Gibson Tony Iommi SG Special - Vintage Cherry Review

Fantastic guitar - Sounds great - Looks great - Highly Recommend

Sweetwater had setup the guitar perfectly. There are no physical or electronic issues with the guitar that I have seen. The wrap-around bridge is fantastic. The neck, despite its larger size, is extremely slick and fast to play. Shredding to the upper frets is very easy and ergonomic. The highlight of this guitar is the P90's. The Iommi features the legendary Gibson P90's. Only… read more these are covered in chrome, like Iommi's original John Birch modified SG Special. I'm not sure if Gibson did anything to the pickups. They are on the hot side. They sound really good. All the classic Sabbath sounds are here and anything you can conjure. Overall I highly recommend this guitar. It's a great value.

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Doom machine!

I love P-90s in a Gibson - not to mention Iommi's tone in those early Sabbath albums -- so I've been on the hunt for one for a while. A SG with P90s that I bought in 2017-2018 just didn't do the trick. Sounded a bit thin, ended up selling it. I was concerned I might have a similar experience with the Iommi SG. Not to fear! I don't know if Gibson did a different wind, but these pups… read more have all the snarl and bark that I wanted from a P90. I play doom/prog black metal through a Friedman Runt and Friedman JJ jr, and the combo of this guitar with those amps is perfect. No boost/fuzz or other interventions needed. The neck is nice and thick, the finish seems a bit of a faded cherry which I love, and the witch hat tone knobs are incredible. Overall a great guitar with perfectly dark, moody tones. There was a delay in getting the guitar due to whatever (maybe the Gibson plant hit by the supply chain stufff?) but Sweetwater kept me in the loop throughout and overnighted it to me when it arrived. Glad I held out for it! May become my number one guitar. Thanks Gibson and Sweetwater.

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Rock Machine

Form Fit and Function is great. P90s have that vintage crunch expected of this model.

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Surprisingly comfortable with killer tone

If you're spending this kind of money on a guitar, you should know how to set it up to your preferences. It played fine upon arrival, but after adjusting the truss rod and resetting intonation for my preferred string gauge, I was amazed at how comfortable the neck is on the Iommi SG. I am a long-time SG fan and there is something different and extremely supple to the neck compared… read more to other SGs. The tone is also quite remarkable, the notes have bite and clarity but with a huge girth that brings fullness and presence to both chords and single note riffs. The horn-mounted strap button is a very cool feature as well. Very fun and mojo-filled guitar on par with many of Gibson's more expensive offerings. One note: it arrived with a non-functioning neck pickup due to a bad solder joint. This is a severe quality control issue that shouldn't happen at this price range, but it was an easy fix. That said, I was alarmed. Hence the one star removed.

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I thought I would love this guitar...

I do not. The guitar looks great and sounds great, but it does not play great. Am I supposed to have get a set-up on a $2400 guitar that was pleked? This is disappointing. The biggest problem is the action is way too high; borderline unplayable for me. Also, the intonation is obviously off and the neck is very sticky feeling, even for lacquer finish. I have come to regret every… read more signature guitar purchase I have made. I hope I have finally learned a lesson. Bottom line - if you're a Tony Iommi fanatic and have money to burn, go for it. Otherwise, I'd get a Gibson or Epiphone SG Special. Sadly, I am past my return period. I will take to a luthier and hope for the best.

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