Midweek guitar therapy. Really, I needed the guitar time before plunging into cancer-related thoughts & despair. Today's guitar of choice - the much maligned 2015 SG Special. Maligned (to me especially) because it features two foolish features: 1) The GForce tuning system 2) Adjustable metal nut.
The 2015 models, SG or otherwise, feature the dreaded GForce tuning mechanism where a robotic implement resides at the headstock & tune your instrument up each & every time tuning is required. It's an intelligent system, they said. It keeps you in tune all the time without you realizing it, they said. It's a break-through guitar technology, they said. But I strongly believe it removes the emotional intelligence required for guitar upkeep, to say the least. It deprives the learner of that educational & adaptive rigour pertaining to the guitar & its ownership. Ironically, Gibson & Tronical, the company that manufactured the GForce, were having a litigative relationship along the way leading to terminal circumstances. I still stand by the belief that this GForce system is unnecessary & a wasted venture through & through. By the way, the GForce system was removed from this guitar, the RATIO tuners are handling things very well in the mean time.
The metal nut design for the 2015 models actually incorporated a zero fret which was a wonderful consideration. Ideally, it helps reconcile the issue of open notes not sounding as 'true' as their fretted counterparts. This nut design is also adjustable so you can raise & lower the nut height to accommodate different string gauges with reference to action adjustments. However, this nut is not a fixed feature, it requires the strings tension to secure it in place. I'd rather have a non-metal nut that stays put all the time because in intense distortion applications, open & fretted notes are undistinguishable. To compound the negativity, the headstock says Les Paul 100 as a commemorative label.
Before playing proceeded, the SG Special received a fresh set of Darco strings. I feel that this 2015 iteration has the best, shred-inducing neck ever. No, it's not Wizard thin, it's just profiled to facilitate fast fretting hand movements. The wider feature has something to do with this inducement as well. I only bought this guitar after trying it in the store. I already dislike the guitar for the GForce & metal nut but it was listed to clear so I decided to give it a try before totally dismissing it. In view of its awesome playability & the probability of overcoming the GForce system successfully, I bought it.
Hello, June 👋
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