the body somewhat, such that it no longer has any break angle over the saddle. I'm the original owner of the guitar, and it comes with a 5 year warranty on hardware, so I'm taking it into an authorized repair shop this week to (hopefully) have the part replaced. Gibson does not sell the lyre vibrola on its own, so you're stuck buying an All Parts replacement (which I'm told isn't a perfect fit), or a second hand Gibson one-- with the latter, you run the risk of buying a $500 part only to find that it has issues when installed.
I like the guitar, but I would never buy a new Gibson again. As a company, they are plainly coasting on their reputation from decades ago. It wouldn't surprise me if Tweedy pulled the plug on his collaboration with them out of disgust. The current CEO is legendarily cheap and nasty, and full of moronic ideas like that robot Les Paul. Think about it: They are churning out multi-thousand dollar guitars where some significant percentage have defective vibrolas-- a part that was engineered properly for decades; they then refuse to even *sell* a replacement part. It's just amazingly unethical.
They just aren't a quality product the new Vibrola's. I'd be interested to hear what Gibson say when you take it back. Matt.
TONE the repair guy diagnosed the problem as being the neck angle - not 'canted' enough- not the vibrios. Shipping back to Gibson under warranty. I'd be curious to know whether your luthier considered this possibility as a diagnosis with yours.
Heard back from Gibson with an initial assessment of mine - the repair shop acknowledges that my Tweedy has a faulty maestro (it seems that many were shipped with faulty maestros), and is assessing whether the neck angle is a further contributing factor. As I mentioned, the authorized repair person I took it to blamed the problem entirely on an improper neck set. Anyway, at this point I'm thankful that Gibson hasn't outright denied that there is a warranty issue.
Wow that's a big admission from Gibson! Did you have to show any proof of purchase? I bought mine second hand so I'm not sure whether I still have the warranty passed onto me.
Yeah sorry to say the warranty is issued only to the original owner. Looks like your luthier sorted the issue anyway, and in the grand scheme of things you'll be ahead of the game as this very limited run guitar appreciates in value.
There's something about a guitar you have to fight that kinda creates a bond between you and it. I have an Epiphone "1965" G-400 Limited Edition w/ Maestro which has severe neck dive but I love it and will always keep it. (It helps that I put 57 Classics in it!)
Hey John thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm in the process of getting the Vibrola removed and a stop tail put on. I'll make an update video when I get her back from the shop. Sounds like you have a very sweet guitar - and I agree sometimes you have to persist when you have the makings of a great guitar. Cheers mate Matt.
I have a 1970 SG standard that originally had a Vibrola on it. This was removed before I got the SG in 1977 and the tuners were switched out for Grovers. The tuning of the guitar is absolutely solid, I have put it away in tune and got it out again weeks later and it is still in tune! The first things pro musicians did when buying a new SG back then was to ditch the Vibrola and upgrade the tuners to Grovers. Tuning problems solved!
Hey Will I reckon you are spot on with your advise. Thanks for watching! Matt.
HA! I have the same guitar and just stumbled on to this while looking for a solution to the vibrola issues. This is one of my all-time favorite guitars and has become my go-to/main for the last few years. I never use the vibrola and don't like how string bends pull the other strings out of tune. You also have to move the bent string further across the frets to hit notes due to the amount of give on the vibrola. Yes it's it's own sound and probably lots of people like it. Were you able to find a way to stabilize the vibrola? I would hate to Derek Trucks the whole thing. It's a beautiful instrument. I am considering buying another and keeping it stock... "how many do you need???" says wife.
I did actually put the Trucks unit on the guitar and it stabilized the tuning somewhat. I have since sold the guitar - while I LOVED the neck and sound - the flex of the SG body meant the guitar would still wander around tuning wise. I guess I'm just not an SG guy. I'm currently using a '63 Gretsch 6120 as my main guitar and loving it. It's old and I use the bigsby for shimmer and it just stays in tune and sounds great.
I’ve got a Tweedy SG, and I ran into tuning problems with the Vibrola as well. I’ve always loved Bigsbys, so I installed a B7 on the Tweedy. It was kinda beat up when I bought it, so I don’t mind doing some mods... long story short, guitar plays great, I’m happy as can be with mine. FWIW, I agree that the Vibrola was an issue on these otherwise great guitars.
Glad you got your Tweedy SG sorted out too... they are awesome apart from that I agree. One thing I did is put a TUSQ XL lubricated nut put on the guitar - as SG's flex this keeps everything moving with it. Cheers Matt.
i have the same guitar up here in Sydney.. I'm torn between keeping it or selling for a 335..mine doesn't seem to have the vibrola issues though I'm not much of a wiggle stick user.. i don't gig it for fear of damage so it's in mint condition..they are drop dead gorgeous in the flesh and sound sooo good..glad you are keeping yours!
Thanks Rich - I hope the stop tail works because it will drop the value of the guitar doing the mod. Cheers Matt.
Good decision to keep her. I've only gotten rid of three guitars (have about twenty-some) and wish I had those back. Stop tail idea is great. I'm sure that will solve the tuning issues. That and stretching the hell out of your strings.
I do stretch the strings a lot when I change them - I'm sure that bloody Vibrola is the issue! Cheers Matt.
Great Video. I have one of these Guitars and have had it in and out of different Shops to try to get it to stay in tune. I switched to Grovers and tried all the Strings. My bandmates and I love the Sounds but hate all the Tuning. I'm waiting patiently for the next chapter of your Tweedy SG.
