Gibson SG Junior

I've had mine for over 30 years. If I'm reading the way Gibson sorts it's serial numbers correctly, mine is a 66 (maybe a 67). Over the past 30 some odd years I've gotten away from the SG, playing Strats, Teles, Ibanez, & gizmos and gadgets to alter the sound and have recently gotten back to the old SG for its simplicity. With all the crap I've messed with and their complexity I've found I really enjoy the SG with a no frills tube amp and 1 or 2 simple on/off effects pedals.

I was fairly young (and not too bright) at the time and (it was considered fairly cheap back then) I did a bit of hacking to it adding a bridge position D'Marzio in a addition to the P-90. Gave it awesome thick/rich tone but cut the volume in half. Didn't know what I was doing. Anyway, wound up disconnecting the P-90 to just use the D'Marzio. Still had great tone but now also full volume. You might be wondering why I felt I needed to change from the P-90. Actually, when I had the distortion way up (which was the way I liked to play back then) the guitar and amp sounded like bagpipes. Currently she's sporting a Seymour Duncan rail type humbucker and still sounds awesome, thick & full. Other than the change in P/Us, a new pick guard and a brass nut she's all original. I don't like that I haven't been able to fine replacement pick guards so I got blank material to make my own.

The guitar had a beautiful red finish to it and over the years has developed an even more beautiful "patina". It's got some buckle rash and some minor dings and scratches, but hey!, we all collect a few scars over time, adds to the charm and character. As I mentioned earlier I did install a brass nut which lowered the action some more and enhanced the tone. Don't know about factory set up as I'm the 2nd owner and I usually go through the set up on all my guitars (10 currently) as soon as I get them home.

There were some other comments about this being a fragile guitar but that really hasn't been my experience, in fact, just the opposite. I've fallen with the guitar 2 or 3 times (drunk) and dropped it, I don't know how many times, before I put strap locks on, and other than the minor dents and scratches mentioned previously, she's still quite intact. Having survived me for the past 30 odd years I'd say she's quite durable and dependable.

What's that?

I've been playing since about '65 and gone through all sorts of gear during that time. I play a lot of slide. I currently own 4 Strats (real and copies), an Ibanez RG series, Harmony Rebel, Jay Terser solid body resonator, Susuki/Kiso Hummingbird acoustic and a Breedlove AC25/CM Plus Black Beauty and of course the SG. Amps are Line 6 II & III, Crate GFX 65T, Peavey Vintage, and misc. Gibson, Carvin & Sunn.
If it were lost or stolen it would be like losing a child or at least a dog. I don't think I would be able to replace it with something comparable.
I love the simplicity, action and feel and the "patina" it has developed over the years. I also like that my music friends lust after it, almost like they might over a beautiful mate.

Stock 1991 Gibson SG Junior solid body mahoghany withy a single P-90 pickup. I first removed the strap pins and installed Dunlop Strap locks. this guitar style has a nasty tendency to pull off the strap and hit the floor. Once that is done you are in business. I had the P-90 hole routed out for a Humbucker and dropped in a black Tony Iommi PU. This guitar kills! See my son play it on You Tube: lilhendrix132

Sounds great now and wasn't bad before!

The black gloss color is very tough, as it was made back in 1991!

Depend on the Gibson SG Junior for everything. Just do not drop it, as the neck will break.

Bought this used and it is the best value of all time!

Mine is a 2006 Gibson Limited SG Junior (produced for the Japanese market). It was originally CL (caribbean blue) but someone repainted it with satin black, an excellent lacquer painting job. The pickguard is big, like the 1968 model, in one piece, white.

Except for the finish, the Japanese LTD is exactly the same of the USA market recent SG Jr. reissue.

Mahogamy body and neck. Beautiful rosewood board, slim 60s neck, fast and low action.

50s style Warp around bridge.

1 P-90 pickup, reads 8K.

This guitar is extremely light.

From the beginning I was really impressed by this guitar sound. I own a modded Epiphone G-400 w/ Gibson and Duncan P-90s, but the JR sounds completly different. As the Epi sounds more bassy, with kind of Les Paul darkness, the SG JR really shines w/ middle and bright tones.

The sound definition is really good, and I can hear everything I play in band contexts, even with trash solid state amps. I raised the pickup screws a little to have more of that single pickup bit. It screams a little, especially in small rehearsal rooms. The hum is very low for a P-90 (with no shielding!).

