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70-71 Gibson SG Price Advice


lawnchair

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Definitely a cool guitar but I'd definitely check it out pretty well in person before I'd pull out that kind of cash. the whole removing the trem and sticking a tailpiece to it thing weirds me out about intonation.Then again i have no experience with a mod like this. I'm just going by some of the guitars that come into the store where I work. I've had some amazing guitars come through that were ruined by a hack job modification. I've scored some sweet modified guitars though. so i guess it's a toss up. Go try it out and take your time deciding on it. For that amount of cash there's a lot of great guitars out there.

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If the intonation is OK and it happens to play well, I'd grab it. The $800 price is to much since much of the originality is gone. If it happens to be a refinish, that really hurts the value seriously. You could always play the hell out of it and enjoy it though...isn't that what guitars are meant for??

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One with the original trem and the finish has not turned brown "Blue Books", at $2300 (low) to $2800 (high). If the finish has turned brownish then the value decreases by 30%. So if its brownish, which it looks that way and missing the Maestro tail piece then the price may not be too bad. If you could pick up the missing pieces, you have a $1600 guitar. Im looking at the 2011 Vintage Guitar Guide.

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Ok cool guys. Thanks for the comments.

 

GrimRobes, I'm not sure that's really a modification. Isn't that the original 'style' bridge for this guitar? I think its just missing the trem...whether the tailpiece is original is another question. But nothing appears to have been added...

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These older Gibsons cherry finishes are known to turn brown, which this one looks like it has.

 

 

No, by late 60's or so, they changed from Cherry to Walnut. Walnut is brown right out of the can.

 

Cherry:

1971-Gibson-SG-Special-Cherry-Red.jpg

 

Walnut:

1971-Gibson-SG-Special-Walnut_1.JPG

 

Price? I dunno. I can't see enough to authenticate it (I with there was a close-up of the cavity), but if it's mostly original, I think $800 is a good price, maybe great if it's truly most stock. It may not be such a bargain though. I would say you chances are very high that it'll need a $250+ refret by now.

 

It may be moot anyway, people go ape-{censored} over old Gibson at affordable prices, don't be surprised if someone didn't stip to ask about it on any forum and just bought it as fast as they could.

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First off, I can't believe you all are even offering advice when you aren't familiar enough with the model to know what hardware came on it stock.















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I had a good idea what kind of bridge it came with, but unoriginal to me meant the tailpiece was missing at best and it would need a probable un-original replacement. I agree with what you say about the Gibson-ites, there will be many vintage dealers in a town the size of Indianapolis, and if it is still there tomorrow, that probably means the vintage dealers dont think it is that great of a deal and have passed on it.

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I had a good idea what kind of bridge it came with, but unoriginal to me meant the tailpiece was missing at best and it would need a probable un-original replacement. I agree with what you say about the Gibson-ites, there will be many vintage dealers in a town the size of Indianapolis, and if it is still there tomorrow, that probably means the vintage dealers dont think it is that great of a deal and have passed on it.

 

 

Missing is not unoriginal. And most SG Specials are missing their Maestros because they were pure {censored} to begin with. While it does affect resale....it's not by a whole lot.

 

I agree if it sits around on CL, there may be a reason.

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It obviously has the crack near the jack where someone stepped on the cord. That's one of three typical locations for breaks, the others being the neck/body joint, and the headstock. Walnut was an option back then, but cherry faded to brown in a lot of cases, too.

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Awesome. Thanks guys.

 

I don't know of a ton of vintage dealers in Indy...this town is pretty much a cultural wasteland. Anyway, he emailed me back this morning and we set a time to meet.

 

Before I see it, what should I be looking for as far as dating the parts/electronics? I've had several SGs so I know about the typical break locations, looking for plugged holes, original tuners, etc. Were the pots and pickups dated back then?

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Were the pots and pickups dated back then?

 

 

I dunno about pickups, but pots where, yes. Google a bit and you'll learn how to read the codes pretty easy.

 

IMHO, it's probably got a lot changed on it and as a collector piece it might not have much value. It should probably be evaluated on tone, playability and how it makes you feel (inspired?, happy?, etc) and thought of in comparison to how much new guitar that could buy you (ie another kind of Gibson, for example). At that price though, it seems like it would be worth it if it's a player.

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