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my 97 epi les paul. '68 gibson sg

scottsgh

By scottsgh
in Epiphone Electrics

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RotcanX

RotcanX

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Interesting SG... and I thought my '78 was banged up. O:) I'm coming to the conclusion that 1968 was the beginning of the downhill slide for the SG model; you can see how they really reduced the cutaway bevels in that year. Looks like a lot of retro parts on this one; the harmonica bridge really sticks out like a sore thumb on a '68. Looks like the Vibrato and the pickups came off a '64 or earlier.

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duane v

duane v

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Interesting SG... and I thought my '78 was banged up. :- I'm coming to the conclusion that 1968 was the beginning of the downhill slide for the SG model; you can see how they really reduced the cutaway bevels in that year. Looks like a lot of retro parts on this one; the harmonica bridge really sticks out like a sore thumb on a '68. Looks like the Vibrato and the pickups came off a '64 or earlier.

 

I normally don't disagree with you, but I think the 70's SG's are unfairly underrated.... The 71-73 SG100-200-250 series guitars sold almost as well as the early 60's Juniors, but for some reason Gibson decided to discontinue it....... Granted it's not the prettiest guitar, but it has it's nitch and has a fantastic neck and tone.

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RotcanX

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I normally don't disagree with you' date=' but I think the 70's SG's are unfairly underrated.... The 71-73 SG100-200-250 series guitars sold almost as well as the early 60's Juniors, but for some reason Gibson decided to discontinue it....... Granted it's not the prettiest guitar, but it has it's nitch and has a fantastic neck and tone.[/quote']

Well, they didn't so much discontinue them as rename them... they stayed available as the SG I, SG II, and SG III. Basically, modern Melody Makers but without the cachet. Most likely though, they found themselves with too many models without enough of a price difference to justify their existence.

 

Gibson was all over the place in the seventies, some decent guitars, some pieces of utter crap. I was almost physically ill the first time I saw an SG Deluxe in a store window. Many of these designs were driven solely by the bean counters and their attempts to cut costs... for example the only reason these guitars have front-mounted controls is that it saves an entire operation required to rout the backside of the guitar. The raised fingerboards and spacer-mounted Les Paul pickguards don't do a thing towards making me think these guys had a clue as to what they were doing those years. You yourself have pointed out that the slide switches they used are less than reliable... plus they're an ergonomic disaster. Also these were not the best years for their pickups either, which made great business for Mr. DiMarzio.

 

Perhaps the '70s SGs are underrated... but one thing remains; they represent the nadir of the SG's life; they may be okay in many respects but pretty much any other decade saw better. Fortunately for us, Gibson got back on track in the '80s, with some much better models including the first reissue, the SG '62.

 

...and that's 'niche', BTW. ](*,)

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RotcanX

RotcanX

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rotcanX the middle sg in my avatar is one of those 70s guitars and check crappy slider controls and also super destortion dimarzio not the best sg on the planet but sounds nice with the dimazio and mini p90 combo..

I had DiMarzios in my '78 SG Standard for a while.. an X2N in the bridge and a PAF in the neck. Buddy of mine convinced me to replace the X2N with a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck' date=' and eventually I acquired a SD Jazz for the neck.

 

[img']http://www.marantatech.com/Graphix/SG.jpg[/img]

 

The '70s SGs, for all their faults, are still Gibsons, with all that implies... they play as well as one could hope for and as you have also found out, a simple pickup change can do wonders for their sonic character. As to the rest of it, well, really, I'm just talking æsthetics here (simple disappointments like rectangular fret inlays instead of trapezoids), and from that point of view the 60's SGs are just.. nicer... and thankfully Gibson has realized that with some really excellent offerings over the past few years:

 

SG61x2.jpg

Gibson and Epiphone Elitist '61 reissues (note the Epi is probably actually based on a '63)

 

SGClassic2.jpg

Gibson SG Classic - one of my favourites

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RotcanX

RotcanX

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Yes, 1998/1999 to be exact; not that long ago. Kind of a modern SG Junior, with a hot 500T ceramic pickup. The coil tap switch helps to make up for the single pickup configuration. You can get the exact date of manufacture from the serial number. The 1st and 5th digits will give you the year; the 2nd, 3rd and 4th digits are the day of manufacture (out of 365). From that you can figure out the month and day.

