Help with identification

[Garethw]

that's a very special special... a Gibson SG VERY Special
If I owned that, I would NOT modify it.

I'd play it a lot, and see whether the intonation would hold.
If it holds, I'd leave it alone and play it some more.

If the intonation doesn't hold because the bridge is worn
I'd try to obtain an original Gibson part to replace it.
But I don't think that will be the case.
Those lightning bolt bridges are quite robust, and simple.
Intonation is usually good with them.

Pete Townshend used to remove the Trem from his SG specials
and play the hell out of them with the gaping holes in the top.
He didn't care. Neither did anyone else. No guitar police then.
And he could leap higher without the trem.
Some of us feel that he played his best music on those old SG specials
with P-90s, wrap over bridge and great holes where the Trem was
removed.
View attachment 49580
It might be hard to find a gold plated lightning bar bridge.
A $4000 SG Special is rather a contradiction in itself, isn't it?
One of the things that makes it so special.

If it's a player and not a collector's trove, you could replace
the bridge with a nickel plated one and few would notice
and none would object. Keep the original in the case.
Look on this Stewart Macdonald site, there's a gold plated Schaller
roller bridge available. If I were going to use that Trem, I'd want
a roller bridge...

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Thanks man...

 

[PermissionToLand]

SG Specials never had Kluson style tuners.
They have the three on a plate with small buttons.

Since there are no screw holes from the plates or any witness marks or indents from the plates, I agree this is probably a rare one that had Grovers installed at the factory along with the short vibrola.

Kluson made those old 3-on-a-plate tuners:

1964 Gibson SG Special + HSC | Reverb

Santana at Woodstock and Townshend at Leeds, reason enough to take a look at this 1964 Gibson SG Special. And at a weight of just 3.01 Kg no one is going to complain about this.This guitar is in great shape. The colour has faded a little but still retains the rich depth that is so synonymous wit...

reverb.com