Why are Norlin era SG are horrible ??

[Kris Ford]

Pure Bigsby SG, I think it is a 1988 SG Deluxe :salude

See, I think this is stupid and awful.

We will all have taste differences..

 

[EFLOW]

Es-335 was massacred, destroyed during the Norlin years ... :dang

 

[Progrocker111]

Es-335 was massacred, destroyed during the Norlin years ... :dang

This was just entry low end model, like some similar SG variants. They were still making "regular" ES335s or 355s.

 

[jojo68]

A friend of mine brought me one of these with the Moog electronics. OMFG. What a colossal piece of crap. I threw in some other buckers for him, and did regular wiring and pots. Much better, but still one ugly guitar with a volute!

I dig it. I like volutes too. I've rocked a Norlin SG before and it was a great guitar. I needed a bit wider neck than the 74 I had but other than that, killer guitar.

 

[EFLOW]

A friend of mine brought me one of these with the Moog electronics. OMFG. What a colossal piece of crap. I threw in some other buckers for him, and did regular wiring and pots. Much better, but still one ugly guitar with a volute!

No bevel , Norlin SG are really horrible ... :##

 

[Repo251]

Mine is fucking awesome! Slim neck, now with BKP stormy mondays and new bridge! Warm fast cool as fuck

 

[garywright]

I'm with ya on that ! ..I hope that Gibson does a Hendrix SG reissue complete with a correctly angled vibrato comb..carry on.

note to ME :salude..they did, but it’s $10,000.00 and has a hideous banana coating ...carry on...

 

[mos6507]

The organic SG shape with its complex curves and bevels is such that if you deviate from it too much as was the case with the Norlins that it just falls apart. That's also why I don't particularly dig the "italicized" ESP Viper. It just looks off in an uncanny-valley way.

I'm with ya on that ! ..I hope that Gibson does a Hendrix SG reissue complete with a correctly angled vibrato comb..carry on.

Looks like you got your wish.

 

[jrgtr42]

I know most of the guitars are to prove the point that the Norlin SGs were bad, but as a counterpoint, my 1980 Firebrand.
I know these were made as a more affordable version, but it's got ebony board, |I prefer the side jack location to the top.
I replaced out the T-top pickups - Duncan Alnico 2 inthe bridge and Pearly Gates neck.
It's been refretted once, crowned a couple times, and probably time for it again. It's my #1 guitar, that I'd live naked on the streets before selling.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10159336681633694&set=a.478827253693

 

[Progrocker111]

Some of the 73-76 SG Standards i have played with their original Superhumbucker tarback pickups were actually great sounding. Feeling more robust and stiffer than older SGs, had gret sustain and attack. Great rock and hardrock guitars.

 

[AJCR]

The organic SG shape with its complex curves and bevels is such that if you deviate from it too much as was the case with the Norlins that it just falls apart. That's also why I don't particularly dig the "italicized" ESP Viper. It just looks off in an uncanny-valley way.



Looks like you got your wish.

I think this sums up the thinking on this particular forum. People here just cannot seem to be able to see something for what it is. They are only capable of seeing something for what it isn't.

 

[PermissionToLand]

Incredible , :dang

That was originally an opaque finish SG Special, in fact it was the one originally marketed as an Epiphone and rebranded Gibson like the LP-style Spirit. So not really fair to dog Norlin for what was under an opaque finish.

To the guy who seemed to think all Norlin SGs are thicker, that is not true. Only the R1/Artist was thicker to fit the Moog electronics. The real reason they might sound darker like a LP is because the neck is set in further so the pickups are closer to the neck than other SGs.

In any case, Angus didn't mind a Norlin; as mentioned, his Number 1 was a '70/'71 Standard with T-Tops.

Here he is with an '81 Standard which has Tarbacks:

Tone sounds pretty good to me.

 

[agogetr]

The Norlin era Gibson's are really not as bad as some seem to think of them .With the right pickups and wiring harness with good pots and caps, tuners and bridges and etc. hardware and proper setups these Gibson's can be great guitars .They are well represented on countless recordings by many major artists and groups . It just takes a little bit of loving care .I am partially biased and will admit that and also my first electric which I still have from my childhood is my beloved early 70's Gibson Ebony Les Paul Custom ,which I have completely beat the loving piss and crap out of it and do you know what Gibson West Coast Custom restored it for me and I owe a major debt of gratitude to Roger Gissin .

thats my take on them also. maybe play around with older pickups and pots, heck you could plek the the thing too. wind up with a stellar guitar. maybe find an early seventies thats been broken and repaired to start with, you would have peanuts into the thing which also blows my skirt up

 

[agogetr]

When I read that the SG on "Back In Black" album was a circa '71 or so (member Kris Ford has backed this up in the past) with T-Tops and a big fat volute all my tone dreams were ruinededededededed. You can find the damn things for not much dough around here. Though, that was seriously great rock'n'roll tone, IMO, and I'm not exactly an AC/DC aficionado.


Those funky arsed cheap ones were a market response to the early MIJ's, eek, yeah they're a finicky bunch, not rock'n'roll per se unless it be lo-fi punk rock I'd imagine.



Everyone knows the best and most beautiful SG ever was the Hendrix '67 Custom anyways, that's a no brainer.


Whether it's a Norlin, or a member of the first few batches ever built which many saw the scrap pile due to horrible engineering, don't get too comfy....I can't think of another guitar in the world where a body/heel repair is a common issue! :laugh2:

thats interesting because i heard angus played newer ones but by the nineties or so had switched back to vintage ones? thats what i heard so i made my way backstage one time with a 61 sg convertetd to a stop and i think it had something else going on maybe a heel crack or something, however the guitar was killer, it played like butter and screamed, i was going to sell it to angus for 800 dollars which was a smokin deal at the time, i got as far as the road manager and he could not have been more nasty, just a shinning ass. he said 'look man people give angus guitars for free' even after i told him it was a 61 for 800 bucks! the guitar never even got the case opened. needless to say i never got near angus. i just said ok and left. the five minute encounter with the manager left me feeling like id been poisoned lol.
the bummer is angus would have loved that one. i forget what i did with it, i always had a mortgage or 2 to pay.

 

[El Gringo]

thats my take on them also. maybe play around with older pickups and pots, heck you could plek the the thing too. wind up with a stellar guitar. maybe find an early seventies thats been broken and repaired to start with, you would have peanuts into the thing which also blows my skirt up

So true . Great guitars from our favorite guitar maker .