Gibson SG Raw Power Electric Guitar (Assorted Colors)

Above all, the most inspired design in guitar-making history is now available in solid maple. It creates a fresh, brilliant tone previously unheard of from a standard SG. And for the first time the SG is available with a three-piece solid maple neck, topped with a maple fingerboard. Notes are vividly clear, and chords are purely expressive. It was hard to improve the world’s best-playing neck, but Gibson did.

The SG’s signature look also gets a facelift with an updated palette of satin nitro finish colors, and a pair of Gibson’s ’57 Classic humbucker pickups gives it a brand new power plant. Legendary “PAF” tone in a totally contemporary format. You’ve got to hear it to believe it. It’s intense. It’s in your face. And it’s original. It’s one of the most distinct sounding SGs you’ll ever hear. Listen for yourself …

It Starts with a Solid Maple Body...

The distinct twin cutaways, pointed horns and beveled edges of an SG body have long been the model’s most central feature. And that hasn’t changed on the new SG Raw Power. For the first time, the most inspired body design in guitar-making history is now available in solid maple – and it’s only available on the SG Raw Power. Never has the SG’s tone been so fresh, so brilliant, and so penetratingly clear. The tone is as original as it’s look. It literally must be heard to be believed. Of course, like all the woods used by Gibson, the maple is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson’s team of skilled wood experts before it enters the Gibson factories. The maple is also 100 percent certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, making the Raw Power series the first fully FSC-certified series of guitars in the Gibson line.

Gibson’s ’57 Classic Pickups

Among the qualities that make Gibson’s original “Patent Applied For” humbucking pickups so unique are the subtle variations between coil windings. For the first few years of their production—1955 to 1961—Gibson’s PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with slightly different output and tone, desirable to players who wanted to mix and match and explore a complete spectrum of tonal possibilities.

The ’57 Classic pickups are the result of Gibson’s drive to capture and recreate this renowned characteristic. Introduced in 1992, the ’57 Classic provides warm, full tone with a balanced response, packing that classic Gibson PAF humbucker crunch.

And because they are inspired by those original PAFs, the ’57 Classic pickups are made to the exact same specs, including Alnico II magnets, nickel-plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers, and vintage-style, two-conductor braided wiring. Additionally, the wiring is poly-coated instead of enamel-coated, which improves consistency by eliminating thin or thick spots on the wire. They are also wax potted, which removes all internal air space and any chance of microphonic feedback.