Gibson Sonex 180

[deucesolo]

is it a deluxe or custom? I have a sonex 180 Custom, all original, paid $60 in a pawn shop(I worked there!). I have a short vid of it on my page. Nice axe man!

[jbh800]

I got one of those guitars free off my uncle!

[Strngs012]

Hey nice guitar man, My dad bought me one back in the day. My only regret is I ended up selling it in '92. Now I want another one, kinda reliving my teenage years lol!

[mrpentium]

I have one I bought at the time cuz I couldnt afford a Les Paul. Heavy mutha !

[kiloortoonzdood]

Yeah dude! I scored the same guitar for $500 at a pawnshop in Vancouver a few months ago. It kicks ass! Heavy as shit though. I anticipate serious back problems for me in the future because of it!

[deucesolo]

what was wrong with the dirty fingers p/u

[dcman2003]

Nice playing!..I had an '81 Sonex Custom in creme color..One of the sweetest sounding/playing guitars I've owned. I traded a Memphis 335 copy (really sweet) for my 180. Unfortunately, it was knocked off the stand by our cat and the headstock snapped off!..I was able to reglue it and played it for several years before stripping it for parts. My Vintage 70's MIJ Ventura LP custom became the recipient of the 'dirty fingers' and tuners. I still have the original 180's hardshell case too!..:-)

[Sgalaga]

awesome playing coop!!!! cheap or expensive any guitar will sound excellent when u play it!!!!

[holyshiteater]

I got a 1980 Sonex last year. It's a nice guitar, cool to play on stage cause you'll have fellow guitarplayers trying to figure out what the hell you're playing. Mine isn't quite stock anymore, someone changed the tuners and the bridge pick-up isn't zebra, probably not even a Dirty Fingers but it sounds good enough for my taste.

The guitar used to be white but the color has faded to creamy-yellow over the years.

[rpeagram]

Traded mine for a 1984 Honda CR80 when I was 12. I don't remember many details about it, but I got it used and it had black humbuckers and a tremolo that had been routed into the guitar. It was a heavy guitar that felt like it was made of something synthetic. Wish I had it back.

[RokDAWG1]

I have one i just restored, and had a P90 thrown in the neck...wow what an amazing tone!!

[andrewcy17]

whats the first song he played?

[dcooper830]

@andrewcy17 It's "Life In The Fast Lane" by the Eagles

[cornelpunx]

hi, got the same model/colour but with the original zebra pu's. i think your video gives an honest impression of this guitar. very good. i love the sonex a lot. bought it 2nd hand off ebay and never looked back. it's much better sounding than the often used tag line 'the cheap gibson' makes it sound like. great guitar.

[OneRenaissanceMan]

Good playing man, got my own sonex couple years ago, love it!

[elijahwatson1]

i have the same pickup just the 57 classic plus so there a little hotter then yours

[rudos1]

Had mine since 1980. Still stock with the Dirty Fingers pickups. Tone for days!

[aaronlongo]

nice Eagles! Sweet guitar to boot!

[roodbrood]

Right on mate,

Rock on I have a 1978 Maurauder. These guitars are great....:-)

[alexhollandmusic]

Love the tone of that thing! but I can't quite remember what the first song you play is. It's on the tip of my tongue.

[45caljustice]

"Life in the fast lane" by the Eagles

[lloomoo]

If i had that i wouldnt restore it that much. I love the old classic look

[geraldhdez]

santo y jhonny: slepwalk 1:35

[badpuppy1970]

I have a Sonex 180 all stock. I sold all my other guitars because nothing sounded better than the Sonex. Amazing guitars! Very heavy and solid reliable.

[WarpDriveStudios]

I bought one of them in the 80's..my first good guitar.

Later I bought a Fender Lead Two, fell in love with Fenders& ended up trading the Sonex, for a Sho-Bud Steel guitar with a gentleman in Lexingotn KY.

What I remember about the one I had, THE PICKUPS Where HOT! LOUD!! Overall, the guitar was heavy and the neck a little chunky.

All in all, I wished I still had my Sonex 180 Deluxe back...you never forget your first!

[Reiseleitermusic]

whats that song starting at 1:21 ?

[Reiseleitermusic]

naaw, I remember... it´s Sammy Hagar, right?!

[Antom1234]

sick. I have a chance at picking up one of these. I think I will now.

[rustnale]

I just bought that guitar for 4 bones. Love it. Has a cracked pickguard and am trying to decide whether to remain stock or go pearloid. I have both a RD Artist and Les Paul Custom and this little guitar plays as good and faster... :)

[vgamer3]

that is a nice guitar

[coldletter2you]

did u use original gibson replacement parts i own a 1980 model standard version that i would like to fix up the volume and tone controls cut in and out proably needs cleaning or replacement, is there any wiring involved to replace the pots and switches any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[viperBSG]

The new PRS Starla reminds me of the Sonex a bit.

[play59LPguitar]

Those 57 classics are the stuff.

[Ziplock74]

i fucking want that guitar :(

[tigerfire44]

Hi, I really like all your videos!Do you know what the body is made of on the sonex? Im looking to buy one ..Thanks Happy new year!

