Samantha Fish says her Gibson SG is her most versatile guitar

Samantha Fish says her live Gibson SG has been with her since 2015, and she calls it the most versatile guitar in her arsenal. She did not age it in a workshop or treat it like a collector’s piece. She wore it in on the road, through sweat and regular playing, until it became the kind of guitar that looks and feels like it has already survived the jobs that matter.

Fish’s attachment makes sense when you listen to how she talks about the instrument. She describes the SG as the most comfortable guitar she owns and says the neck feels right in her hands, especially when she stretches out on solos. That comfort matters for a player whose set can move through country rock, funk, blues and roots without sounding like she is changing personalities between songs. The SG gives her room to cover that ground without fighting the guitar.

The model’s history backs up that kind of use. Gibson introduced the SG at the very end of 1960 as a replacement for the original Les Paul, and it was first sold under the Les Paul name. The design was built for better upper-fret access, and the line quickly spread into Standard, Custom, Junior, Special and TV versions. Over time, the SG became Gibson’s best-selling model of all time, and it picked up a serious player roster along the way, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Pete Townshend, Angus Young, Frank Zappa, Derek Trucks and Jimi Hendrix. Tony Iommi’s heavily modified 1964 SG was central to Black Sabbath’s sound and to the birth of heavy metal.

That lineage fits Fish’s approach better than a more obvious flame-top alternative would. Her current live work has also put a spotlight on the instrument’s road value, with Paper Doll: Live recorded at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee and billed as her first official live album. Her live release Paper Doll was also nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the Grammy Awards.

Fish is not talking about the SG like a museum object. She is talking about it like a tool that has earned its place through miles, sweat and repeat use. That is exactly why the SG still works for players who want one guitar to do more than just look the part.