Study of early Gibson SG Cases-- 60' to 65'

[javamagic]

If only I'd had Vol.I before doing my John Cipollina Tribute SG I could have got the inlays more accurate.

 

[nippyjun]

Where is a good place to get a missing key for these 60's cases?

 

[nippyjun]

Where is a good place to get a missing key for these 60's cases?

I got mine on eBay.

 

[Ginston]

Sometimes cases sat around for a few years and it wasn't issued with the guitar..so it was possible to get a "new" case (unused really..) that may sat around for a few years..
Also, the change from "velvet" to "fur" lining is of note..and when the Gibson was screened on the lid..talking the magenta fur variant (which I have for my '65 Jr..) the magenta velvet, the purple velvet lining..time for a part 2 of this..

Mine is just like this, but with magenta (it's different than purple..) fur lining..
Does yours have the arch on the top lid, or is perfectly flat? And the silver Gibson screen print? And is it velvet/velour or fur like lining?

Sometimes cases sat around for a few years and it wasn't issued with the guitar..so it was possible to get a "new" case (unused really..) that may sat around for a few years..
Also, the change from "velvet" to "fur" lining is of note..and when the Gibson was screened on the lid..talking the magenta fur variant (which I have for my '65 Jr..) the magenta velvet, the purple velvet lining..time for a part 2 of this..

Mine is just like this, but with magenta (it's different than purple..) fur lining..
Does yours have the arch on the top lid, or is perfectly flat? And the silver Gibson screen print? And is it velvet/velour or fur like lining?

Hi,

My case does have the arch on the top lid. It has the Gibson print on the outside but in gold writing. It's interior is a velvet type gold colour if that helps.
It's a snug fit, but fits perfectly well. However, I was under the impression that my late 60's SG would have been originally issued with a rectangle type case with gold interior?

 

[Telstarstuff]

Anyone have thoughts on this case I got with my '64 Special? Not sure if it's original to the guitar.

 

[oldrockfan]

Can we add one more... the cheapo chipboard with alligator tolex? I think mine is a 65 or at least it came with a 1965 melody maker that I bought many years ago. Here are a couple pics.
[GALLERY=media, 1449]2017-02-23 02.42.06 by oldrockfan posted Feb 22, 2017 at 8:55 PM[/GALLERY][GALLERY=media, 1448]2017-02-23 02.40.58 by oldrockfan posted Feb 22, 2017 at 8:55 PM[/GALLERY][GALLERY=media, 1447]2017-02-23 02.41.25 by oldrockfan posted Feb 22, 2017 at 8:52 PM[/GALLERY]

 

[Rick]

Just saw this thread, makes me cry... In '85 or '86, when I got picked up my red '63 Standard I took her home from the shop (from Glebe to Blacktown in Sydney) tied down with elastic straps on the rear rack of my motorbike. The brown case was already completely worn through in some places, and broken in all the other places, so when I got home, I ended up putting the guitar in my Jap Les Paul's black case, and... I threw the pieces of the original brown case away!

The pain is still there, but it helps to talk about it...

She'd been safely round the globe a couple of times with that black case, that cost me about $10 back then, until I got her a proper nuclear-bomb-proof Gibson Chainsaw case in the '90s. Still feel a bit like an idiot though...

 

[Voxman]

Jees Did Photobucket really screw me with their " Third Party " bullshite

 

[sTEELROY]

'66 SG

 

[nippyjun]

'66 SG View attachment 27959 View attachment 27960 View attachment 27961

My 67 standard has a case like that. No Gibson badge though.
Can you tell me. When the guitar is in the case and you close the case all the way does the case press on the trem bar? No matter where I position the trem bar when my case closes the case presses on the bar; enough to change the pitch of a plucked string.

 

[sTEELROY]

No interference at all regardless of the arms position. The angle of the bend in the arm did change at some point causing it to sit higher. Mine is a original '66 and lays fairly flat. Perhaps they increased the angle to accommodate the
"dive bombers"...? The case lid won't close without help with the one on the right.

 

[tigger]

Does anyone have an idea where one could source the crushed velvet (?) lining like on the pre-65 cases? I'd really like to replace the one on mine..

 

[Voxman]

http://relicguitarcases.yolasite.com/about-us.php

 

[tigger]

Thanks! No dice, sadly

 

[papagayo]

No interference at all regardless of the arms position. The angle of the bend in the arm did change at some point causing it to sit higher. Mine is a original '66 and lays fairly flat. Perhaps they increased the angle to accommodate the
"dive bombers"...? The case lid won't close without help with the one on the right.
View attachment 27969

https://reverb.com/p/gibson-melody-...AQYASABEgJ3EvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&hfid=15560867

 

[Steve D]

Just a comment, my '61 SG special came to me in the early 80s with a pretty flimsy gibson chipboard case like this one:

I can't find any proof that the SG Specials came with a better case and somewhere in the 70s someone swapped by good hardshell for an old chipboard. Seems to me that a case that is perfectly correct for the period of the guitar its holding is likely to have been the case the guitar came it but again, I can't be sure. But it's possible the Specials in the early '60s came in the 60s equivalent of the lower end soft case that the Specials of today do.

