Greta Van Fleet guitarist Jake Kiszka on his 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG: "This particular model has defined me as a player and I think I've defied it in return"

Greta Van Fleet's Jake Kiszka proved a firm favourite in our best rock guitarists of 2021 poll, and we wonder if he might help shift some SGs into new players' hands. Because over 60 years on, the appeal of Larry Allers' design for Gibson feels timeless.

Gibson TV recently talked to Kiszka in the video above about his own 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG model (the model was originally launched to tackle diminishing sales of the original Les Paul) and what it means to him.

“My first electric guitar was an SG with P90s, and I haven’t gone back on it since,” says Kiszka. “The ’61, this particular model, has defined me as a player and I think I’ve defined it in return. Moving forward with Greta Van Fleet and the SG allows me to be more dynamic and create sounds that are more outside the realm of conventional.”

Epiphone recently launched its own very appealing take on the 1961 model with Gibson USA pickups too.