Gibson SG Special Solid Body Electric Guitar (1961)
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Item # 12267
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Gibson SG Special Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1961), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 13374, cherry lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original brown alligator chipboard case.
This lovely deep cherry-finished SG Special was built in early/mid-1961, the first year of Gibson's new uber-sculpted solidbody designs. It still seems amazing to think the relatively staid design team at Kalamazoo came up with this dramatic, devilish shape in 1960, a truly radical evolution of the late '50s double-cutaway budget Les Pauls. It looks way ahead of its time, and the reaction from some conservative players (Les Paul among them) was not enthusiastic. No matter; younger Rock'n'Roll players took to them in droves, although it was not until the much louder later '60s that they became enshrined as a true classic.
For Gibson connoisseurs the early 1960s was the greatest period for the SG series; This "stoptail" '61 is the pinnacle of the Special model by just about any standard. More and more '60s SGs were ordered with vibratos as the decade went on, and by 1966 Gibson modified the design to speed production with a large "swimming pool" route to the body and pickups mounted to the top-spanning pickguard. This first-year example has all the earlier features: no vibrato, old-style stepped neck joint with a blended heel, pickups mounted directly to the body with a small pickguard and nickel plated hardware, all changed by the turn of 1965-66.
An item of note on this guitar is the shallow C-profile neck is just slightly slimmer at the nut than generally expected on SG's until 1965, just at halfway between the 1 11/16' spec. ostensibly universal in early 1960s and the later 1 5/8"'. While the prevailing theory is the older wide nut was ubiquitous until 1965 we have seen a number of earlier Gibsons that deviate from this. The company was apparently flirting with slimming this on the "amateur" level guitars at least a few years prior. The neck itself tapers noticeably towards the body with the very flat "1960 C" profile and a an effortless slim feel.
The wiring rig is pristine and untouched original with pots dating to late 1960. This guitar mounts two very hot plastic covered "soapbar" P-90 pickups with the new 60's style capped plastic knobs. The non-compensated '50s style stop tailpiece is a perfect repro, the only replaced part on the guitar; the original is in the case with a broken wing. The neck angle is excellent, especially compared with some later '60s examples. In 1961 this cherry SG Special listed for $210, which seems like a bargain even in period dollars!
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason. This one is super light and handy, weighing in at just over 6 1/2 pounds with a very solid feel. Just under 1200 of these slim cherry beauties were shipped in 1961, and some of those were the last of the older 1959 "slab" style. Not too many of this fairly fragile instrument will have survived six decades this cleanly. The model has long been regarded as a classic Gibson solidbody; anyone who has seen live footage of the Who or Santana in the late '60s knows what these light and responsive SG Specials are capable of! It is simply 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.)., 6.58 lbs.
This 63 year old SG is quite clean overall with just some very minor wear and tear; whoever got this sleek space age stunner in 1961 apparently did not use it very much. The original cherry lacquer finish is beautifully preserved with a deep, rich unfaded deep red color over the entire instrument; even the back of the neck has hardly any fade. There is light scuffing, small dings and dents scattered around but nearly all are not through the finish. The edges of the headstock have number of small random dinks.
There NO cracks or breaks to the instrument, which is always delightful on older SGs. Except for the repro bridge/tailpiece all the hardware remains original and quite clean; the nickel plating shows some very light wear. The original frets and fingerboard have only very light wear and this is a super solid SG and a really fine player, still housed in the original Gibson 1950s style alligator grain chipboard case, with the matching hang tag and "Gibson Sonomatic strings" tags still in the pocket. Overall Excellent Condition.
This lovely deep cherry-finished SG Special was built in early/mid-1961, the first year of Gibson's new uber-sculpted solidbody designs. It still seems amazing to think the relatively staid design team at Kalamazoo came up with this dramatic, devilish shape in 1960, a truly radical evolution of the late '50s double-cutaway budget Les Pauls. It looks way ahead of its time, and the reaction from some conservative players (Les Paul among them) was not enthusiastic. No matter; younger Rock'n'Roll players took to them in droves, although it was not until the much louder later '60s that they became enshrined as a true classic.
For Gibson connoisseurs the early 1960s was the greatest period for the SG series; This "stoptail" '61 is the pinnacle of the Special model by just about any standard. More and more '60s SGs were ordered with vibratos as the decade went on, and by 1966 Gibson modified the design to speed production with a large "swimming pool" route to the body and pickups mounted to the top-spanning pickguard. This first-year example has all the earlier features: no vibrato, old-style stepped neck joint with a blended heel, pickups mounted directly to the body with a small pickguard and nickel plated hardware, all changed by the turn of 1965-66.
An item of note on this guitar is the shallow C-profile neck is just slightly slimmer at the nut than generally expected on SG's until 1965, just at halfway between the 1 11/16' spec. ostensibly universal in early 1960s and the later 1 5/8"'. While the prevailing theory is the older wide nut was ubiquitous until 1965 we have seen a number of earlier Gibsons that deviate from this. The company was apparently flirting with slimming this on the "amateur" level guitars at least a few years prior. The neck itself tapers noticeably towards the body with the very flat "1960 C" profile and a an effortless slim feel.
The wiring rig is pristine and untouched original with pots dating to late 1960. This guitar mounts two very hot plastic covered "soapbar" P-90 pickups with the new 60's style capped plastic knobs. The non-compensated '50s style stop tailpiece is a perfect repro, the only replaced part on the guitar; the original is in the case with a broken wing. The neck angle is excellent, especially compared with some later '60s examples. In 1961 this cherry SG Special listed for $210, which seems like a bargain even in period dollars!
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason. This one is super light and handy, weighing in at just over 6 1/2 pounds with a very solid feel. Just under 1200 of these slim cherry beauties were shipped in 1961, and some of those were the last of the older 1959 "slab" style. Not too many of this fairly fragile instrument will have survived six decades this cleanly. The model has long been regarded as a classic Gibson solidbody; anyone who has seen live footage of the Who or Santana in the late '60s knows what these light and responsive SG Specials are capable of! It is simply 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.)., 6.58 lbs.
This 63 year old SG is quite clean overall with just some very minor wear and tear; whoever got this sleek space age stunner in 1961 apparently did not use it very much. The original cherry lacquer finish is beautifully preserved with a deep, rich unfaded deep red color over the entire instrument; even the back of the neck has hardly any fade. There is light scuffing, small dings and dents scattered around but nearly all are not through the finish. The edges of the headstock have number of small random dinks.
There NO cracks or breaks to the instrument, which is always delightful on older SGs. Except for the repro bridge/tailpiece all the hardware remains original and quite clean; the nickel plating shows some very light wear. The original frets and fingerboard have only very light wear and this is a super solid SG and a really fine player, still housed in the original Gibson 1950s style alligator grain chipboard case, with the matching hang tag and "Gibson Sonomatic strings" tags still in the pocket. Overall Excellent Condition.