John Frusciante’s 1961 Gibson SG/Les Paul Custom

According to John, this SG can be heard during the breakdown section of “Otherside” (around the 2:52 mark in the studio version). However, most people likely remember it for its appearance in the music video for “Fortune Faded.” It’s unclear if the guitar was actually used during the recording of “Fortune Faded,” but given the heavier tone of the song, it’s highly likely.

(talking about Otherside:) For the breakdown section, I used a ’61 Gibson SG Custom into a cranked Marshall JCM 800. I think that’s the best kind of distortion – a humbucker into a Marshall, like Eddie Van Halen.

Guitar Player (UK), September 1999

Specs

John’s 1961 Gibson SG features a cherry red finish on a solid mahogany body, a sideways Vibrola tremolo, three PAF pickups, and a white pickguard. Interestingly, since it was made in 1961, this guitar is technically a Les Paul, not an SG. Gibson only renamed the model SG (short for Solid Guitar) in 1963, after Les Paul requested his name be removed from the design.

When the SG was introduced in 1961, it replaced the original Les Paul model, which wasn’t selling well at the time. The new design wasn’t well-received, even by Les Paul himself. As a result, production of the original Les Paul was halted for seven years, until 1968. By then, many influential guitarists, including Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Paul Kossoff, and Jimmy Page, had begun using the discontinued Les Paul, prompting Gibson to bring it back. From 1963 onward, the SG was sold as a separate model and eventually became Gibson’s best-selling guitar.