NGD: 1968 SG Special with Brazilian RW fingerboard (pic heavy content)

[Guitar Magic]

I've been searching for a good 60s SG Special or Junior for the past half year and here she goes at last. The guitar is insane and has some rare special features that I certainly appreciate. 1-piece neck, small headstock, untouched '68 electronics and early '68 specs: double Black Bobbin P90s, large ceramic disk caps and those nice ornamentic style metal tuners. The wraptail is strangely plated in nickel instead of chrome like a pre-66 so I guess Gibson used a left-over because it's an original non-compensated TPBR 8513 lightning bolt TP. The color is beautiful Cherry Red instead of the usual Walnut of the period.

The fretboard absolutely looks like sweet Braz so I did the smell test by removing the nut and roughing up the fretboard edge with a tiny sandpaper and sure as hell the sweet aroma came off instantly. Let me tell you, this guitar sounds bad-ass. Stays in tune even with the vibrola (also while using the vibrola not so gently). I tried the guitar with stringing it under the wraptail and it's much louder acoustically that way, almost as much as an ES-339! But that vibrola is just too good to not use it.

Look at that dense mahogany grain on the body, it's the same Hunduran / Belizian type that you see on 50s examples. This SG weighs only 2,95 kg / 6.5 lbs even with the vibrola tailpiece setup and those heavy metal tuners. I'm in love with this baby.

 

[GlassSnuff]

I've been staring at that wood for about an hour now... remembering guitars past.... To simply say, "You did good!" doesn't seem like enough.

 

[mdubya]

That is a beautiful Special.

I am sure it sounds unbelievably good.

 

[jb_abides]

Well, isn't that special?!

 

[corpse]

It says "Pete- please smash me!".
Killah.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

What and incredible find.

 

[Guitar Magic]

After a night of heavy thinking soaken with sweat I gave her the name ’Special’!
Yesterday, I plugged her into a fully cranked little Pro Jr with its 10 inch Jensen instead of the big dog ’69 JMP stack, recorded some jam. Bare simplicity of pure swampy PT saturation. Having fun with the tone controls and that’s it. By around 2:52 into playing I started to feel like those times I rode around the outskirts of New Orleans as a young guy from East Europe, totally lost and freaked out. Watching the red dawn in the Mississippi with ghost stories in my mind from some local voodoo people, cruisin along those shotgun shacks by the levee. Couple hundred years-old oak trees with spanish moss hanging down the road, Dr. John’s Night Tripper playing on the car stereo.

Seems like this guitar has some stories in her to tell...