Introducing one of the rarest, nearly impossible to find, legendary pieces of Music History... 

An Authentic, originally built, "Left-Handed" 1968 Gibson SG Standard. This is NOT a 'reissued' instrument.

There are many 'reissued' knock-off guitars made all over the world by machines.  They have very little value and will not go up in value as any true collector's piece should.  Here on eBay, you will see names that can confuse someone seeking to purchase a genuine collector's piece.  

The information below was provided by ChatGPT about the various branded names Gibson has been using to market their, machine-made, assembly-line-built, reissued knock-offs of their historically best instruments.

Some of the product lines that Gibson has used for reissued instruments include:

Custom Shop Historic Reissues: The Gibson Custom Shop often produces historic reissues that aim to recreate the specifications and details of iconic guitars from the past.

Original Collection: While not explicitly reissues, the Original Collection often features guitars that draw inspiration from classic Gibson designs.

Collector's Choice: This line involves the careful recreation of specific vintage guitars, often selected for their historical significance.

True Historic: A series that emphasizes extreme attention to detail in replicating vintage specs.

Inspired by Gibson: This is a newer series that aims to capture the essence of classic Gibson models while offering more accessible options.

This is an original instrument, built in 1968 when left-handed guitars were custom-ordered items.  It sounds great, the action is sweet, the neck is straight, it stays in tune and it's almost exactly as it was when I bought it in 1974.  It is not an exaggeration to say that this is NOT just a guitar, it is a confidence builder, dream maker, and life changer.  Let me explain how it was for me.

In 1972, at the age of 14, BEFORE I bought my Gibson SG, I owned an old right-handed, 1961 Sunburst "Kay" Value Leader, single cutaway, hollow-body, 6-string electric guitar with action so high, that for the first four months I owned it, I could only play it for 3 or 4 minutes at a time because the pressure required to press down on the strings was so intense, the strain and blisters it caused made my fingertips incredibly sensitive and painful.  That 1961 Sunburst "Kay" guitar's neck was warped, the action was horrific because the strings were way over 1/2" away from the frets at the 12th fret.  It also didn't help that the guitar was right-handed, that I was left-handed, and that I had to re-string it upside down with the deep cutaway on the wrong side making it nearly impossible to play notes above the 12th and 14th frets.  Still, for two years, I persisted because I desperately wanted to learn to play amazing songs and solos like "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin and "Samba Pa Ti" by Santana.  I wanted to play music just like the people I idolized and respected, yet the practice was so hard, so painful, that I got more and more depressed and discouraged as time went by.

But, in 1974 everything changed.  Something magical happened in my life.  I walked into the iconic Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood with my beautiful girlfriend, now wife, in tow.  Back then, the Guitar Center was across the street from where it is today. Although I didn't realize it at the time, walking into that store was a fateful decision that would shape and change the rest of my life forever. 

Because I am left-handed, when we walked into the Guitar Center to "dream" of finding a great guitar, I expected I would find nothing but a sea of right-handed instruments.  But on that day, things were different.  When we walked into the store...  We stopped in the doorway, we scanned the walls for left-handed guitar bodies and I swear, I remember it like it was yesterday...  There it was, a beautiful, cherry-red Gibson SG.  It was used, but that unique double-cutaway body was exactly like all of those amazing Gibson SGs I'd seen played by all of my favorites like Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Carlos Santana (at Woodstock), The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, The Beatles' George Harrison, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, The Who's Pete Townshend (at Woodstock) and others.

When we saw it, we walked straight toward it.  I reached up and gently lifted it off the wall, plugged it into an Ampeg VT-22 tube amp, pulled out my guitar pick, and began to play...  You guessed it...  Stairway to Heaven!  I was mesmerized.  The neck was perfectly straight, the action was so low, that I could effortlessly play everything I'd been practicing for two years, and I could do it without pain.  The guitar was in tune, the tone was sweet.  When I played the Santana "Samba Pa Ti" introduction, I was floored.  I was able to achieve the singularly most beautiful feedback I had ever gotten because I was standing so close the the Ampeg tube amp I was plugged into.  I would lean into the amp and the feedback got more intense.  If I turned away from the amp, it still kept ringing but this time softer and sweeter sounding.

