Gibson SG Special Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965)
LOADING IMAGES
Gibson SG Special Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 317412, cherry lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This well-played cherry-finished SG Special was built in 1965, the last real year of Gibson's classic electric era. The surprisingly chunky C-profile neck is still the classic 1 11/16" style generally used until mid 1965, then replaced by the 1 5/8" (and slimmer) nut seen through the late '60s. The neck has a fairly flat-backed "C" profile and a great solid feel. This is a late guitar to have this wider neck, likely one of the last ones. Many other features -- the old-style neck joint, pickups mounted directly to the body with the small pickguard, and nickel plated hardware -- would also be changed by the turn of 1965-66. This guitar mounts two hot P-90 pickups, the older-60's style "capped" plastic knobs and a Gibson short Vibrola with the plastic-tipped handle still intact.
For connoisseurs this was the last great year for the SG series, as by 1966 the design was heavily modified to speed production with a large "swimming pool" route to the face of the body and pickups mounted directly to the top-spanning pickguard. This example has the same features as the earlier SG Specials back to 1961, and has no modifications with an untouched wiring rig with matching pots dating to the 29th week of 1965.
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason. Exactly 2099 of these slim cherry beauties were shipped in 1965, but only a fraction have survived the 55+ years since as cleanly as this one. Anyone who has seen live footage of the Who or Santana in the late '60s knows what these ultra light and responsive SG Specials are capable of! One of the classic rock guitars of that or any era, more versatile than many think with a "special" sound unto themselves!
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) deep. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.)., 6.94 lbs.
This now 60 year old guitar retains all original finish and hardware showing some noticeable if mostly superficial wear but the guitar has survived fully intact with no cracks or breaks. The finish color is a deep and fairly dark cherry with surprisingly little fade even on the top. There is some typical checking overall and a varied collection of dings, scrapes and chips, with some heavier wear to the wood on the upper back of the body. The top edge in particular has some worn-through areas and a few deeper chips. There is quite a bit of finish wear to the back of the neck, with heavy checking and a decent amount of finish flaked away but no heavy dings or capo marks.
The guitar is completely solid with no cracks or repairs and the neck angle is better than many, allowing the vibrato to function properly. The nickel plated hardware has some light corrosion, but no heavy wear except to the upper bridge stud. The guitar had been neatly refretted with period correct wire and fitted with a new nut. Overall this is a fine gig-worthy example of this handy Gibson classic, not as clean as some but sounding and playing great complete in a purple-lined 1970s Gibson branded HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This well-played cherry-finished SG Special was built in 1965, the last real year of Gibson's classic electric era. The surprisingly chunky C-profile neck is still the classic 1 11/16" style generally used until mid 1965, then replaced by the 1 5/8" (and slimmer) nut seen through the late '60s. The neck has a fairly flat-backed "C" profile and a great solid feel. This is a late guitar to have this wider neck, likely one of the last ones. Many other features -- the old-style neck joint, pickups mounted directly to the body with the small pickguard, and nickel plated hardware -- would also be changed by the turn of 1965-66. This guitar mounts two hot P-90 pickups, the older-60's style "capped" plastic knobs and a Gibson short Vibrola with the plastic-tipped handle still intact.
For connoisseurs this was the last great year for the SG series, as by 1966 the design was heavily modified to speed production with a large "swimming pool" route to the face of the body and pickups mounted directly to the top-spanning pickguard. This example has the same features as the earlier SG Specials back to 1961, and has no modifications with an untouched wiring rig with matching pots dating to the 29th week of 1965.
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason. Exactly 2099 of these slim cherry beauties were shipped in 1965, but only a fraction have survived the 55+ years since as cleanly as this one. Anyone who has seen live footage of the Who or Santana in the late '60s knows what these ultra light and responsive SG Specials are capable of! One of the classic rock guitars of that or any era, more versatile than many think with a "special" sound unto themselves!
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) deep. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.)., 6.94 lbs.
This now 60 year old guitar retains all original finish and hardware showing some noticeable if mostly superficial wear but the guitar has survived fully intact with no cracks or breaks. The finish color is a deep and fairly dark cherry with surprisingly little fade even on the top. There is some typical checking overall and a varied collection of dings, scrapes and chips, with some heavier wear to the wood on the upper back of the body. The top edge in particular has some worn-through areas and a few deeper chips. There is quite a bit of finish wear to the back of the neck, with heavy checking and a decent amount of finish flaked away but no heavy dings or capo marks.
The guitar is completely solid with no cracks or repairs and the neck angle is better than many, allowing the vibrato to function properly. The nickel plated hardware has some light corrosion, but no heavy wear except to the upper bridge stud. The guitar had been neatly refretted with period correct wire and fitted with a new nut. Overall this is a fine gig-worthy example of this handy Gibson classic, not as clean as some but sounding and playing great complete in a purple-lined 1970s Gibson branded HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.