I was trying to find an SG junior since a while, no luck online though I do prefer to try before buying. Waiting time for a new order was quite long, mostly by the end of the year. Second hand ones in my area were mostly a run that Gibson made around 10 years ago, those don't have the good knobs placement and many sound quite trebly to my ears. So I gave a call to a local shop where I live, they started to search in their warehouse and bingo they had one! They said it's a 2020, forgotten in the warehouse but finally it's a 2021 according to the case candy including the Gibson "baby picture" of the guitar. A very light guitar and the P90 is really good sounding. The controls are quite versatile too. It seems to be modeled on a '63 with the lightning bar tail piece. I'm very satisfied with this purchase and it sounds quite good. Since so long I wanted one, finally this one was just a phone call away.
Congrats! I have a new one on the way. It was stamped 2 months ago. The 1-piece body got me. 6lbs and a real case too. I’ll know more in a few days.
How is your intonation? There was one on here recently that was returned. It’s the first thing I’ll check when it arrives.
Thanks and congrats to you too, nice score! Well the intonation was a tad high and with the multi function tool supplied I could fix it though with that kind of bridge it seems to always be a compromise. The G string is more or less Ok now. Anyway the reference strings are the low and high E, with the lightning bar the other string are going to be hit or miss. A bit like a three saddle bridge Telly, a string per saddle is Ok but the other may be not :-) That's why we like these guitars I guess ;-) So far not so bad taking into consideration the quality of the original strings as well as the temp/humidity here, around 30° C.
Nice guitar, congrats! If you want a fully adjustable top wrap bridge, both Schaller and GraphTech make quality drop in replacements for well under $200.
I'm sure you're gonna love it, they're just great guitars. If you're considering an adjustable bridge, here's another option: https://pigtailmusic.com/vintage-parts-&-beyond/ols/products/intonatable-wraparound-and-studs-set
I’ve had good luck with 1-piece wraparound bridges in the past, close enough for rock&roll. I like it when the bridge sits against the posts with no adjustment necessary. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you change string gauge to make it work. I noticed these ship with 10’s. Other slim-taper necks (with binding) ship with 9’s. I’d rather lay it flat with 9’s than back it off with 10’s, if necessary.
Well, it’s here, the bridge doesn’t look like it did it the photos. Now it’s adjusted out almost half-way off the post. That seems like a lot to me. I probably would have passed on it if it looked like that in the listing. What to do?
Top wrap adjustable bridge. That's what I'd do. Put the original bridge in the case compartment when the new one comes and play the hell out of that sweet guitar.
D-Dan, if your High E string intonation required the bridge to be moved back that far, then your Low E should require the bridge to be moved back even further. Looks to me like you aren't going to have the adjustment range on the bridge to be able to do that based on where the bridge posts are located, which is the problem I had with mine (among others). I sent mine back to Gibson and they replaced it after acknowledging post placement was wrong. New guitar is MUCH better! Not saying you should do the same, but I am suggesting you take a good hard look at the setup aspects and be sure they meet your expectations. My guitar WAS defective, and it might have been the only one! Just sayin'.....
I was wondering if a compensated nut could help to get the bridge back to a normal position. Earvana makes some of those nuts, not sure about the price but it may be cheaper than an adjustable bridge. Especially if one wants to keep the original look. http://www.earvana.com/
It was to be expected that on the previous photos with the bridge stuck to the post, it wasn't intonated. If it is good as it is now, it's fine. As long as the bridge doesn't lean forward to a point where it is about to pop off the posts, I guess it's OK. That's why those grub screws exist. If intonation is so so, it could be because every time you move one side the other moves a bit to. So keep going back and forth to both ends. All mine with that lightning bridge intonate close to 100%. Remember never to adjust the little grub screws with full tension on strings, if you don't you'll surely end up eating up the threads and you'll need a new wraparound. It is a beauty !
Probably a cost saving measure to use the same tooling for all SGs. Interesting that it appears the routing was done after painting. Here's the routing on my '64 Junior:
