Guitars |
Gibson SG Special |
Gibson introduced what we'd now recognise as an SG in 1961 as the successor to the "Les Paul", though they
changed it's name to SG (Solid Guitar) in 1963, possibly due to Les Paul's low opinion of the
new body shape or his forthcoming divorce from Mary Ford.
Mine is an SG Special from around 1970 with Kluson "3 in a row" machine heads, mahogany neck and body,
rosewood fingerboard and the famous P90 single coil "soap bar" pickups.
The Special was discontinued in 1971, though re-issues are now available from the
Gibson custom shop, including the
Pete Townsend SG Special, which is a very similar model to mine.
- Neck radius - 12"
- Width at nut - 19⁄16"
- Scale length - 249⁄16" (24.563")
- Neck Profile - D
- Neck profile depth (Frets 1 & 12) - 20.0mm - 25.2mm
|
 |
 |
Gibson Guitars on the web |
|
Gibson Guitar and s/n info |
|
Gibson SG dedicated site |
|
Gibson SG Specials at Reverb |
|
Fender Jaguar |
Fender introduced the top of the range Jaguar in 1962 as an upgrade to the Jazzmaster. It used the same
body shape as the Jazzmaster as well as the bridge and vibrato unit.
The differences were the new chrome plates,
the 22 frets and its 24 inch scale length as opposed to the standard 25.5. The jaguar had newly designed pick-ups
in an attempt to reduce noise, as well as the most complex electronics seen on a Fender guitar up until that date.
My version is an amalgam of a 1965 neck and a 1963 (sunburst) body with original pickups, scratchplate, chrome
and tail-piece, but with replica machine heads, electrics and a Mastery bridge
which uses 3/8" (9.5mm) thimbles.
Neck heel stamp - 1 (Jaguar) MAY 65 (May 1965) B (1⅝" width at nut)
- Neck radius - 71⁄4"
- Width at nut - 15⁄8"
- Scale length - 24"
- Neck Profile - D
- Neck profile depth (Frets 1 & 12) - 19.9mm - 24.7mm
|
 |
|
Purchase Jaguar switch plate shim on Reverb |
|
Fender Jaguar guitars on the web |
|
Fender Custom Shop Jaguar guitars |
|
Fender Custom Colors |
|
Fender Guitar and s/n info |
|
1962-1968 Fender Jaguar info |
|
Fender Jaguar reference info |
|
Fender Jaguar pickup circuitry |
|
Mastery Offset replacement bridge for Jaguar/Jazzmaster |
|
Offset Guitars - photos, history & setup |
|
Staytrem Tremolo Collet Fitting |
|
Staytrem Tremolo Arm Insertion |
|
Gibson Moderne (copy) |
The Gibson Moderne is an electric guitar model prototyped by Gibson in 1957. It was designed alongside the Flying V and Explorer-"Futura"
as part of a stylistically advanced line of electric guitars. However, unlike the Flying V and Explorer, the Moderne was not put into production at the time.
Because few prototypes were made in the 1950s, and no authenticated example is currently known, the hypothetical 1958 Moderne has been called the "mythical great white
whale" or "holy grail" of collectible guitars
By the mid-1950s Gibson Guitar Company had lost considerable market share to rival Fender's Telecaster and Stratocaster models and created three modernistic
solid-body guitar concepts in an attempt to strike back. On June 27, 1957, Gibson President Ted McCarty filed three designs with the United States Patent
Office which would come to be called "Flying V", "Explorer", and (unofficially, by later historians) "Moderne". The design patents were issued on
January 7, 1958; however, after getting an exceedingly poor reception at NAMM 1957, Gibson decided not to produce the Moderne. There is only a vague
mention of "Mod. Guitars" on a shipping list, which some argue applies to Explorers. Gibson engineer Rendall Wall
(and later co-founder of Heritage Guitars) played one in the early 1960s for a local performance of Bye Bye Birdie. Wall recounted that he got it out
of Gibson's "morgue", and that he could have bought it for $50: it was so ugly that nobody wanted it. He returned it after the show, saying he was
more a country player than a rock and roll player.
Some Gibson employees said that no prototypes were ever made, others, including Ted McCarty, say that a few were made, but nobody knows where they went.
Some Gibson employees from that time also say that two men took parts being used to make the Moderne prototypes and assembled some outside the factory.
They were "re"-issued by Gibson in 1980 at the NAMM show in Atlanta as part of the "Heritage Series" and later produced in Korea by Epiphone.
Modernes have the usual Gibson combination of two humbuckers
(I've installed a pair of Curtis Novak Humbuckers), adjustable
Tune-o-Matic bridge (mine is a TonePros T3BT-G)
and stop tailpiece. Unlike most 2-pickup Gibsons, the Moderne has a single master tone control
rather than separate neck and bridge pots. I've used push/pull pots to split the hubuckers into single coils using
this schema.
Because of their very limited production and forward design, Gibson Modernes are highly sought after by collectors.
- Neck radius - 14"
- Width at nut - 13⁄4"
- Scale length - 243⁄4"
- Neck Profile - D
- Neck profile depth (Frets 1 & 12) - 19.9mm - 24.7mm
|
 |
 |
Moderne Coil-tap Wiring Diagram |
|
Ibanez Blazer Bass |
Mine is a 1982 model made in Japan. Basically just a
Fender Precision copy with a Sen ash body and maple fingerboard.
I did originally change the pick-ups for some
Seymour Duncan
SPB-3s, but they were just far too distorted for my liking, so now I've bought some
Curtis Novak PB-Vs which I like a lot more.
I've now swapped the neck for a fretless (factory) version, keeping the old neck should I want to revert later.
- Neck radius - 71⁄4"
- Width at nut -42.5mm
- Scale length - 34"
- Neck Profile - D
- Neck profile depth (Frets 1 & 12) - 20.8mm - 25.2mm
|
 |
|
|
Gibson EB0 Bass |
Mine is a 1960 model made in USA. This has the same body shape as a Les Paul Special/Junior DC from
the same era (my favourite body shape). It came to me as a hacked about carcass body and neck and I've tried to
sympathetically refurbish it without modifying it too much, though it had been routed for a second pickup, a feature which I've
kept. All new pickups ar from Curtis Novak,
an EB-0 for the neck
pickup and a Bisonic clone BS-DS for the new bridge pickup.
The replacement bridge is a
Hipshot Supertone 5G410C with the following spec. The Hipshot bridge setup procedure is
here.
- Neck radius - 10"
- Width at nut - 111⁄16"
- Scale length - 301⁄2"
- Neck Profile - Fat C
- Neck profile depth (Frets 1 & 12) - 22.6mm - 27.0mm
|
 |
|
Reverb article on the original B0 bases
|
|
Original EB0s on sale at Reverb
|
|