Hey scroll down and read TorontoLarrivee posts on this. He has one too and Gibson have admitted that some the Tweedy guitars have faulty Vibrolas. Gibson took his back and fixed it at the Nashville workshop. You need to be an original owner. I'm not an original owner so I'm taking the Vibrola off and putting on a stoptail. I'll post a video when it's done. Thanks for watching Matt.
Well I never like vibrolas on Gibson style guitars, but to keep the beautiful look I would do to put tune o matic bridge but keeping the vibrolas backplate like dereck truck does.
Thanks Diddy cheers Matt.
I hope you're able to resolve the issues because it sounds just beautiful. It sounded like a dream when you rolled back the volume. Lovely SG.
Thanks for the kind comments Aldo! cheers Matt.
A question that’s not exactly relevant. Where did that guitar strap come from? It’s gorgeous
Hey it's a Souldier strap - www.souldier.us/
Hey Matt - I just put a Tonepros locking bridge and tailpiece on my SG. Absolutely over the moon with it. Much more sustain and rock-solid tuning-wise now. Good luck! Cheers - Matt
Cool thanks for your advise Matt! Cheers Matt.
A big +3 for Tone Pros locking bridges & tailpieces.
They are solid as a rock on 3 of my guitars!
The best !!
That's exactly what I've bought for the SG. I'll review them when I get get it all installed:)
how are the pinch points at the nut? May need a file or some graphite/lube at friction points, also saddle slots.
The bridge is fine but the nut could do with an adjustment I think. I've bought the stop tail so I'll update the video when the guitar is done. Thanks for watching Matt.
Nice tone Matt. What you playing through there? Cheers, David
I'm playing through my Fractal Audio AX8 directly into the camera. It makes things a lot easier for me doing these regular videos. I've just started using it... Cheers Matt.
get a Gibson stopbar at guitar center for 65+tax and shipping
they are made in the USA
I have a Tweedy SG and I absolutely love it.
Same here ... I spent years looking for one and damn I love it!
One of my favorite channels! Keep it up
Thanks for the kind words Andres:) Cheers Matt.
SG weren't meant to have a Dam Trem bar.
Marvin Starr I’ve read somewhere that SGs were always meant to have a trem bar, those that don’t have them are the reason SGs tend to have a reputation to be so damn neck heavy.
Hi Matt, Glad you've decided to keep it, Its sure worth it. I too have researched the vibrola and believe one major reason (apart from the neck angle) is the angles on your leaf spring which connects the string holder and the tail piece. The bout on your leaf spring must be sitting on the deck of the guitar to return back to tune and Ill bet on yours it isn't, The stop tail is a fine solution but before you take that option Id suggest you consider replacing the leaf spring (if you can find one) or changing some angles on the one you own. Good luck mate.
I can't see the spring on its own for sale. A new Vibrola from Crazy Parts is around Euro's 300 which is soooo expensive and I don't know that it will solve the problem. Having said that I would like to keep it stock so it keeps it's value... Cheers Matt.
I was told that on the modern vibrolas, the leaf spring is not detachable/replaceable. The vintage vibrolas were more amenable to adjusting/replacing component parts. My guitar tech explained this quickly and I didn't listen carefully as it was clear that it was not a solution for my issue with the Tweedy
I've heard these modern Vibrola's are basically not great - shame Gibson ship guitars with inherent problems like this... apart from the Vibrola it's a super guitar!
If the bout doesn't sit on the deck of the guitar what about trying a block or spacer to make up the difference?
Are you saying that the curved metal bit (spring plate I've heard it called) should be actually touching the top of guitar? That's not been my understanding -- that would mean it has not downward play...www.everythingsg.com/threads/need-maestro-vibrola-help.15833/
This guitar sounds just amazing, despite all the known issues. What overdrive did you run it thru? Or is it just those Burstbuckers? Would you recommend them? Thanks for the great review!
The overdrive is a Kalamazoo Gold Lovepedal... and I do like the Burstbuckers too:) Thanks for watching! Matt.
Thank you! One last question, if i may ask. Is that a pair of identical Burstbucker 1 pu's? Couldn't find a definite answer, yet. Thanks a lot!
Hmmm good question I think the bridge is slightly hotter... I'll put the multi-meter on them tomorrow and check their output for you. More soon...
Thank you, wonderful help man!
Hey I just realised it's in the shop getting a TUSQ nut fitted I'll have it back in a few days and do the outputs then. More soon...
Pigtail.
I've heard they are expensive but worth it - thanks Matt.
yeah.. I mean... when you have a guitar that you fancy that much, why not? Tone pros are really good too tho. I suppose at the end what matters is functionality.
The Tone Pros are pretty well priced - the Pigtail stuff gets very expensive... not sure they're worth the extra. Matt.
Have you used Pigtails stoptails and ABR's?
yes! I actually have an sg standard in that configuration. I set it up to spec and have never have tuning problems. it's a 2001 SG std. they how use the nashville bridge, mine still sports the ABR. I bought a pigtail wraparound for my LP Junior and couldn't be happier with the result
I've had the same guitar since 2012 and it's been perfect since new. Amazing sound! I also have an another SG that used to be a stoptail, but I installed Maestro to it myself. No change in tuning stability. One must still remember is an SG, not a Fender. The biggest tuning issues come from too tight nuts and sometimes the bridge is not rocking like it should. The Maestro shouldn't be a problem, there are no moving parts (unlike in a Bigsby, which can be sticky and cause tuning issues).
Hi there interesting... it would seem the that the Tweedy model SG were inconsistent with their quality. One guy has had the same problem and Gibson admitted a few went out faulty and fixed his no charge. I'm not big on the the wiggle stick anyway so I removed it and put a stoptail on. Also a Tusq XL nut... she's rock solid now:) Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Cheers Matt.