The Hidden Secret of Gibson's Cheap Guitar from the 80s | 1981 Sonex 180 Standard / Custom Review

[@Trog]

I used the YT editor to cut out a few parts and for some reason, it desynced the video for Desktop Users. Here is the "correct" version of tonight's Sonex-180 Custom Video 🟢Buy on My Website: www.troglysguitarshow.com 🔴Reverb: reverb.com/shop/troglys?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly 🐕 Private Help Sessions: troglysguitarshow.com/help-appraisals/

[@SophieScrolls]

it was desynced on mobile as well glad its fixed now

[@ericbgordon1575]

It definitely strikes me as a punk/new-wave/grunge/alternative line of instruments. I still dug that unplugged strum that sounded less like Blink 182 or Soundgarden than it did Jethro Tull.

[@monstrok]

The Sonex 180 was my first quality guitar (after starting with a Sears LP copy). Brings back memories!

[@joshpointoh]

This review got me so excited for it, I just bought a Sonex 180 Custom lol. I love the idea of the 80s dirty fingers and coil tapping ability

[@I-Libertine]

My first guitar was a used S1 (still have it) When the Sonex came out, I wasn't even thinking of the price, it just felt so right to me I *had to get one! (I guess I get why, now...)

[@patrickturcotte3703]

Yes, I have the same Sonex same color but mine don't have smoke stains. The truss rod is the same too. It was good you confirmed it. I had to put a string tree on mine now it stays in tune really well. I really like it because of the tone quality and the vintage vibe. Good review. Like all your reviews.

[@jonathanhudak2059]

Not a bad looking guitar and I was really impressed with the sound of those dirty fingers pick ups!

[@LoraxChannel]

I unboxed my sonnex custom after a few decades, and found this video while trying to see the interior before opening it up (to figure out why one set of knobs is dead). I have the exact guitar shown in this video. Crazy to think anything in it is worth anything. At the time, I bought it because it was what I could afford, and the pickups sounded better than anything else in my price range.

[@duaneperkins8329]

The clean tones sounded so good. Great review as always. 👍

[@trukr817]

I still have my 1983 Sonex Deluxe. I really liked the Velvet Bricks when it was young, as it aged and the winding on the pickups got loose, it developed a feedback issue. Mine has the maple neck, came with tulip tuners that said Gibson on them. Mine was solid silver when I got it, it turned more puke green from my smoking around it so much (I quit smoking in 1989). The finish was pretty much gone from the back of the neck, had dings in the finish and I didn't care. The neck pocket was good. Then my oldest son struck, he thought he would be nice and clean it and paint it, he got overspray on the logo, I was crushed and won't even look at it. One day I will dig it out, fix the frets (has some worn spots) and try to get the overspray off the headstock. Will likely wax pot the pickups too to fight the feedback thing. Got her new at Sword's Music in Fort Worth, I put her in my oldest son's hands when he was 6, showed him how to do some stuff with power chords and went to the kitchen to have coffee with my wife. After a while it got loud and I went to see what was up, he had cranked the pre gain all the way, and he just looked at me and said "dirty dirty guitar", will never forget that, now he plays much better than me. I had a second one (I got used), a 1981 that had those boring tuners and a mahogany neck. The neck pocket was awful. I took the neck off, cleaned the pocket, roughed the pocket up with 60 grit, stretched plastic around the neck and taped it to the fretboard. Mounted the neck, put two strings on to assure alignment. Then I rammed epoxy wood filler into the gap. After it had time to cure I removed the neck, used a sanding block to smooth it out, put primer on and sanded repeatedly until it was smooth. I painted it satin black, put all new hardware on it and gave it to my oldest son. He later lost it in a pawn shop.

[@pulda015]

Ok

[@CA10Z]

I still have my 1981 Sonex Artist. Active electronics and all. Silver Burst an Ebony fret board. Set Neck. My 1979 ES347 has Dirty finger pickup with black epoxy filler on the back.

[@eliwebster509]

There's a guitar like the sonex I can't remember the model name of but they came in silver, had this body style and had EMG looking pickups with all black covers... Paul Westerberg of The Replacements played one.

[@fredmerrill4002]

Might be the Gibson Challenger? They look similar to the Sonex, and had black covered humbuckers without visible pole pieces.

[@b_ry_ce]

I've had probably 15+ of these and I've never seen one with an ebony fretboard.

