Weird SG Deluxe from 1998

[BuckleFerryHinn]

Hi everyone, I'm new here 🙂

A couple of months ago I acquired a Gibson SG Deluxe from 1998 in the color Ice Blue. It's quite a strange SG. It's in a color i've never seen, it's got three mini humbuckers with a veritone switch and it's also got a "maestro' labeled Bigsby. I've created this thread to ask some questions and it might be useful for future research who might stumble upon this.

I looked online and there really isn't a whole lot of info on this one. Some reverb ads, a SG wiki entry and about five to ten forum posts but other than that this seems to be a very niche guitar with practically no available information. Guy who I bought it from was the original owner and even had the original gigbag with it.

They were produced in three colors: Hellfire red, Ice Blue and Ebony. Red and Blue were produced with either an ebony fretboard with blocks or a rosewood fretboard with dots. Ebony was only created with Ebony board with block inlays. From what I can tell, the ebony is by far the least produced followed by the blue one, with the red one being produced the most.. If my research is correct:

A couple of hundred were produced, with the following being the scale of rarity from least rare to rarest:
- Hellfire red with dots
- Blue Ice with dots
- Ebony (only blocks)
- Hellfire red with blocks
- Blue Ice with blocks

So I have some questions. It's in pretty good condition with no buckle rash, chips or dings but it does have some scratches on the back and headstock, which is to be expected for a 25 year old guitar. Is there some product I can use that is safe for this finish to remove some of these scratches? I have no idea what the material of the finish is called so I'm very hesitant to use random products. Furthermore, what is something like this worth? I'd rate it's condition about 8.5/10. I checked on reverb but this guitar only sees about one sale a year and past sales aren't really a good indicator as guitar prices have soared since covid. Anything else anybody can tell me about them is greatly appreciated! If there's interest I can upload some pics 🙂

Cheers

Edited May 7, 2022 by BuckleFerryHinn

[jdgm]

Congrats, sounds like a good score!

We love pics.....Gibson was doing well in '98  so it should be well built.  Around that time they started using a gigbag not a hard case for some less expensive models.

I am in UK so can't help on value.   Good luck with it!

[merciful-evans]

Scratches are probably best left as is.

Only very superficial ones (in the finish itself) could be removed. To do that you could either try to polish them out (or use a very fine abrasive) but that is subtractive to the nitro. Another way is use heat to melt the nitro. A very careful touch with a hairdryer or similar would be needed. 

If there is patina (dried out crazing) in the finish, that is usually regarded as normal for an older instrument and even desirable. Heat treatment would remove the patina.

[Larsongs]

Do like a lot of Sellers do, put a ridiculously high Price on it & accept reasonable offers.. 

[rct]

Rarity is no indication of value, that's the first thing to remember, know, and embrace.

rct

[Larsongs]

Yeah, It’s almost a little funny to think any rare Guitar in this day is a highly valuable Collectible. Guess it’s like Cars..

There have been millions of Cars over the Years.. Lots that are rare.. And in many cases no one cares.. But, there are a Group of Cars that really made a mark & for that reason have become valuable Collectibles… Some aren’t even rare.. Like ‘69 Camaros..

Just because a Guitar is rare doesn’t instantly make it a valuable Collectible. Especially when few have even heard of it..

But, in this market, People seem to have money to burn, so why not put a ridiculous price on it & see if someone bites?

[Sgt. Pepper]

On 5/8/2022 at 10:25 AM, rct said:

Rarity is no indication of value, that's the first thing to remember, know, and embrace.

rct

But, but, but,  its a Gibson, doesn’t it automatically go up in value 5 fold right after you take it home?

Edited May 13, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper

[Lungimsam]

I had one in blue ice. Sounded great.  I think it had block  inlays. Can’t remember why I sold it. To fund ‘61 reissue? Only thing I not liked was strap button on back at upper horn. First day I had it I accidentally put a 1/2 moon dent on the face near the bigsby.

Edited May 21, 2022 by Lungimsam

[Jijja]

I have one of these in Hellfire Red (it's dark pink!).

It's great guitar but suffers a little bit from an unruly neck.

Because of this I dont use the bigsby and keep light guage strings fitted 7s or 8s.

From my last research I think it's worth between £900-£1200.

I own many Gibson's and I would rank this as 6/10 in terms of quality, but it looks unusual and you can get so e great sounds with the pickups and 5 position switch.