Very cool and excellent sounding Nivico SG-18. I love these guitars, because they are well made, and excellent sounding. These have occasionally been mislabeled on the internet as RCA Victor guitars, but they are not related to RCA, as during World War II RCA America and Japan split and went their separate ways. These guitars were produced and sold for roughly two short years by JVC (Japan Victor Corporation). There also is some confusion about which were the domestic and which were the export models, as these guitars sometimes carry the Victor label, or like this one the NIVICO label. I tend to believe the NIVICO label would be the domestic one as NIVICO (Nippon Victor Corporation) would be more understandable to Japanese, whereas the Victor name would be recognizable abroad.
Regardless, these are unique and fascinating guitars. They are not a copy of any other guitar, and have a host of unique features, mostly because the electronics were made and supplied by JVC, and are of incredibly good quality, much higher than what was typically found in Japan at that time. The bodies were from the famous Matsumoku Guitar Factory in Nagano, Japan. I believe that JVC simply provided fully assembled pickguards (and what a pickguard it is! Would probably stop a bullet.) to the Matsumoku factory, who then just dropped them into the body.
This guitar has an inspection stamp of 40.11.15 which makes it November 15th, 1965 according to the Japanese dating system. (this model was introduced at the end of July in 1965) It's all original, all the wiring is intact, and even has the original bridge cover and tremolo arm!
25.5" scale neck with a 7.25" radius. Average profile, not thin, not chunky. Plays very well. Original frets are in good shape with lots of life left in them. No fret outs. Action is medium-low. Rosewood fretboard with contrasting wooden fret markers!
Body is in good shape. There are some long visible scratches on the upper bout (looks like it met a white stucco wall at some point) but other than that is generally in good condition with average player wear for a 50 year old guitar. The pickguard has some pitting and plenty of scratches, but you will never have to worry about replacing this pickguard.
Electronics have been cleaned and tested! JVC used industrial grade electronics and wiring when they built this thing. 1meg volume and tone pots, an L-bracket input jack, and some incredibly tall and strong coils in the pickups which measure 9.21k, 9.29k, and 9.67k from bridge to neck. These pickups have wonderful bright clarity and character, but can bring a touch of grit as well . Please watch the Drowning In Guitars "1965 RCA Victor SG-18 Japanese Guitar Demo" on Youtube to get an idea of what these pickups are capable of.
Chrome is in fairly good shape, with the exception of the pickguard, which as noted has some fair scratching to it. Also, this guitar has the original bridge cover! A very rare find, and then on top of that, it has the original tremolo arm as well! The tremolo works well.
Bridge is in good condition, and all the height adjustment screws work as well as being set for intonation.
Tuners work well and hold tune.
Overall this is a great guitar, or if you don't mind the scratches and player wear, it would even look good in a collection. The quality and workmanship in these Victor/NIVICO guitars really stands out, and once you've set it up to your taste, you will be able to spend many an hour, and indeed many a year, rocking this guitar to your heart's content.
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