Gibson Custom Color Series 1961 SG Standard

Born Under a Bad Sign

Back in 1961, the folks at Gibson decided it was time to refresh and re-imagine the Les Paul, and boy did they ever hack and slash! In order to freshen things up, they did away with the maple top and the sunburst finish. Instead of Les's design, they presented Mr. Paul with a sleek, contoured horned devil made out of lightweight mahogany. 'Ol Les was NOT pleased and asked them to kindly take his name off the truss rod cover. This left the Gibson marketing team in a bit of a lurch, so they scrambled to find a name for their new ax and landed on "Solid Guitar."

After its inauspicious birth, the SG did indeed prove itself to be a Solid Guitar in every sense of the word (who knows, maybe the SG works so well for rock and roll because it was born under a bad sign--it does have horns, after all!). Its aggressive styling and muscular tone quickly made it a favorite of a whole host of guitarists from Angus Young to Pete Townshend to Tony Iommi to Dickey Betts. When you step back and think about it, it's pretty wild that the dude from Black Sabbath played the same guitar as the dude in the Allman Brothers! A staggering amount of players in many genres have made classic records using an SG. The length and breadth of the list of SG aficionados is a testament to its incredible versatility and universal appeal.

The Original Solid Guitar

For the Custom Color series of SGs, our friends at Gibson chose to honor the trailblazing spirit of the Solid Guitar that almost cost them their biggest endorsee by giving these '61s SGs eye-catching paint jobs and all sorts of classic SG appointments. The 1961 SG features a high-quality mahogany body with period-correct body scarfing and a high-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish for rich resonance and comfortable feel. To go with its righteous horned body, this SG has a super-comfortable slim taper neck profile, and said neck is home to a beautiful bound rosewood fretboard lined with 22 medium jumbo frets.

And it sounds awesome, too, thanks to its set of Burstbucker '61 pickups. These PAF-inspired pickups marry classic vintage warmth and sweetness with modern punch and clarity, and their spectacular tone may very well inspire you to put on some shorts and do your best imitation of Angus Young's duckwalk.

We are proud to present an instrument that we believe exemplifies the best qualities of the SG: versatility, expressiveness, and devilishly handsome styling. We know the Custom Color 1961 SG Standard will inspire you to windmill, duckwalk, headbang, and generally have a great time playing guitar for years and years.