NGD: 1974 Gibson SG - and a heart-warming story for a cold day

TTBZ

Awesome looking guitar with a great story! Wish my SG looked anywhere near that cool...

imalrightjack

Okay, so I loosened the bridge and raised it. I thought it was meant to be flush with the body. I presume not. Plays and sounds great, even with 9s! Still needs electronic work and a setup but pretty chuffed. It sings. 

imalrightjack

Another question, if I may:

It's holding 9s with no issues, which is reassuring. I intend to have 10s on it. I can only presume putting on 10s is the best way to test the neck repair?

impmann

imalrightjack said:

Another question, if I may:

It's holding 9s with no issues, which is reassuring. I intend to have 10s on it. I can only presume putting on 10s is the best way to test the neck repair?

Try it. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine.

ICBM

imalrightjack said:

Another question, if I may:

It's holding 9s with no issues, which is reassuring. I intend to have 10s on it. I can only presume putting on 10s is the best way to test the neck repair?

Put it on the floor and stand on it. If it breaks, it needed redoing anyway. If it doesn't, you'll never worry about it again.
















No, don't. Not with your full weight, anyway...

imalrightjack

@icbm I'm quite light. I'll take a tentative step on it tonight when I'm home

Is there a genuinely better way other than stringing it?

Bridgehouse

imalrightjack said:

@icbm I'm quite light. I'll take a tentative step on it tonight when I'm home

Is there a genuinely better way other than stringing it?

I don't think so. Wear goggles. And a leather jerkin and some gauntlets

imalrightjack

@Bridgehouse Thermal longjohns already in place. 

Philly_Q

Bridgehouse said:

imalrightjack said:

@icbm I'm quite light. I'll take a tentative step on it tonight when I'm home

Is there a genuinely better way other than stringing it?

I don't think so. Wear goggles. And a leather jerkin and some gauntlets

And a cricket box.

imalrightjack

@SteveRobinson got the job of setting this up (rewire, fretwork, new nut, etc.). @TheGuitarWeasel took on the role of potting the pickups and covering them. Popped some nice shiny top hat knobs on and it plays brilliantly and sounds excellent. The bottom E string intonation isn't right (@SteveRobinson - any suggestions?), which is my only gripe. I've tried adjusting the saddle back and forward can't seem to get it bang on - it always seems flat. Anyway, here it is!

richardhomer

Looking great @imalrightjack.

If the fretted note is flat compared to the harmonic, you need to shorten the string my adjusting the saddle forwards. From the picture, there appears to be plenty of travel left.

It could be a faulty string - or you may have the neck pick-up too close to the strings which can cause intonation issues.

Branshen

What an amazing transformation. That guitar deserves an owner like you. Very well done. Was the headstock break redone? 

imalrightjack

Branshen said:

What an amazing transformation. That guitar deserves an owner like you. Very well done. Was the headstock break redone? 

Thanks, @richardhomer I'll check those. 

Headstock was left, @Branshen - I'd kind of like an aged refinish but it's not justifiable. I promise I'll take care of it!

Iamnobody

Looking good and a great story. Is it is as good as you remember from 25 years ago?

70’s SG’s aren’t for the purists but the one I had despite the busted headstock and refinish was a great player. 

SteveRobinson

richardhomer said:

It could be a faulty string - or you may have the neck pick-up too close to the strings which can cause intonation issues.

Yes these are the possible causes of your intonation problems. If you've tried a different string then try lowering the pickups. Magnet pull is more of an issue with single coils but it's worth a go.

ThorpyFX

Youve done an amazing job to restore that guitar to glory,  have you shown the former owner yet?

imalrightjack

@Iamnobody It definitely plays as well as I remember. Perhaps better. It's moved 2 x PRS USA to the sales pile.

@ThorpyFX The former owner saw a picture and didn't seem too fussed! 

imalrightjack

@SteveRobinson or anybody that might know, I've got the string height sat at 2mm treble side, 2.5mm bass side, from 12th to 22nd fret .This is too high for me. Should I be adjust the bridge height to get it lower? 

mr-mac

Stunning

SteveRobinson

imalrightjack said:

@SteveRobinson or anybody that might know, I've got the string height sat at 2mm treble side, 2.5mm bass side, from 12th to 22nd fret .This is too high for me. Should I be adjust the bridge height to get it lower? 

If the neck has too much relief, adjust that first. Once the neck is straight enough then reduce the bridge height as far as practicable.