There's a extremelly good response from the volume and tone controls, and it compensates a bit the lack of a neck pickup. Sometimes I miss it for that Clapton woman tone, but it really isn't a woman tone guitar. It's a real rocker machine, begging for a tube amp cranked up. It's perfect for my dirt blues, garage punk and fuzzy sounds.

My JR was refinished, so I can??t tell if the factory job was good.

First I was worried about the warp around bridge, but it gives me an almost perfect intonation (except for the low E after the 12nd fret). The brigdge screws were not necessary, so I removed them.

Machine heads hold intonation very good. Truss rod is also perfect, easy access, but take care, the neck is fragile and reacts fast to any truss rod adjustment. The frets finish is excellent. The wiring is simple and clean, Gibson 60s style.

This guitar has a long talon (neck/body joint) - good! - but the neck joint over the body (visible only when the pickguard is removed) is ugly, there's a space on the talon sides. It doesn't seem to affect the playability or the neck joint at all.

It's an SG, it's fragile, find out a good case, and take care, cheap cases and guitar holders can damage the lacquer.

The original strap buttons are very small. I use a simple strap lock.

Gibson Japan was very helpful and kind and when I asked for information about this guitar.

I've been playing since the 80s. Now I'm in Punk rock, garage, rockabilly and heavy blues.

I play this guitar with anything available, but my amps are a 1974 Palmer 50w and a 1968 Giannini True Reverb, also 50. I own many pedals, and now I??m with a Yamaha OD-10, a Plan-9 68 Classic Fuzz Si, a EH Holy Grail Reverb, a Behringer Vintage Phaser (modded), a Danelectro Dan Echo and a Cry Baby (modded) on the board.

I love this guitar for its simplicity end for the exquisite sounds it affords. No push pulls, no switches, no vibrato, simple bridge, one pickup, and it's an SG... I just need to play!

I'd like to have her forever, or other like her.

Ebony nitrocellulose finish, compensated wraparound bridge, Grover-made tuners with white round plastic buttons, medium neck with rosewood fretboard, made in Nashville 2001, 22 frets, volume and tone controls, one P-90 pickup, mahogany body and neck.

My style could be called punk rock for adults. I plug straight into a 1978 master-volume Marshall. The single-coil hum isn't bad unless I stand at certain angles. Since the P-90 is mounted on the pickguard, it can be set close to the strings, and it sounds thicker than the body-mounted P-90 guitars I've had. It's perfect for distorted rhythm sounds. The clean sound isn't bad either, though I never use it. Some people might miss the neck pickup, but the guitar sounds fuller without one, even unplugged.

I bought the guitar used. The action was fine when I got it, but the intonation was off until I backed the treble side of the bridge away from the post. Aside from a few tooling marks on the frets, the guitar is put together much better than the average low-end Gibson.

The tuners look cheap, but are geared the same as fancier Grovers. Modern nitro finishes are harder than vintage ones; no checking so far. The strap buttons work fine with a quality leather strap. This guitar is mostly for recording. Live, it's my backup in case of a broken string.

I've been playing since 1985 and use this guitar with a single-pickup SG Special. They're the perfect combination for me. If this one got stolen, I'd find another (in ebony, which Gibson discontinued, but it beats wine red).

Simple=beautiful.
Wrap-around bridge. 2007.
One P-90.
Mahogany slab. One tone. One volume.
Nothing more is needed.

Perfect blend of single coil and humbucker.
Tight, punchy lows. Prominent mids. Biting high but not trebly like a strat can be.
Cords pop. SIngle notes and solos ring. Great susutain,
Great for any type of rock or blues.
Appears impossible to clean it up but why would you want to.
I love my strats and I can push them hard; this howeve
r requires no pushing.
I use a Vox Custom Classic head and cord into guitar. Variety? - no. Great freakin rock 'n' roll roar - yes!

I was worried - I have tried the les paul faded double cut and found it to be unplayable (splinters, razor frets, untuneable).
I figured a guitar with essentially similar features and the same price might suck too. Wrong! Everything was set-up perfectly - I mean everything.

Looks, feels, and plays like a much more pricey guitar.
Solid.

Never had to call.

I hate humbuckers and had given up on Gibson as overpriced - Les Paul standard for over $2200 - you have to be kidding.
But I took a chance on this single-coil, single pickup, underpriced guitar - it blows the other gibsons (les paul standard/classic/custom, SG standard, V) and gretsches (semi-hollows) that I have had away.
great niche sound for those who like fender clarity with a bit more grind, bite, and punch.
the sound is just undescribably cool. $649 from musiciansfriend - sweet deal!

