1Way

Mozarts name was not fashioned over a moral concern like Dimebag's name was. His chosen name is DIMEBAG! His life ended because of MURDER. The silence of dealing with right and wrong issues is deafening. I'm not catholic, I'm someone who understands and appreciates the concept of right and wrong. It is "absolutely wrong" what happened to Dimebag Darrel and the other victims because as far as I know, he nor the others did nothing deserving of death. Dimebag's death is a tragedy of huge proportion, yet it's almost like right and wrong is a taboo topic here. Sorry for having to go this far, but you folks are being a bit slow on the uptake over the moral issues involved. I "would" make the connection between you folks being terrified of morality with the likelihood that the murderer was also not a morally in tune agent, but I'm afraid such a notion would be lost on you. Hello, there was 3 or 4 people murdered including DIMEBAG, a well respected musician, but when asking you who are supposedly honoring him about the man DIMEBAG and what he was all about, you get ignorance and insult, plus some respectful links to other sites. I already know what kind of music I prefer and it's not heavy metal as much as it is rock and roll, so asking me to consider getting into heavy metal just to find out about Dimebag is not helpful. Besides, apparently you guys understand and are familiar with his music yet you don't give care or seem to understand about what sort of person he was, so I doubt they would help me either. If you have no answer to what he promoted, then just say so and I'll be on my way. I certainly do not want to dislodge this topic as I have deep sadness over this tragedy, but I for one will not forget that actual people who's lives meant something were unjustly slain, not just that a popular heavy metal guitarist is gone. westhemann, you are so insulting it's just about pathetic. Attacking me will never rid us of the issues of justice and morality involved. Put your head in the sand if you wish, but issues like murder and what people promote like doing drugs or not are issues of utmost importance, it's not "drivel". No one is honored by people continually insulting those who care enough to ask about what kind of person the victim was, especially if they are asking the very people who should understand him the best. People, he was murdered, his name was Dimebag, he played radical heavy metal music, you have to be a complete moral misfit (or be willfully ignorant) to dismiss the morality involved as being drivel. 1) I asked for personal info on what sort of man he was, i.e. what he promoted 2) I defend that appropriate inquiry, I am not out of line for caring to understand such things. Why am I asking you guys instead of going elsewhere? Because it seems obvious to me that you appreciate him, and the rest of my experience at this forum is that people are generally glad to help out if they can. (snip)

Apparently, besides having a hell of a good time playing heavy metal music, you folks find it difficult at best to relate what the man was all about and what he promoted. Maybe he was a shy and private person, maybe you folks are honoring heavy metal music more than you are the person. But the inquiry into what sort of man he was and what he promoted is among the most fitting and honoring inquiries imaginable. I don't seek a debate, I don't seek to judge against someone over superficial and scant information. As stated all along, I simply seek your understanding of who he was and what he promoted (besides him being a famous heavy metal dude who promoted, ,,, heavy metal). If you don't know, then just say so. New specific question To the best of your knowledge, did Darrel make any stand about drug use (other than in medicine/science) for himself or for others? In all his music and interviews etc., did he ever make a position known on getting drunk or getting high? His name screams out issue for inquiry, surely someone here knows the answer to this question (without attacking the questioner instead of answering the question).

westhemann, why is it unworthy of your response and "drivel" to try to understand what Dimebag was like, and what he promoted??? (Maybe he's having a bad life..., moving on) Anyone else care to shed some light on the character of Dimebag and what he promoted? So far all we respectful but uniformed know about him is that he was a great guitarist in heavy metal, plus some pics and song titles, that's about it. I assume that some of you might be able to kindly shed some light.

So how about it, lets talk about the man. What sort of person was Dimebag? When I respectfully mentioned this tragedy to a coworker, his immediate response was, who was this guy, a drug dealer? The first time I've seen him on guitar stuff, I wondered about his character simply because of his name, and I am still wondering... So, we have his name, which is a classic icon for a small amount of drugs/pot/etc., we have interviews of him where he readily uses profanity, we have (apparently?) an ex-band member being accused of doing one of the hardest drugs available (although to Dime's credit, he was slamming him for it), and the song titles I've seen seem controversial or worse, so there seems to be a common thread that he was not exactly an upstanding role model, something that would lend a person to have a "cleaned up" life, but appearances may be misleading. Maybe you folks can help explain. Did Dimebag promote things like violence, or drugs, or profanity, or any sort of immorality? What did he promote?

