NVGD: 1962 Gibson Les Paul SG Standard Ebony Block

[Dolebludger]

Alvinfan:

No, I don't think Kevins guitar is a reissue just because of its pristine condition. My '61 has ZERO lacquer cracks in the finish. The only blemishes on are a couple of small finish blemishes on the back in the area of the front strap lock due to (I am told) chemical reaction between the chemicals in the strap and the lacquer. No more belt buckling than on your average new guitar hanging on a music store wall. It does nave some wear on the nickel plating on the trem cover from my placing my hand there in the years in the 60s when I played it quite a bit. And, other than the fact that the tuners have been replaced with absolutely accurate ones, it looks like the day in '61 when I carried it out of the music store in Tulsa. So it is very possible to have a 50 year old guitar in this pristine condition without suspecting "reissue".

 

[LesPauI+SG=Win]

Wow...

 

[Sterling # Sound]

Beautiful, I bet it has a really nice dark and smooth fretboard....would love to feel it! How bout some mp3s or vids with a nice tube amp?

 

[Alvinfan]

Alvinfan:

No, I don't think Kevins guitar is a reissue just because of its pristine condition. My '61 has ZERO lacquer cracks in the finish. The only blemishes on are a couple of small finish blemishes on the back in the area of the front strap lock due to (I am told) chemical reaction between the chemicals in the strap and the lacquer. No more belt buckling than on your average new guitar hanging on a music store wall. It does nave some wear on the nickel plating on the trem cover from my placing my hand there in the years in the 60s when I played it quite a bit. And, other than the fact that the tuners have been replaced with absolutely accurate ones, it looks like the day in '61 when I carried it out of the music store in Tulsa. So it is very possible to have a 50 year old guitar in this pristine condition without suspecting "reissue".

Dolebludger, after hearing your story, I am sorry to say that I am almost 100 % sure that yours is a REISSUE also !............................

 

[Duane24]

just a gorgeous piece of wood, that grain is amazing. great find!

 

[Dolebludger]

Allenfan: How the hell could mine be a reissue? I can recall very well when I drove my Plymouth with a bunch of my friends in it to Jenkins music, Tulsa, OK to buy my SG. It was on the Friday after Thanksgiving, 1961. The store was a fully authorized Gibson dealer. After I made my purchase, I held a party to celebrate it. As I was a young man at the time, some things "went down" at my party that I don't wish to discuss on this board, but which make that a memorable and enjoyable day indeed. I have owned the SG since that good (very good) day! and it has never been out of my custody. And if that's not enough, there was never a reissue of the SG with the side pull trem that I have. So it is impossible for my guitar to be a reissue. Unless I am a liar, it is a one owner '61. I have no reason to lie. It's not for sale. Because of the poor economy, it's value is about 1/2 what it was four years ago, and I'm going to wait to even consider selling until the economy (and vintage guitar value) improve.

 

[Kevin James]

Allenfan: How the hell could mine be a reissue? I can recall very well when I drove my Plymouth with a bunch of my friends in it to Jenkins music, Tulsa, OK to buy my SG. It was on the Friday after Thanksgiving, 1961. The store was a fully authorized Gibson dealer. After I made my purchase, I held a party to celebrate it. As I was a young man at the time, some things "went down" at my party that I don't wish to discuss on this board, but which make that a memorable and enjoyable day indeed. I have owned the SG since that good (very good) day! and it has never been out of my custody. And if that's not enough, there was never a reissue of the SG with the side pull trem that I have. So it is impossible for my guitar to be a reissue. Unless I am a liar, it is a one owner '61. I have no reason to lie. It's not for sale. Because of the poor economy, it's value is about 1/2 what it was four years ago, and I'm going to wait to even consider selling until the economy (and vintage guitar value) improve.

I'm pretty sure Alvin is just joking because of the super clean condition of the guitar. I don't think he seriously thinks my guitar or yours is a reissue.

 

[Dolebludger]

Kevin:

I'll bet (and I hope) you are right, after further consideration. All the reissues of the '60 to 63 SG LP Standards I have seen have had stop TPs and no trems. As I understand it, the side pull trem died (perhaps a justified death) sometime in very early 63. And the ebony block trem SG LP Standards like yours are VERY rare and were never duplicatied after the early 60s.

I guess my point is that is IS possible to keep a guitar pretty close to mint for 50 years (though rarely done) with simple polishing and care, and keeping it in its case when not being played. And lacquer cracks and scars do not a vintage guitar make!

 

[61SGLP]

Dolebludger--

If and when you decide to sell that guitar, you should probably start telling people it is in fact a '62, since it has a 1962 serial number confirmed by George Gruhn and Gibson, and Gibson's shipping records show that it shipped from the factory in March of 1962. Just saying! Your adherence in face of the facts to the incorrect production year may raise some red flags with any potential buyers.

 

[Dolebludger]

Oh, you can be sure I would tell any potential buyers about the serial number situation. BTW, I called Gibson about that '62 serial number, and the guy never got back to me. Still having problems figuring out how I bought a '62 in Nov. of '61. But the dealer did send it back to the factory for repairs back in about April '62, due to lack of local repair facilities in that day. I never thought much about it before, but it would seem they gave me a new guitar instead of repairing the other one. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

 

[Dolebludger]

61SGLP: BTW, where did you get the information that my guitar shipped from the factory in March, 1962? That was the sort of info I tried to get from Gibson when I called them, but they never called back with it. As I mentioned above, that little piece of information tells me volumes about this guitar. Given the shipping date, this tells me that the guitar I've got is probably not the same one I bought, and that the factory replaced it in the spring of '62 when I took it in for repairs instead of repairing it.

