Gibson J-185 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1954)
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Gibson J-185 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1954), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # A-16593, sunburst lacquer finish, flame maple back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This guitar shows evidence of a lot of play time; one strum and it's easy to say why! The original Gibson J-185 has gained a formidable reputation over the decades as one of the absolute finest of Kalamazoo-made flat-tops, and remains a unique design. To some players this is simply one of the very best flat tops ever made. In production through the 1950s, this 16" narrow-waisted Jumbo model never established itself properly with players at the time but has garnered a splendid reputation in retrospect.
This guitar has a serial number indicating it was shipped in March 1954, and a Factory Order Number showing it was built in later 1953. It is one of only 648 total sunburst J-185's built in the entire decade, 97 of which left Kalamazoo in 1954. These numbers are very small for such a well-regarded guitar, but this model suffered from the "Midline Blues". It seems most folks who could afford one went all out and bought a J-200, while the rest stuck with the familiar and more affordable J-45 family. After several more years of slumping sales the J-185 was finally discontinued in 1959.
The J-185 represents Gibson's second attempt to create a less expensive guitar to complement the top-of-the-line "King of the Flat-tops" SJ-200, the first being the virtually dead-on-arrival SJ-100 of 1939-41. This is basically a plainer 16" wide version of the more "yee-haw" 17" J-200. The slightly smaller body retains the same narrow-waisted shape and materials but has lighter construction resulting in a handier, much more responsive guitar. The cosmetics are a bit plainer, but still make for an impressive-looking instrument. This beauty has subtly flamed maple back and straight-grained spruce top under a shaded sunburst finish. The top and back are triple-bound and the tortoise celluloid pickguard is the same shape as the J-200 but thinner, and not ornamented with engraving.
The medium/slim round-profile one-piece mahogany neck is topped with a bound rosewood fingerboard sporting Gibson's classic double parallelogram inlay. The unbound headstock has a crown inlay on the face and mounts gold-plated Kluson Deluxe tuners with keystone buttons. A unique feature of the J-185 is pearl Maltese crosses inlaid on the wings of the "belly-up" rosewood bridge, an attractive if eccentric cosmetic touch reserved for this model alone.
Since the 1950s the J-185's sound, feel and relative rarity have made it the most sought-after post-war Gibson flat-top. A few name players had one in the 1960s, notably blues legend Skip James at the end of his career. A different blues connection made them much desired among fingerstyle players: Reverend Gary Davis favored Gibson's J-200 during the 1960s, but the lighter and more responsive J-185 is a preferred instrument among many who follow in the Reverend's style. This is a superbly versatile guitar with an exceptionally smooth, rich, and expansive tone for a maple bodied instrument. This is one of those guitars that truly lives up to its considerable reputation, simply one of Gibson's greatest if originally underappreciated instruments.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 16 1/16 in. (40.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is an all original and great-playing nearly 70 year old example of this much-desired instrument, and one that has obviously seen some serious play. It shows a LOT of wear to the top but very little repair remaining a truly spectacular sounding guitar. The all-original lacquer finish on the back, neck and sides shows some dings, dents and scrapes but is mostly pretty clean. The top has several areas of deep pick wear through the lacquer into the wood, most heavily off the back edge of the pickguard (the "Pinky trench") and below the guard. The lower sound hole rim is worn well into the wood, with some loss above the soundhole and down between the strings as well. There is some lighter pickwear above the fingerboard extension and other random dinge on the lower bout. The neck finish is much better preserved with some light edge wear and a few tiny dings and dents, the headstock has some checking and typical edge chipping.
Structurally the guitar is excellent with just one tiny repaired grain split on the forward soundhole edge by the fingerboard; there are no other cracks. A long scrape off the back edge of the pickguard looks like a crack, but does not go through the wood. The neck appears to have been very neatly reset to the original bridge which itself looks to have been lowered just a bit long ago. The bone saddle is newer, the small maple bridge plate is original and the bridge retaining bolts are still intact. The guitar has been very neatly refretted with correct style wire showing no subsequent wear; there are a few residual divots in the fingerboard in the first position. It plays perfectly and sounds divine, both crisp and warm and very responsive foe a large bodied guitar. It rests happily in the original deep burgundy-lined brown Lifton HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This guitar shows evidence of a lot of play time; one strum and it's easy to say why! The original Gibson J-185 has gained a formidable reputation over the decades as one of the absolute finest of Kalamazoo-made flat-tops, and remains a unique design. To some players this is simply one of the very best flat tops ever made. In production through the 1950s, this 16" narrow-waisted Jumbo model never established itself properly with players at the time but has garnered a splendid reputation in retrospect.
