Bosco Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Mike McCready from Pearl Jam was on Good Morning America this morning and they went back stage and checked out some guitars. You have to check this out, 1:45 in, Mike is playing what he calls his "Wilco, Jeff Tweedy model SG" which he just picked up that day, then at the end of the video he's playing it on stage! Pretty cool if you ask me. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/pearl-jams-mike-mccready-takes-backstage-nycs-barclays-20644090 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magnetized Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Very cool! I love the way that guitar looks too. It's such a beautiful shade of blue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Pretty cool. I'm struggling a bit with my Tweedy SG. Not staying in tune. Intonation is off. I will make it work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mizzy Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 For a couple of years you were all but guaranteed to get Theologians when you saw that blue SG. But now there's a Whole Love track that uses it as well, I've been burned a couple of times. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bosco Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Pretty cool. I'm struggling a bit with my Tweedy SG. Not staying in tune. Intonation is off. I will make it work. Really? Mine's pretty solid, I'll play for hours and it's still in tune, I'll put it down and not touch it for a couple weeks and when I pick it up it's still in tune, well at least that's what the tuner on my pedal board tells me. I've had some pretty crappy guitars so I've got this thing where I check my tuning every couple tunes regardless of how I think it sounds. Then again, it's a Gibson, and where as I have no personal experience to this being the case, I have heard people complain about their stock tuners.For a couple of years you were all but guaranteed to get Theologians when you saw that blue SG. But now there's a Whole Love track that uses it as well, I've been burned a couple of times. Art Of Almost Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twoshedsjackson Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Pretty cool. I'm struggling a bit with my Tweedy SG. Not staying in tune. Intonation is off. I will make it work.Find yourself a good luthier and take it in for a setup. That should fix the intonation. Gibson's quality control is pretty much non-existent anymore, so the factory setup is probably awful. As for the tuning, Bosco nailed it. Stock tuners on Gibsons are crap. The G in particular is always problematic. You can find a set of Grovers on Amazon for around $40 and install them yourself in about 15 minutes. They look just like the stock tuners but are far better. Trust me, I've done this on all of my Gibsons. You'll be glad you did. Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Art Of Almost Am I mistaken, or wasTweedy playing the Rickenbacker on this song for a while. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 You are not mistaken. He's played both. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I had some tuning/intonation problems with my Tweedy SG early on. I think the B and high E strings were sticking in the nut. seems much better now after clearing the nut a bit and getting the guitar set up by a pro. my main problem with it was the vibrato arm. Could not keep that thing stuck on (the nut always fell off, wouldn't stay together). finally went to a hardware store and put a better fix on it. plus when I hug Jeff at the end of living room shows I always steal a small part of his soul and then transfer it to my guitars when I get home through a ceremony I'd rather not go into on here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 plus when I hug Jeff at the end of living room shows I always steal a small part of his soul and then transfer it to my guitars when I get home through a ceremony I'd rather not go into on here. Wait, I thought you were keeping that part secret? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thanks for the tips on the Tweedy. I love the guitar and can tell it's well built. This is the first Gibson I have evern owned and certainly the first kind of guitar with this type of vibrato. I did have a luthier look at it and he did say he needed to file the nut sluts and the nut height down so I thought that would take care of it but there is still an issue. I was starting to suspect the vibrato but it sounds like others are not having issues so maybe it's still the nut or tuners. I had someone recommend putting a bone nut on it because you can basically polish those until they are frictionless. I think I just need to spend some time on it or take it back to the luthier and complain. He usually does an excellent job on all my stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twoshedsjackson Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I don't know if putting in a bone nut will help your problem, but it will definitely improve tone & sustain. If you think the nut might be an issue, an easy fix is to clean out the grooves and then gently rub a sharpened pencil in each one. The graphite helps. I'd still recommend switching tuners, though. Cheap & easy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I don't know if putting in a bone nut will help your problem, but it will definitely improve tone & sustain. If you think the nut might be an issue, an easy fix is to clean out the grooves and then gently rub a sharpened pencil in each one. The graphite helps. I'd still recommend switching tuners, though. Cheap & easy. Will do, does seem like the G is the worst offender. I do use pencil lead in all my other guitars but have not actually changed the strings on this one myself yet so have not done it. Thanks for the tips. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Yaz Rock Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I recall an interview with Eddie Vedder, maybe it was in one of the fan club magazines, in the early-mid 2000s, and he was asked who he was listening to at the moment, and Wilco was one of the bands he named. