Gary Moore’s “Showbiz Blues” 1961 Gibson SG Jr is heading for auction and it is a TV Yellow unicorn

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A 1961 Gibson SG Junior in TV Yellow that has been owned and played onstage and in the studio by the late blues-rock icon Gary Moore is heading to the auction block.

This super rare electric guitar is one of – and surely the starring – lot in Gardiner Houlgate’s forthcoming September auction, and would be a conversation starter even before the Moore connection. A TV Yellow SG Junior is a rare beast.

Gibson introduced the finish in the ‘50s, and, as the legend goes, it was to make the instruments look better on televised broadcasts. That theory has been challenged over the years but, either way, this sort of wheat/light butterscotch looked very good on its Les Paul Juniors and Specials, and has aged beautifully.

Owing to its cult appeal, Gibson has brought it back periodically, for special runs, vintage replicas, and as a finish option in its own right, but at the dawn of the ‘60s it was soon to be retired.

Consider this SG Junior one of the lucky ones to get the finish. It wears it well and is testimony to how the aging process affects some guitars differently. Sometimes they go pale beige, others in dark amber. This one, however, is a deep shade of yellow that’s more Bird’s custard than TV Yellow – banana yellow, if you prefer.

Introducing the guitar, Luke Hobbs, auctioneer at Gardiner Houlgate, says this guitar saw plenty of of action with Moore in the mid ‘90s, and even turned upon his famous 1995 tribute album to the late Peter Green – one of the all-time classic British blues guitar albums.

“This guitar was used for some of the press photo sessions for the BBM Tour, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Gary Moore,” says Hobbs, “It was also used on some of the sessions for Blues For Greeny and it does appear on the VHS. And there is one track in particular that this features on, and you can see that up on YouTube, Showbiz Blues. There’s some fantastic playing there where Gary Moore is using a slide but it just sounds incredible.”

As with many of Moore-owned guitars, there have been some modifications. There’s no clarification as to whether it was Moore himself that performed these mods or whether it came after it left his possession.

Either way, the original tuners were swapped out for locking tuners (the originals are included with the lot), and the covering for the single P-90 at the bridge has been replaced – though the electric guitar pickup itself is original.

Also, the original guitar case is long gone. This ships in an old Ibanez case, which as Hobbs says, is kind of cool. After all, this was a guitar that was made to play, and was played.

For more information, head over to to Guitar Auctions at Gardiner Houlgate.