Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Tellboy on October 12, 2010, 01:34:36 PM
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New Very Old Guitar Day – I don’t usually do NGDs but this is a bit special.
I’d given up hope many years ago of ever getting my old SG Standard into any resemblance of it’s original glory. It had not been particularly well looked after when I traded my white Telecaster for it and since then has suffered a serious neck joint break ( ‘fixed’ by me with some glue and 2 bolts ), a control cavity break (amp head fell on it), bridge pickup replaced with DiMarzio, TOM replaced with a brass DiMarzio bridge, hand painted with black polyurethane paint.
(http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/Tellboy/1963%20Gibson%20SG%20Standard/SGsB4.jpg)
Due to an impending visit by the dreaded sister-in-law at Easter, I was ordered by Mrs Tellboy to have a tidy up of my gear and in the depths of a little used cupboard found a bag with all the original SG hardware in – Patent No pickups, TOM bridge and Klusons. I thought it would be great to put all the original hardware back on. By chance I happen to stumble across this site http://www.3rguitars.co.uk/ and was impressed by the restoration of the SG. I contacted Chris Richards and sent him several pictures of my SG showing the damage. He particularly liked SGs and was keen to carry out restoration work on the SG. Whilst he was working on the body, I sent the Pat.No pickups to Tim as one coil in the neck pickup had failed and I wanted some aged nickel covers fitted as I had (foolishly) had the originals and the Lyre cover chrome plated when the nickel faded on them. I’m delighted with the result:
(http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/Tellboy/1963%20Gibson%20SG%20Standard/SGFinished7S.jpg)
(http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/Tellboy/1963%20Gibson%20SG%20Standard/SGFinished5S.jpg)
(http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/Tellboy/1963%20Gibson%20SG%20Standard/SGFinished3S.jpg)
(http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/Tellboy/1963%20Gibson%20SG%20Standard/SGFinished4S.jpg)
Chris did an excellent job - e.g. I had lost some of the original pickguard/control cover screws, so I sent him some new ones and he aged them to match the originals – the Lyre tailpiece cover is held in place with four tiny pan head screws which I had lost and which Gibson (most unhelpfully) could not supply me with but Chris managed to get some. The finish was moderately aged (buckle rash, small dings) in keeping with the old hardware and the guitar had a complete refret as the originals were well worn.
I had always assumed the guitar was a 1964 model (as I thought all 1963s were Les Pauls) but after looking at the number on the CTS pots 1376333 (which still work perfectly after some switch cleaner) and being able to find the serial number after the black paint had been removed it turns out to be a late 1963 – so happy 47th birthday!
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Awesome - love it to bits!
Now get that Lyre covered restored to aged nickel finish pronto ;)
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That looks fantastic! I'm always a sucker for an SG with a Vibrola.
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Can't see the pics at work! :(
Sounds like a great story, though.
Happy birthday! :D
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That's an absolutely beautiful guitar and a great story to go with it. Looks absolutely fantastic now.
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It looks great - the only thing that would make it better is if it was white! I've always liked white SG's for some reason. Seriously though, it looks like he's done a great restoration job on it. btw: if he has any more of thoe screws (or can tell you where he got them, I need 4 too - when you put the trem in a jiffy bag, you really should screw the cover back on or seal the bag!).
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Looks like a fine restoration job, but.... to be honest I always really liked the quirkiness of your SG with its mismatched pickups and wacky bridge.
Glad you're pleased with it though! :D
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thats absolutely beautiful!
any chance of a picture of the new headstock repair?
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WOW!
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Oooh that's lovely.
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Very Nice. I'm an SG convert since getting mine and that is seriously lush. Happy Birthday :)
Paddy
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It looks great - the only thing that would make it better is if it was white! I've always liked white SG's for some reason. Seriously though, it looks like he's done a great restoration job on it. btw: if he has any more of thoe screws (or can tell you where he got them, I need 4 too - when you put the trem in a jiffy bag, you really should screw the cover back on or seal the bag!).
:oops: Actually Phil it was white for 3 days before it was black. I originally stripped it down and hung it from the centre light fitting in my parent's lounge and sprayed it with a tin of white duplicolour paint (whilst they were not at home!). Went very well but about an hour later had a call to say we had an important gig that evening so had to throw all the bits back on and turned up just in time for the gig. Unfortunately the paint was not completely dry and much of it ended up on my left hand - so went to plan B with a tin of black Woolworths polyurethane. A couple of weeks later I happend to hear my dear mother complaining that she was finding it very difficult to dust the lounge - the 'dust' was in fact a very fine mist coating of white paint - never told her where it came from :oops:
Will get some more info on the trem cover screws - I think he may possible have retapped the tailpiece as I had b*****ed it up a little - I ended up using some bluetack and pins to keep it in place. This was Gibson's very helpful response to my 3rd request..
Terry,
I’m sorry but we have none of these screws. We purchase the entire assembly from our vendor so we have no spare parts. I’d suggest finding a good hardware store or screw supply house and taking the assembly in to find the correct fit. There are undoubtedly screws available, it’s just a matter of finding them.
Regards,
Todd
Todd Money
Manager
Gibson Repair & Restoration
138 12th Ave North
Nashville, Tn. 37203
(800) 4-GIBSON ext 2284
(615) 871-4500 ext 2282
fax: (615) 469-3622
Awesome - love it to bits!
Now get that Lyre covered restored to aged nickel finish pronto
Yes - I agree although it doesn't look so shiny in the flesh as it does in the photo
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thats absolutely beautiful!
any chance of a picture of the new headstock repair?
It was neck/body joint not the headstock.
Repaired by fitting mahogany 'biscuits in around the neck pickup cavity.
(http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/Tellboy/1963%20Gibson%20SG%20Standard/SGrepair3a.jpg)
I'm still paranoid about the neck as these early SGs had a very short tenon (as you can see it just runs partway along the neck pickup cavity)
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I'm still paranoid about the neck as these early SGs had a very short tenon (as you can see it just runs partway along the neck pickup cavity)
Yeah, I was always a bit sceptical about all those "weak SG neck joint" stories, but I've had two Tokai SGs now with cracks around the joint and it's making me a bit paranoid. Pretty sure it was just the paint, but it still suggests there's a bit of movement.
The modern SG neck joint seems stronger, but I have a feeling the full-width tenon of the older design improves the tone.
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Very cool!
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The guitar looks truly magnificent in it's new/old glory. I suits the guitar well with the "usage" marks.
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Great stuff- does look great and this is from someone who used to dislike SGs- I now love them.
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Wow..... just .... WOW.
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Bloody nice!
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interesting shots of the repair.. the restoration was /well/ worth it!
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Cant see the pics on my mobile doh! it does sound good,though!
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Finally got to see the pics... YUM! :D
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A delight and so much more interesting than a typical NGD.