NGD 2004 Gibson SG Standard

[ZMAN]

I have been looking for a Gibson SG for quite a while. I have an original 68 Special with P90s that I have owned for over 40 years. I was between a Special faded and a regular special.
I recently bought a G400 to take to my vacation home and liked it so much I decided to look for a Standard. I recently sold some equipment so I had some cash to use.
I found two on the local buy and sell. Both listed as mint, and both were out of town.
One 30 miles one 50 miles. The closer one was 950 firm with HC case and the other was 900 with HC. I could not get a time to view the first one so I went out today to the second.
It was perfect. I talked the guy down to 850 and couldn't get out of there fast enough.
I have only one picture so far but I will get some tomorrow in natural light.
I will have to change the strings to 10s. It is a shame because he had a brand new set of D'addario 9s on it. The action is perfect and it all original without a scratch.
It has a realy nice neck and the original 490/498 pickups. I had actually looked at a new one and it was 1259 plus 13% tax. I saved myself 575. I am a happy camper to say the least.

 

[Tig]

Mass drool! :drool
That looks like the perfect humbucker SG to my eyes. Excellent pickups, too!
Nice find, Zman.

 

[oldguy]

That's a really good price on a nice SG, Z!

 

[ZMAN]

It is funny what you expect to see for a lower price. I was very surprised when I saw the guitar. I went over it in great detail. I even pulled the cover to make sure it wasn't a fake. Believe it or not I even pulled the truss rod cover to make sure it was adjustable. The picture the guy had was a little more red than I wanted so I asked him to send me more pictures.
He said he didn't have a Camera and used a picture off the net. Again another possible red flag, but he said it was a 9.5 out of 10 and was Heritage Cherry. I must say that with this economy there are a LOT of great deals out there.
I have several items for sale and it is really hard. You keep dropping your price to the point where it isn't worth it. I am only selling because I need space. A lot of these guitars were listed at 1100, and drop until they sell. Those people need the cash desperately. The 490 /498 set have always been my favourite of the Gibson line of pickups and with the lighter body they really sound crisp. Another plus is that it is perfectly balanced. Unlike my G400 that is really neck heavy.
I will do a couple more pictures in the natural light today.

 

[ZMAN]

A couple more pictures. As you can tell I am really stoked!

 

[hubberjub]

Awesome. I love SGs and you definitely got the right color.

 

[Blaze]

Beauty it is Z ..I m jealous... Miummy!!

I also Like the FZ brownie color or the one with the clutch that Marino use to play ..

Next purchase to come..When ??? Hum...$$$

Congrats for this great lookin axe..

 

[bcdon]

Very nice!

 

[FrankenFretter]

Very nice, Z. That's exactly the SG I'd get, if I were to buy one. I love the full pickguard on SGs, I think it really adds to the whole visual aspect. I have a friend who has an SG with those same pickups, and it sounds awesome. Happy New Guilar Day!

 

[ZMAN]

Thanks guys I really can't get over how clean this guitar is. Not a mark on it. For an almost 7 year old guitar it was well cared for. I can't wait to get a set of 10s on it. The 9s are just too shrill. I thought I had a set of D'Addario 10s but I guess I used them on the G400. It is hard to put it down. I already waxed it twice. LOL.

 

[Katastrophe]

That's a beautiful guitar, zman! Congrats, and you made a good deal on that Gibby.

 

[NWBasser]

Wow, that one's really pretty.

Congratulations on a sweet new guitar for quite a good deal.

 

[progrmr]

Yea that's a real beauty! Congrats! I love that full pickguard and am glad to hear it's balanced. The reason I decided against a G400 was because of the neck heaviness.

 

[ZMAN]

Yea that's a real beauty! Congrats! I love that full pickguard and am glad to hear it's balanced. The reason I decided against a G400 was because of the neck heaviness.

I think the problem is the Grovers on the G400. They a lot heavier than the stock knobs on a Gibson. They both seem to hold their tune equally a well.
BTW that was a pretty cool looking Epi you picked up.
In comparison the pickups on the Gibson with the full guard seemed to be way too high, but It is just that the pickup ring takes up about 1/4 of an inch. I measured them and they are the same distance from the strings. I was pretty surprised by the G400, my 68 orginal SG was not neck heavy either, and it has the baseball bat neck. That is only a descriptive term, I really like the neck on it. The new SG is a cross between the 68 and the G400, just about the same as my 1996 LP neck profile wise.