Like its earlier sister, the Gibson Les Paul Junior, it had been created for sale at a lower price.

In 1963, "Les Paul" was removed from the headstock and it was officially called the SG Junior.

From 1966 to 1971, it had a generic SG pickguard with a soapbar P90 rather than the original dog-ear.

As a successor model, SG 100 was released in the late-1971 (with a large maple body, triangular pickguard, flat metal control plate, a black plastic-molded single-coil pickup with a flat metal-ring, and tune-o-matic installed through a baseplate/tailpiece), then SG I replaced it in the late-1972 (with a humbucker and stoptail bridge), but discontinued in 1974.

Between 2011 and 2015 Gibson rereleased a Junior which more closely resembled its early 1960s incarnation.