Just so I can solve this mystery for sure, does the info you have tell where the guitar was shipped form the factory? If I could get this information, and it turns out to be the same music store I used then in Tulsa, the mystery will be solved and I will know for sure that the factory replaced my original '61 with a '62 -- and what I have is a '62.

I too would like to be sure about the model years, should I ever decide to sell -- and I do want to be truthful. In fact, I would now refer to it as a '62, except for a couple of small detail. First, somewhere on this forum is a set of pics distinguishing the neck heels on all years of early 60s SGs, and my neck heel is like the '61 and not the '62s. Second, the codes on the pots indicate manufacture of them in early 61, and the guy at Gibson said this indicated that the pots would have beeen installed no later than late '61. And he said they would not have been installed as late as the '62 model.

So to summarize this rambling, I don't know for sure whether I've got a '61 or '62, but am leaning toward believing it is a '62 based upon the March 62 shipping date you give for its serial number. And if I could Know WHERE it was shipped, I might be able to know for sure.

 

[Alvinfan]

 

[Kevin James]

I knew that

 

[Kevin James]

61SGLP: BTW, where did you get the information that my guitar shipped from the factory in March, 1962? That was the sort of info I tried to get from Gibson when I called them, but they never called back with it. As I mentioned above, that little piece of information tells me volumes about this guitar. Given the shipping date, this tells me that the guitar I've got is probably not the same one I bought, and that the factory replaced it in the spring of '62 when I took it in for repairs instead of repairing it.

Just so I can solve this mystery for sure, does the info you have tell where the guitar was shipped form the factory? If I could get this information, and it turns out to be the same music store I used then in Tulsa, the mystery will be solved and I will know for sure that the factory replaced my original '61 with a '62 -- and what I have is a '62.

I too would like to be sure about the model years, should I ever decide to sell -- and I do want to be truthful. In fact, I would now refer to it as a '62, except for a couple of small detail. First, somewhere on this forum is a set of pics distinguishing the neck heels on all years of early 60s SGs, and my neck heel is like the '61 and not the '62s. Second, the codes on the pots indicate manufacture of them in early 61, and the guy at Gibson said this indicated that the pots would have beeen installed no later than late '61. And he said they would not have been installed as late as the '62 model.

So to summarize this rambling, I don't know for sure whether I've got a '61 or '62, but am leaning toward believing it is a '62 based upon the March 62 shipping date you give for its serial number. And if I could Know WHERE it was shipped, I might be able to know for sure.

Dole,

I think this is the thread you are refering to: http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/vintage-sg/88952-60-65-differences.html

You have to keep in mind that changes did not happen on Jan 1. I have seen several 62's that had the smooth 61 style heel. These were most likely early 62's.

The other thing is the pot dates can help in determining the year of a guitar but they don't tell the hole story alone. They only tell the absolute erliest a guitar could have left the factory. For example, the pots in my 62 are all 61 pots, but the guitar is definitely a 62 and I have confirmed my guitar shipped September 12th 1962, so not even an early 62.

All things considered I think it is a very safe bet that your guitar is a 62. You have a 62 number, and if 61SGLP is correct and Gibson has confirmed it shipped March of 62... thats about as concrete as your going to get.

You can confirm with Gibson as well, just send an email to [email protected]. Give them your serial number and a few pictures of the guitar and ask for a copy of the page in the shipping ledger with your guitar.

 

[Dolebludger]

Thanks, Kevin. I will send the email to Gibson. Will Gibson also be able to tell my where it was shipped? If I knew this I would know that my guitar is a 62 and not the 61 I originally bought in 61 (if it were shipped to a certain place in Tulsa) -- or, in the alternative I would know that I have a serial number foul-up (if the guitar were shipped anywhere else). And I want to know its year for the exact same reason raised by 61SGLP -- so I can be honest with others as to what it is.

 

[Kevin James]

Thanks, Kevin. I will send the email to Gibson. Will Gibson also be able to tell my where it was shipped? If I knew this I would know that my guitar is a 62 and not the 61 I originally bought in 61 (if it were shipped to a certain place in Tulsa) -- or, in the alternative I would know that I have a serial number foul-up (if the guitar were shipped anywhere else). And I want to know its year for the exact same reason raised by 61SGLP -- so I can be honest with others as to what it is.

On the page they sent me it only has the serial number "LP" and the date it shipped. They may have that info elsewhere, not sure but its ledger itself.

 

[Dolebludger]

Kevin and all:

I could get only shipping date from Gibson -- not where it was shipped.

After considering all of this about dating my SG, I have to confess that there is more evidence that it is a 62 than a 61. I have edited my signature to reflect this. I didn't intend to mislead anybody in claiming it was a 61. I DID buy an LP SG Standard in 61 that I had to take back to the store for repairs in spring 62. I knew the store sent it to the factory. But I was never told that it was replaced with a then-new 62, and was lead to believe that the one I bought in 61 had been repaired. Apparently, this wasn't the case, and the guitar was replaced. A bad neck joint was the reason for the send-back. At least now I can truthfully represent that my 62 has had no neck or headstock repair.

 

[Kevin James]

Beautiful, I bet it has a really nice dark and smooth fretboard....would love to feel it! How bout some mp3s or vids with a nice tube amp?

Sure. Here's a clip of it jamming to a backing track of sunshine of your love. I was bored today so I was messing around with this just expirimenting with over dubs etc. Its not perfect, but it came out pretty decent. Its the 62 through a Vox AC15C1. The solo is going through a TS9 Tube Screamer but thats it. The rythem guitar during the solo is part of the backing track... wish I could pull that out but can't.

Sunshine of your love jam by Kevin_James on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[msfenderarg]

Congrats!

 

[mllestarlet]

My dad had an original and sold it 1965, still talks about it, my dream is to find one for a decent price and buy it for him. I was wondering if you could recomend some sites I could shop on?