-sigh-
Yesterday, I found this on eBay.
This is a 2007 release of my main guitar in my rocker days! It's an exact replica of the was my old SG Jr. looked when it was new. It wasn't new when I bought it for $200, but it had been treated nicely. It was the first real guitar I owned, and I made some changes that made it better. I replaced the stock trapeeze bridge with a Leo Quan Badass tunable bridge, and the old soap-bar pickup was replaced with a DiMarzio soap-bar humbucker in creme, and the old knobs gave way to gold barrel knobs.
The original tuning machines on my SG had been the open-gear, ultra cheapo ones Gibson used to offer, so I replaced them with nice chrome Schallers. I also replaced the strap pegs with Jim Dunlop Straplocks.
I bought mine when I was still in my late teens, in my first band Achilles. It was my main guitar in White Harlem, although I had bought a Stratocaster by that time, the SG was my main instrument. It was so light and easy to play. The 24.75" scale was perfect for my small hands and the mahogany neck and body had such a nice warm tone. I wish I had never sold it.
But now this one appears on eBay for $790 plus shipping!
I want it. I really want it. Even though I have a perfectly wonderful Carvin AE185 already, I still want it.
AIn't she pretty? Sweet, versatile and just about perfect. With all the pickup tonal options, Gina is all the guitar I should ever need.
But that's one of the curses of the guitar player. You always want more. I guess it's no different than anything else people geek about. You always want to collect more of the things you love. So the reasonable side of me says to be grateful for what I have. But the irrational side still wants to recapture that magic of my youth. Financially, I could swing it, but it would be a pretty hard hit and I just can't justify a luxury such as this right now.
But I really, really want this guitar.
Sa-weet! My first "real" guitar was also an SG (Standard, bought new in '72 or '73). Sold it a decade or so later, and bought a '64 Epiphone Coronet, their version of the SG Junior: double cutaway, thin fast neck, cherry nitro lacquer, single P-90 pickup, one volume, one tone. It's an amazing instrument and hands-down the best rock guitar I've owned. I'm still playing it, and have never tired of its awesome tone and cool vintage vibe.
ReplyDeleteLately, to ease my more-or-less constant case of GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome), and lacking pockets sufficiently deep to afford vintage Gibsons/Fenders/Rickenbackers, I've taken to buying vintage Japanese guitars from the late 60's/early 70's. I've found that the instruments made by Kawai (also rebadged under many other names) are of surprisingly good quality, and with a little tweaking play well and sound quite good.
That said, ~$800 sounds like a reasonable price for the SG Jr. reissue. I've always preferred the larger "batwing" pickguard over the smaller "half" guard, and the P-90 is my all-time favorite pickup. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and seems to me a perfectly valid reason for buying a fine musical instrument. ;)
Happy trails!