Gibson J-50 ADJ Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1965)
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Gibson J-50 ADJ Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 309428, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
By the mid-1960's Gibson's slope-shouldered Jumbo guitars had been very popular with Folk, Blues and Pop players for 30 years and picking this one up it's easy to see why. This is a very comfortable guitar to play with a sleek, slim round backed neck and a very warm sound. The J-50 is essentially the same instrument as the J-45 with a natural finish and an extra layer of top binding -- upgrades worth a small markup to Gibson at the time. This one is from the period where these were all the "ADJ" model, fitted with the company's adjustable bridge system with a wooden saddle.
The J-50 is built with mahogany back, sides and neck with a spruce top and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard. This 1965 example shows typical features for the mid-'60s including the "belly up" bridge with the separate adjustable saddle, large tortoise celluloid pickguard and Kluson Deluxe strip tuners. The neck has the skinnier nut width adopted that year. 1965 was Gibson's top production year of the decade and saw 4312 of these J-50 ADJ's ship out of Kalamazoo. The J-50 was favored notably at the time by Jorma Kaukonen and Texas blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins, among many others! This is a well used guitar but a nice playing example; one of those worn, in comfortable guitars you just don't want to put down.
Overall length is 40 11/16 in. (103.3 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 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 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.).
This J-50 shows moderately heavy wear for its 60 years on the planet and remains in fine playing shape. The all-original finish shows fairly heavy checking with dings, dents and scrapes over the instrument, most heavily to the top. The largest area of loss to the finish is the lower lip of the soundhole and off the upper and back edges of the pickguard. In some spots this is worn well down into the wood. The back of the neck is worn to the wood on both sides in the lower positions, more heavily on the bass side; otherwise the finish is largely intact.
Despite the wear there are no notable crack repairs. The original adjustable bridge is still intact and functional. Internally the bridgeplate is made of rosewood in the correct original pattern with all the bolts intact; if this was replaced it would be unusual to also re-install this hardware exactly but we can't say for sure; Gibson specs in this era can be notoriously variable. In any case it is likely superior sonically to the commonly seen plywood piece used in the early-mid 60s.
The neck has never had or needed a reset; the frets look like the larger Gibson wire from the period, it is possible this is an ancient refret but in either case they have been crowned down flatter than the stock profile. There are some divots to the fingerboard in the lower positions but nothing that affects playability. This is an excellent gigging guitar and a nice example of a mid-60's J-50, friendly to play with the typically sweet midrange-heavy sound these are well known for. Overall Very Good + Condition.
By the mid-1960's Gibson's slope-shouldered Jumbo guitars had been very popular with Folk, Blues and Pop players for 30 years and picking this one up it's easy to see why. This is a very comfortable guitar to play with a sleek, slim round backed neck and a very warm sound. The J-50 is essentially the same instrument as the J-45 with a natural finish and an extra layer of top binding -- upgrades worth a small markup to Gibson at the time. This one is from the period where these were all the "ADJ" model, fitted with the company's adjustable bridge system with a wooden saddle.
The J-50 is built with mahogany back, sides and neck with a spruce top and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard. This 1965 example shows typical features for the mid-'60s including the "belly up" bridge with the separate adjustable saddle, large tortoise celluloid pickguard and Kluson Deluxe strip tuners. The neck has the skinnier nut width adopted that year. 1965 was Gibson's top production year of the decade and saw 4312 of these J-50 ADJ's ship out of Kalamazoo. The J-50 was favored notably at the time by Jorma Kaukonen and Texas blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins, among many others! This is a well used guitar but a nice playing example; one of those worn, in comfortable guitars you just don't want to put down.
Overall length is 40 11/16 in. (103.3 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 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 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.).
This J-50 shows moderately heavy wear for its 60 years on the planet and remains in fine playing shape. The all-original finish shows fairly heavy checking with dings, dents and scrapes over the instrument, most heavily to the top. The largest area of loss to the finish is the lower lip of the soundhole and off the upper and back edges of the pickguard. In some spots this is worn well down into the wood. The back of the neck is worn to the wood on both sides in the lower positions, more heavily on the bass side; otherwise the finish is largely intact.
Despite the wear there are no notable crack repairs. The original adjustable bridge is still intact and functional. Internally the bridgeplate is made of rosewood in the correct original pattern with all the bolts intact; if this was replaced it would be unusual to also re-install this hardware exactly but we can't say for sure; Gibson specs in this era can be notoriously variable. In any case it is likely superior sonically to the commonly seen plywood piece used in the early-mid 60s.
The neck has never had or needed a reset; the frets look like the larger Gibson wire from the period, it is possible this is an ancient refret but in either case they have been crowned down flatter than the stock profile. There are some divots to the fingerboard in the lower positions but nothing that affects playability. This is an excellent gigging guitar and a nice example of a mid-60's J-50, friendly to play with the typically sweet midrange-heavy sound these are well known for. Overall Very Good + Condition.