A stunning 1964/’65 Gibson SG Special, finished in its original Cherry and built to the highly desirable earlier ’64 specification with the wider nut width and comfortable '64 neck profile.

The SG Special has always occupied a particularly sweet spot in Gibson’s solidbody range: stripped-back enough to feel uncluttered and refined, but with a few tasteful additions versus its more stripped back Junior stablemate. This example remains in excellent condition overall, with a strong, vibrant Cherry finish that has resisted fading often seen on cherry guitars of this era.

Features include nickel hardware, factory Maestro Vibrola, lightning/compensated wrapover tailpiece, angelwing pickguard, correct reflector knobs and the original 3-a-side double-line Kluson strip tuners. The bound rosewood fingerboard has dot marker inlays and the guitar retains its original frets, which still have plenty of height remaining. The nut has been changed and overall the guitar plays great.

Nut measures 42.6mm, with a neck depth of 20.3mm at the 1st fret and 24.9mm at the 12th. At 3.12kg it has that light, resonant SG feel. The two P-90 pickups are excellent and very well balanced, reading 7.91k in the neck and 7.90k in the bridge. Plugged in, the guitar sounds clear, open and wonderfully responsive. Clean, there is a lovely warmth and chime to the pickups, with enough detail and articulation to make both positions really usable. Push the amp a little and the thin mahogany body and P-90 combination produces a bite, cut and bark that few guitars can match. The Maestro trem adds the icing on the cake with enough travel for just the right amount of shimmer without getting in the way of the guitar’s natural attack.

Internally, the guitar is very tidy. It retains four correct 500k CTS pots, with most of the date codes hidden beneath solder, though one visible code dates to late '64. The solder appears intact, the wiring is correct, and the guitar retains the correct orange drop capacitor.

Overall, this is a superb wide-nut SG Special with the right look, the right spec and a seriously good pair of P-90s. Clean, original and extremely enjoyable to play, it is a brilliant example of why these mid-’60s Specials have become such desirable vintage Gibsons for both players and collectors.