kerpalalexander23 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Hi there, I just recently bought a 68 SG special from a close friend and I was wondering if anyone could help shed some light on a couple of questions I had. First, the tuners that are currently on the guitar are a set of old grovers. I love the tuners but I wanted to find a set of oringals to have if I ever wnated to return it to it's original state. I have seen some 68 specials with the 3x3 open geared klusons and I've also seen some with the closed back klusons and I dont know which ones are correct. I also need to track down a vibrola tailpiece probably from ebay. My main question though was about the finish of the guitar. I've only ever seen SG specials from this era with the red or polaris white finish. My guitar has a black finish. I blacklighted the entire guitar and the finish seems to be original with natural worming and some checking. I also opened up the back and looked under the pickups and it all seems to be the original finish. Did Gibson do custom finishes every once in a while on these guitars? I've attached a couple of pics i took with my phone. Any help would be awesome. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StijnV Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 It's always possible that it was a custom order, as the custom shop was already existing from 1960 onwards. Maybe send customer service a picture also from the back of the headstock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Very cool. Do you have the original Maestro trem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewie Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hi there, I just recently bought a 68 SG special from a close friend and I was wondering if anyone could help shed some light on a couple of questions I had. First, the tuners that are currently on the guitar are a set of old grovers. I love the tuners but I wanted to find a set of oringals to have if I ever wnated to return it to it's original state. I have seen some 68 specials with the 3x3 open geared klusons and I've also seen some with the closed back klusons and I dont know which ones are correct. I also need to track down a vibrola tailpiece probably from ebay. My main question though was about the finish of the guitar. I've only ever seen SG specials from this era with the red or polaris white finish. My guitar has a black finish. I blacklighted the entire guitar and the finish seems to be original with natural worming and some checking. I also opened up the back and looked under the pickups and it all seems to be the original finish. Did Gibson do custom finishes every once in a while on these guitars? I've attached a couple of pics i took with my phone. Any help would be awesome. Thanks I have a 1968 special and I have owned it for 42 years. I am sure it is original. I am almost certian that your guitar is a refinish. Also they had pointers and totally different knobs. The compenasated bridge is correct and I think they are original P90s. Mine has the vibrolo. I will post some pictures for you. If you need any other help just PM me and I can send you what you need. PS. I lost the original screw to attach the vibrolo. The only replacement with 10/32 thread i could find was a Philips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerpalalexander23 Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 I don't have the original vibrola trem and am currently in the process of finding a replacement. I just took the guitar to my local guitar specialist and he was able to tell me that the finish is in fact original. He wasn't sure about the knobs which he said look to be from the early 70's. Thanks for all the info! Hey stewie did you know if these guitars came with closed back or open back tuners? I've seen 1968 specials with both open and closed backs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewie Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I don't have the original vibrola trem and am currently in the process of finding a replacement. I just took the guitar to my local guitar specialist and he was able to tell me that the finish is in fact original. He wasn't sure about the knobs which he said look to be from the early 70's. Thanks for all the info! Hey stewie did you know if these guitars came with closed back or open back tuners? I've seen 1968 specials with both open and closed backs. My tuners are closed back. I am not sure what colors were available, but I had only ever seen the Dark Cherry. The knobs on mine are the originals with the pointers. Everything on my guitar is as it came in 1968. The only thing that has been changed are the strings. If you want I will take a picture of the tuners. When I got it the tuners were slightly bent and I didn't want to touch them so they are as they came. They are different than the ones that came on the Standard. I have two friends that have 68 Standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerpalalexander23 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Hey Stewie that would be awesome if you could post a pick of the tuners. It would be much appreciated. Ya Gibson made the sg specials in the cherry red and polaris white and when I called gibson they did inform me that they did special orders with other finishes as well. Thanks again for your help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewie Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Here ya go. I have never tried to straighten the pegs for fear I damage them. They work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerpalalexander23 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Hey Stewie ya those are the tuners that I normally see on these guitars. But i was looking at the indentations on the back of the headstock where the old tuners were and they look alot different. The indents look more like they would fit this kind of tuner (pictured below). Heres a couple of pictures hopefully the qaulity is good ennough to see what I'm talking about. Thanks again for all your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewie Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Hey Stewie ya those are the tuners that I normally see on these guitars. But i was looking at the indentations on the back of the headstock where the old tuners were and they look alot different. The indents look more like they would fit this kind of tuner (pictured below). Heres a couple of pictures hopefully the qaulity is good ennough to see what I'm talking about. Thanks again for all your help! All I can say is that I am 100% certain that they are the original ones thet came on my special. It is a 1968. I am not sure what other tuners came on Gibson guitars of that era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerpalalexander23 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Okay cool thanks alot stewie for your help. I'll keep digging and see what else I can find. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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