lumino Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Hi Guys, I'm calling for help out of a bit desperation and thereby ask to forgive me if I put this topic in the wrong sub-forum: I'm about to buy a (supposingly) '65 SG Standard. The seller owns the SG since '75, the previous owner was a known german jazz musician (Eddy Marron). He didn't play it in the meantime, it just fell off one time. Issues: - Headstock cracked because SG fell; this got glued profesionally 1986. (He even has the invoice) - Trussrod and toggle-switch plate missing - Maestro got replaced by fixed bridge Serial numbers from the owner: - headstock: 323782 - poti: C-BA-811-1053 500 KAT 137 63 ?? Attached you can see the pictures. What do you make out of the headstock? (I have never seen it without the symbol underneath the label) What is a good price for it? (I offered him 2.8k€ and felt I got lucky with it) I will drive to him in 8 hours and am torn apart whether this is a good deal or not. This would be the personification of my grandfathers (little) heritage. I'm looking for a player and the tone got the last word, but still I'm curious. Please help me combined gibson knowledge! Thanks in advance lum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG player Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I will never buy a Gibson with a broken headstock, if you look at the bridge, I think this guitar have intonation problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 You are buying an expensive headache right there. I don't know how much 2.8k Euros is, but it is too much. Please don't tell me you need a birth year guitar so you bought this because it's a 65. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Run away from that deal... Not worth it period.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I'd reckon around $3K US? Whether its a good deal in the OPs country I have no idea, but I know I can buy one right here in immaculate (albeit pro-refinished) condition for a bit over $2k US and old guitars are not cheap to buy here in Oz compared to the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Robinson Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I'm certainly no expert but were SG standards of this period not made with the crown decal on the headstock and snot green tuners ?.... although the Grover's certainly look very old. Are one of the humbuckers not matched to the other? Therefore one has been charged. Maybe there is some provenance with pictures or footage of that musician playing this SG? Personally I'd need to see the guitar and play it before making a decision to buy especially with the headstock repair..... it looks in very poor condition with none original parts so at least that can be used as a bargaining tool for you to get the price down. If it doesn't even play well it can hardly be viewed at a player's guitar imo it's just a knackered old guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumino Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 Hi all, thank you for the replies so far. Now I'm very hesitant regarding the deal.. 2,8k€ == ~3200 US Dollar Yes I'm wondering about the headstock too but the owner hasn't played this thing much nor has he replaced anything after he bought it in 1975 (and I trust him on that, we talked 5 times now.. ) You also have to keep in mind the photos are very bad; Both pickups look the same but I can't confirm any authenticity. And nah, I don't buy it for its manufacturing year but because I'm looking for a vintage SG. I now asked him to take out the neck pickup to make a picture of the neck joint as well as the pickup bottom. Any other advice / feedback? Best Regards lum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Well, life tends to throw up some uneasy moments but I'll tell you what I'd do... Humbly apologise and assure the seller I regret having wasted their time, that I'm embarrassed to not have done my homework first but have since found out from people know know more that it is worth a lot less than I thought due to the break, the non-original fittings, the knackered stuff that will need to be replaced at a cost (nut, potentially frets) and that even good ones don't cost all that much to buy. If it were a local I'd buy them a case of beer as a sign of good will...then leave it at that. Man, if you want a decent vintage guitar have a look on reverb.com and similar and take your time - there are heaps of them available in all sorts of condition at all sorts of prices. Wishing you luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumino Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 Thanks for the advice. My offer was not binding in any way and there are no hard feelings between us. He doesn't know the exact value of the guitar, neither do I. My research so far was limited to serial numbers/models/thingsYouCanGoogle. Because he advertised it with the price he paid in 1975 (which was 1000$ approximately) there were a lot of requests and I wanted to be first who has at least a chance of inspecting/buying it. You also have to understand that prices in germany are very different/more expensive. A '69 SG Junior/Special costs about 3000€ (3400$) from a retailer. Thereby I never saw a Standard under 8000$ and thought this one was a steal :-/ I also want to play the guitar before I buy it, so reverb.com doesn't offer me too much as most guitars are located in UK/US. In germany we have very little retailers (guitarpoint, top-ten, wutzdog). And even with "people know more" I still don't know what is up with the headstock, an exact value, etc. As for my homework: I contacted the retailer of this beauty ( https://www.gbase.com/gear/byid/3334146 ) and they told me it's sold for 5000$; that's why I thought I'm on a good deal there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Robinson Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 If you have a look on UK eBay there are 2 SGs from that period up for sale with no crown decal and some that have it so maybe it's not necessarily a major issue. ....none of them are SG standards thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 It looks like a cool guitar. It looks like very little on it is original and it's had a neck break. Those factors considered I would give about $600 to $800 for it depending on playability and the condition of the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 3k for that, is a total GAK job, don't walk, run away from this. just cuz it's a 65 don't mean do-do.. the busted headstock, and not all original devalue this significantly. like rct says, it's a headache waiting to happen' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG player Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Have a look to this beauty , SG Standard Custom shop SG '61 RI (1996 to 2000) are fine SGs with nickel hardware and ABR-1 bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 A headstock repair usually devaluates a guitar about 50%. An intact guitar of same build could be 2.8k€ in my opinion. Anyway, I would stay off either. There are nice brand-new alternatives... look here, she comes at 1.6k€: https://www.thomann.de/de/gibson_sg61reissue.htm There possibly might be no intonation problem if the bridge was flipped. The intonation adjustment screw heads of an ABR-1 bridge should show towards the neck, not the tailpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 The solder work in that thing is horrible. Whoever did that should have their iron taken away. They never cleaned the flux off and waaaay too much solder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 The solder work in that thing is horrible. Whoever did that should have their iron taken away. They never cleaned the flux off and waaaay too much solder. Looks like most old Gibsons do stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10K-DB Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 Id take it if he paid me 10$ US for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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