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Body Wood for P-90 SG

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JaySwear

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Hello everybody! My next project is already half in my hands. I've had the neck since the Thanksgiving sale. It'll be an SG with P-90s and a maple neck with ebony fretboard. I'm really set on everything (including color) except the body wood. I know the classic choice would be mahogany, but how much would the body wood really matter when the neck is maple? I know thats an age old debate, but I still wonder.

Then it started to creep into the back of my mind that I've never owned a basswood guitar that I've been unhappy with. Decisions decisions. Any thoughts?
 
I've always thought that if I ever built an SG, I'd be using some firmer woods to get back all the frequencies the traditional body/neck/construction style/pickups eat. I mean, those are typically some dark-sounding guitars. So, along those lines and combined with a desire for the thing to not neck dive, I'd be looking at a Swamp Ash, Maple or Black Korina body.

Of course, then it probably wouldn't sound like an SG, but it might be better and it'll still look like an SG.
 
I played an SG Jr. for years and never once had a problem with "neck dive." Somehow I doubt the lack of the neck p/u had much to do with altering the center of balance. Maybe it did?

Maybe I just held on to the neck? I always use a leather strap. Maybe the texture of the underside of the strap kept the guitar in place?

I just don't see what all the "neck-dive" stuff is all about.  :dontknow:
 
I played a Melody Maker for years and didn't really have a problem, either. But, the tendency is there and some examples exhibit it more than others. The balance is just too close. It's easily compensated for if it is there - it's not like the neck weighs 3 pounds more than the body - but it aggravates some folks.

You may have something with the strap. Back when I had that guitar, I had a 3 1/2" wide leather strap that was rough on the inside like suede, so the weight was well-distributed and it didn't slide around. Wish I still had it... I wore that thing for 10-12 years and it was as soft as an old slipper.
 
I did keep the strap! It's an old, 3" black leather Pickpocket strap. Has a little pocket right in front for a stash of picks. It currently suspends my flamed-koa Carvin AE185. Great strap!
 
I remember those "Pickpocket" straps! Haven't seen one in quite a while, though. I never bought into one because I thought it would too much trouble to pull a pick from a pocket if you needed one at a crucial point.

Fortunately for me, I rarely drop or lose picks. But, I always have a ton of them out of fear I will. What the hell - they're cheap. Hate to be stuck for want of a 20 cent piece of plastic. Plus, I know if I got down to 1 pick, I'd lose it almost immediately. Keeping dozens of them around in numerous places seems to scare them all into staying ready in place <grin>
 
Cagey said:
I remember those "Pickpocket" straps! Haven't seen one in quite a while, though. I never bought into one because I thought it would too much trouble to pull a pick from a pocket if you needed one at a crucial point.

Fortunately for me, I rarely drop or lose picks. But, I always have a ton of them out of fear I will. What the hell - they're cheap. Hate to be stuck for want of a 20 cent piece of plastic. Plus, I know if I got down to 1 pick, I'd lose it almost immediately. Keeping dozens of them around in numerous places seems to scare them all into staying ready in place <grin>
Click to expand...


I'd rather just play with my fingers until the song ends than try to fumble around for a spare pick, but I feel you, Cagey, on the issue of keeping a zillion around.  Every load that comes out of the dryer is accompanied by three or four picks.  I must have two dozen in the dish that I drop my change in on my nightstand.
 
I've been doing my own laundry for so long now that I rarely find/lose anything. You learn to make sure things are right-side out, unraveled, empty-pocketed, etc. Took a bit, but I haven't had an unmatched sock, loose change, picks, pens, lighters, etc. show up in probably 10 years. Not to disparage those that did my laundry before; they did a good job and I was grateful. Gave 'em houses and cars and let them get in my pants. But, you can only expect just so much digging through dirty clothes that don't belong to the handler. Even when they're your own it's a bit distasteful, so I've learned to eliminate the need for it <grin>
 
I do most of my own laundry, too - and that of the rest of the household as well.  Thing is, while I rarely miss anything else, at least one guitar pick somehow manages to evade capture when I empty my pockets (I usually have two or three on my person, for some reason).
 
