Frank Zappa Sig SG

RUPRECHT · 03-06-2012, 02:22 PM

Does anyone know if this was ever made, I have seen several 'rumours' on various boards that it was being considered in 2011??

Thanks

Andy

RUPRECHT · 03-10-2012, 06:59 AM

BUMP - any news from the US?, things seem to have gone quiet over here in the UK on this. Apparently it was supposed to be released in Oct 2011.

MrGansburg · 03-10-2012, 07:31 AM

Can’t say that I’ve heard anything myself. I even went so far as to gather all the specs on it and planned on a luthier build but it fell down on the complex electronics. That has hopefully been sorted now but other priorities have come up so it’ll have to wait for another time.

The closest I’ve seen to custom build is at Phantom Guitars - Zappa SG Replica

KRaZeE · 03-10-2012, 08:35 AM

I seem to recall it being on that 50th Anni list that popped up sometime a year or so ago. At this point I am assuming it suffered the same fate as the Iommi model on that list...~*~p00f~*~

RUPRECHT · 03-10-2012, 10:48 AM

Thats a shame if true, why advertise the release if they are then not going to make it??

SG John · 03-10-2012, 11:24 AM

Gail probably wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Henry was willing to cough up. The combined payouts would have put the price out of reach to almost everyone.

VILLANOVA · 03-10-2012, 11:24 AM

Wasn't there a Dweezil Zappa SG?

Sven · 03-10-2012, 07:09 PM

Frank's most famous SG wasn't a Gibson. Kinda hard to do a "gibson" model of it...

KRaZeE · 03-11-2012, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sven

Frank's most famous SG wasn't a Gibson. Kinda hard to do a "gibson" model of it...

Why?

Kirrt · 03-11-2012, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sven

Frank's most famous SG wasn't a Gibson. Kinda hard to do a "gibson" model of it...

Well, Slash's AFD wasn't a Gibson either
It's all about selling, I guess

Thumpalumpacus · 03-11-2012, 03:44 AM

I love Zappa, but I wouldn't much care for all the gadgetry.

RUPRECHT · 03-11-2012, 05:54 AM

Zappa played numerous SG's, the Baby Snakes SG was the only copy as far as I am aware

MrGansburg · 03-11-2012, 06:48 AM

If anybody's interested, here's what I have discovered about Zappa’s “Baby Snakes” SG guitar over the years:

Gibson 1961/2 SG body (mahogany in worn brown colour with the face of the guitar inlaid with burled rosewood, with a thin maple edge and ebony bits at the cutaways and behind the tailpiece. The back of the guitar also has ebony inlays, these are butterfly-like inserts on the middle back.
Custom 23 fret neck (I believe it is a 25” scale (or 25.5″) with ebony fingerboard) with MOP dot markers, with the exception of a star on the 5th fret and some custom ‘seahorse’ style inlays work on the 12th.
Gibson open-book headstock with a star to dot the "i" in the Gibson logo.

As far as the electronics go the video at Dweezil Zappa - Snakes - Video Guitar Lessons - TrueFire TV provides some more details. I have no definative answer about what pickups Frank used allthough I have also read that he used Seymour Duncan for at least some of the time…

I therefore believe they consisted of:

On-board 3-band Parametric eq & pre-amp system
Coil tapping on both pickups
Out of phase function
Dan Armstrong “Green ringer” - built in
Mirrored pickguard - small
Chrome hardware apart from tuners which were gold
Antique style volume and switches

PS - There's also a book coming out soon that may shed more light on the specs of this SG - see http://www.zappasgear.com/intro.html

RUPRECHT · 03-11-2012, 10:56 AM

great post - just heard from my local dealer that Gibson have postponed the Zappa Sig SG until further notice - why oh why??????

Sven · 03-11-2012, 05:40 PM

IIRC -- that SG was used on several albums and tours. Overnite Sensation and Apostrophe(') among others.

03-06-2012, 02:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
RUPRECHT Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 89 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post	Frank Zappa Sig SG Does anyone know if this was ever made, I have seen several 'rumours' on various boards that it was being considered in 2011?? Thanks Andy

03-10-2012, 06:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
RUPRECHT Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 89 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG BUMP - any news from the US?, things seem to have gone quiet over here in the UK on this. Apparently it was supposed to be released in Oct 2011.

03-10-2012, 07:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
MrGansburg Bartlett Retrospec Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: UK Posts: 833 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG Can’t say that I’ve heard anything myself. I even went so far as to gather all the specs on it and planned on a luthier build but it fell down on the complex electronics. That has hopefully been sorted now but other priorities have come up so it’ll have to wait for another time. The closest I’ve seen to custom build is at Phantom Guitars - Zappa SG Replica __________________ 2010 MiI Squier Deluxe Strat (Pearl White Metallic) 2009 MiC Vintage V100 (Flamed Iced Tea) 2004 MiJ Epiphone Elitist '61 SG (Faded Cherry) 1997 MiJ Bacchus Live Road BLS-120S (Goldtop) 1982 MiJ Greco EGC68-50 (Ebony) 1980 MiC Kimbara Electro-Acoustic Cutaway (Natural) Zoom G2.1u multi-FX unit Roland Micro Cube Amp

