Vintage guitar of the week #3 - 1976 Gibson SG Standard

This week's feature vintage guitar is a nice woody SG from '76.

The '76 SG Standard is a bargain.

The best part about this particular SG is its weight at just a tick under 8 pounds. This makes the guitar a nice, lightweight easy player.

The body material is, of course, mahogany. The neck is also mahogany.

The finish on this particular SG is called walnut, and it takes to it well. Very nice grain lines throughout. I particularly like how the back of the neck looks as it has a very nice, deep, rich color to it. The back of the body also looks great too, but what you'll be looking at most of the time is the back of the neck.

My favorite type of SGs have the "half guard" at the bottom, which this one does have. I prefer these because Tony Iommi typically plays SGs that have this exact same pick guard type.

Incidentally, you can get the same half guard in an SG for cheap with the Epiphone G-400 model. So if you can't afford this '76 SG, Epiphone has you covered. There are even a few models that almost look identical to the '76, walnut style color finish and all.

Usable?

Yes, very usable. This kind of older guitar is what I call "practical vintage." You could play it regularly and even gig with it - not that you would gig with it, but you could.

Also, if you've never bought a vintage electric before, this SG would be a really good start. The purchase price is very reasonable for what it is, it's certain to appreciate in value, and you get a genuinely good, playable instrument you can actually use and enjoy. This is a complete guitar that needs nothing other than maybe a basic setup by you once you put your preferred strings on it.

So yes, usable, a safe buy and cheap as far as a vintage electric is concerned - especially for a Gibson...

...although it goes without saying that you get a much, much better build today with today's modern Epiphone SG Standard, arguably the best SG that exists for the right price.

Published 2015 Jul 25