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Gibson SG 3 and SG custom


tom brown

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All i can say Alpha is "" WOW ""

 

yes i like the 68 reissue very sweet...they are all so mint.

 

Is the last white guitar the 61 reissue?

 

thanks for the great pics, much appreciated

 

tom

 

The last one is an original Les Paul/SG Custom with stock nickel hardware.

Not "Alpha" my friend but Alfa like Alfa Romeo [biggrin]

 

signature3j.jpg

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lol ok alfa .....got excited all thoses mint guitars can't see straight...

 

now i have to ask what year that white custom is.. You don't see them around much, and in that condition hardly ever..

Looks to be like a 1961 but give me fair warning or i'll fall off my chair...lol

 

thanks

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I do so love those Custom SG's, in particular the red finish and gold hardware look stunning! [thumbup]

 

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 -

 

TheSG.jpg

 

Brand new autumn burst Carved Top I bought recently, which I absolutely love, sooooo curvy!

 

SGCarvedTop014.jpg

 

And finally my 1973 SG Custom in walnut -

 

1973SGCustom052675Afterrestorati-3.jpg

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I do so love those Custom SG's, in particular the red finish and gold hardware look stunning! [thumbup]

 

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 -

 

TheSG.jpg

 

Brand new autumn burst Carved Top I bought recently, which I absolutely love, sooooo curvy!

 

SGCarvedTop014.jpg

 

And finally my 1973 SG Custom in walnut -

 

1973SGCustom052675Afterrestorati-3.jpg

cool axe's man [thumbup] . that carved top , do it sound simmilar to Les paul?

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cool axe's man [thumbup] . that carved top , do it sound simmilar to Les paul?

 

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.

 

SGCarvedTopNo3122009002.jpg

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Rainbow those are some real nice guitars, i really like the three pickup custom, that guitar must scream.Does the walnut sound different from mahogney if you know..

 

The SG i have seen online but never played one but i like nitro and natural finish guitars, and sometimes the cheap ones sound real good.

 

thanks for the pics.

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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!

 

sgcustom010.jpg

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...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 -

TheSG.jpg

 

i had a '79 just like yours... sold it years ago and replaced it last year with an '82:

 

5402274364_3f43e6a676_b.jpg

 

the painted ones are much rarer than the woodgrain walnut finish.

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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!

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rainbow,

 

nice that you put that bigsby back on, i had noticed the holes in the first picture and figured that it was removed. The gibson badge makes it even nicer...

 

good job

tom.

 

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.

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Hey guys whats up?

I haven't been to this site in quite a while and have to say I have noticed some new pics of some most excellent representations of the SG 3 and SG Custom guitars. Thanks for posting and congrats. I have to admit I am envious and it gives me a lot of G.A.S.

Thanks Rewd

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Rainbow I have looked at older customs for years and have seen maybe one with the Gibson Bigsby, and have seen more with the Bigsby's taken off but i know the Gibson ones are very few and far apart...It really kills the look, function, and value when they remove them.. Who does that? crazy people !!

 

Welcome back dawg haven't heard from you in quite a bit. Yes thoses customs all look nice...

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Rainbow I have looked at older customs for years and have seen maybe one with the Gibson Bigsby, and have seen more with the Bigsby's taken off but i know the Gibson ones are very few and far apart...It really kills the look, function, and value when they remove them.. Who does that? crazy people !!

 

Welcome back dawg haven't heard from you in quite a bit. Yes thoses customs all look nice...

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Rainbow I have looked at older customs for years and have seen maybe one with the Gibson Bigsby, and have seen more with the Bigsby's taken off but i know the Gibson ones are very few and far apart...It really kills the look, function, and value when they remove them.. Who does that? crazy people !!

 

Welcome back dawg haven't heard from you in quite a bit. Yes thoses customs all look nice...

 

 

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.

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Yeah rainbow i understand what your saying, many people buy gibsons and cannibalize them, then later don't understand why people won't pay them top dollar when they try resell.

 

Heres my story. didn't want to spend big bucks but wanted the gibson tone..

First i tried a esp with s.d . pickups, not bad but no growl like the sg. Then i tried a schecter same setup 59 and jeff beck pickup...real nice guitar and neck, but like a flat response,no growl. Then there was a yamaha aes 620, and a few others that were crap. Then i picked up a studio with the burstbuckers and i could overdrive it till my ears bled and not lose the base tones. Real nice brown crunchy cleans with slight over drive, harmonics jumping off the board. Beautiful clean studio quality tones through a s.s. amp. I sold all my other guitars and bought a new amp.

 

Now i may hear some smack over this but now I am a Gibson purist. I see people buy a beautiful les paul standard or sg , rip out the pickups and put s.d.'s in or something else, change everything over and to me its like, just buy a schecter with the jeff beck and ''59'' and save your self some money...Or get a esp and one of other many brands with seymours in them.

 

Gibson are just put together better then most and use the best pickups and parts in my opinion. Why mess with them?

 

tom

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have a vintage gibson custom for sale on ebay.

 

the year the guitar was made is disputed so any input would be great.

 

thanks

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1968-68-Gibson-SG-Custom-Triple-P-U-Bigsby-N-R-/150657471667?pt=Guitar&hash=item2313e294b3#ht_844wt_1037

 

 

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.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Here is whats described as a 50's but someone else says its a 1962..

 

looks to be in good condition expect for the green paint so i figured i check with our expert forum staff and see what they think..

 

regards tom

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GIBSON-1950s-SG-CUSTOM-LES-PAUL-w-CASE-/220877804415?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336d57d37f

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