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rockinrob Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Tweedy SG: A lot of people have trouble with tuning new gibsons, and it can be a frustrating thing. The solution is almost never the tuners, the stock ones are fine. In fact, gibson buys their "Gibson Deluxe" kluson style tuners (The ones with a screw on bushing, on most of the standard line guitars) from Grover! The have the same exact insides as the rotomatics... (This is the Grover stamped version http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Grover_Tuners/Grover_Deluxe_Keystones.html) It is ALWAYS, one of these things: The nut, the nut, your stringing technique, the nut, or your tuning technique Take a look at the nut. Notice the angle the G string has to take to get to the tuner? It always catches there. Think about what happens when you bend a string, or even just play the guitar: The string moves in the nut slot. If it gets caught in the nut slot, you will be sharp! If you tuned down to the note, it may get caught in the nut and actually be flat, but caught in the nut, so when you move it, it fixes itself flat! You can do some light filing that fixes many guitars by folding up some sandpaper and giving it a few strokes. We are talking about a very small amount of material here, so take it easy. Less than the thickness of paper should be plenty to help you in most cases. Tuning: Always tune UP to the note. If you go just slightly over, tune it down a 1/4 step or so and then back up to the note. Stringing: Try to only get two wraps around each post MAX, and preferably learn the locking wrap technique. Vibrato: I use a bigsby on my Les Paul, in a crazy Neil Young manner! I am almost never out of tune because my guitars are very well set up, but if I am out of tune after vibrato use, I never touch a tuning peg. hit the vibrato bar again! If you look at the strings when you play the vibrato, your bridge rocks back and forth slightly. Sometimes it gets stuck in a different place than where it began, so just move the bar and it will most likely go back to the normal spot! Hope this helps... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twoshedsjackson Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Tweedy SG: A lot of people have trouble with tuning new gibsons, and it can be a frustrating thing. The solution is almost never the tuners, the stock ones are fine. In fact, gibson buys their "Gibson Deluxe" kluson style tuners (The ones with a screw on bushing, on most of the standard line guitars) from Grover! The have the same exact insides as the rotomatics... (This is the Grover stamped version http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Grover_Tuners/Grover_Deluxe_Keystones.html) It is ALWAYS, one of these things: The nut, the nut, your stringing technique, the nut, or your tuning technique Take a look at the nut. Notice the angle the G string has to take to get to the tuner? It always catches there. Think about what happens when you bend a string, or even just play the guitar: The string moves in the nut slot. If it gets caught in the nut slot, you will be sharp! If you tuned down to the note, it may get caught in the nut and actually be flat, but caught in the nut, so when you move it, it fixes itself flat! You can do some light filing that fixes many guitars by folding up some sandpaper and giving it a few strokes. We are talking about a very small amount of material here, so take it easy. Less than the thickness of paper should be plenty to help you in most cases. Tuning: Always tune UP to the note. If you go just slightly over, tune it down a 1/4 step or so and then back up to the note. Stringing: Try to only get two wraps around each post MAX, and preferably learn the locking wrap technique. Vibrato: I use a bigsby on my Les Paul, in a crazy Neil Young manner! I am almost never out of tune because my guitars are very well set up, but if I am out of tune after vibrato use, I never touch a tuning peg. hit the vibrato bar again! If you look at the strings when you play the vibrato, your bridge rocks back and forth slightly. Sometimes it gets stuck in a different place than where it began, so just move the bar and it will most likely go back to the normal spot! Hope this helps...You bring up a good point about it possibly being a stringing technique issue, but I have to disagree regarding the tuners. As far as I know, Gibson installs tuners made by Kluson, not Grover, and they are most definitely inferior. They do look the same, but there's absolutely a difference. After I made the change on one of my Les Pauls, I was so happy that I did it on two others and a J-30 acoustic. No more problems. It was actually my luthier who recommended that I try it, and I tend to listen to him. The man's a master. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the new frugality Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 It is what it is but only two posts were on topic... Mike McCready has been giving a lot of love to the Jeff Tweedy SG on this current tour. If you YouTube any Pearl Jam live stuff from 10/18 and on, you will see him using it. I wonder if he has the same tuning issues that the rest of us have? It doesn't really matter though because someone is tuning all of his guitars. Seeing Mike use the JT SG really validates my purchase! He is quite the player. PS - it's the trem system that makes the tuning difficult... Use it or not, it's still unstable under the weight of your hand. I changed the bridge to a tonepros roller bridge and it helped a little bit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magnetized Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I have a last minute opportunity to see Pearl Jam in Charlottesville on Tuesday. I'll try to snap a picture of Mike playing the Tweedy SG and will post here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.