Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

F

Fairway

New member
Hello, This is a long story,,,but true : (
I have an old SG and Gibson Invader tube amp. I bought it used (very) about 25+ years ago.

Some fool prior to my purchase had refinished it and other "Customization" to it. they had totally sanded and stripped even the head there are no numbers or logos on it that I can find (Ahhhhhhhh...!!) They "engraved" the pick guard and stuck and glued what appeared to be an old belt buckle into it. (Sad but true)

It stood in my closet for years (I am not much of a player). My wife (as a surprise one christmas 12 yrs or so ago) had taken it to a local "music" store to have it re-strung and "tuned up". She snuck it under the tree christmas eve. Christmas morning I said Whats my old guitar doing under the tree and she said ITS a SURPISE! - I HAD IT WORKED ON AND MAYBE YOU"LL START PLAYING AGAIN _ At that time I freaked because it appeared they swapped out the pickups (I thought it had humbuckers) I called the store as soon as it opened and they had no record of it as my wife in her infinite planning had done this in like September and by christmas - no way to tracking it). Sad but true.

I was on ebay the other night and saw humbuckers were valuable!...I depressingly pulled out the old guitar and as I looked closely at it I wondered if the "music" store 12 years maybe just "cleaned and buffed" up the pickups and did not change them at all and maybe 25 years ago I had no clue to what a humbucker looked like and maybe I was BS'd that is what they were when I bought it.

Anyway, I am trying to figure out if the pickups in the guitare are of the era that this guitar was made or at least when I bought it. (though I seldom mention to her it would vindicate my wife in mind)

Please take a look at the photos to the link and if possible let me know if these S/D pickups are original to the guitar or what year they may be manufactured. As far as I can tell there are no numbers but these two stickers shown.

Also if anyone can tell me about what year the guitar is would be great as well. I could post more pictures if it would be helpful.

http://www.fairpoint.net/~lochlomond/

Thanks. F
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Without getting into a protracted explanation of what defines vintage pickups and their market value (as there are others better suited to it), I CAN tell you with 100% certainty that the Seymour Duncan humbuckers in your SG are NOT original factory issue.
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

welcome to the forum!!

those pickups are not original, gibsons from that era always have gibson pickups. the pickups that bring big money are PAF's and i doubt your guitar came with them. it looks like it is probably a late 60's sg so the old pups were probably early t tops. some people love em, i think they can be ok neck pups but dont care for them in the bridge. what you have now is a duncan distortion in the bridge and 59 bridge model in the neck
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Thanks for the quick replies.

My son is now getting into playing and I'd like to fix this guitar up and give it to him when he visits next year. He is still learning and likes classic rock and such mostly rhythm but likes to break into some lead.

Are these pickups alright as is or should i get rid of them with something you can recommend?

I would like to do what ever I can to bring this guitar back to a condition that it may be worth something some day... is this possible with its current condition? Can you make any recommendations as to what to do replace or a reputable refinisher?

Also - can you recommend a good place to get any parts for this guitar?


Thanks again. Fairway
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Fairway said:
Thanks for the quick replies.

My son is now getting into playing and I'd like to fix this guitar up and give it to him when he visits next year. He is still learning and likes classic rock and such mostly rhythm but likes to break into some lead.

Are these pickups alright as is or should i get rid of them with something you can recommend?

I would like to do what ever I can to bring this guitar back to a condition that it may be worth something some day... is this possible with its current condition? Can you make any recommendations as to what to do replace or a reputable refinisher?

Also - can you recommend a good place to get any parts for this guitar?


Thanks again. Fairway
Click to expand...

Those pickups are bang on perfect for him at this point. They should be able to cover plenty of ground. As for parts, just stick with the high quality stuff. Don't cut corners.
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Thanks Jay.

By the look of them, Would you say that these pickups were swapped on me 12 years ago per my original post or do they appear to be the ones that came with the guitar as i bought it (used) 25+ years ago.
(I'm still trying to vindicate my wife!)

Thanks. Fairway
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

the guitar has probably lost most of its collector value. to be worth its full value it would have to be all original: finish, pickguard, pups, controls, bridge, tuners etc...

but it is still a great guitar reguardless of collectability, the pups that are in it now are probably better sounding than the ones that were in it and like jay said, they are perfect for your son
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Actually to me that looks like a great guitar for a player.

It's definitely from way before Gibson went all berserk with crazy electronics cavities, wired bridges and wired inlays.

