1998 Bacchus BSG-68V SG Standard - Vintage Series - Cherry - All Original - Made In Japan MIJ

Used 1998 Bacchus BSG-68V from the Bacchus Vintage Series - Big Guard SG Standard - In classic Cherry Finish - All Original and in Very Good Condition - Made in the renowned Deviser factory in Japan - MIJ.

• Serial Number: 100528
• Body: Mahogany - 2 piece centre seam
• Neck: Mahogany - 1 piece with headstock wings and no heel cap
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Fretboard Radius: About 10"
• Fret Edge Binding: No
• Inlays: Acrylic celluloid looking trapezoid inlays
• Frets: 22 x Medium Jumbo (1.0mm tall x 2.7mm wide)
• Nut Width: 43.1mm
• Width at 1st Fret: 44.4mm
• Width at 12th Fret: 52.8mm
• Thickness at 1st Fret: 20.8mm
• Thickness at 12th Fret: 22.2mm
• Nut: Bone
• Tuners: Original Gotoh nickel Kluson style tuners
• Bridge & Tailpiece: Original nickel Japanese made SG 8107 F bridge & aluminum tailpiece
• Pickups: Original nickel covered Bacchus VH-59 humbuckers
• Neck Pickup Resistance: 8.10K ohm
• Bridge Pickup Resistance: 8.06K ohm
• Pots: Original Made in Japan 500K audio taper pots and original capacitors
• Strings: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 2221 10-46 strings - E Standard tuning
• Weight: 7.94lbs
• Non Original Parts: None - all original
• Case: New quality made Profile G05TX gig bag
• Truss Rod: Works as expected with lots of room to tighten, but at the limit of loose

This is a 1998 Bacchus BSG-68V big guard SG Standard model from their early Vintage Series of guitars. This is from one of Bacchus's earliest run of these guitars - the first SG model from Bacchus. The serial number and age have been confirmed on the Bacchus serial number tool on the Deviser website.

From the 1998 Bacchus catalog, the colours available for this model were Cherry, Heritage Cherry, Black and Brown Oil - this one being the classic Cherry bright red finish that most SG's are known for.

This one arrived to me in very good player grade condition, and appears to be all original with no missing or replaced parts. Being a nearly 30 year old guitar, it does have a few scratches, light dings/dents, and swirling all over the guitar, but nothing major - it has been played, but definitely not abused.

Every time I get a Bacchus in my shop, I am always impressed by the build quality of these guitars. They are some of the best I've had from Japan from any era - to me, they are on par, if not better, than the best vintage MIJ guitars I have owned from Greco, Aria, Burny and Tokai, etc...

This one is made with a 2 piece centre-seam mahogany body and a 1 piece mahogany neck, with a nice medium brown rosewood fretboard, and really nice acrylic celluloid looking inlays (they look like proper vintage Gibson inlays) with 22 medium jumbo frets.

All of nickel hardware including the pickup covers & pole pieces, bridge, tailpiece, tuners, and screws are all in great shape, with only minor areas with slight corrosion and/or tarnish but for the most part they all still have lots of shine left and everything works as expected.

The Original Bacchus VH-59 pickups sound really great - they are lower wind pickups in the 8.06K to 8.08K range, like a slightly hot PAF. I didn't remove the covers to see the bobbins or the magnet, but they sound like an Alnico 5 magnet to my ears. They have more output power than a Gibson '57 Classic, with more lows and lower mids, a little smoother top end, but by no means muddy. They sound great with a cranked amp, and can clean up easily when you roll down the volume. They can handle any genre well.

The neck on this is a joy to play on - it's wide with a thin and comfortable D neck carve - starting out at 20.8mm at the 1st fret and making its way up to only 22.2mm by the 12th fret, with a 43mm nut width. This is one of the thinnest and widest SG necks I have had from Japan - much thinner and flatter than the later Bacchus BSG models.

The 22 medium jumbo frets have been played, but only exhibit very minor playwear across the board, and there is nearly the full life left in these frets, and this guitar plays very well up and down the entire fretboard.

All the guitars I sell, I test, thoroughly clean, and setup completely before I list them. Anything that is missing, damaged, or non original is mentioned in the listing.

I setup all my Gibson style guitars to Gibson factory specs - including neck relief, action, pickup height, intonation, and tailpiece height. So this guitar will be ready to play out of the box (after you tune it up - I ship my guitars with the strings loosened).

Comes with a new quality made Profile G05TX gig bag.

Overall, this is a high quality professional grade guitar made by one of the best guitar factories in the world.

If you're looking for a rare vintage Japanese made SG of the highest calibre, that looks, play, and sounds incredible, grab this one today!

CONDITION ------------

Overall it's in very good player grade shape.

I've tried to capture all of the flaws in the photos and in the description.

Over the entire body of the guitar, top, back, sides, neck and headstock, there are some minor scratches, dings, dents, and small chips in the finish - but nothing major.

The black paint on the headstock face is cloudy (typical for this era Bacchus) - but really only on the low E side edge and around the logo.

All of nickel hardware including the pickup covers & pole pieces, bridge, tailpiece, tuners, and screws are all in great shape, with only minor areas with slight corrosion and/or tarnish but for the most part they all still have lots of shine left and everything works as expected.

The black pickguard has some typical pick marks and scratches, and so does the rear control cover and truss rod cover.

All of the original Gotoh nickel Kluson style tuners are straight and work well.

The 22 medium jumbo frets have been played, but only exhibit very minor playwear across the board, and there is nearly the full life left in these frets, and this guitar plays very well up and down the entire fretboard.

There is a small chip in by the front of the A string nut slot - but it does not affect the tone, intonation or playability.

The truss rod works as expected, with lots of room to tighten, but it's almost at the limit of loose. Right now, tuned in E standard with 10-46 strings, there is 0.010" of relief measured between the bottom of the low E string and the top of the 8th fret, with the 1st fret capoed and the 17th fret depressed. This is the ideal amount of relief. If you want less relief, there is lots of room to tighten the rod to do so. If you want more, than you'd need heavier gauge strings.

There no signs of a headstock repairs.

SHIPPING ------------  

Every shipment is expertly packed with great care and includes tracking, signature required on delivery, and full insurance coverage for both the purchase price and shipping.

Every guitar is fully wrapped in bubble wrap, in a cardboard box meant for guitars, with proper support inside. To reduce environmental impact, the packing material (paper, newsprint, gift wrap, bubble wrap, air packets, foam, carboard boxes and/or tube supports, etc...) used may be recycled.

Package dimensions are 118cm x 47cm x 17cm

Note: if you want an exact shipping quote, just send me a note with your postal/zip code, and I'll get a proper quote for your address. 

Note: If you're buying from outside of Canada, you as the Buyer may be required to pay import duties, tariffs, taxes and/or VAT upon delivery, depending on your location and the purchase price.

QUESTIONS ------------

Any questions? Want more photos or detailed shots? Measurements? Shoot me a message, and I'll be happy to answer them, or send more pics, or take any measurements you want/need.

Thanks for looking!