NGD - 1965 Gibson SG Junior Polaris White

[Shadoweclipse13]

Pelham Blue is AMAZING. But I imagine quite rare. I never really liked the large guard models much. My favorite SG guard is the Melody Maker guard:

I'm planning on making my buddy an SG/Melody Maker Bass VI next year

In any case, yours is gorgeous!!

[mackerelmint]

Good god, this is one of my absolute dream guitars. SG jrs are near and dear to my heart, even more so with the vibrola.

[Despot]

Thanks mackerelmint - it's also a particularly smooth and easy vibrola. The old ones just tend to be far better than the newer janky Gibson vibrolas - and I don't think it's a case of old ones getting used more, as this guitar has been a bit of a case queen over the years I think.

Actually ... this guitar being a case queen is a shame. I spoke to the prior owner of this, who is an Irish guy with a thing for SGs these days. He was also the owner of the SG Custom I've mentioned. At the moment I believe he has not one, but TWO early '60s SG Customs (or one with another on the way - hence why he was selling this Junior and the late '60s Custom). He mentioned that the Junior has featured in a few guitar shows over the years.

But it's a damn fine guitar! As much as I appreciate people taking care of their gear, this is too nice a guitar to sit in it's case and never get played. It's just perfect - from the set-up and action, to how the vibrola is smooth as silk and even really abusing the hell out of the vibrola it always keeps tuning. While I don't intend to be the guy who wrecks this guitar, I'm sure as hell going to play it a lot.

Another thing to mention is how you can see the evolution of SGs over the years. I think I mentioned this years ago when I had that '64 Special refin, but the actual taper and shape of the horns is different on earlier models. That '64 Special and this '65 Junior have similarly pointed horns - modern SGs (and even laster '60s SGs) have horns that sort of taper to a chisel point - wide and sharp. The older SGs that I've had tend to taper to more of a point - on that '64 Special it was actually quite pointed, and while this is not quite as pointy as the '64 this is still more of a sharp point than a chisel end to the horn. I may be imaging this, but the body also seems to be thinner than on modern SGs or even later '60s SGs. I've been manhandling that SG Custom a bit this week and I recall the body contours being sharper/more defined and the body thicker on the Custom than on the Junior.

I'll take some photos of what I'm talking about when I get a chance (for the record).