Vintage 1971 Gibson Angus Young SG Standard Ebony With Gig Bag

We've had a lot of vintage guitars here, many downright amazing, but every now and then one stops us in our tracks.  That's the case with this Gibson SG Standard from 1971.   That's the year of Led Zeppelin IV, A Clockwork Orange and of course when the first email was sent.  It's also when Gibson was in its Norlin era - so when we came across an SG from then that was built well and plays great, we got rather excited.

And then we heard the story about it and were blown away.  More on that in a moment.  First, back to the guitar (yes, we're building suspense here)....

Here we have a classic SG Standard - lightweight, easy to play and sporting the truly iconic look.  The mahogany body is resonant, even unplugged.  The mahogany neck has a slim taper profile.  It's topped with a really nice rosewood fretboard, adorned with binding and pearloid trapezoid inlays.  While you usually see these in Cherry or Walnut, here's a rare find in Ebony.

The guitar was modified with a stoptail and you can see the screws from what was there originally; the original vibrola system, screws, etc are in the gig bag if you want to convert it back.   Also, the neck was refretted here at Truetone some years ago, as the original frets were worn down.  Additionally, the pickups were replaced with Gibson Burstbuckers 1 & 2.  Everything else, including the finish, tuners and batwing pickguard, is all original.  

These pickups are unpotted, vintage-style humbuckers designed to replicate the legendary PAF tone of late 1950s Les Pauls.  Featuring Alnico 2 magnets and unbalanced, authentically inconsistent coil windings, they deliver an airy, open, and rich tone. The #1 (neck) has lower output, while the #2 (bridge) offers a slightly hotter, medium output.  You get an articulation that's hard to find with other pickups - whether playing clean or overdriven, the sound is amazing.

Now, on to the backstory.....

This guitar came to us from famed film and television director, producer and writer Jefery Levy.  He built a serious guitar collection over the years.  In 1997 he was producing and directing a television series in Australia called Roar, starring Heath Ledger.  Together, they went backstage at an AC/DC concert, met the band and partied with them afterwards at the hotel bar.  The next day, this guitar was delivered to the hotel with no note, no message, nothing.  It was the guitar Angus had played the night before at the concert.

This was told to us but to be clear, we do not have documentation or other provenance.  It is simply the story presented.  And quite the story!

The guitar is in great shape, especially considering its age.  There is normal player wear but nothing major.  The original case is gone, so we've paired it with a nice Gibson gig bag.  Setup to play perfectly by the techs in our shop, it's ready to go.

Any vintage SG is a great find, but especially one like this, with that backstory.  We have a feeling it won't be here for long.

 

Serial Number: 866266

Neck Depth:

12th fret - .976 in