Mike912 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I know it comes from the early 70's. From what I've read on these forums block inlays like mine started in '72. My SG has a bigsby-like tremolo with the Gibson name on it. It is almost identical to a '74 SG standard that I saw a picture of. The one thing i find odd is the fretboard is very, very dark. It looks like ebony. My buddies are stumped too. Has anyone heard of any other species of wood they might have used? Do you think rosewood can get this dark? The serial # is 134258 and I couldn't find any colored tags inside. There is no Made in the USA stamped in but the numbers are stamped. I would appreciate any info you have. Thank you, this is my very first post. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Give us some pics of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Sory, I'm not to good with computers. I'll have someone help me upload some pics as soon as I can. I saw two pics out there somewhere, one said '73 sg standard with tremolo the other said '74. They both look exactly like mine except I can see from the picture it is a rosewood fretboard on both guitars. The 73 has a finish similar to mine(not so red as the other). I was just wondering if there is any other sure way of telling a 73 from a 74. I'v narrowed it down this far but I cant rule out '72. It doesn't say sg on the truss rod cover but who knows if that is original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 You can pull the back cover and get the numpers off the pots and date it that way..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Thanks Blackie! That's the info I needed. I found out that the last 4 numbers on the pots are the week and year. The last 4 numbers I found on at least 2 pots are 7325. That would be the summer of 1973. The question is did they go right into a new 1973 guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech21 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 There is no Made in the USA stamped in but the numbers are stamped. I would appreciate any info you have.Mike Are you 100% sure that there is NO Made in USA stamped on the back of the headstock as this started in 1969 and the SG Std wasn't re-released (to take over from the Deluxe) until 1972? What shape is the bridge? Does the rear cavity cover fit on with 4 or 5 screws? Is there a Volute at the neck/headstock joint on the back of the neck or is the transition from neck to headstock smooth with no ridge (or Volute as it is called)? What is the angle of the headstock from the neck (17 or 14 degrees)? All the above is covered in the URL at the end of this post (now that I have found it). My '73 has pot codes of 1377344' date=' CTS pots made 1st week Nov 1973. Mine does have what appears to be an Ebony board (and some were made with these) with small block markers starting at the 1st fret, rectangular bridge (not a T-o-M), Volute. My serial number dates it to '70, '71 or '72 with the Made in USA stamped on the headstock. But without the Made In USA on the headstock it dates to 1964. Don't forget, pots can be changed so are not an absolute point of dating a guitar, but Volute, Headstock angle, what fret the neck joins the body at, the lendth of the heel etc are all pointers to the guitars real age. A bunch of photos would help lots. Check here, I know there is loads of info to plough through, but you should be able to ID it from this. Click Here for Gibson Info............ . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Your caught me, I was wrong about not having Made in USA. My SG sounds just like yours. 5 screws on the back cover, sm block inlays, ebony, rectangular bridge, volute. One thing I don't understand is why you say your 73 dates to 70,71 or 72? Why don't you include 73 and 74 And are you sure you have a 73 and do you feel strongly that I do too? I know it doesn't make much or any difference but I've had this guitar for 15 years and I never knew for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech21 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 One thing I don't understand is why you say your 73 dates to 70' date='71 or 72? Why don't you include 73 and 74 And are you sure you have a 73 and do you feel strongly that I do too? I know it doesn't make much or any difference but I've had this guitar for 15 years and I never knew for sure. [/quote'] I bought my SG in October ’92 and I have spent loads of time trying to get a firm date for it and late '73 early '74 is the nearest I can get. I have used every available resource I can find, and to be honest, most of the information conflicts when dealing with 1970 to 1975 when for some reason Gibson appeared to get caught in some sort of a Go-sub Loop with the serial numbers (1961 to 1969 was a bit easier but still very inaccurate). I have been through everything that George Gruhn has written on the SG. You need to look at things like which fret the body-neck joint is and under, under which fret the heel ends, check pot codes, neck widths at the Nut, the script type of logo and what it is made of, compare your guitar to as many photos of "known dated" guitars as you can find etc... then you can make a reasonable Guesstimate of the age of your guitar. It's a long journey trying to isolate a date for a 70's Gibson... but all good fun... I think. This is a useful resource (ckick on link below) for a quick check on the date of a guitar, this is where the 70,71 and 72 years come from as well as in some other lists of serial numbers... Gruhn's list says 1970 to 1975. The Guitar Data Project... Click Here I have somewhere in a book, that I can't find at the moment, a photo of an SG exactly the same as the one I have (and the same as yours by the sound of it) and it says that in 1973-4 a few SG Standard "specials" (whatever "specials" means) were made with unbound Ebony fret board, very flat Jumbo frets (like the Fretless Wonders) and block markers. The only slight difference in the photo in the book to mine is that my neck pickup surround sits touching the end of the neck and the photo has around 1/4 of an inch gap. This is what yours should (and mine does) look like… Only thing is that at some time in it's life someone has re-finished mine in red... and a very good job has been made of it too... but it is bright signal red!) 1974 Gibson SG Standard... Ckick Here Hope this is of some interest to you. Cheers T21 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 Tech 21: This all interest me and I'd like to thank you very much. I've learned alot. My first SG was a no brainer, I bought it brand new in the 80's. It was a 62 reissue. I wish I never got rid of it but that's why I picked this one up. I also have a 84 gibson explorer, had a flying V, needless to say I'm a gibson kind of guy. The SG will always be my favorite. It's a comfort kind of thing not that it sounds any better than the others. I've got a ton of pictures but It will be a while before I get them up. Thanks agin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech21 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 As a matter of interest, has yours got the neck pickup mounting ring touching the neck (as on the photo of the '74) or is there a gap (1/4 to 1/2 an inch) between it and the neck? I must admit my '73 is a comfort guitar, it fits like a pair of well worn in leather gloves... and I just love the low wide frets... very nice. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 The mounting ring on mine is up tight to the neck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 my guitar does have an unbound ebony board with low profile, jumbo frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 I havn't come across a pic yet that has a gap between the neck pickup and the neck. With the mounting ring off I have less than 1/8" of wood in that area. I have several picks of 73 and 74 which are visually identical to mine. Especially the one you posted above. Finish and everything, that's my guitar if it had ebony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike912 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 I take that back, it doesn't have the bigsby like mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech21 Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I havn't come across a pic yet that has a gap between the neck pickup and the neck. The mouning ring on this one was a good 1/4 to 1/2 an inch away from the end of the neck. When I eventually find the "lost" SG book with the photo of it in I'll scan it and post it for you to have a look at. Cheers T21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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