SG bevilled horn double cutaway body in a beautiful deep cherry red. Nitro finish (you can see your face in it!)over a richly grained Mahogany. Rosewood neck, Gibby Deluxe tuners
1.One Volume control which goes on forever
1.One flexible and woody tone control which when used properly is like a graphic eq!
1. Awesome roaring P90 soapbar.
Batwing black scratchplate
Thats it!

Its very difficult to be objective when rating the sound of this axe. As you can see, all reviewers love it. So...what can it do?

The P90 pickup is probably the most expressive single coil pickup one can get. It was designed in 1948 and apart from the supposed "improved P100" - which I feel has altered the dynamics of the P90, it has not been changed AT ALL! Sure it feeds back like the Bagdad air raid sirens when you are over your amp but move away 1 metre (3 ft) and you are in heaven. The dynamics of both the volume and tone pots need to be heard and experienced 1st hand. The range is enormous. Roll the tone back by a quarter of a turn and you approximate the neck pickup on a strat. Full on and it becomes a biting but warm rock and roll guitar. If you roll the volume back slightly it will clean up your sound. Full on under volume, and the P90 overdrives beautifully. I run the thing through a Marshall and this happens even when I'm in the clean channel. In the dirty channel, it will STILL clean up the sound when you roll it back. Amazing.If you are able to test Junior under volume conditions you will see what I mean. In fact, you MUST test it under Rock conditions. This guitar screams loud loud loud. Acoustically, it has heaps of sustain hence other reviewers comments of a ringing tone from the mahogany.Oh yeah, I play Blues and 70's rock. Its also great for slide.Heaps of sustain.

Bought the guitar second hand. Its 2 years old. I set up my own guitars and apart from new strings and tweaking the truss rod and harmonics, its as good as any guitar 4 times the price.Setup is perfect and the stop tailpiece bridge is fine. No intonation problems at all. The finish is absolutely beautiful as mentioned elsewhere. Its comfortable to play, has a late 60's profile neck...thin and tapered...damn this neck is fast!

I have used and played all brands and models over my 30 plus years of gigging. Strats, Les Paul Custom. LP Standard and Goldtop, SG Custom which used to be my favourite until this. As well as a collection of 60's Epi's such as the Riviera, Sheridan and Gibby 335's.
I am not boasting but my point is...this guitar is the best I have had.
I depend on it as my main stage guitar. period.

No Need yet

What can I say? I'm in love and lust again!
If it was stolen I would replace it immediately...and have to go into therapy to get over the shock of losing it!

Finish is Wine Red (deeper than the Heritage Cherry of my standard), body stylel is the classic devil horns, bridge is a wraparound chrome, tuners are Gibson buttons, stardard 60's neck carve, came with a really well padded gigbag, better than the one that came with my faded SG a couple of years ago, this is a brand new guitar with 22 frets, neck and body are solid mahogany, one volume, one tone (and that's it... it's perfect!) and one single P90 pickup. Overall fantastic guitar!!!

I play guitar based, heavy prog that has the distinct taste of classic punk. I've used this axe through a Flextone III and a Carvin XT112 into a 4X12" cabinet. P90's are noisy to begin with and this is no exception. The guitar has a raw tone that is the classic P90 tone. A grind that I prefer to a Strat single coil. Very simple, straighforward axe where most color is going to be provided by manipulating the volume control.

Factory set-up was non-existant. I set it up somewhat to the best of my ability but I got lucky and got ahold of my luthier the day he was about to go on vacation and he did a rush job with this and my standard. They both play like butter now... I don't know what he does to them, but he sure do it good! The only flaw on the guitar that I can see is that the fretboard rosewood has sucked the varnish back into it making it look knurled between the nut and the 7th fret. Jack says it's o.k. as I was going to send it back. I decided to keep it so then it would be 'my SG'. I was concerned that the fretboard would separate but he said it wouldn't. Actually rather surprised that this left the factory like this.

This seems as though it's dependable enough to be my main guitar and it may well be. I will be gigging with this, my standard and my PRS standard. I have no issues with this guitar when it comes to how solid it is. The only thing that I would consider changing is the tuners as they are the plastic button ones and I think it makes the guitar look cheap. They hold tune though.

This guitar is brand new. Warranties on guitars are like certificates of authenticity... pointless. Gibson is pretty stuck up at NAMM. Will only let dealers into their booths.

