Gibson SG Special Faded vs. Standard

[Andy43]

How does the Gibson SG Special Faded stand up to the SG Standard? Do they both play/sound more or less the same? I'm probably going to swap the pickups regardless of which one I get, so those don't matter. I also don't care about the finish and inlays on the standard. In fact, I actually prefer the look of the Faded with moon inlays, so buying a Standard would just a waste of money if the only thing I'm getting is needless extravagance. I'm mainly wondering about how the neck/frets are different. Could the Special get as low of action?

[elcid]

I had a faded and it was awesome, I bought it instead of a Standard. They discontinued the moon inlays a few years back though. I sold it to buy a 61 RI though and its the best of the 3.

[Andy43]

What exactly makes it better? Could the Special get low action without buzzing?

[elcid]

For all intents and purposes the faded is the Standard without the inlays and gloss finish. The action was fine I did pull the pickups immediately though. The 61 RI has a much nicer feeling neck, it joins the body higher up on the neck and it has '57 Classics which are in my top 3 favorite pickups.

[marianozz]

The moon inlays happened cause the Gothic series was a flop... They just sanded away all the leftovers and voila! the faded series was born... Theyre great guitars, same quality / diffrent look

[kotornut]

The faded is a great guitar especially for the money. I had a Standard for a long time it used to actually be my guitar of choice over aything (then I played Ibby from the early nineties ).

The faded is as good as a standard in most respects. However, I have seen a few that were a bit off. That's just quality control though and Gibsons is not great at the moment. So I recommend that you play it before you buy it.

[Andy43]

I played some Gibsons and other guitars at Guitar Center today. I don't know why, but the Standard actually felt cheaper to me than the Faded did. Maybe it was just that particular one, but it sounded really hollow unplugged. The Faded sounded more solid and natural. Maybe this was because of the thin finish on the Faded? I didn't bother plugging them in though because I know Gibson pickups aren't for me.

I've been thinking about a strat lately, and the EJ strat completely blew me away! Such a good feel and resonation. I think Fender's got it over Gibson at the same price level.

[elcid]

I had an EJ strat for awhile, another great guitar. COmpletely different animal than the SG though. I may be selling my 61 RI if you are still thinking about an SG. PM me if your interested