 

[PermissionToLand]

Just a comment, my '61 SG special came to me in the early 80s with a pretty flimsy gibson chipboard case like this one:

I can't find any proof that the SG Specials came with a better case and somewhere in the 70s someone swapped by good hardshell for an old chipboard. Seems to me that a case that is perfectly correct for the period of the guitar its holding is likely to have been the case the guitar came it but again, I can't be sure. But it's possible the Specials in the early '60s came in the 60s equivalent of the lower end soft case that the Specials of today do.

They offered three different cases for SGs back then: Faultless Plush (Lifton style), Archcraft plush-lined and Durabilt cases.

http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1962_11.php

Here's some more info:

"Post-WW2 (1947-1960), Gibson offered 3 different cases. The "low grade" case was an "alligator" softshell case, essentially made of rigid cardboard with a sparse brown lining. This case also often had a hard thin brown plastic handle that cracked very easily. The "medium grade" case was a wooden case with a smooth brown outside and usually a sparse green lining (though different color interiors are seen). The "best grade" (known as the "faultless" case) was the "California Girl" case, as it is known. This wooden case has a rich brown outside (like a tanned California girl), and a very plush and rich pink inside. The handle on the medium and high grade cases was leather covered metal.

During the 1960's, the Alligator case was still available for low-end models (SG Juniors, Melody Makers, ES-125, etc.) until 1965. The new low-end case was a black softshell with a plush deep red lining."

http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#cases

 

[Steve D]

They offered three different cases for SGs back then: Faultless Plush (Lifton style), Archcraft plush-lined and Durabilt cases.

http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1962_11.php

Here's some more info:

"Post-WW2 (1947-1960), Gibson offered 3 different cases. The "low grade" case was an "alligator" softshell case, essentially made of rigid cardboard with a sparse brown lining. This case also often had a hard thin brown plastic handle that cracked very easily. The "medium grade" case was a wooden case with a smooth brown outside and usually a sparse green lining (though different color interiors are seen). The "best grade" (known as the "faultless" case) was the "California Girl" case, as it is known. This wooden case has a rich brown outside (like a tanned California girl), and a very plush and rich pink inside. The handle on the medium and high grade cases was leather covered metal.

During the 1960's, the Alligator case was still available for low-end models (SG Juniors, Melody Makers, ES-125, etc.) until 1965. The new low-end case was a black softshell with a plush deep red lining."

http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#cases

I got into a discussion about this on another forum because it said the same thing (i.e. SG Juniors got the cardboard case) and I said that I had an old SG special that had it too. I was informed that cases in those days were all options. You could get whatever you wanted, or no case at all. But people buying low end guitars tended to buy low end cases, people buying high end guitars bought the high end case, and people in the middle (like the special) usually got the midrange case but not always. I guess the guy who bought my SG Special in '61 was a cheapskate. I am trying to remember the color of the interior of the alligator skin chipboard case I had and I would swear up and down that it wasn't brown. I wanna say blue, but I can't swear. But brown? Nope.

It may have been a gold color, I suppose you could call that brown. I dont have pix and I haven't see it since the mid 90s so I just cant be sure.

 

[PermissionToLand]

I got into a discussion about this on another forum because it said the same thing (i.e. SG Juniors got the cardboard case) and I said that I had an old SG special that had it too. I was informed that cases in those days were all options. You could get whatever you wanted, or no case at all. But people buying low end guitars tended to buy low end cases, people buying high end guitars bought the high end case, and people in the middle (like the special) usually got the midrange case but not always. I guess the guy who bought my SG Special in '61 was a cheapskate. I am trying to remember the color of the interior of the alligator skin chipboard case I had and I would swear up and down that it wasn't brown. I wanna say blue, but I can't swear. But brown? Nope.

It may have been a gold color, I suppose you could call that brown. I dont have pix and I haven't see it since the mid 90s so I just cant be sure.

I have heard that the interior colors could vary anyway. But IDK how one could definitively identify a case.

 

[Steve D]

My memory was right, my interior was blue. found this reference on the japanese site vintagemaniacs.com which has insane articles about vitnage everything (insane because they seem to own multiple copies of every vitage guitar and guitar part ever made and do side by side comparisons).

Here's the site it came from, it's in Japanese but this article is on the chipboard cases. There are others on the other types.

It's in Japanese, google translate is your friend for this one!
https://vintagemaniacs.com/chipboard-guitar-case/