I've been playing for 33 years now. I have more equipment than I can list here. If this axe were stolen I would hunt down the perp and disembowel them as this will (and has) quickly become my favorite axe. I miss my faded LP Special DC that I had to sell a couple of years ago. I absolutely love the simplicity of it with one pickup, one volume and one tone and the wraparound bridge which Jack looked at and immediately fell in love with since they are so simple and they work so well.

made in usa brand new...solid mohgany body one ass kicking P90 pickup..sg body..nice neck wide like a martin acoustic in fact it feels like my hd 28 neck....not neck heavy, super light guitar overall...my strat plus was like a ton on my shoulder not this smooth baby... lots of sustain...not tons of features really simple
perfect guitar volume and tone knob and one killer P90...thats all you need
to blast off!

well i wish i had discoverd the mighty gibson Sg a long time ago..i was stuck on strats way to long....i love the sound of the P90 so @@ucking much i cant stand it i play through a marshall and i also just got an epiphone valve tube amp head and it sounds wicked through
that...i love classic rock like boston, pearl jam ...old punk dead boys ,new punk green day...you can get it all with this guitar and i love the feel of the neck ...nothing i dont like about this guitar I LOVE IT !!!fits me perfect the songs i write are grunge punk classic ROCK!I FEEL LIKE THE GOD OF THUNDER WHEN I PLAY THIS SG!!!

factory set up was perfect....wine color finish is perfect guitar looks beautiful..frets perfect, tuners hold ,no problem at all

Yes this guitar was made to gig! seems like it will last i would not bang it around...finish is nice it looks like you could nick it pretty easy but i didnt buy it to worry about it i bought it to play
live ...

Ive been playing since i was 12 im 40...i really love this guitar so much ..ive played fender strats forever...and have a epiphone les play with seymour duncans to record with when i need that humbucker sound ,i like it but its a tank and heavy like one.. i play and own 2 martin acoustics that i love , i love this SG as much as my martins .. i would by another again in a heartbeat if the fates had me part with this one...

Mine is an ebony/black 2001 Gibson SG junior Re-issue.

It has a single P-90 single coil pickup, single volume and tone knob, wrap-around bridge, 22 frets...that's about all I need in a guitar.

This guitar is simple.

I love how it looks and plays, it has a lovely fat neck.

I love how this guitar sounds. I play alternative and classic rock, it's perfect for that.

I run it through an old Mesa Boogie Mark IIB, and that's it. NO effects.

It's slightly noisy, but it doesn't bother me.

The crunch sound is really where it shines, this setup is simply amazing.

It sounds perfect.

I bought this guitar off ebay, so I can't say what it was like when it came out of the factory.

The frets are a bit pointy, but it's not terrible.

This guitar is from before gibson's quality control had "issues"...

But the guitar was perfect when I got it, the frets are just pointy because I haven't taken it in for a setup in a while.

This guitar is pretty much perfect, I worry about the neck joint, as it has a small crack because of the weather change.

The hardware has rusted a little, but I'm not sure why.

The finish is pretty good, I have to polish it every time I finish playing.

I'd depend on it, but as with all guitars, I'd keep a backup with me.

Haven't dealt with them.

I've been playing for almost four years, I own a bunch of other gear, but this guitar is my favorite. I own one other gibson, a 2005 les paul special SL (not the cheap faded one), and this guitar is a lot better.
If it was lost/stolen, I would hunt down the person that stole it and...

I would try my best to replace it, but these guitars are getting harder and harder to find.

I used to have a gibson sg special (faded), and my SG junior is completely different.

I love everything about this guitar.

This guitar was made in 1967, and is wine red and being an old Gibson would have almost certainly been manufactured in the USA. It's the usual shindig,22 frets, slab of mahogany, single P-90, "batman" pickguard, volume and tone knobs, open geared tuners and a wraparound compensated tailpiece.

I'm not sure how to rate features since it's got almost no gimmicky bits, it's a very raw nad bare bones affair, but it's also well put together and to give it a negative rating would imply it's poor quality. There's not much there, but what *is* there is good.

Holy crap! I almost wet myself when I first strummed this guitar, it's the most resonant slab of mahogany I've come across, and the P-90 is a really, really fantastic pickup. I know a lot of people were taking a lot of mind altering substances back then, but come on...what kind of lunatic relegates P-90s to the "budget" models?

