Gibson J-45 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1948-9)
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Item # 12710
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Gibson J-45 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1948-9), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 2944-12, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, maple back and sides, spruce top; laminated maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
THIS is one of the most unique vintage J-45s we have ever seen, a real puzzler with cosmetic features dating to 1948 but woods and components far off the standard spec. that appear to be leftovers from the WWII "Banner" era. The strangest feature is laminated maple back and sides, with a fancy flame veneer visible on the INSIDE of the guitar! This is highly unusual for ANY J-45, and we have not seen another like it although a few wartime maple J-45s are known. This guitar also has a pre-war laminated 5-piece maple neck originally fabricated before the war for Gibson's off-brand non-trussrod instruments but often used up on wartime flat tops. This is fitted with a standard adjustable truss rod and a post-war block script logo with the "joined dot" characteristic of the late 1940s.
The Factory Order Number (FON) on the neck block is 2944, which would generally be thought to indicate construction in 1948 but it COULD be a leftover from 1943-5! The solid spruce top is built with hand-scalloped X braces and 2 tone bars, with a small maple bridgeplate under the rectangular rosewood bridge. The top has a stately dark sunburst, single bound with a tortoise celluloid pickguard and 7-ply soundhole ring.
We don't know what the story is here; is it a leftover "Banner" finished out in 1948? An early factory refurbish of a 1943-5 guitar? A stash of overstocked parts assembled to clear the factory when Ted McCarty was coming in as the new president of the company? Or perhaps just an oddball experiment to see if the world wanted a maple round-shoulder 16" jumbo? This guitar could be any of these. What it is for sure is a spectacular sounding instrument with a huge "crack" when played hard, reminiscent of a good J-200 but also a strong brilliant sound even when fingerpicked. Looking for a unique, one of a kind Gibson jumbo? Step right up, folks, and meet the maple wonder of the midway, a J-45 like no other!
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 7/8 in. (632 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
Overall this is a pretty clean J-45, structurally excellent with just some fairly minor repair. Cosmetically it shows general light wear, without much evidence of heavy play. The finish on the top shows some typical heavy checking but remains original with small dings, dents and scrapes but hardly any wear from play. The back and sides are similarly clean. The back of the neck has only very light wear, the original frets likewise show only light signs of use.
The guitar has not had a neck set or needed one. The rosewood bridge appears original; it is fairly crudely made and looks to have been reglued, although the retaining bolts under the pearl dots are still inn place. The bone saddle has been reworked a bit but looks original as well. There are several repaired grain cracks to the top, one running from behind the bridge just above the center seam, another off the back edge and another off the top edge of the pickguard to the soundhole ring. Another runs off the bottom edge of the fingerboard extension also to the soundhole ring. All are neatly sealed with minimal touchup.
The tuning machines are the original just post war openback strips and still work as well as they ever did. This postwar maple J-45 would be a unicorn in any era, an extremely fine if perhaps counter-intuitive flat top surviving in far better preserved condition than most 1940s Gibson jumbos. It plays extremely well and the sound is quite powerful with the midrange Gibsons are famous for but plenty of top end and punch to back it up. We hate to say "Go find another one" but that's pretty much the story here! Overall Excellent - Condition.
THIS is one of the most unique vintage J-45s we have ever seen, a real puzzler with cosmetic features dating to 1948 but woods and components far off the standard spec. that appear to be leftovers from the WWII "Banner" era. The strangest feature is laminated maple back and sides, with a fancy flame veneer visible on the INSIDE of the guitar! This is highly unusual for ANY J-45, and we have not seen another like it although a few wartime maple J-45s are known. This guitar also has a pre-war laminated 5-piece maple neck originally fabricated before the war for Gibson's off-brand non-trussrod instruments but often used up on wartime flat tops. This is fitted with a standard adjustable truss rod and a post-war block script logo with the "joined dot" characteristic of the late 1940s.
The Factory Order Number (FON) on the neck block is 2944, which would generally be thought to indicate construction in 1948 but it COULD be a leftover from 1943-5! The solid spruce top is built with hand-scalloped X braces and 2 tone bars, with a small maple bridgeplate under the rectangular rosewood bridge. The top has a stately dark sunburst, single bound with a tortoise celluloid pickguard and 7-ply soundhole ring.
We don't know what the story is here; is it a leftover "Banner" finished out in 1948? An early factory refurbish of a 1943-5 guitar? A stash of overstocked parts assembled to clear the factory when Ted McCarty was coming in as the new president of the company? Or perhaps just an oddball experiment to see if the world wanted a maple round-shoulder 16" jumbo? This guitar could be any of these. What it is for sure is a spectacular sounding instrument with a huge "crack" when played hard, reminiscent of a good J-200 but also a strong brilliant sound even when fingerpicked. Looking for a unique, one of a kind Gibson jumbo? Step right up, folks, and meet the maple wonder of the midway, a J-45 like no other!
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 7/8 in. (632 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
Overall this is a pretty clean J-45, structurally excellent with just some fairly minor repair. Cosmetically it shows general light wear, without much evidence of heavy play. The finish on the top shows some typical heavy checking but remains original with small dings, dents and scrapes but hardly any wear from play. The back and sides are similarly clean. The back of the neck has only very light wear, the original frets likewise show only light signs of use.
The guitar has not had a neck set or needed one. The rosewood bridge appears original; it is fairly crudely made and looks to have been reglued, although the retaining bolts under the pearl dots are still inn place. The bone saddle has been reworked a bit but looks original as well. There are several repaired grain cracks to the top, one running from behind the bridge just above the center seam, another off the back edge and another off the top edge of the pickguard to the soundhole ring. Another runs off the bottom edge of the fingerboard extension also to the soundhole ring. All are neatly sealed with minimal touchup.
The tuning machines are the original just post war openback strips and still work as well as they ever did. This postwar maple J-45 would be a unicorn in any era, an extremely fine if perhaps counter-intuitive flat top surviving in far better preserved condition than most 1940s Gibson jumbos. It plays extremely well and the sound is quite powerful with the midrange Gibsons are famous for but plenty of top end and punch to back it up. We hate to say "Go find another one" but that's pretty much the story here! Overall Excellent - Condition.