Maiden69, I mentioned that he was not in the Navy or AF because they don't get into hand to hand combat like the Army and Marines do. Maybe he did not join the service to straighten out his messed up life, maybe he joined to learn how to feed his desire for mayhem, you know, things like, bloodbath, putting someone in the hospital, fighting to kill, etc. If he joined to feed his desires to do damage and kill, that is not a good sign over his mental state. Having balls is beside the point, because a psychopath "soon to become murder" passed through boot camp doesn't remotely imply that he was not a whack job time bomb waiting to go off. He apparently only lasted a year or so in the service because of being discharged for mental illness(!!!), so your idea that going into the service set him straight goes against everything we know about what actually happened. And everything that did happen lends to the idea that his time in the service did not help matters except that he was finally diagnosed as being off his rocker. westhemann, I don't know where you got that second quote, the one you spent most of your time directing your response (at me?). I did not write that. Actually, I see that "erikbojerik" wrote that, not me, but you only indicated my name for the first quote but you did not indicate the other quote. As to the pic, I don't know, I guess it could have been someone else and the pic was posted for whatever reason relating to Dimebag in some unspecified fashion. He looks "very" different in that photo and others were wondering the same thing. I heard that Edward VanHalen and someone else (?) paid a tribute to him but that's about all I know. Anyone know more?

1nf1d3l, wow, I wondered. Darrel seems like he's very expressive and his look/appearance seems to change quite a bit. This incident seems too bizarre, it's hard to really grasp.

westhemann (and krizalid), lets take a closer look, also from the same article So apparently he started out being a mess, and then supposedly got better although those details are mysteriously left out, and then he obviously became a mess again, and she "knew" about the bad stuff and possibly "hoped" about the good stuff. If he was diagnosed as being psycho after doing a generally noble/good thing like serving in the armed services, then it is likely that his condition was previously at least somewhat apparent when his life was not "cleaned up". What seems bogus as to his mother's contribution, is that ok, so he used to be a rotten egg (someone not to trust, not to be proud of), so after "recently" joining the military, as if the military never has any rotten eggs, so she (thoughtfully, appropriately???) bought this guy a "gun". Being a recently enlisted does not qualify a person as having straightened up his life even though it is generally a step in the right direction. However, it might mean that he was desperate because he could not hold down a regular job or maybe he wanted to get paid to learn about fighting/killing. Notice he was not in the Navy or Air force, I think that's a Marine outfit (right?). Deep down she probably knew something about his problems prior to his diagnosis; it's very hard to completely fool mothers. And her remorse although appropriate, especially her appreciation for the officer killing her son to save other lives, that was cool, helps to show that she may have felt some responsibility or guilt for arming a potential ticking bomb. If the kid was so loony as to claim that his identity was somehow stolen (by Pantera?), or that it was actually his lyrics that they stole and even his mother can understand that such a claim is ,,, nuts, then obviously the kid was "out of synch" for a long time. Seems to me like his mother had clear warnings that a "gun" may not be the most ideal gift choice.

So again, who is the other guy in the 3rd post? Some of us are not so Metally informed you know. Thanks for the info over this tragic event. I am glad the perp got exactly what he deserved. Give that policeman a tribute too.

Neck and bridge position tonal difference I would have guessed that having the same pickups in the neck and bridge would offer more of a tonal shift, but I was somewhat surprised at how similar the tonal range was in each pickup. I can see why they make different pickups for the neck and bridge so as to expand the tone range. If I had a triple duel humbucker setup, I would definitely NOT have them all be the same pickup, you would not get much distinction between each succeeding pickup. SG strap mod I want to alter the way I attach the guitar strap to the guitar to keep it from being neck heavy. So far I am primarily trying to move the rear strap retainer forward towards the neck (maybe about 4-5") without resorting to drilling a hole in the back and placing it there. Whatever I do, I will have to attach the strap so that it's pretty much flat against the guitar back, I don't want a strap lug nut stickup up and out from the back of the guitar and hitting me in the nether regions. I could fashion a piece (of something like plastic or Plexiglas) that is about 6 inches wide and long enough to attach to both pre-existing strap nuts (one end bent over 90 degrees to reach the rear strap retainer location), and thick enough to be pretty much inflexible. Then on the guitar side of this bracket, line the entire piece with some kind of guitar-finish friendly material (like something they use to line premium guitar cases). Then on the other side, make a relatively flat attachment setup for the guitar strap. Doing this would provide two main services, (1) balance the guitar so it's not neck heavy, and (2) it would protect the backside from the common ill of belt buckle rash. I'd probably just remove the pre-installed strap nuts, and then install my new and improved strap bracket/system. I definitely do not want to be spending energy holding up the guitar, I want my hands free to play, after all, they need all the help they can get. Is any of this starting to make sense yet?

