The Gibson SG Standard has been one of the core instruments for rock and blues styles since its introduction as the 1961 Les Paul model. The Les Paul designation lasted only about a year and a half, ending with Gibson’s endorsement contract with Les Paul. Gibson has ‘reissued’ the 1961 version a number of times, but when this guitar was built, it was simply known as the SG Standard. The basic specs are very similar, with just a few hardware differences such as knob and tuner types.

Construction of the Gibson SG Standard – or the 1961 Les Paul Standard – is simple, pairing a contoured Mahogany body and a Mahogany neck with bound Rosewood fingerboard. A pair of humbucking pickups feed to a individual volume and tone controls, a selector switch, and a top-mounted output jack. Here, the tuners are locking Grover Roto-Matics; these have minimal effect on tuning stability, but do have a significant effect on string change time!

This Gibson SG Standard was built during 2017 in Nashville Tennessee, and is in very good clean condition. It has one alteration from new, the bolt-on addition of a Duesenberg Les Trem II vibrato tailpiece.

Duesenberg Les Trem II -Tremolo System

This well-made accessory gives much more range than a Bigsby or Maestro Vibrola can, and works very smoothly. The original stop-bar tailpiece is included in the original hard shell case.

Here’s the builder on the current version of the Gibson SG Standard, the SG Standard ’61:

“The SG Standard ‘61 returns to the classic design that made it relevant, played and loved — shaping sound across generations and genres of music. In 1961, the Les Paul model was put on hiatus and an all new design evolved into what is today known as the SG or “solid guitar”. The Gibson SG Standard ’61 retains the styling of the original featuring a slim taper mahogany neck and a bound rosewood fingerboard. The mahogany body features deeply sculpted body scarfing, a 5-ply teardrop pickguard and a 22nd-fret neck joint. The nickel plated hardware includes a classic-style Tune-O-Matic bridge and keystone tuners. The pickups are 61R and 61T humbuckers for a classic voice with added power and top end. Controls feature audio taper potentiometers and orange drop capacitors.”

Current Gibson SG Standard 61 Specifications: