An epic new SG designed for modern technical players
Born from countless hours at the workbench, the DES Series grew out of Master Luthier Jim DeCola and the skilled craftspeople in Gibson craftories working side by side with Gibson Artist Ambassador and Board member Cesar Gueikian. Countless feature combinations were explored and refined, ultimately converging on looks, feel, and sound destined to become instant classics. The result is the DES Series, a visually striking series of limited-run instruments defined by bold inlays, fresh finishes, and feature sets inspired by a mantra Cesar champions at Gibson: ”Do Epic Sh#t!” Created to spark inspiration and forge a lasting connection between player and instrument, the new DES models allow musicians to feel a measure of the same pride and craftsmanship that goes into every guitar built at Gibson. In keeping with the DES spirit, a portion of every Gibson.com and Gibson Garage purchase supports Gibson Gives, the Gibson 501(c)(3) charitable foundation.
The SG™ DES began with a real instrument that Cesar envisioned and built at the Gibson craftory in Nashville, Tennessee. It starts with a sleek, shapely, double-cutaway mahogany SG Modern body, capped with an AAA figured maple top. The mahogany neck features a fast-playing SlimTaper™ profile. It has an ebony fretboard with a 10”-16” compound radius that delivers low action, easy chording, and smooth bends without fretting out. The fretboard is equipped with 24 medium jumbo frets for an extended note range, and adorned with mother-of-pearl Super Split Block inlays similar to those found on the SG Supreme and vintage Super 400 archtop.
The SG DES headstock features five-ply binding around the perimeter and a Custom split-diamond mother-of-pearl inlay. A Graph Tech® nut paired with locking Grover® tuners with keystone buttons ensures rock-solid tuning stability. The other ends of the strings pass over an aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic™ bridge and anchor to an aluminum Stop Bar tailpiece. All of the hardware is black nickel, which perfectly fits the SG DES aesthetic.
A set of the all-new Gibson ELEV8 humbucker™ pickups powers the SG DES. For the first time, Gibson is using powerful Alnico 8 magnets in the construction of these new pickups, along with custom-gauge wire for a powerful, focused tone with tight low end that is ideal for high-gain and modern musical styles. They deliver powerful tones with an intensity that doesn’t sacrifice articulation, clarity, and dynamic control. The ELEV8 pickups in the SG DES are left uncovered and have zebra bobbins.
The SG DES uses a traditional control layout with individual volume and tone controls for each pickup, along with a three-way pickup selector toggle switch. The volume controls are fitted with push/pull switches for coil tapping, providing even more tonal versatility, and the standard Rhythm/Treble switch washer labels have been replaced with Epic/Epic+ labels.
Finished in a stunning Ghost Burst gloss nitrocellulose lacquer that highlights the figured maple top and complements the black nickel hardware and zebra pickup coils, the SG DES comes packed in a Gibson hardshell case for safe storage and transport. Take your playing to epic heights and do something epic for a worthy charity, and order your SG DES today. Handcrafted in very limited numbers, no more than 150 DES guitars will be produced in total, so act fast and get your favorite today while they’re still available.