crafty, I will do that, but to my understanding, all the SG's keep the neck pickup away from the fretboard enough distance to add two more frets. As to the deluxe sounding different, it sounded way different from ALL the other SG's and I could tell that the pickups were definitely why it sounded different. Gibson 57' pickups on the Deluxe Switching back to 57' classics from the Burstbuckers. The Deluxe's 57' pickups had just as much rich sound and overtones, perhaps more than the Epi 61 reissue, sorry if I did not explain that clearly before, but my ears are bothered by too much highs, so that colored my impression of them right off the bat. They were certainly the hottest pickups of the bunch. The guitar was noticeably louder and it was more sensitive to even slight finger movement on the strings. My impression was that they are very close to being perfect pickups, they just have too much treble for my taste, plus they are a bit too hot. But another sensation that I did not comment on earlier was that those pickups gave me the impression that I was playing a high grade vintage instrument. To my ears, they have a special deep warm full-bodied sound, rich with overtones and even the impression that you can hear the wood resonating and contributing to the sound. Also, those 57's gave the clearest impression of hearing the guitar itself. They weren't just better than the other pickups, they were almost twice as impressive, except for the Epi 61' reissue where I would have to re-examine them to judge better except for the bridge position pickup in the 61' reissue, it was noticeably inferior to the Deluxe's 57's.

Wasabi J, thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated. I will keep you posted if I do anything with the pickkups, or if I find out which ones they are pattered after. Here's how cool I think the Epi Elitist SG neck pickup is. I tried out at least four different guitars in one visit, The Gibson SG Standard The Gibson SG Special faded The Gibson SG Deluxe The Epiphone Elitist SG 61 reissue The Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Standard And I found the Epi 61' reissue had THE BEST neck pickup of them all! Well, the SG Deluxe was great too, maybe a tie for top honors if I can get passed the high end it provided at the neck position. Of those guitars, I liked the SG Special the least, it was noticeably brighter and lacked the warmth and low end depth that I was expecting. It has an ebony neck and perhaps a different bridge pickup and a faded finish. I'm guessing that the fretboard and the bridge pickup made most of the difference. I'm not sure which I liked the best, the Epi 61' reissue or the Gibson Deluxe or the Gibson Standard! But my gut tells me that if the headstocks were blindfolded and you handed me those same guitars, I would go with the 61 reissue as being the better guitar. The only exception might be that I liked the bridge pickup better in the deluxe, plus tuning on the Gibsons generally seemed nicer and easier to do. It definitely had more base and rich full bodied overtones, but it also had more high end than I prefer, plus it was a hotter (louder) pickup. I don't like my pickups and guitars with too much of a high end focus. Frankly I doubt that I would change that bridge pickup in the Epi reissue for at least a few years as I will not be joining a band or going into the studio anytime soon. I was more than satisfied putting on both pickups and letting that work. Also the neck position alone was fantastic. I was perplexed because I was not favoring the bridge position like I'm used to doing. I need to go down and try out that Epi SG reissue again soon.

crafty, I see, so that was the burstbucker connection you were talking about, I was wondering how you came up with burstbuckers. I will have to look into what you are talking about. I've heard some good things about the burstbuckers, especially if they were potted. The Epiphone website says the neck is 50SR and bridge is 60ST (USA Humbucker). And that is the same setup for all the Les Pauls EXCEPT the Beautiful Les Paul Tak Matsumoto model. It says the neck is burstbucker-2 and bridge is burstbucker-3. So seems like two similar things are going on there but one of them is only with the high dollar Tak model. It wouldn't surprise me if Epiphone was using hardware that Gibson has already developed and Gibson is just keeping things quiet and using different numbering. I am after a big rich tone with lots of lows and mids, plus smooth highs, but not too much emphasis on the highs. I wonder how much difference the pickup makes in relationship to it's location. That is why I also like the idea of having three duel humbuckers, because the in-between location may add a selection that might be just right.

