Gibson SG Futura, buillion gold, made in USA 2014. First up, gold is such a great finish for an SG. It's a bold, bright take on the hue, but with Gibson's TV-style application with the grain on show and the thin satin nitro topcoat that's starting to wear in just right... heck, this is a beautiful item. A couple of years back, Gibson decided what every guitar player wanted was a robot to tune their guitar for them, so this model came with the infamous 'E-tune' system. It's okay though, we just took it off and installed some rather beautiful new Gotoh tuners instead. Aside from the tuners, this model also got a cool 15dB active boost on deck and some fancy modern pickups with coil splits. As such, you can dial in a whole stack of different tones. With the boost off, the neck P90 delivers a pleasing bluesy growl with plenty of harmonics. The bridge pickup with the boost on covers beeftastic metal rhythm parts convincingly, or if you use the coil splits you can get some country-friendly articulate snappy lead tones. The heart of the thing is still an SG, so it loves a good dirty tube amp and a big nasty riff. The neck is a '61 style moderately chunky D shape, so it sits nicely in the hand and makes for easy movement up and down the fretboard. If you're going to have an SG, it may as well be a shiny gold one, right?

Model: Gibson SG Futura
Made: 2014, USA (serial 140020655)
Finish: bullion gold, satin nitro
Body: mahogany
Neck: mahogany, rosewood board, 12" radius, 24.75", '61 style taper profile
Weight: 3.210kg
Mods: E-tune system removed, regular Gotoh tuners installed (originals included)
Pickup: P-90H Sidewinder (neck), BB3 humbucker (bridge), both with coil-taps, 15dB active boost via toggle switch
Case: Gibson snakeskin hard case inc candy 

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has some marks on the end and bottom corners. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples and glossing from play on the back only. The back has some scratches around the front strap pin, some scuffs on the back edge and both horns as well as some glossing from contact around the body, no major marks. The sides have some minor dimples all the way along the top edge, some dimples and dents near the jack and a balding from rub wear on the bottom horn, no major marks. The front has a few dimples near the knobs, along the back edge and in the elbow area, as well as a couple of dents on the top horn and some play wear on the guard and horns, as well as glossing from contact in the elbow area. Overall: very good condition (7.5/10)

Playing condition notes: Neck is straight, action is low, intonation is good. The frets have minor wear only, 8/10 for fret life left. All electronics tested and working properly. No headstock breaks. Wearing fresh 10/52 Moonshiners strings.