1965 Gibson SG Junior Electric Guitar

Overview: SG Juniors are pretty close to the ideal of a stripped-down rawk guitar. They're light, they've got plenty of curves, the pickup is aggressive, there's crazy fret access, the "playing deck" where your right hand rests is free of obstacles, and the necks are quick as heck. It doesn't hurt that they look good while doing all that, too.

Tone: As you might expect, it's bright but snarly, mids-focused with a lot of attack, and has good output to drive an amp.

Feel: While this is a '65, it has the closer-to-normal 1 5/8" nut width rather than the same-year-but-later 1 9/16" nut width that became standard for the rest of the decade. Combined with the slimmer C-shaped profile and 10" radius to the board, that makes for a very fast feel but with enough string spacing at the nut so you're not bumping into neighboring strings on the left hand.

Interesting features: Per the usual, the body cuts and profiling is well-thought-out and makes access at the cutaways quick and comfy. The bridge, while non-original, is an aluminum, uncompensated style (like on a '50s wraparound) and I think the tone from one like this (warmer, less ringy) is superior to the cast, stairstep-style zinc ones Gibson was using at the time. I am an aluminum bridge fan, however, so I'm biased on that account.

Repairs included: It's had a fret level/dress and setup work done by Jose. It's playing spot-on and ready to go.

• Weight: 6 lbs 1 oz
• Scale length: 24 5/8"
• Nut width: 1 5/8"
• Neck shape: slim-medium C
• Board radius: 10"
• Body width: 13"
• Body depth: 1 3/8"
• Body wood: mahogany
• Bridge: uncompensated wraparound
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Pickups: 1x original P90 single coil
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 46w-10
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: wider/lower

Condition notes: There's finish weather-check throughout. There are scratches here and there and small nicks and dings here and there. Overall, however, it looks nice. The finish has also aged/yellowed a bit. It is original throughout except for the bridge. There is a small square of cut-in weirdness under the pickguard and you can see that in one of the last photos. There's discoloration to the back of the neck where the finish clearcoat had worn-off from play and grunge accumulated in its place. The pickguard has a couple of chipped corners -- one repaired, the other tip-corner missing.

It comes with: It has a non-original (but nice) hard case.

Consignor tag: DCH