Chuckles, crafty. The Burstbuckers are AlnicoV I think and they are even higher output and higher in tonal range, so I would rather try the Seth Lover or the SD Antiquities pickup. Also, if I get the Epi SG reissue, I don't think it need's a different pickup, at least not for a long time. They are Gibson USA pickups and sound great, the bridge pickup might be in need of an upgrade if I was to join a band or go into the studio or something like that. Maybe if I sell something else I can get it the Epi SG reissue. Wasabi J, thanks but I already checked out the Viper and more recently the Ibanez AXS which seemed to be the most promising of the bunch. But even the AXS was far from the tone provided by the SG's. One sort of trick I learned is to put the guitar back to your ear, then strum the strings and listen closely to what happens. I did that with the SG's and could hear their sweet distinctive tonal voicing, but when I tried the others, they sounded dull or tinny in comparison. Also, I'd stay away from the Gibson SG (special?) faded, it comes with an ebony fingerboard and sounds noticeably brighter, too bright for my taste.

Sorry for going off topic, but it is my thread. I have been thinking about the SG and how it is famous for being neck heavy. So I have been considering alternative ways to strap it up. How about, I put a short piece of strapping(?) from the neck peg to the rear end peg, make that fairly taunt so that it rests pretty much flush with the back of the guitar. Then, instead of fastening the rear of the guitar strap at the rear peg, fasten it a couple inches forward towards the body on that short strap! Anyway I think it would be easier to make the rear strap connection go forward than it would be to move the neck position strap retainer forward. And I'd have to make sure it would not scratch up the backside. Any other ideas?

Excellent, it went well, they offered me a fair value for my guitar (it's never enough) and they are doing a great price on the Epi even though they have to special order it. I still need to come up with the remainding cash amount. Hmmm, I need to sell something... Anyone want a great set of PA monitor speakers for a great price?

I'm heading out to Guitar Center to see what they will give me for my trade, my Gibson Explorer 425 for an Epiphone Elitist SG 61' reissue. I hope they do me right, however one GC acted like it's almost worthless. But this time, and at a different GC, I am buying one of their guitars, and the guy I was talking to seems like a decent guy, so maybe they'll treat me better this time... I would be so jazzed to bring home such a sweet ax. Gotta blast.

crafty, man o live, being the multi talented musician that you are, you really need to check out the Woodwind and Brasswind sometime, they have it all. I am lucky in that I live very close to the store. I go there about once a month or so, the place is huge. I just mess with the guitar stuff, but they've got stuff for orchestra too, plus drums, basses, PA systems, you name it. They've got a cool glassed in room for guitars and amps and basses is next door, also glassed in, so you can get a bit loud sometimes and not freak out the entire store. Personally, I like plugging into the Marshall JCM800 reissue, it's cool with a 4-12 cab, but not tuns of distortion. It lets you hear the guitar sound great and how it sounds distorted too. I appreciate the pickup discussion and comments as I have much to learn. And I have to admit that although I tend to like the old style PAF type pickup, I would check out EMG's active stuff prior to making my purchase. Oh ya, I forgot that the Seth Lover is unpotted, bummer, I think I would like a potted pickup better... I wonder how hard it would be for me to pot a pickup myself? Listening to the Gibson 57's on that SG supreme was great, they were impressive, but to my ears they were a bit almost too,,, something. It was great on the low end, but the high end was a bit too much, ultra very super crisp and tight. "Crisp" is the one word that stands out in my head the most for that pickup, that and almost too much "highs". If I got that pickup I believe I would be tempted to adjust the tone knob down somewhat on my guitar, an idea that just rubs me wrong, more likely I would EQ the signal with a 7 band stomp box to tame the high end a bit. Compared to the other Gibson pickups, the 57's also seemed to be the hottest/loudest pickup. The review at "legendarytones" dot com http://www.legendarytones.com/humbpus1.htm said that the 57's were the least "PAF" sounding of the group, but were still a great pickup. They also had high reviews on the Seth Lover and said that even though it is unpotted, it did not give problems with out of control feedback, but the unpotted Gibson burstbucker was out of control with feedback squeals, but Gibson said that subsequent burstbuckers would be wax potted. Also another SD I would consider is the Antiquity Humbucker, he was noticeably impressed with that pickup, and the SD Seth Lover seemed a close second to it. I have an 85' Gibson Explorer 425, it has three pickups in it, a duel HB and two SC's. I'm wondering how I would tell how many pickup wires I would need if I wanted to replace the less than impressive bridge position humbucker (it's open faced in black and six screw/poles per side). I've never changed a pickup before. I believe that I would have to remove the front face pickup bracket (it has no pickguard) and then remove the pickup or just dislodge it enough to determine how many wires it is. That may be the only thing I can afford before Christmas since I haven't sold my Gibson and PA monitors yet.

