In 1961, Gibson replaced the single-cutaway Les Paul with a new line of lighter, thinner, mahogany double-cut solidbodies. Developed under the aegis of Ted McCarty and introduced as the “new Les Paul,” it exemplified the company’s reinvigorated marketing emphasis.
According to Les Paul himself, it was designed and introduced without his consultation or knowledge. In mid/late ’62, when his agreement with Gibson expired, he removed his endorsement and the line was renamed “SG” – a simple factory designation for “solid guitar” – and the side-pull Vibrato was replaced by Gibson’s new Vibrola on the Standard model.
There are, of course, anomalies and transitional exceptions like ’62 Les Paul SGs with Vibrolas and ’62 SG Standards with side-pulls. Players commonly replaced both with stop tailpieces.
The SG became one of Gibson’s most-successful solidbodies and was the rock guitar of the late ’60s, especially popular with West Coast groups like The Doors, Quicksilver Messenger Service (John Cippolina was the master of the side-pull), The Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia), Big Brother & The Holding Company (two SGs and an EB-3) and Country Joe & The Fish (Barry Melton). But the British loved it, too; an “SG” Les Paul was Clapton’s guitar of choice with Cream, Townshend abused one when The Who played Woodstock, and we must not forget Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Other manufacturers, including Guild, Hagstrom, and Yamaha, introduced SG-style guitars, as well.
The ’61 Les Paul Standard had such a distinctive neck profile – thin with a wide fretboard – that Gibson made it fatter in ’62 because its shape was one of the main gripes heard from Les and other players. Also, the necks were prone to breakage at the headstock and often had problems where the heel joined the body at the 22nd (last) fret, making original unrepaired examples hard to find. It also had Patent Applied For humbuckers; mixtures of PAFs and “patent number” pickups are common in ’62 models, and later Standards had two patent-number humbuckers, though an occasional PAF has turned up in ’63 models.
These guitars share many of the features and trimmings as their predecessors, including Kluson Deluxe tuning machines, nickel-plated hardware, and bound-rosewood fretboards with trapezoidal inlays. The headstock veneer has a crown-pattern (a.k.a. “Holly”) inlay and a bell-shaped truss cover engraved with “Les Paul” instead of the “Les Paul Model” decal found on earlier Standards, though the SG-bodied Les Paul Standard in the ’62 catalog shows the old-style decal and a plain truss cover.
In American Guitars, Tom Wheeler called the white ’61 you see here “extremely rare.” Normally, only SG-body Les Paul Customs were dressed in Polaris White (with a white pickguard) as standard finish, with gold-plated hardware and three humbuckers. This one was ordered by someone who wanted something that would stand out, but without the fancy trappings of a Custom, and the contrasting black pickguard shows off its batwing shape.
Another extremely rare and tasteful example of a factory finish ’61 is this black one with a contrasting white pickguard meant for a three-pickup Custom. Black is a not-uncommon color for SGs, and is popular on refins because it masks neck repairs so well. Black SGs usually have black pickguards.
In ’63, Gibson unveiled its new Firebird line, available in 10 DuPont Duco Custom Color finishes for an additional $15. This was a direct response to competition from Fender and the custom-color craze of the times. These fancy finishes were offered only on Firebirds and Thunderbirds, but other models were special-ordered by stores and individuals in custom colors, and for some reason, Pelham Blue seems to be the most common.
The SG shown here is from ’65 and illustrates not only some of the changes made starting in ’62, but characteristics that personify the early-’60s Standard. Most apparent is the Gibson Vibrola, with its unadorned trapezoidal baseplate and plastic-tipped arm. Not a great vibrato, with a very basic design that simply tightens or relaxes string tension from the tailpiece, the Vibrola was easier and much cheaper to manufacture and install than the “SG” Les Paul’s sideways nightmare. Hardware is chrome, and the neck profile is similar to other Gibson six-strings of the period – a normal width and not as much “meat” as SG necks from ’62/’63.
In ’66, Gibson redesigned the SG line, changing the neck/heel arrangement and enlarging the pickguard to cover most the face while surrounding the pickups, eliminating the need for mounting rings. This was done for production reasons – primarily, ease of wiring and assembly. A large cavity under the pickguard allowed them to use the same body blanks for all models and pickup configurations, including the inexpensive Melody Maker, which had been given the SG shape in ’65 and came in two standard finishes, Fire Engine Red and (strangely enough) Pelham Blue. The character of the instruments had changed and nothing compares to the sound and feel of the first “SG” Les Pauls, with their PAFs and super-fast necks. For collectors, they represent a period of growth and innovation in Gibson history. Buyers would do well to beware, though, as many examples are “restorations.” PAFs had a way of disappearing from Les Paul SGs in the ’70s for use in goldtop-to-Standard conversions, and those “Les Paul” truss covers also migrate pretty easily.
The transitional “SG” Les Paul had its issues, but now tells a great story. And what other original Les Paul Standard can be had for a fraction of the price of a ’Burst?
This article originally appeared in VG Classics #6 (March ’96). All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
This article originally appeared in VG’s March 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
