1972 Gibson SG

During my first year in college I bought a 1972 Gibson SG Standard with a Bigsby tailpiece while I was working at the guitar store. It was only a few years old and looked new. It had a great neck and was super easy to play below the 12th fret. The neck was really nice. It had a nice heel and the Volute felt good too. The pickups were good and strong to cover a lot of rock songs. The tuners were good too. It had the bigsby tailpiece but to be honest I really didn’t use it much. Like many musicians I sold the guitar when I needed money.

It didn’t have a case so I ask my grandfather if he could make me one. He said sure and designed a case that honestly was too nice to use. He had a lot of solid wood laying around that he collected from old buildings. He had some cherry planks that I think came from an old church. He crated a rectangular case from the cherry wood. He used solid oak to create a joint to lock the top to the bottom when shut. He used a piano hinge, leather belt straps along with a conventional eye hasp for a lock. Inside he hand cut foam and cover it with a red plush material. It was like a coffin on the inside. The damn thing weighed a ton but there was no way the guitar would get damaged. I jumped up and down on it (without the guitar in it) to test it out. I was definitely a case that would protect the guitar while being tossed around. When I left the University of Kentucky, it was shipped to California using the cheapest method possible. When it arrived the guitar was fine but the case had a few dings and scratches.

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