Thanks guys, this forum is great! I didn't think about the laminates used for the arched top. You know an interesting find I just found out about is an Epiphone Les Paul-ES. Maybe they are rare and not in current production, I don't know, but it's an double F hole Les Paul made by Epiphone, and Harmony Central has rave reviews about it. crafty, earlier you said However I just went to Woodwind and Brasswind and they have the 57 classic at 99.99 and the SD Seth Lover at 101.50. So I guess they aren't so different in price after all. Maybe Gibson is higher priced in general. And SD has a nice return for exchange policy, I'm pretty sure Gibson does not have anything like that. And thanks for the stretching and occupational therapy suggestions too. As to Ibanez, that is interesting. I always liked the look of the artcore but never looked into them much. Are they smaller in size than the usual 335 design? In terms of recent demo-ing of guitars, I have to say, it would take an awful lot to get me to fall out of faithful adoration of that Epi Elitiest 61' reissue SG. It is just so completely right that it almost hurts just thinking about it and knowing that it is not already mine yet.

AlGeeEater - Even the Kramer semihollow guitar is made of plywood? http://www.musicyo.com/product_specs.asp?pf_id=450 Does anyone have experience with this guitar? How does it compare with say an Epi dot or similar? Sindlei - Sometimes sitting is good, unless you don't have a chair to sit in, or you prefer standing when playing. Working can make my back sore, but I still do that you know. However the clever thing to do is to try to minimize those pains. Work smarter or carry less weight. Hopefully I'll get better by doing stretching and limbering exercises too. Plus I should get enough sleep, eat properly, and above all else, try to play a lighter guitar.

Ok, so I am getting closer and closer to knowing what I want to do for my next guitar. Either I will buy A new or used guitar like an Epiphone SG 61 reissue, or a Gibson SG Standard or I will have a custom SG made via Epiphone (I still don't know if that is even possible) or have an SG clone built with a focus on being lightweight and yet more sturdy at the more stressed locations such as the neck-to-body joint and the headstock-to-neck joint and the bridge and stop piece area. Does anyone know of reputable craftsmen who would be able to build such a guitar without it costing way too much money? And it would need to be something that would end up sounding and playing remarkably as good as the aforementioned Epi or Gibson models. I don't mind it being somewhat different, as long as the major features of the build is sufficiently mimicked. The problems I see for just buying a new guitar, is that you can't easily improve the relatively frail joints, and I still would want to make it somewhat lighter. The problems I see for building a custom or clone guitar, is that although the guitar may fit my ideas for a lighter and more durable model, it might not sound as good as I would like, and it might cost a small fortune.

IDCH, you crack me up. But I'm sorry to hear about your guitar not selling. I know how you feel, I faired about the same way at this last guitar show I went to last Sunday. Not a single dealer seemed interested in it, a few wanted to know what it was, and that was it, nothing more. Mine is not a classic vintage guitar, it's more of a working man's ax. It's a Gibson Explorer 425, with 3 pickups (2 single coils) and a tremolo. I'm thinking about going to a local music store and have them auction it off on ebay. Thanks for the encouragement. I've played since I was a young-in, only I never stuck with it much. I'd say I tried to learn how to play for about a year or so, and then since then I only learned a new riff or lick about once or twice in ten years or so. As to playing with someone else, I really lucked out and ran into this neat guy recently. And he likes some of the same guitarists that I like. Only thing is, he's a business owner type, probably has money and a nice home, etc. Me, I'm like the opposite. But he is not the snooty type. I think we would get along great. AND, after our first and only personal meeting a few weeks ago, the last thing he said was that we will have to get together and play sometime! I sputtered back something about needing to practice a lot first, but that I would love to listen to his playing. I did play with a buddy of mine who does a great job playing drums. It was me and him and a jam box for backing. He was great really, and we both said that we had a blast. I'm looking forward to jamming with him sometime again too. I finally got a tab book plus examples CD that has something that I really need and want to learn. It's blues riffs, and it's not too difficult. After learning some of these riffs, then I will feel more comfortable jamming with others without recorded musical accompaniment. Next I want to a blues licks tab book plus CD to help me with lead play.

