Video! Rare Logo "Sonex By Gibson" Gibson Sonex-180 Deluxe - w/ Original Case + Vintage Tags

The Trogly's Guitar Show
See, Hear, Learn About and Experience your new guitar... before you buy!

youtu.be/e6XlypwIxYc

The Case...
This comes with its original The Gibson Guitar Company guitar case. This is the later Deluxe version of the case that has a double neck rest and a compartment inside. If you've ever had one of the inferior single neck rest versions and hated it - this one solves all the issues. It isn't ridiculously heavy like those and it actually holds the guitar well! The exterior tolex shows some scuffing and light tears, but it presents well. It has some era-correct case candy inside of it, but it isn't serial number specific

The Guitar!
Now... you've seen 1000s of Gibson Sonex 180 guitars and you know they're not the best instruments out there... but how many have you see with this rare "Sonex by Gibson" logo? This was the first one I've seen show up for sale and I can only find a few others using Google. While the exact reason for the change is unknown at this point it time - it is believed that only very late run Sonex guitars received this new branding. According to an online internet blog - very early Sonex guitars got regular Gibson logos. You learn something new every day!

craveguitars.co.uk/home/features/instruments/feature-1981-gibson-sonex-180-deluxe/

Besides the collectible headstock logo and the deluxe case - this guitar is also in nice presentable condition. It is FAR from mint and was definitely played though. Please see the video to see this guitar in real-time.

The face of the headstock has scratches. I touched up two small finish chipping areas by the E and D string tuners with a black lacquer pen. The truss rod is in good shape and is functional. The frets show some light flattening wear. The action is playable, but the bridge is pretty much decked down so if you wanted to take it lower, you'd likely have to shim the bolt-on neck.

The pickguard shows lots of scratches. The original Velvet Brick pickups are still in place and all parts to this guitar are still original including the Japanese hardware. Occasionally the bridge pickup would cut in/out due to a scratchy volume pot. 95% of the time, it worked just fine though. There is a small pen mark in the shape of an "s" by the bridge. There is finish checking all over the front running horizontally. The finish is quite reflective and vibrant so a few feet away - it looks like a time capsule. 

The back of the headstock has a capo mark over the serial number. You can still read the number. The neck also has some capo marks that you can't really feel while playing. The fretboard has the typical lines where it was joined the neck, but there is one small area that had some finish break on the bass side. This is nothing you'll ever have to worry about - mentioned for full disclosure and due to the cosmetic eyesore. There is also a rub mark further down the neck.

The back of the instrument also has some finish checking and scratches. In particular, there is a deep one by the lower bout. There is a small finish chip by the edge strap button and a very small stress crack by the neck pocket.

Conclusion
This is one for the collector of oddball, rare edition guitars. It certainly got me excited to learn about this alternative headstock logo that I didn't know about! I'm not a big fan of Sonex guitars otherwise!