Help on a 1974 Gibson SG valuation

ThomFripp

I'm interested in buying a '74 SG I saw on Facebook recently but wondering how much I should be paying for it. He's asking £1500 but I reckon somewhere closer to £1000 is reasonable, any experts on here able to help me out?

Couldn't find any past sales of similar guitars on here, but if anyone has evidence of them going for less that'd be even more helpful!

If people think £1500 is a good price then fair enough, I'd just like to make sure!

Link to Facebook Ad:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/110235476285758

Thanks in advance,

Thom

Funkfingers

Impossible to say without getting your mitts on the guitar to give it a thorough going over. 

guitars4you

The guitar looks ok according to pics I can see - an earlier Selmer case by the looks of things - The case can have a value to certain players as many UK imported guitars from Gibson in the 60's came with a Selmer case

£1500 is certainly pushing it especially on a private sale - granted you don't see shed loads around now - However if his thought pattern is £1500 then I don't see him dropping a 1/3 in value unless he needs the cash - You can hang around until you see another one - At £1500 I'd want no fret issues, clean pots/switch and 100% kosher - £1000/1200 is more in line IMO on a private sale

Skipped

Early 70's SGs are OK guitars. Some of them look ugly but when you actually pick one up you find that the neck/playability is much better then you expected.

That made them a great second hand buy from the mid 70's onwards.
They were a great buy because they were cheap.
I agree with all of the thoughts from guitars4you about the asking price.

Obvious question for the OP is "Why do you want one?"
If you were born in 1974 that would be a great reason to want one.
If not......£1500 is getting close to a second hand Historic Gibson SG.

Jack_

Brown not Cherry, half the value.

bodhi

Have you ever played one of these?  I had a '73/'74 SG Special and it had a super thin neck.

ThomFripp

Haven't played one, but will play it before buying - just don't want to put the seller out on meeting when I'm not willing to pay his asking price. Wanted an SG for a while, thought a 70s one would be a good way to go because they're vintage but cheap.bodhi said:

Have you ever played one of these?  I had a '73/'74 SG Special and it had a super thin neck.

It's an SG Standard rather than Special, but yeah I'll be making sure the neck is comfortable for me before buying.

Cheers everyone, keep the thoughts coming!

guitars4you

ThomFripp said:

Haven't played one, but will play it before buying - just don't want to put the seller out on meeting when I'm not willing to pay his asking price. Wanted an SG for a while, thought a 70s one would be a good way to go because they're vintage but cheap.bodhi said:

Have you ever played one of these?  I had a '73/'74 SG Special and it had a super thin neck.

It's an SG Standard rather than Special, but yeah I'll be making sure the neck is comfortable for me before buying.

Cheers everyone, keep the thoughts coming!

the SG Standard necks from this era don't feel like many of today's SG's - I don't mean better/worse as it is a matter of opinion - Fat/wide + low frets of this era are again an acquired taste - but see how you get on

And yes somewhat of a 'vintage vibe' for less dollars - I don't think most of the 70's guitars can ever be considered vintage to the purist, but I get your point that they possess some old school vibe, a bit different to a new guitar, so some character at an affordable price - And you won't loose much in the short term if you had to sell it and in the long term it should increase in value

Whilst they aren't rare/unique, neither are they 10 a penny

Trotter

Expensive IMO. I picked up a 70's SG from @Iamnobody a few years ago for around £600. it did have a near invisible headstock repair so worth less than a clean, straight example obviously but not nearly a grands difference! completely agree with @guitars4you 's thoughts on price. 

As a self confessed SG fan, I found the neck too thin in comparison to my other SG's so it got moved on fairly shortly after I bought it. nice little guitar though. 

John_P

He's just dropped the price to £1300 so it's getting closer to a good price imo.   
If it had neck binding I might have been interested but there appears to be a few variations around that time including pickup spacing and bigsby options.  

welshboyo

I had one very similar to the one being sold - I've also had many other SG's after it..

Those 70's SG's are about as far removed from an SG as you can get IMO - the only things that are similar are the body shape (debatable) and the Logo.

I had a 72 and didn't sound anything like other SG's, it was bland sounding, a clubby neck and the brown colour didn't help matters either.

IMO, I would save your money and buy a used 62 reissue..

knuckleberryfinn

I sold a 74 special about three years ago for £850 and felt pretty lucky. I'd agree with @welshboyo - the 62 reissue I had was a VERY different guitar. 

Iamnobody

Trotter said:

Expensive IMO. I picked up a 70's SG from @Iamnobody a few years ago for around £600. it did have a near invisible headstock repair so worth less than a clean, straight example obviously but not nearly a grands difference! completely agree with @guitars4you 's thoughts on price. 

As a self confessed SG fan, I found the neck too thin in comparison to my other SG's so it got moved on fairly shortly after I bought it. nice little guitar though. 

That's one was a '79, with a refinish, refret, non original pickups and like you say the neck break. I'm pretty sure it was £550 as well! But the mods kept the price low obviously.

It was a nice guitar that was well setup I thought. If I didn't have two other SG's at the time I probably would have kept it.

The body is bereft of the proper contouring on 70's SG's which is a shame.

I'd only consider one if I'd played it and it played great or like someone else mentioned a sentimental reason like YOB.

Bridgehouse

1974 is my YOB, so I'd have an excuse to buy it.

But I wouldn't. I tried one once. It was okay-ish.



To be perfectly honest, I just couldn't get past the brown....