Dating a 70s Gibson SG guitar?

[bholder]

The Guitar Dater Project has some flaws but in this case, it's correct.

With a dot neck and binding, yours is an SG Special from that era. With the black min-hums, I'd place it as a 70 or 71.

That bridge is not a Nashville bridge, which wasn't introduced until about 77, after Gibson opened their Nashville factory.

Thanks, so is there a name for this bridge type?  Looking to see if I can find a roller bridge replacement that will fit on the existing bridge studs...

[gearHed289]

Cool, never saw one of those. Guitarist I played with in high school had the SG Standard right above yours. Loved that guitar. Jimmy McCulloch played one with Wings. I think I've seen that bridge referred to as a "harmonica bridge".

[Dave W]

Always thought they were cheapies as it was a "copy" Bigsby... paid £200 for the 3 items... mind you, I paid £200 for the PC too...

No, it's a real Bigsby, not a copy. Branded Gibson, just as Schaller and Kluson branded their tuners with the Gibson logo. See, now your SG just became more valuable!

I wonder if the sg I and II had the same pickups as the SB350 and SB450,they sure look the same.

Not sure, I think so. The predecessor SG100 and 200 had the same pickups as the SB300 and 400.

[Dave W]

Thanks, so is there a name for this bridge type?  Looking to see if I can find a roller bridge replacement that will fit on the existing bridge studs...

Cool, never saw one of those. Guitarist I played with in high school had the SG Standard right above yours. Loved that guitar. Jimmy McCulloch played one with Wings. I think I've seen that bridge referred to as a "harmonica bridge".

Right. That bridge was made by Schaller and is usually called the Schaller harmonica bridge. It hasn't been made by Schaller for years. Kluson makes a replacement that supposedly doesn't require any modification and seems to be more substantial than the original. I don't know if the Schaller roller bridge would fit the studs, and even if it did, it probably wouldn't align b/c the harmonica bridge mounting is straight across while the ABR and Nashville are angled.

[uwe]

That bridge looks conspiciously similar to what was on the SB-300 and -400. Wouldn't be surprised if that stemmed from Schaller too. I never thought about it that way, but now it does look a bit German as hardware goes.



In this article it's called a "Multiplex" bridge - same era too: 70/71.

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Replacing_Saddles_on_a_1971_Gibson_SB_300_Bass

Speaking of SB-300s, look who playwd one:



The young Austrian bassist would later on - with some Dutch help by the Bolland Brothers - go on to an international career ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVikZ8Oe_XA

[bholder]

Right. That bridge was made by Schaller and is usually called the Schaller harmonica bridge. It hasn't been made by Schaller for years. Kluson makes a replacement that supposedly doesn't require any modification and seems to be more substantial than the original. I don't know if the Schaller roller bridge would fit the studs, and even if it did, it probably wouldn't align b/c the harmonica bridge mounting is straight across while the ABR and Nashville are angled.

Hey thanks for that Kluson replacement bridge link!  Excellent! 

[Highlander]

The bridge/Bigsby combination on mine just does not work... instantly puts the beast out of tune... bridge wobbles on the studs...

[Dave W]

The bridge/Bigsby combination on mine just does not work... instantly puts the beast out of tune... bridge wobbles on the studs...

A Bigsby that causes a guitar to go out of tune?

[amptech]

The bridge/Bigsby combination on mine just does not work... instantly puts the beast out of tune... bridge wobbles on the studs...

You have the Gibson/Bigsby with the white solid teflon-like bearing? I think it's the bearing that does not age well. I used this unit on a 6 string (EB-6) Project, but I replaced the teflon bearings with needle roller bearings. Took some time to locate the bearings, but when fitted the unit stays in tune very well! And it's a rather cheap mod.

[uwe]

A Bigsby that causes a guitar to go out of tune?

Given the excesses that followed the introduction of Floyd Rose and Kahler tremolo systems in the early 80ies, I'm not sure whether the inherent limits of the Bigsby were necessarily a bad thing. 

[bholder]

The bridge/Bigsby combination on mine just does not work... instantly puts the beast out of tune... bridge wobbles on the studs...

Yeah, trying to find a roller bridge that will fit mine (may require a visit to a local machine shop for mods).  Even used very modestly, completely out of tune, worse than most Bigsby equipped guitars.

[4stringer77]

The bridge on the SG special looks more like the guitar version of the evertilt two point bass bridge to me. No wonder a Bigsby would wreak havoc with it. I'm shuddering at the notion of a Bigsby being on an EB1. There's plenty of room for one but I'm sure nobody in their right mind would attempt installing one.

[uwe]

Bigsbys are tunally (sic!) totally ok as long as you don't touch them while playing. Or look too hard. 

My son installed a Bigsby on his Firebird. Not because of the vibrato effect but for the change in sound the bridge made on the guitar. He liked that slightly hollow tone.

[Dave W]

The bridge on the SG special looks more like the guitar version of the evertilt two point bass bridge to me. No wonder a Bigsby would wreak havoc with it. I'm shuddering at the notion of a Bigsby being on an EB1. There's plenty of room for one but I'm sure nobody in their right mind would attempt installing one.

The harmonica bridge does look a bit like the Evertilt, but it doesn't tilt like one.

Many people think that a Bigsby needs to have a roller bridge for better tuning stability, which may be why the OP is looking for one to replace the harmonica bridge. IMHO as long as the bridge is stable, it makes little or no difference.

[slinkp]

The one rock player that I played with that used a Bigsby had it on a rather battered and modified Guild archtop. The bridge was a floating wooden saddle type. That guitar stayed in tune rather well even with working the bigsby pretty hard.  He also played with 013 gauge strings. Not your garden variety player.  It sounded great.