From that moment on, I was hooked.  Life was filled with possibilities.  Suddenly I dreamed of recording in studios, touring the world, playing power chords on huge stages, and the amazing guitar solos of Rock n' Roll virtuosos.  I was driven to practice to my new point of pain...  Usually 10 to 15 hours a day, 5, and sometimes 6 days a week.  My dreams of recording and touring only intensified because I started to believe it really was possible to achieve my objectives because I was well-equipped, and getting really good at playing what I could dream up.  

I found myself listening to music and figuring out what each instrument did and how each note, riff, chord, or lick the guitar(s) played fit into each arrangement.  I didn't know it at the time but I was learning how records were being produced.

My guitar, my skills, and my tone gave me the confidence to volunteer for any opportunity that came my way.  Melissa Manchester was looking for a guitarist to do her next tour.  I asked if I could audition.  I didn't get the job but I didn't let that deter me.  If it was somehow related to music, I wanted to do it.

So there I was, my transformation was complete and I was on my way to a new life.  At 16, I started a 7 piece band that played Santana-style Latin-Rock music.  At 17 I got a job at a company in Hollywood, CA called Studio Instrument Rentals (SIR).  There, I was meeting, interacting with, and setting up staging and equipment for the likes of Peter Frampton, Tony Iommi, Stanley Clark, Robbie Krieger, Dickie Betts, Greg Allman, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, Jean-Luc Ponty, The Eagles, John Lennon, Lou Rawls, Cher and easily 50 more stars of the 70's.

While I was working at SIR, one of my favorite bands, Black Sabbath, was rehearsing there. The opportunity of a lifetime presented itself and I took it.  I wanted Tony Iommi, the legendary left-handed guitarist of Black Sabbath, to lay his hands on, and play my SG.

With free access to the facility as a SIR employee, I made my way onto the main stage, case in hand, and introduced myself to Tony. I told him I worked there and that I had brought my left-handed Gibson SG Standard for him to see. He said...  "Well let me give it a try."  He plugged it in, and the magic began. He played it like he'd been playing it for years.  He stopped, held it up, and inspected it to see how straight the neck was.  That's when I noticed he was missing the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his right hand.  I tried not to stare but I was shocked as he played it so well, and then he stopped, turned to me, and asked, "Would you like to sell it?"

Caught off guard, I hesitated but replied, "No, I just wanted to show it to you." Tony, with a grin, countered, "Come on now, sell it to me." I tried to explain that the neck had a previous repair due to a headstock "Smile Crack." Tony's response was both straightforward and genuine, "Half my favorite guitars are shit compared to this.  But, they feel and sound great.  So what the f#ck do I care about a smile crack? It feels and sounds great. That's all I care about."

My heart ached to say no because I knew I could get a lot of money for it, but this guitar was my treasured possession, I just couldn't do it. I remember stuttering as I declined, "No, I'm sorry. I'm going to keep it." Tony handed it back to me, with a parting remark on his lips, "If you ever change your mind."  I remember he smiled as he turned away and thanked me for showing it to him. 

Shortly after that, because of my being on the SIR lot, I was offered the opportunity to tour the U.S. as a bodyguard/roadie for a new 'baby' band named Blondie.  I jumped at the chance and, before the tour started, I got to cross paths with, or work at, the Whisky A-Go-Go with, Blondie, the Ramones, Tom Petty & Mike Campbell, and the rest of the Heartbreakers as well as the Runaways.  

Blondie had the job as the opening act for none other than Iggy Pop, and the keyboard player and man financing this iconic tour was David Bowie himself.  I, of course, was shocked and excited to get this opportunity, and so I brought both my Ovation acoustic and my SG on tour with me because 'you never know when an opportunity could pop up.'  

Once the tour started...  I found myself forming an unexpected friendship with David Bowie because of our mutual interest in Electronic Music.  He was trying to introduce a group called Kraftwerk to America and I heard him playing one of their songs during soundcheck called TransEurope Express. I asked what that was because I liked it.  He smiled at me and explained it was a new group he wanted to help break here in America.  And that was how our tour-related friendship started.  Occasionally, late into the night, after a great show, our energies still flowing, David and I grabbed our acoustic guitars and retreated to one of the rooms on the floor he'd rented.  For about 20 minutes, in the quiet of the night, we would let the music flow, sometimes creating our own unique harmonies and rhythms and sometimes just jamming and playing 12-bar blues.  It was a surreal experience.