This guitar has a serial number indicating it was shipped in March 1954, and a Factory Order Number showing it was built in later 1953. It is one of only 648 total sunburst J-185's built in the entire decade, 97 of which left Kalamazoo in 1954. These numbers are very small for such a well-regarded guitar, but this model suffered from the "Midline Blues". It seems most folks who could afford one went all out and bought a J-200, while the rest stuck with the familiar and more affordable J-45 family. After several more years of slumping sales the J-185 was finally discontinued in 1959.
The J-185 represents Gibson's second attempt to create a less expensive guitar to complement the top-of-the-line "King of the Flat-tops" SJ-200, the first being the virtually dead-on-arrival SJ-100 of 1939-41. This is basically a plainer 16" wide version of the more "yee-haw" 17" J-200. The slightly smaller body retains the same narrow-waisted shape and materials but has lighter construction resulting in a handier, much more responsive guitar. The cosmetics are a bit plainer, but still make for an impressive-looking instrument. This beauty has subtly flamed maple back and straight-grained spruce top under a shaded sunburst finish. The top and back are triple-bound and the tortoise celluloid pickguard is the same shape as the J-200 but thinner, and not ornamented with engraving.
The medium/slim round-profile one-piece mahogany neck is topped with a bound rosewood fingerboard sporting Gibson's classic double parallelogram inlay. The unbound headstock has a crown inlay on the face and mounts gold-plated Kluson Deluxe tuners with keystone buttons. A unique feature of the J-185 is pearl Maltese crosses inlaid on the wings of the "belly-up" rosewood bridge, an attractive if eccentric cosmetic touch reserved for this model alone.
Since the 1950s the J-185's sound, feel and relative rarity have made it the most sought-after post-war Gibson flat-top. A few name players had one in the 1960s, notably blues legend Skip James at the end of his career. A different blues connection made them much desired among fingerstyle players: Reverend Gary Davis favored Gibson's J-200 during the 1960s, but the lighter and more responsive J-185 is a preferred instrument among many who follow in the Reverend's style. This is a superbly versatile guitar with an exceptionally smooth, rich, and expansive tone for a maple bodied instrument. This is one of those guitars that truly lives up to its considerable reputation, simply one of Gibson's greatest if originally underappreciated instruments.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 16 1/16 in. (40.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is an all original and great-playing nearly 70 year old example of this much-desired instrument, and one that has obviously seen some serious play. It shows a LOT of wear to the top but very little repair remaining a truly spectacular sounding guitar. The all-original lacquer finish on the back, neck and sides shows some dings, dents and scrapes but is mostly pretty clean. The top has several areas of deep pick wear through the lacquer into the wood, most heavily off the back edge of the pickguard (the "Pinky trench") and below the guard. The lower sound hole rim is worn well into the wood, with some loss above the soundhole and down between the strings as well. There is some lighter pickwear above the fingerboard extension and other random dinge on the lower bout. The neck finish is much better preserved with some light edge wear and a few tiny dings and dents, the headstock has some checking and typical edge chipping.
Structurally the guitar is excellent with just one tiny repaired grain split on the forward soundhole edge by the fingerboard; there are no other cracks. A long scrape off the back edge of the pickguard looks like a crack, but does not go through the wood. The neck appears to have been very neatly reset to the original bridge which itself looks to have been lowered just a bit long ago. The bone saddle is newer, the small maple bridge plate is original and the bridge retaining bolts are still intact. The guitar has been very neatly refretted with correct style wire showing no subsequent wear; there are a few residual divots in the fingerboard in the first position. It plays perfectly and sounds divine, both crisp and warm and very responsive foe a large bodied guitar. It rests happily in the original deep burgundy-lined brown Lifton HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.