[dcooper830]

Thanks so much! The Sonex was made out of something called resonwood. I don't exactly what that is.... but go to vintageguitars*dot*org*dot*uk*­slash*sonex.php and there's more info there.

[wasteland765]

i got one of these but its a 1982 original . man the pickups are fantastic! u can play anything on it. also ya its made of resonwood which was supposed to supply it with 24 or 14 seconds of decay time . but the guitar has a fat sound . also wat were all the mods u made when u restored yours? ive been thinkin of covering the pickups on mine .

[Desmaad]

@tigerfire44 A mahogany-plastic composite.

[Boingusboingus]

The original "Dirty Fingers" pickups sell for quite a bit these days.

[apguitarguy401]

First of all, nice restoration. Secondly, by watching your videos i trust your opinion over most others. I was wondering your opinions on the peavey classic 30. What types of sounds can it produce(compared to like a marshall, cause its a very familiar tone). Also, I've gotten so many different responses to this question: " Would a 30 watt head through a 120 watt 412 cab be loud enough to play at venues (similar to the size that you personally do) "???

[dcooper830]

Thanks so much! I think the Peavey C30 is great, however it doesn't have as much growl as a Marshall... but still a wonderful phat, warm sounding amp. And, yes a 30 watt head through a 120 watt 4x12 cab would be enough to play any venue as long as you have it mic'd through the P.A. However... you won't have as much clean headroom. Your tone will start breaking up by the time you turn your amp up to 4 or so. But it's a great sound!! : )

[apguitarguy401]

Thanks. That helped alot. Many people were telling me I wouldn't be able to get a clean at all(at any volume heard). My issue is that still being in high school my band isn't too serious. Therefore, I'm just looking for a head that would get the cab loud enough without having to mic it. Still sounds great though!!

[SoloBen247]

is the peavey c30 a good overdrive amp?

[charlyla]

muy buen voz man!!!!. de primera!.

5/5.

saludos.

[mavis41558]

I'm glad I stuck around long enough to hear

S L E E P W A L K !

Good job, really enjoyed it.

Check out Leo Kottke and Chet Atkins playing Sleepwalk. Observe Chet retune the whole guitar in about 30 seconds...........

I don't know if the link would work but you can just search YouTube for

Chet Atkins & Leo Kottke "Sleepwalk"

[fender7682]

dude fuck celeston vintage 30s eminence governors sound just as good... and cost less

[rollingzeppelins]

sounds fresh my man

[cocacolico21]

what happens with the original pickups? I think it was a ceramics pickups, really? this pickups works really good, what do you think about, thanks again from Spain...

[dcooper830]

I still have the original pickups. They're all rusty and nasty. But they are open coil zebra style humbuckers. They are very good sounding but I replaced them with new ones cause they were so rusty and corroded.

[cocacolico21]

hi, tell me, what pickups use for this nice guitar, thanks...

[dcooper830]

I have Gibson 57 Classic pickups in this guitar.

[stephentungate]

Someone gave me one of those guitars...had been in the case in a closet for about 10 years...still looks brand new...what are they worth?

[metalmephisto]

my dream guitar but i cant find one over here in belguim so if some one could help me out i would be gratefull.........en nice playing by the way

[micksterminator3]

im thinking about buying one of these for $350

how do you like it?

[mjoliveirayt]

I have a gibson sonex 180 also, but far from getting your sound quality... pick-ups are the ones that came with the guitar... could be it? replacing those with "gibson 57 classic pick-ups" is the key?

Thank you for your video. I'll wait for your reply. tnanks once again

[dcooper830]

Actually... the pickups that came with mine were very good.. I had great results with 'em for years and years! I only changed 'em cause they were all rusted out and crappy looking. And I wanted some nice chrome covered pickups in there.

[Bavles9]

Hey, question for you man, great playing but i know you have both a peavey classic 30 and a peavey valveking 212. which one do you perfer? i torn between the two of them and they're the same price...also, do you know anything about the fender hotrod deluxe?

[dcooper830]

I like the Classic 30 much better. In fact, I sold the Valve King a while back. I thought it was too harsh sounding. The Fender Hotrod Deluxes have very nice cleans.. but I think their overdrive tones are kinda loose and flubby.

[Bavles9]

Thank you so much!

[arios211]

Eminence Governor speaker do sound good. I should of got those instead of the Celestion T75

[lespaulcustomplus]

excelent sound man! (and playing!)

[mulletman6970]

hey im interisted in a oldskool gibson challenger but sonex seem really kewl to wich sounds better?

[need4zpeed]

I had a Gibson Marauder back in the day...now I'm sorry I got rid of it!

[destroyer1of1senses]

It sounds better then any of your epiphones. Much more professional. The gibson construction makes all the difference

[bilbomarks]

Lol.

[gibson180s]

i have the exact same guitar man, i love mine, i just got it refurbished. i have semore duncan jazz pickups though, but i love the neck on it, its so comfortable. you have a pretty good sound man, how long have you been playing?

[jernov]

that's an nicely restored axe.

what's the riff you play in the beginning? i recognise it, but i forgot where it's from.

