Introduced in 1979 to replace the Special, the “The SG” was a budget version stripped of adornments, built in walnut and given a thin skin of nitrocellulose. Featuring new humbucking pickups by Bill Lawerence, the model was usurped by the uglier Firebrand in 1980. 

The guitar itself is in good shape. The finish hasn't worn very much apart from a patch where a forearm has been resting. There are dinks and marks all over the body and some buckle marks on the back but no sign of any breaks or repairs. 

The neck too is in great condition and has worn wonderfully. It is a fuller feeling neck and quite different to the standard SG of the era which was skinnier. The original frets have plenty of life left in them and the ebony fretboard is in great shape. The headstock has a few marks but nothing too substantial. The serial number dates the guitar to July 1979.

The hardware is in good condition. It looks like it originally may have been fitted with the unpopular Gibson harmonica bridge but someone has sensibly replaced it with an ABR-1 type bridge however if you really wanted to put a harmonica bridge back on you can do so easily without damage. The tailpiece appears to be correct. The correct Grover tuners are in good condition.

Plastics show no sign of wear. The knobs, although they are the correct type, they look too clean to be originals so are probably repros.

Electrically everything looks undisturbed with pots dated week 22 1979. The pickups are date stamped June 1979

The guitar comes with a soft case.

This guitar is great to play with the neck having been worn to a smooth surface. The ceramic magnet loaded pickups give this guitar a more aggressive edge compared to its older siblings. They sound great though, very evocative of the time. 

So much more than the budget Gibson badge, this guitar rocks and shouldn’t be overlooked.