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scottsgh

scottsgh

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Interesting SG... and I thought my '78 was banged up. :) I'm coming to the conclusion that 1968 was the beginning of the downhill slide for the SG model; you can see how they really reduced the cutaway bevels in that year. Looks like a lot of retro parts on this one; the harmonica bridge really sticks out like a sore thumb on a '68. Looks like the Vibrato and the pickups came off a '64 or earlier.
you should really play it before you slag on it. it came with the bridge, and never replaced it. they want $300 for the correct vintage. it didn't come with an arm, so that was allparts. far as i know the the vibrato came standard in '68. neck p/u is stock, but the bridge was replaced with a early '70s les paul custom p/u. i met a guy who sold me the covers he said he had kicking around for 20 or so yrs. sings like a bird, and plays great. it was beat to hell when i got it, and personolised it myself here and there. you should see the back! i just wanted to reply to , whats the guitar you have had the longest. 23yrs, and i"ll never let it go.
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RotcanX

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you should really play it before you slag on it. it came with the bridge' date=' and never replaced it. they want $300 for the correct vintage. it didn't come with an arm, so that was allparts. far as i know the the vibrato came standard in '68. neck p/u is stock, but the bridge was replaced with a early '70s les paul custom p/u. i met a guy who sold me the covers he said he had kicking around for 20 or so yrs. sings like a bird, and plays great. it was beat to hell when i got it, and personolised it myself here and there. you should see the back! i just wanted to reply to , whats the guitar you have had the longest. 23yrs, and i"ll never let it go. [/quote']

I meant no slag, buddy... just observing. Your '68 is a very interesting 'transitional' model between the earlier versions with prominent cutaway bevels and the travesties from the seventies with almost no bevels at all. If I'm not mistaken, Angus Young uses a '68 SG quite a lot. I merely pointed out that the vibrola appears to be retrofitted as it looks like there's some kind of cover-up going on with the original stop bar mounting holes. Plus the vibrola looks to be nickel plated which would make it a 1964 or earlier piece since Gibson switched to chrome in 1965. Thanks for explaining the pickup covers; they seem to be in nickel too which jibes with the 20-year kick-around time.

 

Once again don't misinterpret my observations re the 1968 characteristics as any kind of denigration of your guitar; it's a very cool SG and I'm sure, with all that wear 'n' tear it has many stories to tell.

 

FWIW I've had my '78 for about 28 years and like you I plan to hang on to it as well. I had a '73 before that, bought new in 1974, my first 'real' guitar and if it weren't for the fact that it was stolen I'm sure I'd still have it today.

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scottsgh

scottsgh

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I meant no slag' date=' buddy... just observing. Your '68 is a very interesting 'transitional' model between the earlier versions with prominent cutaway bevels and the travesties from the seventies with almost no bevels at all. If I'm not mistaken, Angus Young uses a '68 SG quite a lot. I merely pointed out that the vibrola appears to be retrofitted as it looks like there's some kind of cover-up going on with the original stop bar mounting holes. Plus the vibrola looks to be nickel plated which would make it a 1964 or earlier piece since Gibson switched to chrome in 1965. Thanks for explaining the pickup covers; they seem to be in nickel too which jibes with the 20-year kick-around time.

 

Once again don't misinterpret my observations re the 1968 characteristics as any kind of denigration of your guitar; it's a [i']very cool SG[/i] and I'm sure, with all that wear 'n' tear it has many stories to tell.

 

FWIW I've had my '78 for about 28 years and like you I plan to hang on to it as well. I had a '73 before that, bought new in 1974, my first 'real' guitar and if it weren't for the fact that it was stolen I'm sure I'd still have it today.

i got that guitar with the vibrola on it, maybe a bad picture. they came with those stop bar mounting holes, as an option in case you wanted to change it. i guess gibson saw what everyone was doing, taking the vibrolas out. it's cool, they put in abalone in the holes. the p/u covers are nickel, guy could have nailed me for them. ever see what vintage stuff goes for on e-bay? he was cool, had a '57 les paul gold top. sent me a cd of his band. i love all gibsons, it's just i wanted a les paul, and this was the way to go. i was in a guitar center today, all we have here, and played a gibson les paul. my epi, same thing, to me. i'd love to hear the stories that sg could tell too. it's had a fairly boring life with me!
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RotcanX

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i got that guitar with the vibrola on it' date=' maybe a bad picture. they came with those stop bar mounting holes, as an option in case you wanted to change it.[/quote']

Ooooh... I really don't think so, man. No, the only time a Gibson SG has extra holes is when it's been modified. Sometimes Gibson would do a factory Bigbsy install on a special order guitar that originally had a stop tailpiece but they invariably placed a 'CUSTOM MADE' plaque over the holes. In the case of the SG, the Vibrola-equipped version was a standard item so they never had the stop tail holes that a custom model would have. Hate to disagree with you but I have never seen an SG with an original factory Maestro that also had stop tailpiece mounts, and I've ogled a lot of SGs over the years. Besides, if you've only had it for 23 years, that means you bought it in 1986 or so... who knows what the previous owner(s) did to it in the intervening 18 years. A lot of weird things can happen, especially back in those days when people were less concerned with keeping their guitars 'original'.

 

FYI here's a shot out of the catalog showing a stock 1968 SG:

 

1970%20SG%20Standard.jpg

No extraneous holes, Scott. And chrome hardware, like your seventies bridge. I'm sure you've noticed that the pickup covers and vibrato don't match the bridge colour. Nickel versus chrome.

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