Hi folks!
I was asked to come on to this forum by a few guys on Facebook to see if I could get some information on a purchase I made last week. It’s a case of one of those “if its too good to be true” moments as it only cost me £300. Now I bought this guitar from an older gentleman who originally got it in a trade for a motorised BMX (as believable as it sounds). The guy he traded with had found it in his house when he moved in the corner of the garage back in 1990 and had stuck it in the loft, forgetting about it for almost 20 years. The seller had no idea how old it was and to be honest neither did I. After a lot of conversations and some digging, I believe what I have is a 1961/2 Gibson SG Special in Polaris White.
So here’s what I do know : The headstock looks to be correct for this period, the serial (38705) dates to 1961, three of the four pots are dated the 2nd week of 1962 whilst the neck tone pot is a replacement from 1966, the truss rod itself looks correct, the frets and neck joint look correct, the wiring looks correct as does the cavity cover and the overall feel and playability of the instrument screams Gibson. The original P90’s are long gone and it has been (poorly) routed for two humbuckers which I contacted DiMarzio about who confirmed they are first generation versions of the PAF DP103 and the Super Distortion. The original tuners have also been replaced with Gibson Deluxe but I’m unsure of the age of these.
It has suffered a headstock break at some point which has (again, poorly) been repaired but it doesn’t affect the guitar in any way. The pickguard, truss rod cover and bridge are replacements as far as I’m aware and through some of the paint chips I can make out the mahogany beneath it.
I’m not on here looking for information to try and sell this on or anything like that. This is by far the nicest guitar I’ve ever played. What I am looking for is just some help and a bit of advice as to whether this thing is the genuine article. Things I’m unsure about are the finish and the serial number. A few folk were concerned that the serial didn’t look right and that the finish is most likely non original. I’ve included as many photos as I can and as much information as I have. I’ve also added a Drive link to see all the photos I’ve taken.
If there’s anything else required to determine it’s age or anything like that I’m happy to help.
drive.google.com
Cheers!
Matt
I was asked to come on to this forum by a few guys on Facebook to see if I could get some information on a purchase I made last week. It’s a case of one of those “if its too good to be true” moments as it only cost me £300. Now I bought this guitar from an older gentleman who originally got it in a trade for a motorised BMX (as believable as it sounds). The guy he traded with had found it in his house when he moved in the corner of the garage back in 1990 and had stuck it in the loft, forgetting about it for almost 20 years. The seller had no idea how old it was and to be honest neither did I. After a lot of conversations and some digging, I believe what I have is a 1961/2 Gibson SG Special in Polaris White.
So here’s what I do know : The headstock looks to be correct for this period, the serial (38705) dates to 1961, three of the four pots are dated the 2nd week of 1962 whilst the neck tone pot is a replacement from 1966, the truss rod itself looks correct, the frets and neck joint look correct, the wiring looks correct as does the cavity cover and the overall feel and playability of the instrument screams Gibson. The original P90’s are long gone and it has been (poorly) routed for two humbuckers which I contacted DiMarzio about who confirmed they are first generation versions of the PAF DP103 and the Super Distortion. The original tuners have also been replaced with Gibson Deluxe but I’m unsure of the age of these.
It has suffered a headstock break at some point which has (again, poorly) been repaired but it doesn’t affect the guitar in any way. The pickguard, truss rod cover and bridge are replacements as far as I’m aware and through some of the paint chips I can make out the mahogany beneath it.
I’m not on here looking for information to try and sell this on or anything like that. This is by far the nicest guitar I’ve ever played. What I am looking for is just some help and a bit of advice as to whether this thing is the genuine article. Things I’m unsure about are the finish and the serial number. A few folk were concerned that the serial didn’t look right and that the finish is most likely non original. I’ve included as many photos as I can and as much information as I have. I’ve also added a Drive link to see all the photos I’ve taken.
If there’s anything else required to determine it’s age or anything like that I’m happy to help.
1961 Gibson SG Special - Google Drive
drive.google.com
Cheers!
Matt
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