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Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged

ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone

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Playability

72

Sound

72

Build

74

Value

58

Score

73

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Playability

78

Sound

76

Build

69

Value

69

Score

74

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Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged vs LTD SC-608 Baritone

Price History Comparison

Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged Prices

• New from $5,199 >>
• New from $6,999 >>
• New from $6,999 >>
• New from $6,999 >>
• Used from $6,374.15 >>

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ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone Prices

• New from $1,699 >>
• New from $1,699 >>
• Used from $1,349 >>

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone is probably the better product overall with its final score of 74 compared to the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged's 73 score, although not by a lot.

The ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone wins when it comes to sound, playability, value for the money. On the other hand, the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged has the upper hand when it comes to build quality.

If you got small hands, you'll probably feel that the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged is easier to play.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone is the better choice.

The ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged meets only 4. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.

Woods Used in the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Woods Used in the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged has an HH configuration while the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone has HHX pickups.

Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.

On the other hand, HHX means there's no pickup in the neck position. It's a rare pickup combination. It gives you high output with a warm tone for hard rock with a bit more versatility than single-pickup guitars. You'll have to be careful not to set the middle pickup too high if you want to avoid hitting it with your pick.

Pickups Quality

Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.

However, the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.

We found the same or similar pickups to the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone's online:

The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged's pickups are Passive while the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone's are Active.

Passive pickups are what most guitars use. These have a normal output that works well for most genres. However, Active pickups are the preferred choice of heavy metal players because they offer extra output thanks to their 9v battery, which results in a heavier, more distorted sound. Bear in mind that achieving a completely clean tone with them won't be easy. So if you want to also use clean tones, you might want to avoid Active pickups.

Winner: Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Only the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone comes with some kind of pickup modification: Multi-Voicing.

Multi-Voicing means the pickups come with multiple ''voices'', which means they can change the tone and gain by a simple switch or knob. Piezo, Fishman and similar are considered multi-voicing pickups.

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged compares to the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged is built in United States while the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone is made in Indonesia.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.

Winner: Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged has a Nylon nut. It used to be one of the highest quality materials for nuts (and still is), but it's rare to find nowadays because it's hard to work with. It's a very resistant material with very low friction, so it will keep the guitar in tune and will last for a long time

On the other hand, the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone comes with a Plastic nut. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.

Winner: Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.

On the other hand, the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

The ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.

Winner: ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged has a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

On the other hand, the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone comes with Neck-Through neck joint. This neck is a lot more resistant and lets builders give the neck joint a more comfortable shape for soloing at the upper frets. The disadvantage is that they're more expensive and that if you damage your neck, you can't simply replace it like with bolt-on necks.

Winner: ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Final Build Quality Scores

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone has the wider nut with 54mm (2.126'') vs 42.9mm (1.688''). This is a 11.1mm (0.438'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.

Scale Length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

The ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone has the longest scale: 27". The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged is only 24.75" long. This is a 2.25'' (57.2mm) scale length difference.

This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.

This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.

Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

In this case, both have different neck shapes:

The Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged has a C type of neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

The ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone, on the other hand, has a U neck. This is also referred to as ''baseball neck'' because of its shape. It's usually thick, which is why some people with big hands like it. However, they can also be thin, similar to a C shape, but with more shoulders for a better grip.

Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

In this case, the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone.

Still, both tend to favor soloing over chords, so if you're looking for a guitar for playing rhythm, you might want something else with a radius closer to a Stratocaster's 9.5''.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone favors large hands more than the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged.

Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged:

ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone:

Fret Size

The ESP LTD SC-608 Baritone has XL Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Gibson Custom 1964 SG Standard With Maestro Vibrola Light Aged's Medium Jumbo frets.

Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.

Final Playability Scores