A Near MInt 1962 PAF Les Paul SG Standard.

1962 Gibson Les Paul SG Standard.

This fifty-five year old, 13-inch-wide Les Paul SG Standard weighs just 7.20 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid Honduras mahogany body with beveled edges, one-piece mahogany neck with a typical '62 medium thin profile, and rosewood fretboard with 22  jumbo frets and inlaid pearl trapezoid (crown) position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Three-layer (black/white/black) plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with "Les Paul" engraved in white. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners (stamped on the inside "D-169400") with double-ring tulip-shaped Keystone plastic buttons. Serial number ("88304") impressed into the back of the headstock. Two original Gibson PAF humbucking pickups, each with a black label ("Patent Applied For") on the underside, with outputs of 7.56k and 7.70k. Original "MR 491 / M-69 7" and "MR 490 / M-69 8" black pickup rings. Five-layer (black / white / black / white / black) plastic pickguard with five screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on lower treble bout. The potentiometers are stamped "134 6043" (Centralab October 1960). Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with metal saddles and Gibson "Sideways" Vibrola tailpiece. All hardware nickel-plated. The rich cherry finish on this guitar is totally unfaded and there is some very typical light finish checking, especially around the neck joint. There is a tiny line (less than 3/8 inch:10 mm.) inside the bass horn by the neck heel, but when closely examined under ultra-violet light there is no evidence of a fracture or any re-finishing or touch-up. There are a few very small and insignificant marks/indentations on the back and the edges. There is just one very small mark/indentation on the top - just by the jack input. Otherwise this "last of the Les Pauls" is in as near mint (9.25) condition as one could wish for. Complete with the original "Tune-O-Matic Bridge" instruction sheet. Housed in its original Gibson four-latch "Faultless" black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.25).

"Considering all the Les Paul models as a whole, sales declined in 1960 after a peak in 1959...[and] by 1961 Gibson had decided on a complete re-design of the line in an effort to reactivate this faltering model. The company had started a $400,000 expansion of the factory in Kalamazoo during 1960 which more than doubled the size of the plant by the time it was completed in 1961...One of the first series of new models to benefit from the company's newly expanded production facilities was the completely revised line of Les Paul models. Gibson redesigned the Junior, Standard and Custom models, adopting a new, distinctly modern, sculpted double-cutaway design. The 'Les Paul' name was still used at first, but during 1963 Gibson began to call these new models the SG Junior, the SG Standard and the SG Custom...The transition models -- those produced between 1961 and 1963 -- had the new SG design but the old Les Paul names, and these are now known to collectors and players as SG/Les Paul models...SG-style solidbodies have attracted a number of players over the years, including John Cipollina, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Robbie Krieger, Tony McPhee, Pete Townshend, Angus Young and Frank Zappa" (Tony Bacon, Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, pp. 134-136).