Trivia That May Only Interest Me

The Gibson SG. A fairly iconic guitar in it's own right, though lesser known to the general public than its big brother, the Gibson Les Paul.

But did you know that the SG is actually a Les Paul? Well, not anymore, but originally, the SG was released as the new model of Les Paul in 1961, after guitarists asked for a double cutaway design for easier access to to higher frets, and because Les Paul sales were down and they wanted to compete better with the Fender Stratocaster. Les Paul, the guitarist, didn't particularly care for the new design however, and asked that his name be removed. So, Gibson obliged, and called the newer model the SG (though in a side bit of trivia, because Les Paul nameplates were so abundant in the storerooms, SG's continued to have Les Paul on them for a couple more years). SG stands for Solid Guitar, for those curious about that, as well.

Angus Young of AC/DC, noted SG user.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath (and his own merits, of course), another notable SG player.

In more guitar related trivia, the Gibson Explorer was released back in the 50s. It flopped horribly (and was also briefly known as the Futura before being changed to the Explorer). In the 70s other companies started paying homage to the Explorer, and the style saw a renaissance, especially with hard rock and heavy metal groups eating the design up, and Gibson started making them again. Those original Explorers are true collectors items, though, going for hundreds of thousand dollars. Well, less than a hundred were made (actually estimated at less than 50), that'll happen, right?