Gibson SG Standard, Polaris White (1968)

Revival? Restoration? Rebuild? Call it whatever you want. As soon as you put your hands on this 1968 Gibson SG Standard, none of that will matter.

Laurent Brondel. Man, this guy is a total wizard.

When this '68 SG Standard first came into our shop, we knew we had a good one on our hands. Lightweight, T Tops, no headstock or heel break... enough for us to recognize the potential. It had been stripped of its original finish, which was likely Polaris White based on what we observed in the pores of the Mahogany and in the control cavity.

It had been previously converted from a factory Vibrola (standard for the Standard) to a stopbar tailpiece, had its pickguard swapped out, and tuners changed from Klusons to Grovers way back (these Grovers are of the Pat Pend variety like many of the early sets).

The original frets were cooked, but the feel and acoustic response of the guitar was impressive... really impressive. This is where Laurent gets brought into the fold. We shipped up this pseudo-husk to Laurent's shop, where he meticulously resuscitated this SG to the gorgeous instrument you see before you.

He replaced the thinned out and brittle fingerboard binding, masterfully refretted the neck with Jescar 51100 wire, filled the stopbar holes in the body, and performed one of the nicest looking aged refinish jobs we've seen in this style.

A new MojoAxe pickguard was installed, the repro Vibrola was lightly aged to match some of the natural patina of the vintage/original chrome plated parts, and the guitar was set up in true LB fashion- incredibly smooth playing like a modern-built instrument, without compromising the sound and feel of a vintage guitar.

What others may have considered too far gone, Laurent proved that great vintage guitars are worthy of a second chance. We're just totally knocked out by the end result, and we couldn't envision a world where its next owner would feel any differently.

Paired with its original hardshell case.