Gibson SG Special Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965)
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Item # 12385
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Gibson SG Special Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 550086.
This well-worn cherry SG Special is a "transition" model built in mid/late-1965, the last year of Gibson's classic electric era. It has had a neck heel repair as is often typical for these; the neck was out and back in, the heel was not broken and there are no structural cracks, just a reglued full neck tenon.
The C-profile neck is the slimmer 1 9/16" style used from this time until the end of the '60s, but all the other features (old-style neck joint, small pickguard, small control cavity) are still '64 and earlier spec. This guitar has two very hot P-90 pickups mounted directly to the body, older-style "capped" plastic knobs and the chrome hardware that arrived in 1965. For many connoisseurs, this was the last great year for the SG series; by 1966, the design was heavily modified to speed up production with a large full rout under a face-spanning pickguard. This one has pots dated the 30-something week of 1965; the last digit is not visible.
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason -- anyone who has seen live footage of The Who in the late '60s knows what these ultra light and responsive SG Specials are capable of! This one has seen a lot of use but remains 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 39 7/16 in. (100.2 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.).
This nearly 60-year-old SG shows signs of a hard life but remains largely original with some fairly heavy wear and the reset neck noted above. There is heavy checking to much of the finish, most notably on the face; it looks like the guitar spent some time in a damp environment, possibly what caused the neck joint to require re-gluing as well. The cherry color is very deep with some fade but not the "bleaching" to brown effect seen on older SGs. There is noticeable chipping and flaking to the body edges, heavily on both lower bouts extending onto the face on the bass side.
There is checking but very little belt buckle wear to the back of the body, and the back of the neck is fairly clean as well with some feelable checking but only a few tiny dings and dents. The area around the heel has some unpatched finish chips from the reset procedure; there was no overfinish added. The headstock shows fairly heavy wear to the edges with some light touchup added and one repaired chip on the upper edge of the face above the "ON" in Gibson. The headstock has had several sets of tuners mounted; currently it carries a period-correct set of Kluson Deluxe strips with oversize bushings on the face, which shows pressure rings from a previous installation.
The hot P-90 pickups remain original (the bridge pickup is shimmed up a bit) and sound great, the wiring rig original as well. The original bridge has been notched fairly deeply to work better with the vibrato and the pickguard has some shrinkage but no cracks or broken corners. The original large frets have been polished out a but have plenty of meat left, and the guitar plays very well and sounds great. It includes the original chipboard case, a bit battered but still functional. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This well-worn cherry SG Special is a "transition" model built in mid/late-1965, the last year of Gibson's classic electric era. It has had a neck heel repair as is often typical for these; the neck was out and back in, the heel was not broken and there are no structural cracks, just a reglued full neck tenon.
The C-profile neck is the slimmer 1 9/16" style used from this time until the end of the '60s, but all the other features (old-style neck joint, small pickguard, small control cavity) are still '64 and earlier spec. This guitar has two very hot P-90 pickups mounted directly to the body, older-style "capped" plastic knobs and the chrome hardware that arrived in 1965. For many connoisseurs, this was the last great year for the SG series; by 1966, the design was heavily modified to speed up production with a large full rout under a face-spanning pickguard. This one has pots dated the 30-something week of 1965; the last digit is not visible.
The SG Special was and remains a very popular guitar, with good reason -- anyone who has seen live footage of The Who in the late '60s knows what these ultra light and responsive SG Specials are capable of! This one has seen a lot of use but remains 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 39 7/16 in. (100.2 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.).
This nearly 60-year-old SG shows signs of a hard life but remains largely original with some fairly heavy wear and the reset neck noted above. There is heavy checking to much of the finish, most notably on the face; it looks like the guitar spent some time in a damp environment, possibly what caused the neck joint to require re-gluing as well. The cherry color is very deep with some fade but not the "bleaching" to brown effect seen on older SGs. There is noticeable chipping and flaking to the body edges, heavily on both lower bouts extending onto the face on the bass side.
There is checking but very little belt buckle wear to the back of the body, and the back of the neck is fairly clean as well with some feelable checking but only a few tiny dings and dents. The area around the heel has some unpatched finish chips from the reset procedure; there was no overfinish added. The headstock shows fairly heavy wear to the edges with some light touchup added and one repaired chip on the upper edge of the face above the "ON" in Gibson. The headstock has had several sets of tuners mounted; currently it carries a period-correct set of Kluson Deluxe strips with oversize bushings on the face, which shows pressure rings from a previous installation.
The hot P-90 pickups remain original (the bridge pickup is shimmed up a bit) and sound great, the wiring rig original as well. The original bridge has been notched fairly deeply to work better with the vibrato and the pickguard has some shrinkage but no cracks or broken corners. The original large frets have been polished out a but have plenty of meat left, and the guitar plays very well and sounds great. It includes the original chipboard case, a bit battered but still functional. Overall Very Good + Condition.