Yeah… you read that right.. 1965!

What is it about “vintage”, “old”, etc. guitars, why must we get as close as possible to the first edition of the guitar to really feel something special, is it mojo? Is it placebo?

I wasn’t planning on buying a vintage Junior, but… man I’ve been getting amazing tones from my 2018 junior, so great that I’ve been using it more than my standards for the AC/DC tribute band, to the point that I thought.. is Angus using Juniors for recording?? We know this is not true.

There was a 65 Junior decently priced in Spain (oh yes… I moved to Spain 3 years ago) a few months ago and I hesitated so much… that it got sold… and I’ve been on the lookout ever since.

So this time I spotted it at GuitarPoint.de where I’ve bought also my GT last year. They are a very reputable dealer and… they take great pictures of the guitars!

Well.. that little thing came up on their website… just shy of €5k euro… with amazing checking… very decent condition…. original pickup and pots (what matters). I looked at it for a week… and decided to just buy it

Few days later.. this thing arrives, I was very excited… but this happens with every guitar that gets delivered… this one was a but special… not only because of the price… but also it’s my first 60s SG, I’ve actually owned at least one SG from every decade!.

Picked it up… so light! But… so resonant!! Man… it’s like an acoustic, incredibly loud and just rings so nicely and mellow, no sharp sounds, just an all rounder nice sounding guitar, so much that I didn’t even rush to plug it in, I only did so a few hours later.

But when I did… oh boy, what a sonic experience, first thing I noticed.. these P90s sound much closer to a humbucker than my 2018 ones.. the taper of the pot was awesome, vintage taper, did not lose any brightness when rolling it down, really nice cleans at low volume… and reaaaally nice distortion at the top of the dial.

Played some Zeppelin, some AC/DC, everything felt right. You can tell is not a humbucker.. more so when you roll down the volume, but is it any less? No… it’s a great sound for rock and roll!

However… I do have the issue of… should I gig with this… should I take it with me to music venues? Why not! These are meant to be used! However… frets being original means… they are a tiny bit low for me, great condition… but more so in the upper register… a bit low for my heavy hand, I enjoy it at home, I can still solo on her… but live.. with sweat and even an often heavier hand… it might not work.