[@dp9550]

Whoa I.. thought Fenders in the late seventy's had sloppy neck pockets. 😯 1:25

[@OldManBadly]

I am assuming much of the sound is from the pickups, but this one certainly has a pleasant, fat sound to it. Nice and full, plenty of bottom end and not so twangy as to be annoying.

[@dw7704]

I trie a couple of the Sonex models back in day, with resinwood they felt odd to me. Some people loved them back then, but not was what I was looking for.

[@richbrack431]

I pickup a sonex 180 custom that had a cracked body, for the parts , neck that is a three piece w/ 5/16 adjust nut, dirty fingers pickups that are 15k and change, pickup rings that are 3 way adjustment. made a parts guitar. neck has binding w/ nubs. made in 82 rebuilt in 85. looks like adam jones guitar.

[@leviathan_is_me]

That neck pocket is an easy fix if you know what your doing (which I KNOW Trog, does) just go to a hardware store and buy a roll of edging veneer with the melt glue in the back. Maple, birch, or redwood. Wrap the heel of the neck and sand if necessary to fit..works WONDERS.

[@musicauthority674]

Stew Mac makes something similar to that it works good. and they make neck shims that work good to get the neck angel right.

[@leviathan_is_me]

@@musicauthority674 yep, it works great unless you need to shim the sides of the neck/pocket. StewMac is golden if you can afford it, lol. Good call, though.

[@taz4965]

Hi Austin. I'll be keeping an eye out for one of these! Can I ask though, have you changed the amp you use for demo's recently. Theres something about your recent sound and I can't quite put my finger on it....

[@TheAtariCreep]

I have always loved the vibe of these. Finding a GGC.

[@JamesKambouris]

Hi trogley,did you know they also made lefty sonex guitars. How cool is that dirty fingers. I love the info. You provide. Very interesting details,'bravo! Thanks Trogley! Your loyal troglasubject,Jim K.

[@stevesibanez]

Awesome guitar. I have a beautiful Les Paul, but my Sonex is my main axe

[@sonijam]

Sounds good!

[@andreaslandgren1681]

it sounds great.

[@Tehstroyer]

Where are the pics of the sawed up body from?

[@TimHuff5]

Ha, is that Jim Suhler’s of Monkey Beat? He is a blues guy here in Dallas! A really good Texas blues player.

[@scrap_metal_magic]

@@cataclysmicconverter Bugs Henderson is a name you don’t hear often. He’s a great player. I read somewhere that he used to record at Jerry Abbot’s studio in Arlington Texas and used to occasionally teach a young Dimebag Darrell guitar licks.

[@hyperteisco]

It’s hard to tell from the video, but the grains on the fretboard look really tight. The color of ebony varies, it could just be lighter in color. The discoloration on the paint is likely just from light, not smoke.

[@williampolfus6975]

I think they used pickup rings on this guitar with a pickguard, to help protect the pickup coils from a stray guitar pick, since there are no covers on the pickups.

[@iamjakt]

I love these things so, so much.

[@musicauthority674]

I know that you don't like them. but when it comes to Gibson's cheapest guitar. you often fail to mention the Gibson Baldwin Epoch. which were entry level cheap guitars. and were considered Gibson Baldwin education guitars. but compared to Fender starcasters. the Gibson Baldwin Epoch was a great guitar.

[@wiseguy9202]

Feel like I watched this like an hour ago...? Even commented on it.

[@Trog]

KZbin desynced the old video when I used to editor to cut a few redundant parts from it. Old video only worked for mobile users. Thanks for tuning in again!

[@wiseguy9202]

@@Trog interesting and good to know. Thanks. Thought I was crazy!

[@michaelbutcher9343]

Me too

[@ikestoddard2458]

Could you please consider getting an “L-C-R” meter to measure pickups? That way, we get all the static parameters: Resistance, Capacitance, and Inductance (L). Tim Sway did a bunch of pickups recently, and got the numbers.

[@jessehoopes7042]

No matter were I look or what I try I always come back to the notion that gibson pickups are awesome, i could work with these dirty Finger pups, i love the 57 classic, and the burstbucker 1,2, and 3 are the shit. Those 498's or 490's i could take or leave but they are not horrible by any means. I guess my point is gibson doesn't get enough credit for there pups !

[@DavidLloyd-x1x]

Would love to see/hear a "blindfold" comparison of all of your gibsons.

[@billbillings9314]

It's odd I can't find any standards out there. I also had a 81 Peavey T-60 Tabaco burst I gave to my brother to replace the same one he lost 20 years ago.