It can give a nice mellow clean sound, although it'd be almost useless for jazz, if you got a good delay you could get a fantastic reggae/dub sound. I got in that kind of ball pack using a Korg FX unit as it happens and I found myself playing a style I'd never bothered with before. But stuff that, reggae and funk are all well and good, but what this guitar excells at is high powered rock and blues.

I was suprised at the output that this lone P-90 had actually, being a single coil I thought it'd be slightly less powerful and thinner, but it's got all the meaty thickness and grind of a humbucker, but with all the best elements of a single coil. It does however have the noise assosciated with such pickups, but I'm not bothered by this.

I've been running this into a Matamp C7 combo for the most part, although I tried it out with a Marshall AVT275 in the shop, and on both counts it sounded excellent. From mid to high gain stuff it's great as a rhythm instrument, but playing lead with it is so, so good. It's the sound I could hear before I turned the amp on, especially with my Matamp cranked to 10. Rolling back the tone you can get a really great "woman tone" too.

Well it came out of the factory 18 years before I was born so I'm afraid I can't comment on whatever Gibson did to it. It's also worth noting that back then the guitars were made by hand, by different luthiers, in a different factory, owned by different people. To get a new Gibson today made as they did "then" you'd have to go to the custom shop, or for something as good play two dozen or so Gibsons until you found one worthy of the name on it's headstock.

The guitar looks pretty knackered, it's a gorgeous road worn relic in fact. But all is present and correct apart from the tuners. This guitar sadly doesn't like being in tune, though with open geared tuners and 38 years of use I imagine a set of grovers would remedy this. I'd imagine it's been refretted at some point, a screw or two have gone missing, theres a tiny bit of rust, and the hardwear is well worn. But aside from the tuning stability it all works great.

Since the company responsible for this instrument is long gone and the setup long since changed and changed again I'll not rate this as such.

This guitar looks like it's withstood all 38 years of live playing rather well, although the way the finish is around the neck joint made me wonder if it'd been snapped off and reset at some point, although the fact I can only tell by looking, rather than feeling or hearing something wrong means I shan't lose sleep over it.

The hardwear aside from the tuners is all tip top, at least from a functional standpoint. Obviously plated metals lose their lustre and plating over time. The vibrato has long sice been discarded, but I'd have been the one to discard it had somebody not already done so. I may eventually replace the bridge with a tone-pros since I've heard great things about them, and I may eventually bite the bullet and replace the tuners.

The strap buttons suprisingly are the old kind, which is nuts. I have got hold of some straplocks for this guitar, so I should be ok.

I'd never, ever gig without a backup, but if I *had* to I'd take my parts bin tele/mongrel. SGs are frail, and angled headstocks are very breakable, and then there's the "rubber neck" syndrome, but as far as SGs go mine is relatively solid. Although if Gibson wasn't so set in it's ways and unwilling to change anything they'd probably be making them "neck through", most high end copies are.

If I don't expose this guitar to any real danger I'm sure it'll serve me faithfully, but like I said, SGs just aint that tough.

Excellent, when I enquired about the serial number to find out how old it was Gibson Europe called me back promptly, told me all I needed to know. I even got a wiring diagram and a picture from the brochure.

I don't have any kind of warranty on it, but on a guitar made several ownerships ago I don't expect it.

I've been playing about four years now. Aside from the SG, my main amp is a Matamp C7 combo, and I use an Ernie Ball volume pedal, JimDunlop Wah and sometimes an EHX Big Muff made in their Russian factory at some point. Overall between the SG and my parts bin tele I'm sorted, I've got two guitars that I love the sound and feel of.

If it were stolen or lost I'd be really hacked off since coming across another one would no doubt take quite some time. I love how it sounds, how it looks, plays and the fact it's really light yet still sounds rich and full. I didn't compare it as such, but I've played plenty of SGs, Tokai, Epiphone, "Vintage" (the brand) and Legend, this outdoes them all, even the Tokai believe it or not.

There's not much I really wish it had, although a neck P-90 would be good, if I find an SG special of similar vintage and it's as good I'd consider buying it and setting the junior up to be used for slide since I'm using one of my cheaper guitars for that right now.

If anybody knows why the P-90 is mounted to the scratchplate rather than directly to the body like most P-90s feel free to let me know, I just can not work out why Gibson have done it this way.

At the end of the day I scored a killer guitar that plays and sounds better than any other Gibson I've laid hands on, including the Gibson Custom shop Clapton 335, which although nice is rather a joke at the #9999 price I've seen it at. You could get a real one from that era for that kinda money! I'm glad to say my partsbin telemongrel has an equal finally.