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Thread: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    I was playing my faded '61 Reissue and wondering...


    These faded finishes are meant to resemble a played in/old Gibson guitar, but:


    As a matter of fact I've never held a real 60s Gibson with my own hands. Does the nitro actualy sinks that deep, so that you can feel the grain? Or does is just shrink and crackle?


    I like the faded finish, I especially dig how it ages itself, I'm just curious.

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    I've not seen an actual vintage Gibson with a finish like the faded. I believe the word is 'mimic' the finish in like how a prey species will sometimes mimic a poisonous species as in the case of some butterflies. At first glance it is similar but upon closer inspection the difference is obvious.

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Quote Originally Posted by Sérgio View Post
    I was playing my faded '61 Reissue and wondering...


    These faded finishes are meant to resemble a played in/old Gibson guitar, but:


    As a matter of fact I've never held a real 60s Gibson with my own hands. Does the nitro actualy sinks that deep, so that you can feel the grain? Or does is just shrink and crackle?


    I like the faded finish, I especially dig how it ages itself, I'm just curious.
    It does not look like the faded finishes. I have two old Gibson made guitars- a 1959 ES-225TD and a 1964 Epiphone Olympic. I'll try to post a pic of the Olympic later. The 225 is not a great example to compare to because it's mostly maple and I believe it's been over sprayed.

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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    IMO
    It does sink in, but the newer ones sand and buff over the finish which leaves squarer edges on the grain than vintage plus the vintage used more grain filler which I think they leave off the new ones? As far a finish colors faded is a nebulous thing. Reds turn brown if left in the sun, or disappear entirely. Brown just stays brown...

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Here's my '64 Epiphone Olympic. The finish has a lot of checking but it's still pretty shiny.

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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Here's a shot that might help as well. If you look around the halo a bit you can see the finish sinking in, but not a huge amount. And this is a red that is very brown now (this is a 59 Junior).



    And here's a 62 LP Junior with some sink, but really pretty smooth. I have seen differences even in same years. It's how they are stored more I think.




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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Quote Originally Posted by renderit View Post
    IMO
    It does sink in, but the newer ones sand and buff over the finish which leaves squarer edges on the grain than vintage plus the vintage used more grain filler which I think they leave off the new ones? As far a finish colors faded is a nebulous thing. Reds turn brown if left in the sun, or disappear entirely. Brown just stays brown...

    This is more or less what I had in mind.

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    The other day I was comparing my faded SG to my father's nearly 30 year-old Mario Gropp... The acoustic did have filler on it, but it sunk a lot, and the grain is quite easily felt...





    I think it'll depend on how much the guitar was sprayed and how thick is the nitro layer.

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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    IMNSHO, the faded finishes are simply a trick to use a less expensive method. Guitars in the day were finished pretty much the same as furniture. Find a dining room table form the 50's and that's what will look like. The finishes didn't sink into the wood, they checked and cracked.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    IMNSHO, the faded finishes are simply a trick to use less expensive method. Guitars in the day were finished pretty much the same as furniture. Find a dining room table form the 50's and that's what will look like. The finishes didn't sink into the wood, they checked and cracked.

    BTW, is that a granadilla fretboard on the SG?
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Baked Maple

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    I think your SG has a lot of character. It doesn't matter about the baked maple or the faux-aged finish. If it sounds good and plays well, it's a gem.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    I think your SG has a lot of character. It doesn't matter about the baked maple or the faux-aged finish. If it sounds good and plays well, it's a gem.
    I'd play the chit outta it! Looks rather inviting to me...

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the SG.

    it is what it is, a 2012 Gibson SG, not a 1961 Les Paul. Gibson made it that way, it was available and I bought it to play live (just like a certain Mr. Krieger bought his back in the 60s and chose it because it was there... and was just a Gibson SG ). I'm a guitar player, not a collector/aficionado...

    I was just curious.

    Neither the finish nor the fretboard (not an issue with BM) make me hold anything back when I'm on stage with it.

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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Quote Originally Posted by Sérgio View Post
    Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the SG.

    it is what it is, a 2012 Gibson SG, not a 1961 Les Paul. Gibson made it that way, it was available and I bought it to play live (just like a certain Mr. Krieger bought his back in the 60s and chose it because it was there... and was just a Gibson SG ). I'm a guitar player, not a collector/aficionado...

    I was just curious.

    Neither the finish nor the fretboard (not an issue with BM) make me hold anything back when I'm on stage with it.
    I didn't get you wrong. I was admiring your fiddle... I don't think it needs to be anything other than what it is.

  16. #16

    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Quote Originally Posted by Don View Post
    Here's my '64 Epiphone Olympic. The finish has a lot of checking but it's still pretty shiny.
    Thats really nice, anymore pics? I think Renderit's photos pretty much cover it. I can't actually 'feel' the grain on any of my vintage guitars even though the finish has sunk in quite a bit. You're SG looks fantastic btw, Sergio.

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: About vintage Gibsons (especially SGs)

    Quote Originally Posted by Spikeymikey View Post
    Thats really nice, anymore pics? I think Renderit's photos pretty much cover it. I can't actually 'feel' the grain on any of my vintage guitars even though the finish has sunk in quite a bit. You're SG looks fantastic btw, Sergio.
    Thanks, man, and welcome aboard!

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