1968 Gibson SG Info

It definitely confuses me. The logo is a gold sticker. Did any of the juniors have fretboard binding? All the pictures I have seen for vintage jrs. didn't have binding. What is more likely: Somebody routed out a pickup cavity and drilled holes for two pots and a switch, or Gibson put the wrong headstock on?
 
My '68 Junior has a full size cavity with the shielding box as pictured below. This gets butchered quite often, especially at the factory. If someone drilled the hole from inside the cavity, there is no guaranteeing it was in the correct place. Especially if the shield was modified.

My '68 Junior also has a mother of pearl "Gibson" headstock inlay. I don't think they changed that until '71 or '72.

If the original color is Polaris White, then a Junior will have a bound fingerboard. It is the only Junior model to get that. All others are unbound.

If it was a Special, then someone messed up stuff, and/or probably made the pick guard the wrong shape. That's why the toggle switch location looks off to me, and the poker chip is missing. The only way to tell really is to look at the wiring and date codes. That will tell you if it's original or if someone had modified it.

The heel does look like a'68. I'm in Chicago right now, so I can't look at my guitar to verify. Or access any of my photos at home.

If you're getting a bastardized '68 SG of any sort for $200.00, grab it. That's what I paid for my Junior in '78.


IMG_2069.JPG



What the headstock should look like. I did have a hard drive with me that has some of my photos on it.



IMG_1089.JPG
 
John, I got it in 1986. My brother has been "keeping" it for me for 20 plus years. I'm just trying to figure out what it is and I should spend any money on it to bring it closer to stock.

I'm of the mindset where it is old wood and the fingerboard is most likely Brazilian Rosewood, so yes do some work on it.

The cracks in the body around the neck scare me. Also the neck joint. It may all be stable. It's easy enough to find a period correct pick guard for that era Special. The biggest problem is finding the correct backing plates for P-90 pickups to attach to the pickguard. It took me for ever to find one for my Junior, and ditch the humbucker. Like anything, look at it in stages. If you have someone good in the Twin Cities area that can assess it, and say let's look at the least invasive way of tightening up the body without messing up the finish (providing it's original, and you don't want to mess it up), you do that first. Then, everything else is just hunting down parts and work at your leisure.


Just for reference, here's a before and after of my '62 Special. It was worth every penny of the major reconstuction that it went through. Lou did an excellent job.

Before:

P7240007.jpg


After:


IMG_0015.JPG
 
I'm of the mindset where it is old wood and the fingerboard is most likely Brazilian Rosewood, so yes do some work on it.

The cracks in the body around the neck scare me. Also the neck joint. It may all be stable. It's easy enough to find a period correct pick guard for that era Special. The biggest problem is finding the correct backing plates for P-90 pickups to attach to the pickguard. It took me for ever to find one for my Junior, and ditch the humbucker. Like anything, look at it in stages. If you have someone good in the Twin Cities area that can assess it, and say let's look at the least invasive way of tightening up the body without messing up the finish (providing it's original, and you don't want to mess it up), you do that first. Then, everything else is just hunting down parts and work at your leisure.


Just for reference, here's a before and after of my '62 Special. It was worth every penny of the major reconstuction that it went through. Lou did an excellent job.

Before:

View attachment 36853


After:


View attachment 36855

Mind blowing transformation!!

Super Fantastic! Love it!

How do you like the bridge that way....
 
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