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Yes, it's real and the serial number along with some other features like the TRC and pickup placement point to 1975. https://solidguitar.fandom.com/wiki/SG_Standard#1972%E2%80%931979

I played an SG with tarbacks for the first time recently and they were muddy as hell. Granted, they were set too low and needed adjusting. IMO, they're just not the right kind of pickups for an SG. Ceramic magnets just don't sound good for blues/rock. They're metal pickups and that's about it...

Huh, and here I thought that the big title and big salary were justified by big responsibility. I guess the buck stops at the guy below you... The CEO can fire and hire the plant managers, so...

I see. But unlike the Standard and Custom, the Special and Junior did not switch to the SG body style until after 1961, as there are 1961 dated examples with the old Les Paul body. So it still tracks with the idea that they were working out how the cheaper student models would transition in...

Yeah, the format changed around March 2019: https://solidguitar.fandom.com/wiki/Dating#2019%E2%80%93Present

Can you cool cats tell me about this SG? Nope.

That's not how the serial numbers worked back then. They started at 100, and added digits as necessary. In that case, it would be five digits, starting with a 1. See this '61 Standard with a five digit serial...

You scored a heck of a deal. Not much to say, Pelham Blue was a special run from 2017-2019. Early 2019 builds still had the small pickguard. Yours was built right after the neck profile switched to the thicker '50s Rounded profile in May 2019...

The deepest bevels of the early '60s are an easy choice. However, I'm also fond of the quirky late-Batwing-era bevels that basically look like somebody took a scoop out of the cutaways with a spoon:

The serial numbers are stamped into the headstock just like vintage SGs. It's part of the whole historical accuracy thing. And Gibson doesn't put them anywhere else, anyway. I don't really have the chemistry knowledge to assess blacklight's effect on lacquer, but I do believe that many things...

Serial numbers on opaque guitars are hard to photograph. Here's a brand new (aged) Custom Shop SG and a picture taken by a professional photographer where you still can't see it: If there is truly no serial number, it has to have been refinished. Gibson simply doesn't make guitars without a...

The serial numbers were stamped into the headstocks before painting, so they would often get filled in with grain filler and therefore be unreadable on any guitar with a finish that's opaque like yours. Is there any sign at all of a serial number? Is it wavy there or perfectly smooth?

Swimming pools actually weren't used on Specials and Juniors. This is what a batwing Special looked like underneath:

Well, I guess I'd put my money on it being a small pickguard originally, but there's not really any way to know conclusively without stripping the paint to see if the routes were filled. It's right around the cusp of the change to the batwing so that makes it that much harder to say. Who knows...

Hmm, you said it had a batwing when you bought it? Did you fill the holes from that? I don't see any above the pickups. What does the heel look like on this guitar?

Does the paint look original to you? Does it look like it's actually 57 years old?

The missing dot is not uncommon for Gibsons built in ANY year. The only year in particular that was special was 1969 when most or all lacked the dot. I'm not making an offer but I'll say that a fair price would be around what a new '61 Standard costs.

Yeah, the routes are a little wonky, but looking at other '60s SGs, they all seem to have some variation suggesting they were routed by hand. The paint inside also looks to be reasonably aged like you'd expect. The deeper routes for the wiring and polescrews are normal...

Wow, that is truly an incredible find! I will have to add this to the SG wiki for sure! For more pics, check Well Strung Guitars' website: https://wellstrungguitars.com/guitar/sg-special-prototype-cherry/ Usually when you see a "prototype", it's complete bullsh*t. This is not. The serial puts...

Yeah, for that price I would not be cool with tuner holes reamed out for replacements, an unoriginal neck PUP, a faded finish and frets that are worn to death. The vintage market has been totally warped by speculators.