Bagman67 said:
...I usually have two or three [picks] on my person, for some reason.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's the problem. No respect. No sense of urgency. No worries. You take pick availability as a given.

Pretend you only have one pick, even if you have 3 gross of them in a variety of gauges, materials and shapes, and you'll keep track of the little rascal.

I always have a pick, too. But, I don't let anybody else use it, and I always know where it is. It's as if they're made of precious unobtanium. If somebody asks for a pick, I make a big production out of sighing and dragging my ass over to the traps drawer to find them one, asking what they'd prefer to make them comfortable, all so they'll know this is a hardship I shouldn't have to endure because every responsible player handles such minutia on their own and they're the lackeys.

I know I'm weird, so shut up <grin>
 
I play finger style electric guitar.  Picks for acoustic.  Finger style for bass.  The pics I have I let my friends use.  None in the wash. 
 
Another thread successfully derailed!

So, to bring it back around to the op, if it were me, I would probably never build a SG that wasn't mahogany. But I'm kind of a snob about SGs. But the idea of a trans red over black korina Warmoth SG, with P-90s...
Yeah, if not mahogany, then BK!
 
I'm going to build an SG for my brother with poplar since  I'm going to do a green to clear burst and poplar is greenish naturally. That's the great thing about Warmoth is the options, you don't have to do the conventional things when it's your own custom build.
 
Gibson is currently offering an SG listed as the RAW POWER!
Here's what they say on there site.

The SG Special Raw Power is the first-ever SG to be crafted of solid maple. The guitar’s tight-grained 2 - 3 piece maple top fits snugly atop a maple body, and top and body are bonded together with ultra-strong Franklin Titebond 50 glue.

Tonal Characteristics
Never before has the SG’s tone been so fresh and so brilliant — with snap, clarity, and definition that tightens up the lows and adds more cut to the highs. And like a number of Gibsons, the SG Special Raw Power's interior is chambered, which gives you a guitar that is louder acoustically and features increased sustain and resonance.

Neck Tonal Characteristics
With a maple neck, the SG Special Raw Power's tone is snappier, the response quicker, and the clarity unmatched. In addition, the angled, classical-style peg head offers enhanced sustain.

They put HBs in there's but you would probably still be able to get an idea of the sound of the body neck combination.

Maybe you can try one out at the local big box.

:rock-on:
 
The combination of P90 and SG is a happy one.

The traditional tone is from mahogany - IF - you're using a traditional P90.  Remember, like HB's, P90's vary all over God's creation! 

Current Gibson P90's are very dark, and wound much hotter than they have been in the early 2000's.  Even so, P90's from the very early days... 50's are very light wound by todays standards.

The Fralin P90 is a good one, and he offers light to medium dark.  If you need darker, go Gibson, cuz Lindy wont wind 'em that heavy - he likes bright pickups.

There is NOTHING lost in the makup of the SG that darkens tone

Les Paul's are traditionally a darker instrument.  For instance, Gibson 57 Classic pickups sound a little thin on the SG, but very good on Les Pauls.  Similarly, the BB#3 is dark in a Les Paul, but very good in an SG.  I know, I've tried 'em!

Some things to consider on an SG -
Get the THIN version that Warmoth does.  SG's are THIN... not 1-3/4 inches like Fender.  Go for the thin one.
Next, the traditional tone will only come from a mahogany neck of thin profile.  Go with whatever board, it doesn't matter.  Go with whatever frets, it doesn't matter much either.  You want that thin body and standard contour neck, and P90's wound to about 7.5k on the neck, and 8k on the bridge - and you've nailed the "classic" SG tone.  Trust me, I've been there!
 
I remember my SG Jr as a thin body. I always thought the 1.75" thickness sounded too chunky in W's description.

I had tried to put in a push-pull pot for coil splitting the DiMarzio P-90 size HB I had installed, but the pot body was too tall!

SG builders, heed =CB='s advice. 1.5" thick mahogany body and mahogany neck.
 
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