I gotta ask you to not use it for a child's beater guitar. I'd even pay cash.

The pickups sound like a great set of noisemakers for that thing. The pickups are definitely 80ties or newer.
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Thanks for all of the feedback. When I got the guitar like I mentioned the damage was done as someone had "personalized" by stripping and sanding down to the natural wood and painting what appeared to be varnish with a brush (strokes and drips and all).

It looked bad so I stripped it myself lightly sanded down to the natural wood, stained it natural. taped it off and applied about 12 coats of clear coat Emron (Imron?) which back in '82 was the hardest clear coat you can get. It actually looks pretty good but could look better I'm sure if professionally done.

How about the Invader tube amp..... should I let him play that or get him something else?

Where is good place to buy parts. I would like to set up the tremolo but am missing some pieces.

My son is 19 and responsible (so far). I bought him an Ibanez PF4 Aoustic for christmas...I'll see how he dose with that before I give him the electric to keep.

Thanks again. F
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Well, it could be a little earlier maybe with that vibrato cover on it. Get some black reflector knobs, a new black pickguard, maybe eventually a new headstock veneer and logo, and it'll look great. It's sorta old wood, so it's still got some value if you restore the cosmetics...play it and have fun.
 
Last edited:
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Thanks E.

Where could I get the headstock veneer you mentioned?

Fairway.
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

You can find a holly veneer plate or make one---it gets painted black anyway. The logos are around, here and there. If that's the Maestro Vibrola type vibrato, the parts are around and not very expensive. They got pulled from a lot of SG's and they also came on some of the budget Kalamazoo guitars. If it were me, I would go with a stoptail ala the SG Special and remove the vibrato; they don't work all that great anyway. Good luck with it...
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Sweet SG...I like guitars that aren't perfect. But I would replace the pickguard and knobs, and look for the trem parts on Ebay.
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Hello,

First - I own an old SG...I'm not a great player and dont know s..t about the tech names for anything!

I've got a question on some wiring on the pots of this old SG. When I took the pot cover off the back I noticed a thin bare wire (ground?) that lost its solder coming from a pot. There was 2 short wire on the adjacent pot that had what appeared loose heat shrink over them and I slipped it off and there is a short red/white wire attached to nothing but the pot it is soldered to. Anyway.... hope this isnt too confusing. I want to know if I should solder the bare wire to the red/white. Its the only place I can see where it goes. I have posted a pic on my page to show the wires but to note they are positioned where I placed them as when I opened the back the bare was just "sitting" there and the red/white had the shrink wrap on it.

I obviously have no idea how the wiring should be but can solder if it needs to be re-soldered. Also.... as mentioned I'm no expert but is it safe to assume by looking at this wring/soldering that someone has "reworked" ths over the years?

Posted pic on my page http://www.fairpoint.net/~lochlomond/
there are a few of my original posted pics at bottom of page as well

Thanks for any advice FF
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Fairway said:
Hello,

First - I own an old SG...I'm not a great player and dont know s..t about the tech names for anything!

I've got a question on some wiring on the pots of this old SG. When I took the pot cover off the back I noticed a thin bare wire (ground?) that lost its solder coming from a pot. There was 2 short wire on the adjacent pot that had what appeared loose heat shrink over them and I slipped it off and there is a short red/white wire attached to nothing but the pot it is soldered to. Anyway.... hope this isnt too confusing. I want to know if I should solder the bare wire to the red/white. Its the only place I can see where it goes. I have posted a pic on my page to show the wires but to note they are positioned where I placed them as when I opened the back the bare was just "sitting" there and the red/white had the shrink wrap on it.

I obviously have no idea how the wiring should be but can solder if it needs to be re-soldered. Also.... as mentioned I'm no expert but is it safe to assume by looking at this wring/soldering that someone has "reworked" ths over the years?

Posted pic on my page http://www.fairpoint.net/~lochlomond/
there are a few of my original posted pics at bottom of page as well

Thanks for any advice FF
Click to expand...

NO.

The red/white are wires from the pickup that are jumpered together. There should be electrical tape or heatshrink tubing covering that red/white wire connection, they shouldn't be connected to anything else.
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

Ok.....thanks.

Any ideas where the bare wire should go? It has a remant piece of solder on it.....so it was soldered to something.

Thanks FF
 
Re: Help - Date these old pickups and Old SG

a bare wire is usually ground.

soldered to the back of a pot.

is the guitar noisy?
 
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