'68 SG mods - a crime or a real need ?

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Hi my friends,
I just fell in love with a '68 SG Standard and, after having my wife bound to a chair and gagged , I purchased her....the guitar rings like a bell, she' s in very good conditions considering her age, the original PAFs seem to be within the specs ( 3.95H - 7.4 KOhm - stray capacitance 130 pf ), the circuit is still in pristine conditions with original pots, caps and brass shielding, the original "lyre vibrola" is still there as well; all in all she's the kind of guitar you would like to play all day long, instead of having her sitting inside her OHSC, but ( yes - there is one "but" ) when played at the highest gain settings I get an annoying feedback ( not much, but clearly audible ). I am facing an inner conflict with opposite feelings about this matter; if I want to take the most out of her I will most likely have to wax-pot the pickups, OTH the "old lady" is completely original and a big part of me ( the best ? ) would like to keep her the way she is "forgiving her" for her sins.

Your opinions are welcome and will help me to come to a decision, and hopefully, to do the "right" thing.
Best regards
Bob

[David Schwab]

Do the pickups have covers? Just take the covers off. Problem solved!

Or better yet... take the PAF's out, put them in a box, and get some Duncan Antiquities. They probably wont need potting, but if they do, you wont be throwing thousands of dollars away.

That's what I would do anyway. I've ruined enough old pickups before I knew any better and before they were worth an arm and a leg.

And congratulations on your new toy!

[John_H]

Nice guitar. Wouldn't a '68 have T tops in it? Anyway I'd do as David said and put the old pickups "in a box" and try something different.

[txstrat]

Well Bob,

congratulations on your purchase. I mean it. This is the guitar because of I wanted to learn to play the guitar (remember Angus Young?).
The first Gibson I owned (back in '78 - wow that long ago) was a 72 SG but it was NOT like a '68. You probably have one of the most sought after guitars in the world. I wouldn't spoil it with potting the PUs. If at all, I would do excatly what David proposed nothing more. Have fun with it. Um, could you post a pic?

Matt

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Hi!
Thanks for your fast replies,
your thoughts and worthwhile opinions really gave me a lot to think about....

I' ll first try to take the covers off as per David's advice, it should bring the resonant peak down somewhat, and eliminate the chance of resonance coming from the covers, though I think the feedback is indeed coming from the coils, as it's there even if I mute the strings....anyway that's all I'll do on the original pickups, ( as I still need my arms and legs ).

If taking off the covers does not cure the problem, the following step would be to try a modern version of my PAFs, even though I don' t like the idea of messing with the solder joints which look all original....anyway, I have measured some SD 59s in the past and found their specs to be very close to PAFs; ( David, I don't have the specs for the SD Antiquities you suggested, do you have them? )

John, AFAIK the T-tops are to be found on later SGs, this one has PAFs in it ( still with the original patent sticker on the back! ) - Maybe David can shed some light on this, but I' m pretty sure these PAFs are the original thing.

Matt, You' re right, after 1970 the quality dropped visibly, the bodies often were two pieces of mahogany, the MOP used for the inlays was far less figured; 72 SGs were simply horrible with that ugly control plate on the front ( which was a cost-cutting measure as it eliminated the need for the rear control routing ). Talking ' bout Angus, quite obviously, the first things I played when I laid my hands on her were "Hell's Bells" and "You Shook Me All Night Long".... ( But she' s also a great Rock-Blues machine IMHO ).

I have tried a 73 and a 74 and they fell very short of my expectations, but this babe is another story, as she sings even when unplugged ( the best way to evaluate an electric guitar IMHO ).

I will post some pics, just give me a little time to clean the baby a little, after all I think EVERY lady wants to put on some make-up before going out

Thanks

Best regards

Bob

[TD_Madden]

Hi!
Thanks for your fast replies,
your thoughts and worthwhile opinions really gave me a lot to think about....

I' ll first try to take the covers off as per David's advice, it should bring the resonant peak down somewhat, and eliminate the chance of resonance coming from the covers, though I think the feedback is indeed coming from the coils, as it's there even if I mute the strings....anyway that's all I'll do on the original pickups, ( as I still need my arms and legs ).

If taking off the covers does not cure the problem, the following step would be to try a modern version of my PAFs, even though I don' t like the idea of messing with the solder joints which look all original....anyway, I have measured some SD 59s in the past and found their specs to be very close to PAFs; ( David, I don't have the specs for the SD Antiquities you suggested, do you have them? )

John, AFAIK the T-tops are to be found on later SGs, this one has PAFs in it ( still with the original patent sticker on the back! ) - Maybe David can shed some light on this, but I' m pretty sure these PAFs are the original thing.

