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Gibson SG Menace

 

Review of the Gibson SG Menace by The Man in the Jar

As if an SG isn't menacing enough.

Features of the Gibson SG Menace

Tuners - Sealed black chrome Grovers with large kidney knobs. These are excellent heads and work like a dream.

Headstock - Classic three-a-side gabled paddle style. The standard Gibson logo is missing and in its place is a tattoo style heart with the Gibson logo kinda' wrapped around it.

Nut - The beautifully finished black plastic nut abuts the fretboard. 

Neck - This is listed as a 60's style neck which means it has a bit of chunkiness about it. As long as your hands aren't tiny this shouldn't present a problem, I was happily acclimatised after just a few minutes. The mahogany neck is set and, as with all SG's, access to the upper frets is excellent. 

Fretboard - The dark rosewood board is flawless and has no discernable change in colour along its entire length. It also has hardly any grain pattern so it adds to the light-absorbing menace of the overall finish. There are no fret markers except for a brass-knuckles inlay at the 5th fret.

Frets - The medium square-profile frets appear to be made from brass. They are perfectly finished and offer a lovely positive playing experience.

Action - The factory set-up is good but I'd be incline to tweak the action down a tad to maximise riffing potential. If you do lower the action you'll find you'll need to lower the pickups accordingly. 

Body - The original nasty, pointy guitar shape is still one of my favourites to wear and play. The slab mahogany body has all the usual SG contouring with an added extra: grooves have been cut in the body edge at the upper and lower horn and along the base of the body. Adds Menace I guess.

Bridge - Standard tune-o-matic and stoptail. Strings sit on individual saddles which allow for individual adjustment of intonation (string length). Action (string height) is adjusted by a screw at each end of the bridge assembly.

Pickups - These are a "mated" pair of open-coil humbuckers, a 490R in the neck position and a 498T at the bridge. Both are tuned to deliver an enhanced mid-range to satisfy the needs of modern metallers. Both pickups have brass pole pieces and the copper coils are clearly visible through the transparent top covers.

Controls - The time-honoured Gibson collection of two volumes, two tones and a three-way selector cluster below and behind the bridge. Black speed knobs add a touch of vintage Gibson class. Be aware that when both pickups are engaged either volume control will act as a master and mute the instrument when wound fully back.  

Pickguard - It's a classic SG single-ply black guard at first glance. On closer inspection there are three slots cut out of it below the strings. That'll be the Menace thing again. 

Strap-buttons - Quite small strap buttons, one on the bottom of the body and one on the back of the heel. If you are playing the kind of music this guitar was designed to deliver then you will need strap locks or larger buttons. 

Output Jack - On the face of the guitar behind the controls.

Finish - Two notable things about the finish - it's flat black and shows the grain of the mahogany (which looks dead classy) and it's nitro-cellulose (which means it will age and wear in its own special way).

Accessories - Fitted Gibson hard case.  

 

Sound of the Gibson SG Menace 

The pickups certainly deliver what they promise. The voice of this guitar through a cooked-up valve amp is really awesome. The depth and range of tone is there to handle the drop-tuned power chording that modern metal demands. When running the pickups together this quality is really sublime. Running the bridge pup alone drops in a large portion SG high-end brashness - strike the strings nearer the bridge and a bit of old-fashioned Angus raises his ugly little head. 

 

Overall Impressions of the Gibson SG menace

If metal is your bag then the voice and vibe of the SG Menace should set your juices flowing. For attitude, looks and playability it's difficult to beat an SG and that set mahogany construction sustains like Viagra. 

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