rainbowdemon427

I've just sold my Les Paul, and in it's place bought a Yamaha SG3000 in wine red. Dare I say it, but it's the best guitar I've ever had by a long margin. Sorry Henry!

If I was in the market for another, I would have bought it. It's possible it has sat boxed for years, hence the condition. Do I think older Customs are under valued? Well, I have a conflict of interest because I own one! It is important to note when you look at my pistures that I wanted a BRAND NEW 1973 SG Custom, the very same as the one I used to dribble over when I saw it in the shop window when I was 14 years old. They were so expensive at the equivalent of about $700, it might as well have been a million, because there was no way I could ever have afforded to buy one. So I swore I'd get one some day, and some 36 years later, I did. I had it completely refurbished to make it like the one I always wanted. If that's heresy, I don't care, and if that's selfish in destroying the so-called antique value, I don't care either. As for the 3 pickup arrangement, for sure, it's a pain sometimes, but it's just like driving a different car: you get used to it. Do I use it? No. It hangs on my music room wall so I can admire it, just like I used to all those years ago with my nose pressed against the shop window.

That looks gorgeous, has the correct and very rare Gibson-badged Bigsby, and apart from the bodged machineheads is in remarkable condition for a guitar of that age! This is from my '73 custom in the photograph. and They had 'black-back', resin potted pickups.

I think there's a lot to be said for 'less hot' '57 pickups. Perhaps they sound a bit sweeter somehow. However my V has the standard Gibson pickups, but I only found out after buying it that they had been overwound by 10%. I do know that everyone says it sounds superb, which kind of trashes the less hot theory though. Both my SG Carved Top and 2007 LP have Burstbucker/Pro sets though, and they sound good to my ears. The SG Custom has been completely renovated, and has a matched and calibrated set of three Bare Knuckle Riff Raff pickups, which are not particularly hot, along the lines of Angus Young's. But as it simply hangs on the wall and I've never actually played it in anger I can't say what it sounds like. I did want to get the original 1973 'black back' resin-potted pickups re-plated, but was warned against trying to remove the covers for damaging them. They checked out at 7.4K for the bridge, down to 5.2K for the neck. I don't know what they sounded like either because as soon as the guitar arrived it went straight to the guitar shop for the restoration. Guitars are so subjective, you love one or you don't. I think you were wise to leave the SG neck alone. I don't like Fenders because they just don't feel right to me, although they sound great.

I've never seen an SG with 3 P90's before, so I can only imagine it might be an artist custom model, or perhaps an odd Custom Shop job because it doesn't have the split diamond headstock inlay of the normal Customs. The gold hardware is usually reserved for Customs too.

My '73 Custom (and all of the SG's I've seen that have been manufactured around that period in time) have a narrower neck at the nut than later SG's. I don't know if that was specific to the Norlin era guitars though. As a comparison, the Custom neck measures 40mm wide at the nut, and my later guitars, both SG's, Les Paul and Flying V '67 are 43mm wide. The Custom neck is a little deeper than my other guitars, about 2mm so where it starts to blend into the body, and I believe the vast majority of the Customs had ebony fretboards. The Custom neck profile however, is not bad, just different. The new SG Carved Top neck is the chunkiest, with a very rounded profile, although it does tend to stay in tune better than the others. The best neck to my feel is without doubt the '67 Re Issue Flying V, but you pays your money and takes your choice.

Is this a quiz? If so, maybe sometime in the early 90's is my best guess.

Looks good to me, apart from the truss-rod cover.

One more thing on the neck angle: Bit difficult to see, but this is the '73 Custom neck angle. It's virtually flat.

Well, certainly there is definitely a marked difference in neck angles, of the '70's guitars, part of which makes me wonder if the lessening of the angle prompted Gibson to use the 'harmonica' bridge, as it maybe is able to sit just a little lower than the standard Tuneamatic. But what I cannot tell you is when any change took place. Sorry!

