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Good size for a Champ!

No, selector is not mounted. Just the pots/caps and jack. Having the selector mounted would be pretty bad stress-wise.

One more thing: the electronics are circuit board mounted with Molex type connectors for the pickups. I'm okay with this because the CB and connectors are good quality and it means changing pickups will be a snap. Plus the ground wire can be removed with desoldering (something I hate doing in Strats). However, if I want to replace the two ceramic 22n caps with mojo caps, it means the entire apparatus has to be removed, then the caps desoldered from the board. Not such a big deal since I would likely only do this once, but a bit of a PITA. Also, the input/sleeve of the jack are connected by two thin bare wires that could break if the jack becomes loose. I believe the thinking behind this is that better to have the wires break than put stress on the PCB from overly stiff connections. Still, I might replace these with more flexible 22AWG.

Mini-review:
The SGJ arrived yesterday. It is actually a 3 piece body, not 2. But, that doesn't bother me; the joints are flawless and barely even noticeable. Considering how resonant the body is unplugged I don't see that it is a drawback, either. Out of the box, Sweetwater has it set up better than any of my current guitars. The action is low and consistent. There are a couple of "plingy" spots on the fretted B string, but that could be a matter of needing a small fret dress or it just wanting a slightly higher action. It's not bad enough to bother me since there are no fret-outs with string bending.

This is my first humbucking guitar in about 10 years and I have been missing out. The pickups are full and rich through my Vox AC4 (haven't tried it on the AC15 or plugged it through any dirt boxes yet) and even across the strings. As time goes on I will probably try another bridge pickup...not because the stock one is lacking but that's how I am. I did find myself rolling the tone control down a bit, and I'm pretty happy with the range of tones available with the two pickups. One HUGE plus: quiet as a mouse. Since I moved my gear down into the house from the workshop I've been having a major noise problem on my single coils. The wiring in the house is older and the hum is just about unbearable. But, the SG is just dead quiet.

Craftsmanship on the guitar is very good. No flaws of any kind in terms of the finish. The neck and body joint are not perfectly level, and I don't know if that is by design or not. Surely it must be since these bodies are probably CNC'd. But, it is not in a position where your hand will ever notice the 1mm or so ridge b/w body and neck.

Speaking of the neck: it is wide and a bit thicker than my Strats. Very playable and I'm sure it will break in nicely over the next couple of years. The nibs on the edge of the frets are not terribly smooth. That is not surprising...I would not expect a $2000 fret job on a $500 guitar. Smooth enough for me, and they could be filed a bit smoother if I want.

The only flaw I found so far is that the bridge humbucker was not taped properly. Rather than folding under, the tape jutted slightly over the top of the pickup which lead to a "paper scratching" sound whenever my palm contacts it. I was able to push the tape under the bobbin to fix that.

Overall, I am very pleased with what I got in line with what I spent. Not perfect, but pretty close. And, it sounds great and plays great which is what I'm worried about. I want a player's guitar, not a museum piece!

Thanks for pointing that out, Scruff. I will include the resistor on future boards, or at least recommend adding it from the DC supply.

i could use one too if it becomes available.

Amazon finally starts collecting sales tax on Tennessee customers. It was fun while it lasted. I just wish they would put all the tax collected straight into the school system, but of course that won't happen.

I convinced the wife to let me move part of the workshop down into the house proper for the remainder of the winter. Not only will this increase my productivity immeasurably, I will no longer have to freeze my nuts off to build something.

That is some great news, but I think this is going to cost you loads of 'Steak and BJ-day' credits.......  Cool stuff Bean, still wishing for a proper work area myself 

Paul

I didn't know they had steak and BJ day in the Netherlands too!  Awesome.

Happy B-day Brian!  You deserve it.

Wait what is this steak and BJ thing you speak of? I think I'm owed back payment.

Now that's a happy new year!

Really beautiful SG. WoWser.

You know, the new SGJ model looks to be quite badass. It says "Made in USA", which surprised me. I assumed at the price point they were Asian. I'm sure there are some shortcuts in the quality, but probably nothing that will bother me. The back of it has pretty uneven stain, but I actually like that. It gives it some uniqueness.

And more good news for me: my new SG will be here on Jan 2nd! I gotta plug Sweetwater here. They actually sent me a pic of the guitar they are shipping. I think that is pretty great CS.

I convinced the wife to let me move part of the workshop down into the house proper for the remainder of the winter. Not only will this increase my productivity immeasurably, I will no longer have to freeze my nuts off to build something.

Doubling the supply voltage will not necessarily double the bias voltage, because the current drawn by the FETs is unlikely to change linearly with the voltage increase. You will sometimes need to rebias.

Oh, that's a good point Jon!

Your bias point should be around half the supply voltage. However, the higher the voltage supply, the more range you have on bias voltage. IOW, you can probably set it anywhere from 8v-12v and it will sound good.

I have a thing I'm working one where the circuit is run at 18v via a charge pump. Under load, the supply is actually about 17.6v and I set my bias on the JFETs to about 8.3v. Just as an example.

I left it off because it was Tonepad's mod, and I did not want to just outright copy his project. So, I left what I thought was the most essential stuff.

I use Lelond for most of my electros from Mouser. 5-7mm heights. I like em.