03-10-2012, 08:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
KRaZeE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Harrisburg, PA Posts: 1,035 Thanks: 3 Thanked 10 Times in 6 Posts	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG I seem to recall it being on that 50th Anni list that popped up sometime a year or so ago. At this point I am assuming it suffered the same fate as the Iommi model on that list...~~p00f~~ __________________ My Gibbos: 8x Epi FB 300 80 LP Pro Deluxe 86 LP Studio Std 87 SG Custom 91 SG Jr 93 SG Spc 94 SG Std 96 Firebird V 98 LP Std 98 Flying V 99 SG-X 01 SG Jr 02 SG Voodoo 03 Epi G-400 Vintage 07 Epi LP Std 08 SG Classic 08 SG Classic 08 Epi Goth T-Bird 10 SG 61 RI 11 SG 60s Trib 11 MM SG 12 SG 70s Trib

03-10-2012, 10:48 AM	#5 (permalink)
RUPRECHT Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 89 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG Thats a shame if true, why advertise the release if they are then not going to make it??

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03-10-2012, 11:24 AM	#6 (permalink)
SG John Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: North of Boston by the Sea Posts: 353 Thanks: 7 Thanked 10 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG Gail probably wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Henry was willing to cough up. The combined payouts would have put the price out of reach to almost everyone.

03-10-2012, 11:24 AM	#7 (permalink)
VILLANOVA Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: NYC Posts: 1,104 Thanks: 11 Thanked 11 Times in 7 Posts	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG Wasn't there a Dweezil Zappa SG? __________________ FS: 1966 Fender Mustang Body http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/memb...tang-body.html FS: Hofner H500/1-CT Violin Bass w/Hardshell Case http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/memb...shell-cas.html

03-10-2012, 07:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
Sven Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 723 Thanks: 14 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG Frank's most famous SG wasn't a Gibson. Kinda hard to do a "gibson" model of it... __________________ Friends Don't Let Friends Play Fenders

03-11-2012, 03:44 AM	#11 (permalink)
Thumpalumpacus Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Hill Country Posts: 54,267 Thanks: 1,202 Thanked 687 Times in 79 Posts	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG I love Zappa, but I wouldn't much care for all the gadgetry. __________________ _____________________________________________ My Soundcloud

03-11-2012, 05:54 AM	#12 (permalink)
RUPRECHT Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 89 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG Zappa played numerous SG's, the Baby Snakes SG was the only copy as far as I am aware

03-11-2012, 06:48 AM	#13 (permalink)
MrGansburg Bartlett Retrospec Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: UK Posts: 833 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG If anybody's interested, here's what I have discovered about Zappa’s “Baby Snakes” SG guitar over the years: Gibson 1961/2 SG body (mahogany in worn brown colour with the face of the guitar inlaid with burled rosewood, with a thin maple edge and ebony bits at the cutaways and behind the tailpiece. The back of the guitar also has ebony inlays, these are butterfly-like inserts on the middle back. Custom 23 fret neck (I believe it is a 25” scale (or 25.5″) with ebony fingerboard) with MOP dot markers, with the exception of a star on the 5th fret and some custom ‘seahorse’ style inlays work on the 12th. Gibson open-book headstock with a star to dot the "i" in the Gibson logo. As far as the electronics go the video at Dweezil Zappa - Snakes - Video Guitar Lessons - TrueFire TV provides some more details. I have no definative answer about what pickups Frank used allthough I have also read that he used Seymour Duncan for at least some of the time… I therefore believe they consisted of: On-board 3-band Parametric eq & pre-amp system Coil tapping on both pickups Out of phase function Dan Armstrong “Green ringer” - built in Mirrored pickguard - small Chrome hardware apart from tuners which were gold Antique style volume and switches PS - There's also a book coming out soon that may shed more light on the specs of this SG - see http://www.zappasgear.com/intro.html __________________ 2010 MiI Squier Deluxe Strat (Pearl White Metallic) 2009 MiC Vintage V100 (Flamed Iced Tea) 2004 MiJ Epiphone Elitist '61 SG (Faded Cherry) 1997 MiJ Bacchus Live Road BLS-120S (Goldtop) 1982 MiJ Greco EGC68-50 (Ebony) 1980 MiC Kimbara Electro-Acoustic Cutaway (Natural) Zoom G2.1u multi-FX unit Roland Micro Cube Amp Last edited by MrGansburg; 03-11-2012 at 03:06 PM.

03-11-2012, 10:56 AM	#14 (permalink)
RUPRECHT Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 89 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG great post - just heard from my local dealer that Gibson have postponed the Zappa Sig SG until further notice - why oh why?????? MrGansburg likes this.

03-11-2012, 05:40 PM	#15 (permalink)
Sven Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 723 Thanks: 14 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Frank Zappa Sig SG IIRC -- that SG was used on several albums and tours. Overnite Sensation and Apostrophe(') among others. __________________ Friends Don't Let Friends Play Fenders

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