In an effort to stand out among all the Black Friday guitar deals currently floating around, Gibson has introduced two immensely attractive iterations of its SG Standard and Les Paul Studio models, dubbed the Dark Limited-Edition electric guitars.
The duo dispense of the orthodox aesthetic appointments usually found on their contemporary counterparts, instead opting for a muted-yet-elegant blackened theme that manifests itself in black pickup rings, all-black hardware, Richlite fretboards and darkened inlays.
Of course, the results are everything you’d expect from a guitar family labeled “Dark”, and, if anything, the guitars look as though they’d have fitted right in alongside Gibson’s Halloween offerings from earlier this year – the Raven SG and Les Paul.
Read on for a thorough breakdown of each new-look axe.
Gibson SG Standard Dark limited-edition
First up is the limited-edition SG, which features a model-standard mahogany body with a gloss Cherry finish, as well as a mahogany neck with cream binding. Unlike normal SGs, the Dark iteration features a Richlite fretboard – favored over the usual rosewood alternative – that is topped with blackened trapezoidal inlays.
Other appointments include 22 medium jumbo frets, a 12” radius and a 24.75” scale length.
The muted aesthetics are complemented by more black hardware – a black Tune-O-Matic bridge lines up alongside a black Stopbar tailpiece, with a black GraphTech nut and black Grover tuning machines featuring at the other end of the neck.
Pickup-wise, the SG sports a Super ‘57 bridge and ‘57 Classic neck humbucker, controlled by pickup-specific volume and tone controls, and a black-tipped three-way toggle switch.
Gibson Les Paul Studio Dark limited-edition
The SG is joined by the Les Paul Standard Dark, which leans even further into the blackened aesthetics with a gloss Ebony finish that’s echoed by the none-more-black hardware. Again, a black Stopbar tailpiece and Tune-O-Matic bridge are partnered with a black toggle switch tip, Graph Tech nut and black Grover tuners.
A Richlite fretboard – topped with 22 medium jumbo frets and adorned with blackened trapezoidal inlays – also features, as does a 12” radius and 24.75” scale length.
All these specs feature atop the single-cut, maple-topped solid mahogany body and SlimTaper mahogany neck, which plays host to a standard Gibson truss rod.
There are some substantial differences in the electronics department: the Les Paul comes equipped with dual humbuckers, controlled via a coil-tap phase switch. This versatile appointment works alongside pickup-specific tone and volume controls, as well as a three-way selector switch.
Both the Gibson SG Standard Dark and Les Paul Studio Dark are available now for $1,599 exclusively from Guitar Center and Musician's Friend.
It’s been a busy few days for the guitar retailer, which has announced a whole host of Guitar Center Black Friday deals, as well as a trio of limited-edition Fender American Ultra models.