[@tonyhill1141]

I bought a Sonex off a friend at a poker game for 100 bucks in 93. Not my favorite and pretty heavy but kind of wish I still had it seeing this. Mine was all original

[@gregmackey7517]

Pickups sound good!

[@steventrent7750]

I love Gibson guitars, but no matter what brand I like, I love a white guitar! Not yellow! If I want a yellow guitar, I will buy a yellow one. The whole "aged" is cool is the most ridiculous thing ever. No one buys a car that's aged to the point that it's a different color, paint missing, scratches all over it, and the chrome gone. It's a way for Gibson to make excuses for how poorly the guitars are truly built. I know it's been put into people's minds that aged is good, but the reality is that it should look like it did brand new. My first 2 white Gibsons, a V and Les Paul Custom turned yellow and looked like crap, I got rid of them because it disgusted me. I now have a Flying V Blue Widow and so far, so good considering how long I have owned it since new. I love your show and watch them all, but let's be real about the aging garbage.

[@Jason.King.at.your.service]

Me too. Always loved a white guitar.

[@joermnyc]

It’d be interesting to have an episode on “Orville by Gibson” aka Gibson Japan.

[@papasmamas1]

I alwats thought the Sonexs look super cool, the pickguard, uncovered pickups with the rings, even the set neck.

[@bripslag]

It's resin, not rosin. 😉

[@blodpudding]

It would make sense if some other place made the necks they wouldn't want them to use the "real" Gibson logos. The finish on those are terrible too, I accidentally buffed it off a neck once... BY HAND! Definitely not the usual Gibson finish.

[@musicauthority674]

I was thinking that same thing with this guitar. that finish was coming off way too easily.

[@billbillings9314]

I have this 82 standard silver burst

[@jimwguitar3002]

So, where does the Gibson Invader fit in?

[@BenderWaffles]

Not gonna lie, I've always thought the Sonex line was one of the coolest looking guitars Gibson made. Idk, maybe I just like pickguards...

[@musicauthority674]

I don't like the rounded edges on these guitars. and it's the same reason I don't like the stratacaster. and why I like the Telecaster better.

[@joeblankenship377]

Wow, I like that a lot. They should bring that back for Epiphone so people can afford it.

[@geetar_nerd.mp4]

thank God, my family has a church and my dad and grandpa played guitar, so thank God i got a strat, les paul, sonex

[@musicauthority674]

As long as it wasn't a Fender Srarcaster. those are the most horrible guitars ever made.

[@geetar_nerd.mp4]

its not a starcaster, its a strat its naturally reliced sunburst

[@musicauthority674]

@@geetar_nerd.mp4 I didn't say it was a Starcaster. I said I hope it wasn't a Starcaster because they are garbage. laarn to read.

[@JamesSClapperton]

There’s a pile of these on eBay with the pups in there for under $1k right now.

[@jeromestevenfaigin6059]

I never knew about "dirty fingers" but maybe your reading from the VOM was off due to the pot was fully set to zero effecting your reading.

[@dylansmith880]

I do like these better than the L5 or the L6, at least the body shape is better

[@hailmaryrecordings8255]

My dad had one (black) and I learned my first few chords on it. I think he payed $300-400 for it.

[@SiecoVideo]

I have a lefty, it used to be in silver, now it's black. I just found out how rare silver leftys are.

[@musicauthority-kt6zy]

Gibson made another el cheapo guitar, for one year only in 2007. and it was super cheap. and that was the Gibson Baldwin epoch. and it was a very entry level guitar. it was produced on Gibson Baldwin education program. these guitars had a pre intonated wrap around bridge. and two cheapo covered humbuckers. in the bridge and neck. they were single bound and had cream plastics. and a three position switch and one volume and one tone. they are bolt on neck and the neck, plate says Gibson Baldwin education. and a rosewood fretboard, however bottom of barrel rosewood. the fretboard is bound but the headstock isn't. but they have the open book headstock, and some sort of cheap Grover knock off tuners. and they are a flattop LP. and came one color black they are probably the cheapest Gibson guitar ever made.

[@joeblankenship377]

I'd put some Fishman Fluence pickups in it.

[@joshuajkoplin]

I don’t care what anyone says the Sonex Guitars Fucking rip if you get a decent player.

[@trent54]

I had a Gibson Invader a bolt on LP in the 80s $350 out the door

[@clarkbabin9799]

The way them necks look it reminds me of a tiesco neck.

[@larrydj549]

The big cavity. It IS hollow lol

[@ZoomByYou]

Pickups are nice, guitar is....lol

[@Ace96x10]

I had one for years. Worst sounding crap guitar I ever heard when plugged into a good tube amp.

