SG Body and Pickguard Shape (Small Guard)

[JMB1984]

I was comparing the historic SG body shape to the Gibson USA body shape and noticed that it looks different, particularly near the treble side horn. Is the wood carved differently or is it the shape of the pickguard (small guard)?

If it is the guard, are there replacement guards (Gibson or otherwise) shaped like the historic SG version that will fit the Gibson USA SG?

 

[Roxy13]

The bevels are different, but I'm not sure if the body shape is or not, or the pickguard.

 

[CerebralGasket]

Both.

1. Bevels on the horns will vary slightly between each guitar. Sanding these areas by hand during the finishing process is difficult to maintain exact consistency.

2. Guards can be produced with either a wide or narrow bevel on the edges.

Most aftermarket pickguard vendors offer small guards with wide bevel edges to fit Gibson USA SG.

Left: horn has deeper bevel, wider bevel on edge of guard.
Right: horn has shallow bevel, narrow bevel on edge of guard.

 

[strayedstrater]

You mean the way the cutaway bevel comes right up to the edge of the pickguard on the Historics?

That's the way the bevel is carved. It's tricky, precise to carve it right up to the guard, and much easier, quicker to carve the bevel shallower and have a flat top surface as a buffer space between the guard and the bevel. So the mass produced models aren't carved the same as the costlier low production Historics.

Gibson uses CNC for rough shaping. They could program the machines to do all the carving, and have the bevel kiss the guard on all small pickguard models.

But then they'd all be identical. Like PRS or Tokai. Gibson prides itself on still doing a lot of the final shaping by hand. Each guitar is a little different than the rest. But that means that for (relatively) lower cost models, they do things a little more loosely, less precisely than on higher cost models. (Another example is that Historic Les Pauls have more deeply carved tops.)

 

[JMB1984]

Thanks for the input. It looks like a little bit of both and I also noticed that the number of pickguard screws are different. I see this as intentional differentiation because Gibson could make the shape and guard the same if they wanted to. When comparing the same area, it looks like the new Epiphone SG actually come closer to the Historics than the Gibson USA version.

 

[Jungle]

Creamtone pickguard on the left :

 

[Jungle]

 

[JMB1984]

Creamtone pickguard on the left :


View attachment 503607

The CreamTone looks like a huge improvement. Great to pinpoint a source for them. I wouldn’t mind seeing shots if it on the guitar if you have them and it is not too much trouble. Either way, thanks for sharing!

 

[Jungle]

"Standard" body design vs '61 body design, bevels are different, body-neck joint too.