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Dating my '71-'74 SG Deluxe precisely


Jim Dandy

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I'm rehabing a battered '71-'74 LP SG Deluxe, and I wonder if the original bridge offers a clue. It's not a typical AB-1 Tune-o-matic, but a 3.5"x1.0"x3/8" rectangular bridge with Tune-o-matic style adjusting screws. The bottom is stamped with "Made in Germany." Was this type bridge used during a particular year?

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I'm rehabing a battered '71-'74 LP SG Deluxe, and I wonder if the original bridge offers a clue. It's not a typical AB-1 Tune-o-matic, but a 3.5"x1.0"x3/8" rectangular bridge with Tune-o-matic style adjusting screws. The bottom is stamped with "Made in Germany." Was this type bridge used during a particular year?

 

Please provide pics of the whole guitar, as there are other clues. And didn't your other post say it came with a Bigsby (which you would expect on a 197x SG Deluxe)?

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Hello!

 

The Schaller wide-travel (aka. "Harmonica") bridge first appeared in 1972 on SGs and went off in 1979.

 

For more info, - which might help You dating Your SG - refer to this: http://books.google.se/books?id=fNYei9efBCUC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=Schaller+bridge+on+SG&source=bl&ots=C-KCWWb4h7&sig=8hHobXpgF9KQdjwFK5C3XfhYDtg&hl=hu&sa=X&ei=a41dUcTSA4O64AS4ooGoBQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Schaller%20bridge%20on%20SG&f=false

 

Cheers... Bence

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Potentiometer codes are your best evidence.

 

Often they are the only way in the '70s. Serial numbers are a joke and the features can only narrow it to within a few years. Size of the volute is a clue in the early '70s.

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Please provide pics of the whole guitar, as there are other clues. And didn't your other post say it came with a Bigsby (which you would expect on a 197x SG Deluxe)?

 

Here's the whole guitar, as is. The Bigsby had been removed and a hard-tail tailpiece had been installed, (including drilling holes in the body). I'm replacing the Bigsby with the B5 reproduction Bigsby.

 

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My bridge looks exactly like yours.

I just accessed the Guitar Dating Project and entered the potentiometer number, with returned a date of Week 41, 1971. The Projects says the guitar should have been built within a few weeks of that date, so I'm calling my SG Deluxe a '71.

 

Thanks, you guys, for your excellent guidance!

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