[@musicauthority674]

You should try a Fender Srarcaster? they make this guitar seem like a great guitar.

[@miguelesteves964]

the pickguard it´s almost the same than the hofner colorama II (srry for my bad english)

[@MatthewTheLion]

Please Gibson bring this model back and don't put a price on a $1000 or over on it.

[@bukwok]

those model names like car model name or production code some sort of

[@melissacombest9358]

I have a sonex180 deluxe and need pick guard for it without breaking the bank,

[@Zundfolge]

WD Music Products has them starting at $40

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

Yeah, a midrange model with a truss rod cover from the model above. That's a "facrory error" alright To be fair I can understand why you might want to give the guy you bought it from the benefit of the doubt and I can think of plenty of reasons for it to have been done over the course of several decades that don't involve intentionally misrepresenting the instrument.

[@PonziZombieKiller]

Jam in the depths of hell ! LoL

[@clarkbabin9799]

Bare with me for some reason I cant ad to my previous comments. Ive tried a Sonnex back in the day and i did like the acoustic nature it has. But maybe it was a base model since i wasnt to impressed with the pickups. Ive tried guitars equipped with dirty fingers . That guitar obviously didnt have them. Been playing the heck out of my Casino and it must be about time to change the strings because one or two drift on me. But that guuitar also has great acoustic abilities also.

[@nbenning25]

Yahoo

[@andye3684]

👍

[@BOUZOUKI_PETE]

80s lookin and sounding gettin j geils band vibez

[@ethanmuro7779]

reupload?

[@Trog]

KZbin desynced the old video when I used to editor to cut a few redundant parts from it. Old video only worked for mobile users. Thanks for tuning in again!

[@ethanmuro7779]

@@TrogMakes sense, thanks for the clearup! I was actually watching the first version when I got the notification for this one, and I was understandably confused.

[@fromoutofstate9591]

What was the hidden secret?

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

You rocked me, Trogly! 🔥🔥🔥

[@thomasstark789]

Bitchin’ guitar! Those dirty fingers sound nasty!!

[@TM-ev2tc]

What happened 🤔 PS I hope the sound is better.

[@Trog]

KZbin desynced the old video when I used to editor to cut a few redundant parts from it. Old video only worked for mobile users. Thanks for tuning in again!

[@TM-ev2tc]

​@@Trog No Problem

[@denisebarrett6983]

The guitar itself looks like a pile of crap but those pickups sound absolutely fantastic 😮

[@anthonychin8610]

*pulls out piss yellow guitar* "It's white!"

[@stealthracer]

Eurrghh. Bolt on necks. The front wheel drive of the guitar world.

[@ziggylayneable]

This thing looks TV yellow to me to

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Sounds great…very full.

[@christossigalos1842]

Seems like the neck is replaced

[@jawesome59]

Such a badass guitar!

[@gymkena]

I dig the Sonex by Gibson branding, cool quirky "I'm different" vibe lol

[@kattycat3502]

Bong Bong Bong Bong.

[@RPSchonherr]

I had a white one once, someone stole it. It was the cheapest model.

[@clarkbabin9799]

That casing for the pickup wires looks a bit like either medical lines or fish tank lines.

[@georgeoh-well8116]

Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley will be playing sonex and marauders for ever in the depths of hell.🙂

[@hectormutton2542]

✌️

[@yoqse486]

Uhmmm, that's yellow

[@charleskonieczki9012]

It's a bolt on neck! It is was it is?

[@bebopfantan2672]

Kiss used to smash these on stage

[@shaartvader4830]

Heavy AF. Backbreakers

[@dennismoes7281]

My custom came in a chainsaw case

[@Msteve-nt5bx]

Yellow-ist white guitar I've ever seen

[@Jason.King.at.your.service]

I've got the neck, strings and stop bar off of one of these. Got it at a kiss gig after Paul Stanley smashed it.

[@donka4543]

Meanwhile in Japan.....

[@Hillbilly1974]

I guess it’s supposed to be white? But it’s aged yellow?

[@sparten17708]

The cheaper style knobs don’t age… cheaper… lmao yup clearly inferior

[@MyFriedrichII]

this is 1 step above THRASH

[@SKRooU2]

How much did you shell out for this piece of crap? LOL

[@musicauthority674]

If you think this guitar was crap? you should try a Fender Srarcaster. they are the biggest pieces of shit in the whole guitar world.