crafty, no way, are you serious? The SG copies from ESP and Kramer are plywood?!? Or just relatively shoddy craftsmanship? But I have to wonder if you checked out the link. Kramer's semi hollow body seems to me would not be a likely candidate for plywood. Doesn't that sort of Guitar seem the least bit enticing to you, a small sized semi hollow? Here's a link to one of Gibson's versions. http://www.wwbw.com/Gibson-Custom-CS356-i96784.music Nice looking ah? And she plays like a dream. Very nice. But I don't have 3 grand to burn on my next guitar.

Everyone Back to the original intent of this topic. So far I have some votes for the special faded, and although it is a great guitar especially for the money, but I find it is not deep and low enough in tone. The toneful supreme is very impressive, but costs way too much for my bank account. So far the Gibson SG standard and the Epiphone SG 61 reissue seems to have the nod. Either way I would end up replacing the bridge pickup, probably with a Seth Lover, since it's more economical than the Gibson classic 57, but the quality sounds are similar. Does anyone have any experience with this guitar? http://www.musicyo.com/product_images/571_full.jpg It looks hauntingly similar to the ESP Viper guitars... hmmm I found it by clicking on the Kramer link on Gibson's linked music companies. Wow, I also found another interesting find. My second choice in electric guitars is something along the lines of a Gibson ES 335, only I like the smaller bodies (CS 356) for size and weight issues. Anyway, check out this Kramer semi-hollow smaller body. http://www.musicyo.com/product_specs.asp?pf_id=173 "Exclusive Kramer Small-Body semi-hollow design with solid-mahogany center block and hollow wings for great sustain with rich, warm overtones! Laminated Flame Maple Top with Mahogany back and sides for great looks with excellent weight and balance." Does anyone have any experience with this guitar? I wonder which is lighter, the Gibson SG standard, or the Kramer NightRider...

Slabbefusk, Chuckles, good idea, but unfortunately, I don't have that much cash, but it truly is really nice. MzI, Yes I have, it sounded the most trebly of the bunch, and lacked low end. I would imagine that the pups was at fault, but I can't say for sure. crafty, It's an elite that I can get for around $725, not a thousand. There is no need to be abrasive, it was a bit tongue and cheek, but I am serious about wanting a great ax that is also lightweight. Thanks for the pickup comparison. As to my value comment concerns, it was over the buying new verses used issue. For example, if you buy new, you almost always loose in the resale market compared to buying used. You can buy a used Gibson SG for say $825 and turn around and sell it for the same amout. However, buy a new Gibson SG for $1050 and use it for a month or three and you loose hundreds of dollars if you want to sell it. That was the point I was making about considering to buying a new guitar. I'd rather buy a slightly used "like new" Gibson and save perhaps a couple hundred. But if I was to modify my guitar to make it lighter, then resale value would become somewhat of a non-issue because of likely loosing so much resale value. Godin SD, See my comment to MzI. Except for it being focused on the high end, I like the faded. Oh, and by the way, it has an ebony fingerboard which may be in part why it is a higher frequency guitar. I would prefer rosewood over ebony because of looks and tone, but the ebony fretboard feels/plays really good. Thanks for the friendly attitude and well wishes!

Thanks, I'm pretty set on getting an SG, either Gibson or Epi, as I have found the guitar sound out of them to be unique and most desirable. I understand that the pickups can make a big difference in a guitar. Besides how the guitar itself is made, perhaps there is no other ingredient that shapes the sound of the guitar more than the pickups. I heard that the Vipers are a bit thicker than the SG's and somewhat heavier and have a nice sound to them that one guy said leans towards a Les Paul, which is highly complimentary. But even given all that, I still would prefer an SG for it's unique sound that I like better than a ... Les Paul. Personally, I like the hand grip idea, but maybe just one instead of two. Or perhaps I could route out some wood on the backside and leave the front alone. having a light guitar is very important to me. I did not know there was that much of a difference with the JB pickup. I wonder how the Seth Lover and the Semour Duncan Alnico Pro II compare to the classic 57... ?