A Rare SG Special with Factory-Ordered "Short" Gibson Vibrola.

1961 Gibson SG Special.

This 13-inch-wide SG Special weighs just 6.70 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck with a medium profile, and rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo. Two-layer (black on white) plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover. Closed-back single-line Kluson Deluxe strip tuners with white plastic oval buttons. This is an early example with a "smooth" neck joint. Two hot P-90 pickups with nice, hot outputs of 7.98k and 8.10k. Five-layer (black/white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way pickup selector switch, all on lower treble bout. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. The pots are stamped "134 6140" (Centralab October 1961). Combination ridged "wrap-over" bridge/tailpiece and factory-ordered "short" Gibson Vibrola tailpiece. All hardware nickel-plated. Apart from some minuscule belt buckle wear on the back of the guitar and a few tiny (and I mean tiny) marks on the top and sides, this forty-eight-year-old "Closet Queen" is totally untouched, unfaded, and just plain gorgeous! Housed in its original Gibson "alligator" softshell case (9.00). Complete with the original leather strap and patch-cord.

"The Les Paul Special was introduced in 1955 as an intermediate model between the regular Les Paul guitar and the lower-priced Junior and TV instruments. Like the latter, the Special underwent two successive body redesigns in 1958 and 1961 while the Les Paul affiliation was discontinued in late 1959. The model was then renamed SG Special without any apparent changes in the specifications other than the removal of Les Paul markings. Overall four variants of the Special can be distinguished between 1955 and 1965...The first variant is primarily characterized by its single cutaway thick-body otherwise similar in shape to the contemporary Les Paul Junior and TV. Up to 1958 the single-cutaway Special was listed exclusively with a limed mahogany finish...In mid-1958 a restyled double cutaway Special was first shown but the new variant was not shipped in quantity until 1959...Simultaneously, the Special became available in cherry red in addition to the limed TV finish, whose shading was changed to a more opaque banana-yellow colour...The double cutaway Special was listed as a Les Paul for less than a year, and in the pricelist dated 1st November 1959 the model appeared as the SG Special. All the specifications remained the same save for the removal of Les Paul markings on the headstock and the installation of an enlarged one-piece guard covering the area between the front pickup and the fingerboard...In early 1961 the SG Special was revamped with the ultra thin body design pioneered on the Les Paul Standard, but most of the other specifications remained unchanged. The model was fitted with a restyled 5-ply black pickguard and by the end of the year a new bar bridge featuring pre-set compensating ridges for better intonation became a standard appointment...By 1965 the (short) Gibson Vibrola tailpiece, so far available as an option, became a standard appointment of the Special" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, pp. 211-212).