Widely considered one of the best years of Gibson electric instruments in the 1960s, 1964 marked the last full year of wide-nut construction on many of their guitar lines. This 1964 Gibson SG Junior in its original Cherry finish is an excellent example of the often desired "Pre-1965" single-pickup solidbody.

With only a few changes made to correct some of the more common (and unfavorable) mods that grew to popularity in the 80s, this SG Junior is an excellent playing and sounding example that captures the essence of these single-pickup tone monsters beautifully! It features the aforementioned wide nut at 1 11/16" along with a killer sounding original Dogear P90 pickup, smooth playing neck, and a lightweight Mahogany body that has great resonance.

The neck profile leans a bit more into the '63 camp than the fatter, fuller carve often found in 1964, with a shallower profile at the first fret that tapers up to a meatier feel around frets 10-12. The neck shape is also in line with 62/63 necks where there's a slight amount of flatness to an otherwise C carve - sort of like a C/D hybrid. There's evidence of some fret work having been done, but it does not appear the entire neck was refretted. The nut was replaced some time ago, possibly when some hardware changes were made.

The P90 measures a bit on the hotter side at just over 8.2k, yielding rich, bold tones with great midrange and some focused top end. These guitars sound tremendous into a cranked amp or paired up with your favorite overdrive, and in typical Junior fashion provide many shades of chime and sparkle to all-out roar with a tweak of the volume and tone knobs. The wiring harness is original to the guitar, with CTS potentiometers revealing just enough of the '64xx' pot codes to identify year of manufacture. Some additional shielding was added inside the control cavity and on the underside of the back plate, likely to reduce some 60-cycle hum under heavier gain.

The original Cherry finish is quite clean with very little fading, maintaining a nice deep red as opposed to the lighter red/brown these tend to exhibit after years of UV exposure. Decades ago, the original Kluson strip tuners were replaced with Schaller machines, and the original lightning bar wraparound tailpiece was tossed for Leo Quan Badass bridge - oh the humanity! Thankfully, we knew better and outfitted the guitar with a fresh set of Kluson Deluxe reissue strip tuners and a great MojoAxe lightning bar wraparound bridge/tailpiece. The guitar also left the factory with the Maestro short vibrola often seen on SGs and Firebirds of the era, but it came to us with nothing but the screws that once affixed it to the body. If the next owner is so inclined, a short vibrola can be reinstalled with minimal effort. We find the majority of players like it strung up with the wraparound bridge for increased sustain and better tuning stability.

The are a couple of pickguard cracks where the material had shrunken and pulled away from the screws - a very common issue on 60s Gibsons. It's still quite and remains mostly flat to the body without impacting playability. The original black reflector knobs are in good shape with just the lettering having worn away from the reflector inserts. It's a crack-free, break-free example, and a great one at that!

Priced with aftermarket hardshell form-fitting case (TKL style)

• Mahogany body and neck
• Rosewood fingerboard w/ dot inlays
• 1 11/16" nut width
• '63/'64 neck profile: .80" @ 1st fret / .96" @ 12th fret
• Original Dogear P90: 8.23k
• Original pickguard and reflector knobs
• Replacement Kluson Deluxe strip tuners w/ white buttons
• Replaced bridge - MojoAxe lightning bar style, aged nickel
• Weight: 6lb 5oz