Matt, You' re right, after 1970 the quality dropped visibly, the bodies often were two pieces of mahogany, the MOP used for the inlays was far less figured; 72 SGs were simply horrible with that ugly control plate on the front ( which was a cost-cutting measure as it eliminated the need for the rear control routing ). Talking ' bout Angus, quite obviously, the first things I played when I laid my hands on her were "Hell's Bells" and "You Shook Me All Night Long".... ( But she' s also a great Rock-Blues machine IMHO ).

I have tried a 73 and a 74 and they fell very short of my expectations, but this babe is another story, as she sings even when unplugged ( the best way to evaluate an electric guitar IMHO ).

I will post some pics, just give me a little time to clean the baby a little, after all I think EVERY lady wants to put on some make-up before going out

Thanks

Best regards

Bob

Patent sticker or Patent-Applied-For sticker? If the former, go ahead and take off the covers....I'd be a LOT more hesitant if the latter!

[EFK]

If those pickups are actual pafs, with 'Patent Applied For' stickers, then someone put them there aftermarket. A 68 should have early t-tops, which from 65 to sometime in 75 I think carried a little black "Patent No. xxxxxx" sticker on the back and no other markings. Should both average @ 7.4-7.6 total dc. Great pickups.

[David Schwab]

I used to have a set of those pickups that I had taken out of a '57 Les Paul that someone had converted from P-90's. They also refinished the guitar from a gold top to this ugly brown color. The guitar player from a band I was in at the time bought it and wanted something with more oomph, so he had me replace the original Gibson pickups with Dimarzio PAF's which had just come out!

I had them in a LP copy which I ended up getting rid of about 5 years ago... who knew? They were just "old used pickups" back then.

You can find a lot of old 70's SG's with the P-90's changed to humbuckers too. I did a number of those conversions for people. People didn't seem to like the P-90's back then. Funny how tastes change.

[oc disorder]

Just for interest sake Angus Young donated a '92 SG (with the pu covers off)
to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/coll...1869&img=17900

Angus's brother George played in a band with Harry Vanda called "The Easybeats" (Friday On My Mind) and Harry's 12 string Maton from that era is also donated.
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/coll...6402&img=18345

Harry and George produced ACDC's first recordings...

Here endth the history lesson......;-)

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Patent sticker or Patent-Applied-For sticker? If the former, go ahead and take off the covers....I'd be a LOT more hesitant if the latter!

OOps TD....I don' t remember...... this means I' ll have to re-open the baby and take another look....I was about to do it anyway to do some "house cleaning".....meanwhile, I have been doin' some homework and found that T-tops have been used from 1967 onwards, so if they' re the original ones
( and I believe they really are ) they should be T-tops....probably John_H was right.....I' ll let y'all know ASAP.

I gave the specs in the thread starting post, ( 7,47 KOhm, 3,95 Henries, stray capacitance 130 pf ) and this should qualify them as T-tops, according to EFK' s statement.

Once again, thanks to each and every one of you for your precious comments.

Best regards

Bob

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Well Bob,

congratulations on your purchase. I mean it. This is the guitar because of I wanted to learn to play the guitar (remember Angus Young?).
The first Gibson I owned (back in '78 - wow that long ago) was a 72 SG but it was NOT like a '68. You probably have one of the most sought after guitars in the world. I wouldn't spoil it with potting the PUs. If at all, I would do excatly what David proposed nothing more. Have fun with it. Um, could you post a pic?

Matt

Et voila'

[txstrat]

WOW (sigh)

[Robert M. Martinelli]

I'm sorry to be such a bad photographer, but she looks pretty clean nonetheless.....Next time I'll change the strings I'll remove the pickguard and try to better identify the pickups, even if at this point I' m pretty sure they're T-tops....(thanks John_H ).

And, Matt, don't sigh....I'm sure one of these days a baby like this will cross your path, and it will be ever-lasting love....

( BTW, do you think at this point it is safe to free my wife from the ties that bind her to the chair and remove the gag as well? ).

Regards

Bob

[David Schwab]

That's really sweet!

I had a chance to buy one back when I was in high school ('72) with the sideways vibrato for dirt cheap. But the neck was very bowed, and I didn't know enough about that stuff back then.

Right after HS my girlfriend at the time had a nice SG Custom with the 3 humbuckers. She had a 100 Watt Marshall too! She could play and sing her ass off. I wonder where she is these days?

I wish I bought some of these guitars I wanted when they were still cheap.

[John_H]

Very nice! My first case of guitar envy involved one like that. My next door neighbor had one. This was in '73 or so. It sure made my Silvertone seem like a POS.