An Absolutely Mint 1963 Polaris White SG Special

1963 Gibson SG Special

This mint 13-inch-wide SG Special weighs just 6.80 lbs. and has a contoured solid mahogany body. One-piece mahogany neck with a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and a wonderful medium to thick profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 original jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot markers. Inlaid pearl "Gibson" headstock logo and 'bell'shaped black over white plastic truss-rod cover secured by two screws. Closed-back Kluson Deluxe strip tuners with white plastic oval buttons. Serial number "109733" stamped in blind on back of headstock. Two P-90 pickups with outputs of 8.99k and 7.78k. The underside of the black [plastic pickup covers are both stamped "UC 452-B / 2". Five-layer black over white plastic pickguard with five screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way pickup selector switch. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. The potentiometers are stamped "134 6306" (Centralab, February 1963). Wrap-over pre-compensated, intonation adjustable, bridge/stud tailpiece. Nickel-plated hardware. This wonderful fifty-seven year old SG Special is in absolutely mint (9.50) condition - it has hardly ever been out of it's case! Housed in the original 'High Grade' Gibson four-latch, shaped black hardshell case with yellow plush lining (9.25). This is by far the finest example of a Polaris White SG Special that we have ever seen. It also has the benefit of the 'High Grade' case which usually only came with SG Standards or Customs.

The Les Paul Special was introduced as the TV Special in 1955 as an intermediate model between the regular Les Paul guitar and the lower-priced Junior and TV Junior instruments. The Special underwent two successive body redesigns in 1958 and 1961, while the Les Paul affiliation was discontinued in late 1962. The model was then renamed the SG Special without any apparent changes in the specifications other than the removal of Les Paul markings.

In 1963, Gibson shipped 374 SG Specials in Polaris White as compared to 1,017 in Cherry. However, in total, between 1962 and 1968, they shipped only 1,956 in Polaris White as compared to 16,090 in Cherry.