An Incredible Late-1960s SG Standard

This 13-inch-wide SG Standard weighs just 7.40 lbs., with a fairly narrow nut width of 1 9/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body, three-piece mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl trapezoid markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Individual Kluson Deluxe tuners with double-ring Keystone plastic buttons. Back of headstock stamped with serial number "885258" and the pots dated 1376929 (July 1969). Two hot "Patent Number" humbucker pickups with outputs of 7.75k and 7.64k. Five-layer (black/white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch. Black plastic ribbed-side conical-shaped "Witch Hat" knobs. Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with nylon bridge saddles and Gibson Maestro Vibrola tailpiece. Apart from some minimal belt buckle wear on the back, one tiny chip on the lower bottom edge, and a couple of small marks on the upper edge, this guitar is as good as you could ever wish for, with no finish checking and in totally original and unfaded near mint condition. With the original hang tag. Housed in its original Gibson black "faultless" hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.25). A great opportunity to own a thirty-seven-year-old guitar that looks almost new!

"Considering all the Les Paul models as a whole, sales declined in 1960 after a peak in 1959...[and] by 1961 Gibson had decided on a complete re-design of the line in an effort to reactivate this faltering model. The company had started a $400,000 expansion of the factory in Kalamazoo during 1960 which more than doubled the size of the plant by the time it was completed in 1961...One of the first series of new models to benefit from the company's newly expanded production facilities was the completely revised line of Les Paul models. Gibson redesigned the Junior, Standard and Custom models, adopting a new, distinctly modern, sculpted double-cutaway design. The 'Les Paul' name was still used at first, but during 1963 Gibson began to call these new models the SG Junior, the SG Standard and the SG Custom...The transition models -- those produced between 1961 and 1963 -- had the new SG design but the old Les Paul names, and these are now known to collectors and players as SG/Les Paul models...SG-style solidbodies have attracted a number of players over the years, including John Cipollina, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Robbie Krieger, Tony McPhee, Pete Townshend, Angus Young and Frank Zappa" (Tony Bacon, Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, pp. 134-136).