Gibson 1942 J-45 Legend Acoustic Guitar Vintage Sunburst
The Gibson Legends version of the J-45 acoustic guitar handles music from the blues to bluegrass to folk to pop and everything in-between. The Gibson J-45 is one of the most played and cherished acoustic guitars in history. This J-45 remake is hand-crafted by Gibson luthiers using techniques from the J-45 guitar's heyday. The Legend J-45 boasts an Adirondack spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides to produce unmatched mellow, full-bodied tone.
Did you ever have one of the "what if" conversations? Like, "what if I won the lottery?" kind of things. Some 3 years ago the luthiers at Gibson's acoustic guitar plant in Bozeman, Montana, had one of those conversations. It went sort of like this: "What if we could go back in time and build a brand new guitar exactly the way they were built back then?".
Well, nothing gets the juices flowing like a challenge like that, so the quest was on: find the best-sounding, original, mint-condition Gibson acoustic guitar from the "vintage years," and build a limited number of guitars today employing the same materials, the same types of tools, same specs, you name it. The plan was to build a new vintage guitar.
After a long search, a mint, 1942 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar was located. Owned by renowned acoustic guitar expert and author Eldon Whitford, the guitar was perfect. It was historically significant, as 1942 was the first year of production for the J-45 guitar. The fact that the J-45 is the number one selling acoustic guitar in Gibson's history didn't hurt either. Mr. Whitford was kind enough to loan the guitar to Gibson for a painstakingly thorough examination. The guitar went through both X-ray and CAT scans to accurately determine the bracing patterns and wood thickness. The glue and finish were chemically analyzed. To make a long story short, Gibson learned everything about that guitar. The result? The Gibson Legend Series 1942 J-45 Acoustic Guitar.
Let's start with the body of the J-45 reissue guitar. The Gibson round shoulder body shape is believed by many players to be the best sounding Gibson acoustic guitar ever made. The gently rounded upper bout keeps the highs clean and precise, while the deep lower bout ensures that famous Gibson bottom end. The body is constructed of solid, premium grade Honduran mahogany. The top is solid Adirondack spruce. Both the top and back are gently radiused to provide tension to the wood. This makes the wood vibrate (like a tuned drumhead), and as a result, projection and definition are greatly enhanced.
The J-45 guitar's beefy, hand-shaped neck is one piece of select premium grade mahogany, set with Gibson's famous double dovetail neck joint for a lifelong tight fit. Hot hide glue is used in the construction, not synthetic glue like many of today's guitars. Hide glue is organic and thinner. It makes for a better wood-to-wood construction, without a thick layer of adhesive to impede the guitar'
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To reach the peaks of acoustic tone and performance demanded by this discerning artist, the Gibson Jackson Browne Signature Acoustic Guitar is made with the finest tonewoods available today. Made in the shape of the Gibson Jumbo model of the 1930s but with body depths increased to 4.55 inchesat the neck block and 4.83 inchesat the tail block, the Jackson Browne Signature guitar has a top crafted from solid Adirondack red spruce, one of the most exalted woods for this application, and back and sides made from solid eco-friendly English walnut. Scalloped Adirondack red spruce top bracing keeps the soundboard resonant and lively, while a 12th fret neck/body joint sets the bridge right at the sweet spot in the top for unparalleled tonal depth and richness, as well as optimizing its performance for fingerstyle playing. Gibson Jackson Browne Acoustic Model 1 Features 30's style Gibson Sunburst finish Adirondack Red Spruce Top and Bracing Eco-friendly English Walnut Back and Sides 12 fret-to-body construction with custom wider fingerboard Gold Waverly tuners with an efficient 14:1 turn ratio and Ivoroid Buttons One-piece solid quarter-sawn mahogany neck is carved to a modified V profile TheJackson Browne Model 1 acoustic guitar'sone-piece solid quarter-sawn mahogany neck is carved to a modified V profile, with a rosewood fingerboard set to the popular 24-3/4 inchscale length for that superb Gibson comfort and playability. Furthermore, it is joined to the body with hot hide glue just like the great pre-War acoustics. Other tonal fine points are achieved by the guitar's genuine bone nut, traditional rectangular open-slotted rosewood bridge, and gold-plated Waverly tuners with ivoroid buttons. The traditional look of these high-end, open-geared tuners is reflected throughout the guitar, from nitrocellulose Vintage Sunburst finish, to multi-ply body top binding, to firestripe pickguard, to elegant abalone slotted-diamond fingerboard inlays"all of which combine to make a visual statement that is every bit as powerful as the sound of this bold-voiced Gibson acoustic guitar. Body and Finish This big-bodied acoustic is built in the shape of Gibson's Jumbo models of the 1930s and the legendary Roy Smeck Model, but with increased body depth for added richness and projection. It is made with a solid Adirondack red spruce top with scalloped Adirondack red spruce braces, and a solid eco-friendly English walnut back and sides, and is completed with a special Vintage Sunburst finish in hand-sprayed nitrocellulose lacquer. Neck and Headstock TheJackson Browne signature acoustic'sneck and headstock are made much in the tradition of the great Gibson Jumbos, w
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