But that wasn't the end of the story. As the tour reached its final show, we found ourselves back in Los Angeles, and I received an invitation that would leave an indelible mark on my confidence and the history of this Gibson SG. During the soundcheck at the Los Angeles Forum in Inglewood, I was asked by David to grab my guitar and join him, Hunt, and Tony Sales on stage for the soundcheck. Iggy was late, so we took the opportunity to jam so that the Showco house mixer could get some levels and EQ settings before Jimmy (aka Iggy) got there.  We played some simple 12-bar blues and improvised to create music that resonated through the iconic venue. As we played, I would occasionally hit a power chord and David commented on the incredible tone bouncing back at us from the Forum's back wall.  Because the venue was empty, every percussive sound we played came (slapped) back at us as if another band was playing on the other side of the venue.

When I returned from the tour I took a few years off from Music and decided to learn about real estate management and investing.   It was fun but music always had my attention. One day, I was asked by an old friend to produce a nine-piece group from Mexico City that wanted to record in the U.S.  So, I, of course, accepted the job.  Infighting between members of the band broke the band up before we got to shop it at U.S. labels.  But it was my first Record Production gig and all of those years of analyzing musical arrangements taught me so much about how records were constructed I thankfully, did good work.  

I was so comfortable in the studio environment, that I was asked by the owner of the studio, George Tobin (producer of Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, Robert John, Jennifer Holiday, Kim Carnes & Tiffany) to fly to Mexico City and bring Mexican artists back to his studio to make their records.  Over the next 4 years, I brought, coordinated, or produced about 30 albums for the Spanish-speaking markets in his studio.  

4 years into my stint working for George Tobin and Studio Sound Recorders in North Hollywood, I was introduced to and asked by the world's largest pornographer to produce a couple of songs for his girlfriend.   The man originally hired David Foster to produce a couple of songs for her in hopes of getting her a record deal, but Foster failed to get her a deal. 

I cut two songs, and the man and his girlfriend loved them.  I cut two more and they wanted to hire me to do an entire album.  Then they wanted me to get her a deal as a Spanish-speaking artist.  As a result of that record, I got her the 'record deal' and I opened my own studio called Milagro Sound Recorders in Glendale, CA.  I produced several songs for film needle-drops, and several records, and made dozens of lifelong friendships.  All the while, I had the time of my life chasing my dreams.  

This guitar carries the echoes of all of those moments, the music we created, and the legends I had the privilege to meet and work with. It's not just a guitar; it's a tool and testament to the power of building the confidence to chase your dreams.

Unfortunately, for the past 25 years, it hasn't been played much at all and it's been kept safely in a temperature-controlled environment.  For, at least 10 years, I've wrestled with the idea of keeping it tucked safely away or passing it on to someone else who can experience the joy and happiness it brought me.  I've concluded that it should bring someone else some happiness.

So now, it's your turn to hold this piece of rock 'n' roll history and continue its storied journey. Whether it is for you, a friend, a child, or a grandchild, this is a special gift.  This Gibson SG Standard is more than a guitar; it's an invitation to become a part of its legendary tale, to feel the magic at your fingertips, and to create music that will stand the test of time. It's time for this guitar to find its next home, to inspire a new generation of musicians, and to create music that transcends the years.

This guitar is special.  It will only be sold as a Local Pickup item.  I want to meet the person who buys it and personally hand it over to them.  This is not a guitar that will be shipped to someone we've never met via FedEx, UPS, or DHL.  We are in Los Angeles.  We will sell to anyone, anywhere in the United States but the guitar must be picked up personally by the buyer here in Los Angeles via Local Pickup Only. 

Finally...   We've sold several thousand things and enjoyed a 100% positive feedback rating with eBay for nearly 10 years.  We've never sold anything as important to us, or as personal, as this guitar is to us.  We keep the promises we make...  Especially those put out for the world to see.  So, here's our promise to you, in writing.  With the exception of travel expenses, if your guitar isn't exactly as described here when you arrive to inspect it and pick it up, a full refund for what was paid for the guitar will be issued within 24 hours of your change of heart.  Travel-related expenses will NOT be refunded.

Thank you.

Mario A. Salinas

American Urban Relics