Gibson USA 1966 SG Special — Giordano TV Yellow Makeover

This guitar is genuinely unusual, because it brings together two worlds you rarely find in the same instrument: original vintage substance and modern boutique craft.

The basis is a real Gibson SG Special from 1966, from the period when the SG had found its final form. The flat, thin mahogany body, the sharp horns, the light and agile character. An SG is built like nothing else: almost fragile in its slimness, extremely light on a strap, and with access to the top frets no Les Paul will ever offer.

It carries two Sunbear P-90s, and that's what makes a Special what it is. Where the Standard works with humbuckers, the P-90s here give considerably more bite, more transparency and that unmistakable growl that eats its way through any band situation. At the bridge it turns aggressive and wiry, at the neck round and vocal, and in between lies the ground where blues and classic rock feel at home. Sixty-year-old mahogany does the rest: the instrument moves dry and fast, with a resonance there's no shortcut to.

The special part of the story, though, is the finish. Nicholas Giordano — the Italian master builder whose instruments are also in the Meister Ede Guitars range — gave this SG a TV Yellow makeover. Anyone who knows Giordano's work knows the man has an extraordinary feel for vintage colours. TV Yellow is one of those shades that's easy to miss: too green, too pale, too yellow, and the character has gone. Here it's right. He also rebuilt the neck completely, as the original had too many cracks to save.

The result is an instrument with genuine 1960s soul and the presence of a carefully refined one-off. A guitar there isn't a second of, because it didn't come from a production run but out of a real passion for outstanding vintage guitars that deserve to be played.

A rare combination of genuine vintage substance and boutique craft, from Ede's Private Stock.