Well interestingly I needed a decent case for the shallow neck angled '73 Custom, and it fits the Hiscox SG case perfectly, dunno if you can get them in the U.S.?

Tom, watch the SG neck angles when you're case-buying! My '73 Custom has a much shallower angle than the more recent SG's, certainly my '05 Standard and the 2009 SG Carved Top are far more pronounced. I'm not sure, but kind of wonder if the Norlin-era guitars all had the shallow angle, my friend has a '73 Les Paul deluxe (which is anything but deluxe), and it too has a shallow angle on the neck.

I only know the 72 and 73's but check the potentiometers for a date code. The machine heads should be Kluson 'wafflebacks' for 1972 0r 73. All the hardware should be gold, no chrome anywhere. The forward position of the neck pickup is correct for a 1973 or 1972. The Bigsby should have the Gibson logo on the rear end. Hope this helps.

Tom, it beats me why people take them off, I mean, if you don't want a guitar with a Bigsby, then surely it's simpler not to buy one? I searched for 2 years for a Gibson-badged Bigsby, finally found this one in the picture which is in pretty good condition, on eBay. My understanding is that they were only made like that for about 2-3 years, between 1970 - 1973, which makes them very rare beasts indeed. When I contacted Bigsby, they told me they are not available because the moulds and patterns were destroyed years ago. Oh, and before anyone asks, no, it doesn't seem to go out of tune any more than it did without one.

When I bought it 3 years ago, the previous owner (a total retard from Canada) had replaced it with a stop tail. It took me an absolute age to find the correct Gibson-badged Bigsby, which I finally did a couple of months ago. Now it's back to original spec.

Indeed, I've never seen one before. The original range included "The Paul", which was a very basic Les Paul indeed. A chunk of mahogany, same finish as mine shown above, with a neck and a pair of uncovered pickups. The Firebrand's cam a little later, I think? Probably Gibbo looking to entice those with little money to spare in to the fold, me being one of them because it was the only SG I could afford at the time. I paid £235 new in 1979 (maybe $450?). Not sure what the top coat finish was, it was kind of silky, not matt, or gloss. And it polished up to a superb shine, as I found out. Where my arm rubbed against the top, above the bridge, it started to show up like that, and I then polished the rest of the guitar. The TP6 in the picture was not an original item, I bought that later. Traded it in for a wine red 1969 SG Special with P90's. The best guitar I ever had, but that's another story!

My SG Custom, and indeed all SG Customs, are mahogany bodied. When it says 'walnut', it simply refers to the pigment applied in the nitro cellulose finish, so your question is kind of irrelevant! I can tell you that fretboard is ebony, and is a very close grain indeed, totally smooth, a very nice piece of wood. There is virutally no neck angle, compared to the later SG's and the neck is much narrower at the nut end too. I wish it were a cheap guitar, but that wasn't the case! A picture from last month, where I have finally managed to refit the original Gibson-badged Bigsby. Again, I apologise for the picture quality, it really doesn't do the guitar justice, as I can never seem to catch the colour correctly. Maybe it's because the colour changes depending on the light, I don't know. Maybe some of the photo whizz-kids can give up a few tips!

Difficult to say, as I don't currently have a Les Paul. It does have Burstbucker pickups, and although I haven't weighed it, it's certainly the heaviest SG I've eaver had by some margin, but not quite as heavy as a Les Paul, I imagine. The carved top is a solid, but two-piece wood, and is nearly an inch thick. I like the master volume and tone controls, less for me to **** around with, and it has more sustain than a 'normal' SG, for sure. Another pic below, but I can never seem to take a decent pictures of guitars, unlike some of the guys here.

I do so love those Custom SG's, in particular the red finish and gold hardware look stunning! Here's one I used to have year's ago, bought it new, called "The SG". Cheap axe, but not as bad as one might think. I've not seen too many since - Brand new autumn burst Carved Top I bought recently, which I absolutely love, sooooo curvy! And finally my 1973 SG Custom in walnut -