[dcooper830]

Its "Life In The Fast Lane" by the Eagles. Thanks! : )

[otternotbeaver]

A schoolfriend of mine won a Gibson Sonex in a magazine competition around 1981. The tiebreaker sentence to complete was "I read Melody Maker magazine because..." to which my friend's winning reply was "...it doesn't taste very nice." He was 14 at the time so this was like winning the lottery!

[lespaulcustomplus]

excelent man!

[tyler24000]

EAGLES

how much was it when u got it???

[jwuonog]

that is in pretty good shape for how old it is!

[haveaniceday22]

nice eagles song at the beggining

[monkeeeking1]

what song was it

[blsnewreligion]

life in the fast lane

or something like that

[rbilleaud]

Your playing was fine and all, but this is a great example of why Sonexes sucked - sounds like a brick with strings.

[Lukeblueslover]

exactly...horrible guitars.

[patiam1969]

im sure that frickin peavey has something to do with it

[AeSeSeSe]

i love that song! the eagles rock!

VERY NICE JOB!

[TheMercenaryArtist]

There is a reason these were discontinued.

Bolt on necks and thick plastic bodies made for a horrible guitar.

Les Paul Specials are better and they suck horribly.

[RapidG]

I've played on of those Sonex before. They must weigh at least 12 lbs.

[gd1995]

too bad they dont sell them anymore

[laxdawgg39]

i know

[gd1995]

theres one on ebay for 199 with a hardshell case from 1981

[samstallard00]

Nice...

[trukr817]

Sweet Sonex, I have a 1981 and a 1983 Sonex, they both still have the stock Velvet Brick pups, oh, nitrofast872, yes, he did, he said so more than once, Gibson '57 Clasics.

[nitrofast872]

did u change the pick-ups on it

[Rockaboogie27]

YES! You own a Gibson!! haha, just messin'.

[acdc126]

its awesome how easily you change your sound to play pop to heavy or jazz, rock... that guitar made of a kind of resin sound as good as other electric guitars, i dont think someone can hear it without the video and tell if its a gretsch, lespaul, yamaha or whatever.

[RatedRockstar]

GIVE ME IT!!!! Hahahaha nice Sonex 180

[WoWVilmir]

This is a true classic guitar even Slash has this i'm sure

[azinko]

whos slash?

[flash233]

Thanks man! Thats all I needed to know because some folks on here have switched out the tubes and said nothing about it.

[flash233]

quick question, I know that you switched out the speaker in the peavey, but did you change out the tubes? If so what kinds did you put in there?

[dcooper830]

It has the same tubes as when I bought it. JJ pre-amp tubes and Sovtec power tubes.

[XCaptainJohnnyX]

Hey man the guy below mentioned you switched out the speaker in your peavey, if you don't mind me asking, what do you have in there?

[WGMSMan]

Guessing it's a Governer.

[XCaptainJohnnyX]

SORRY! nevermind, I didn't read the description, my fault.

[beachhutblues]

The Epi's sound better.

But I can understand why you have held on to your first guitar out of nostalgia.

I wish I still had my first guitar (a 72 ash blonde tele).

[Joey7117]

Awesome skills, awesome sounds, awesome guitar, awesome amp !!! Keep on rocking, dude !!!

[Smokeater68]

Cool vid! I have an '81 180 Deluxe. Was originally white and now an aged creamed corn color LOL. Just put up a video of it.

[oldphoque]

Sleepwalk should be played on a hollow or be modified for a more warm sound. I think you are extremely talented. That Sleepwalk has Gretsh written all over it but cn be pulled off with a tele or strat. That is without effects. Ibanez would be another suggestion. Personally, I like Gibson and Aria as opposed to Epiphone. I go to Aria for hollow and semi. The Aria is in the Epiphone price range with better tech and woodwork out of the shop. Also a better warranty.

[EnTallrikPropaganda]

Nice :)

[speedmanic232]

awesome... i have an original 1982 sonex. Still with original parts. tis an awesome geetar.

[tallpaul99]

hey nice sonex 180, is that a deluxe one? i recently bought and '82 sonex 180 deluxe one for 210 of the queens english pounds lol. havent had a good go on it yet cos i need to change the strings, but now im pleased i got it from what u just played there, nice guitar work there mate

[prichard]

very nice playing man, and you have a good voice that goes great with your style, 5 stars

[die5525]

I own a Gibson sonex 180 from 1982. I LOVE IT. ITS A GREAT GUITAR. Yours is very nice.

[rothnroll123]

what dirt pedal are you using?

IS it just the guitar and amp?

Sounds good!

[dcooper830]

It is just guitar straigt into the amp. Thanks! : )

[acdc126]

its the sound of gibson pickup, and the peavey classic 30. best match! best of peavey amps, as good as marshall, orange, vox and fender in that kind of tiny amp.

[gdrugg2006]

Sounds great.

[iamfozard]

Id rather listen to this than all the self indulgent shredding posted all over youtube. You seem to have great passion for guitar. Thanks

[AlysonMichalkaandDan]

Yes, Eagles, good choice, LIFE IS IN THE FAST LANE!