Gibson SG Special Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965)
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Item # 11360
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Gibson SG Special Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, cherry lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This gleaming cherry SG Special is a bit of a "transition" model built in mid-late 1965, the last year of Gibson's classic electric era. The C-profile neck has the slimmer nut profile style used from this time until the end of the '60s, but still with some decent girth as it approaches the body. All the other features including the old-style squared neck joint, pickups mounted directly to the body and the small pickguard are still '64 and earlier spec.
This guitar carries two very hot P-90 pickups, older-style "capped" plastic knobs and the chrome hardware that is typical in 1965. For most connoisseurs, this was the last great year for the SG series; by 1966, the design was heavily modified with a universal "swimming pool" rout in the body covered by a larger pickguard to speed up production. The pots are dated to the 30-something week of 1965; the codes are mostly soldered over.
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason -- anyone who has seen live footage of The Who or Carlos 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 1/2 in. (38 mm.).
Overall this is a nice original example with some light wear and a couple of minor modifications. Unlike many this guitar has no neck or heel cracks ever; this is a totally solid SG with an excellent neck angle. The only alteration is some small plugged screw holes in the top above the pickups from an oversize decorative pickguard previously added and later removed. These are neatly touched up but visible. The pickguard currently fitted is a well done repro to the correct pattern. It is also fitted with a modern repro stud bridge in nickel which is compensated for an unwound G string; the original chrome piece was only correctly in tune with a wound G.
Overall there are small dings, dents and scrapes to the finish as well as light checking overall, but no heavy wear. The cherry color is still very rich with very little fade. Recently the previous owner started to remove the neck pickup, then reconsidered so just those solder joints were redone. Other than this the pickups and wiring rig remain original and unaltered. The original large frets have been rounded down a bit but have plenty of meat left, and the guitar plays very well and sounds great, a classic SG screamer in a nice modern HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This gleaming cherry SG Special is a bit of a "transition" model built in mid-late 1965, the last year of Gibson's classic electric era. The C-profile neck has the slimmer nut profile style used from this time until the end of the '60s, but still with some decent girth as it approaches the body. All the other features including the old-style squared neck joint, pickups mounted directly to the body and the small pickguard are still '64 and earlier spec.
This guitar carries two very hot P-90 pickups, older-style "capped" plastic knobs and the chrome hardware that is typical in 1965. For most connoisseurs, this was the last great year for the SG series; by 1966, the design was heavily modified with a universal "swimming pool" rout in the body covered by a larger pickguard to speed up production. The pots are dated to the 30-something week of 1965; the codes are mostly soldered over.
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason -- anyone who has seen live footage of The Who or Carlos 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 1/2 in. (38 mm.).
Overall this is a nice original example with some light wear and a couple of minor modifications. Unlike many this guitar has no neck or heel cracks ever; this is a totally solid SG with an excellent neck angle. The only alteration is some small plugged screw holes in the top above the pickups from an oversize decorative pickguard previously added and later removed. These are neatly touched up but visible. The pickguard currently fitted is a well done repro to the correct pattern. It is also fitted with a modern repro stud bridge in nickel which is compensated for an unwound G string; the original chrome piece was only correctly in tune with a wound G.
Overall there are small dings, dents and scrapes to the finish as well as light checking overall, but no heavy wear. The cherry color is still very rich with very little fade. Recently the previous owner started to remove the neck pickup, then reconsidered so just those solder joints were redone. Other than this the pickups and wiring rig remain original and unaltered. The original large frets have been rounded down a bit but have plenty of meat left, and the guitar plays very well and sounds great, a classic SG screamer in a nice modern HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.