In 1961, Gibson changed the single-cutaway Les Paul with a brand new line of lighter, thinner, mahogany double-cut solidbodies. Developed underneath the aegis of Ted McCarty and launched because the “new Les Paul,” it exemplified the corporate’s reinvigorated advertising and marketing emphasis.

Based on Les Paul himself, it was designed and launched with out his session or information. In mid/late ’62, when his settlement with Gibson expired, he eliminated his endorsement and the road was renamed “SG” – a easy manufacturing facility designation for “stable guitar” – and the side-pull Vibrato was changed by Gibson’s new Vibrola on the Normal mannequin.

There are, in fact, anomalies and transitional exceptions like ’62 Les Paul SGs with Vibrolas and ’62 SG Requirements with side-pulls. Gamers generally changed each with cease tailpieces.

The SG turned one in every of Gibson’s most-successful solidbodies and was the rock guitar of the late ’60s, particularly standard with West Coast teams like The Doorways, Quicksilver Messenger Service (John Cippolina was the grasp of the side-pull), The Grateful Lifeless (Jerry Garcia), Massive Brother & The Holding Firm (two SGs and an EB-3) and Nation Joe & The Fish (Barry Melton). However the British cherished it, too; an “SG” Les Paul was Clapton’s guitar of selection with Cream, Townshend abused one when The Who performed Woodstock, and we should not neglect Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Different producers, together with Guild, Hagstrom, and Yamaha, launched SG-style guitars, as effectively.

The ’61 Les Paul Normal had such a particular neck profile – skinny with a large fretboard – that Gibson made it fatter in ’62 as a result of its form was one of many important gripes heard from Les and different gamers. Additionally, the necks had been susceptible to breakage on the headstock and infrequently had issues the place the heel joined the physique on the twenty second (final) fret, making unique unrepaired examples exhausting to seek out. It additionally had Patent Utilized For humbuckers; mixtures of PAFs and “patent quantity” pickups are frequent in ’62 fashions, and later Requirements had two patent-number humbuckers, although an occasional PAF has turned up in ’63 fashions.

These guitars share lots of the options and trimmings as their predecessors, together with Kluson Deluxe tuning machines, nickel-plated {hardware}, and bound-rosewood fretboards with trapezoidal inlays. The headstock veneer has a crown-pattern (a.okay.a. “Holly”) inlay and a bell-shaped truss cowl engraved with “Les Paul” as an alternative of the “Les Paul Mannequin” decal discovered on earlier Requirements, although the SG-bodied Les Paul Normal within the ’62 catalog exhibits the old-style decal and a plain truss cowl.

In American Guitars, Tom Wheeler known as the white ’61 you see right here “extraordinarily uncommon.” Usually, solely SG-body Les Paul Customs had been wearing Polaris White (with a white pickguard) as commonplace end, with gold-plated {hardware} and three humbuckers. This one was ordered by somebody who needed one thing that will stand out, however with out the flowery trappings of a Customized, and the contrasting black pickguard exhibits off its batwing form.

One other extraordinarily uncommon and tasteful instance of a manufacturing facility end ’61 is that this black one with a contrasting white pickguard meant for a three-pickup Customized. Black is a not-uncommon shade for SGs, and is standard on refins as a result of it masks neck repairs so effectively. Black SGs often have black pickguards.

In ’63, Gibson unveiled its new Firebird line, obtainable in 10 DuPont Duco Customized Shade finishes for a further $15. This was a direct response to competitors from Fender and the custom-color craze of the instances. These fancy finishes had been provided solely on Firebirds and Thunderbirds, however different fashions had been special-ordered by shops and people in {custom} colours, and for some purpose, Pelham Blue appears to be the most typical.

The SG proven right here is from ’65 and illustrates not solely a few of the adjustments made beginning in ’62, however traits that personify the early-’60s Normal. Most obvious is the Gibson Vibrola, with its unadorned trapezoidal baseplate and plastic-tipped arm. Not an incredible vibrato, with a really fundamental design that merely tightens or relaxes string rigidity from the tailpiece, the Vibrola was simpler and less expensive to fabricate and set up than the “SG” Les Paul’s sideways nightmare. {Hardware} is chrome, and the neck profile is much like different Gibson six-strings of the interval – a standard width and never as a lot “meat” as SG necks from ’62/’63.

In ’66, Gibson redesigned the SG line, altering the neck/heel association and enlarging the pickguard to cowl most the face whereas surrounding the pickups, eliminating the necessity for mounting rings. This was executed for manufacturing causes – primarily, ease of wiring and meeting. A big cavity underneath the pickguard allowed them to make use of the identical physique blanks for all fashions and pickup configurations, together with the cheap Melody Maker, which had been given the SG form in ’65 and got here in two commonplace finishes, Fireplace Engine Pink and (surprisingly sufficient) Pelham Blue. The character of the devices had modified and nothing compares to the sound and really feel of the primary “SG” Les Pauls, with their PAFs and super-fast necks. For collectors, they signify a interval of development and innovation in Gibson historical past. Patrons would do effectively to beware, although, as many examples are “restorations.” PAFs had a approach of disappearing from Les Paul SGs within the ’70s to be used in goldtop-to-Normal conversions, and people “Les Paul” truss covers additionally migrate fairly simply.

The transitional “SG” Les Paul had its points, however now tells an incredible story. And what different unique Les Paul Normal will be had for a fraction of the worth of a ’Burst?

This text initially appeared in VG Classics #6 (March ’96). All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

This text initially appeared in VG’s March 2025 situation. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.