The 1965 SG - pics!

[Twinfan]

Took a few pics of my new (old) SG today.  Thought I'd share them before I head over to Martin's later for a second opinion on whether to keep it or not.

I've swapped the knobs out just to see what it would look like, plus if I keep it I'll get hold of the proper scratchplate (it should be 5-ply BWBWB) and the correct cover between the pickup and the neck (it should be single-ply black.  I have Throbak PAFs with nickel covers ready to go into it, plus some better pickup surrounds.  I'm also waiting on Jon at Feline to get back to me on a price for a complete set of TonePros hardware in nickel.

Here's the front of the guitar as it stands at the moment:



Plus the rear:

[Twinfan]

Here's the headstock repair, which is much better than I was expecting:



And as you can see below, the guitar would meet Fender's "Heavy Relic" spec:

[Twinfan]

My favourite feature is the lacquer checking - which is just awesome.  Enjoy!

[shobet]

Looks OK to me. As I said before, it's got character.

[marantz1300]

nice,a real relic for less then a fake relic. 8)

[Twinfan]

Yep - it clearly had a lot of play when it was new.  The wear on the lower bout shows belt buckle wear from someone who used it high up, not slung low.

Just the nut width to decide about, but I think I can cope with it being slightly smaller than 'normal'.  hell, it's character as Shobet says!

[Frank]

Blimey, that looks OLD. And so it should, it's older than me.

I assume the Floyd Rose, locking nut and DiMarzio Super Distortions are on order?

[Andrew W]

That does look lovely.  I thought we'd all agreed on EMGs not Super Distortions though?

[Twinfan]

:lol:

Proper old isn't it!  Solid as a rock though - plenty of playing life left after it has a much needed refret  :)

[Frank]

Is the stop tailpiece original? The markings behind the tailpiece look like it's had a Vibrola trem or something similar fitted at some stage?

[Twinfan]

It had a Vibrola from new - stop tail was a later addition.  Nothing is original on the guitar as far as I can tell, except for the body/neck/fretboard.

[Frank]

first job has to be a refinish though, soak in Nitromors and a half-inch thick coat of polyester, it'll come up lovely

[AndyR]

^ :lol:

It do look mighty fine there, Dave.

Sadly, with it's "change" of date it loses some of it's attraction for me - it's now younger than I am! :lol:

[d1dsj]

I think it's great, if you don't keep it please pm me Dave... I was born in '65 and love that guitar! 

[Philly Q]

It looks great IMO, and the headstock repair appears to be a very decent job (presumably those Schaller "Klusons" are another late addition!).

My '64 SG Special had probably a bit less wear and a bit less lacquer checking overall, but all the finish at the back in the lower "waist" was worn away - those '60s guys obviously preferred their guitars high up!  :lol:

I was quite sceptical about this, but if it feels solid (neck joint OK, presumably?) and sounds good, what a cool thing to have as a "player" guitar!!  :D