A beautiful example that has benefitted from a lot of use over the years, the results of which have produced one of the most characterful and vibey examples we've seen in quite a while.

This iconic slope shoulder dreadnought design all began with the introduction of the original "Jumbo" model in 1934 - Gibson's largest bodied flat top at 16" wide. It was designed to produce a lower voiced, warmer sound that would leave more space in the vocal register to better compliment singers. A price tag of $60 (a huge sum of money during the depression era) would lead to poor sales and the model was discontinued two years later replaced by the more austere J-35 retailing at $35 and the highly appointed Advanced Jumbo retailing at $80. 

For the next 4 or 5 years Gibson experimented quite extensively with the J-35 varying the top thickness, bridge plate size, introducing scalloped bracing and changing from 3 to 2 tone bars by 1940. In 1942 this model evolved into the J-45 and natural finish J-50 featuring a teardrop celluloid pickguard, banner headstock decal and the concave headstock shape that still remains today. 

The famous "banner era" then saw many changes and inconsistencies caused by shortages in supply and labour following the US entry into WWII, but by 1947 Gibson had standardised the J-45 and J-50 models, and they remain largely unchanged until 1955.

This is an excellent all round example with a very tight-grained Spruce top, scalloped X-bracing, original Maple bridge plate, Mahogany back and sides and a single piece chunky C profile neck, all contributing to what is a fantastic sounding guitar with richness and character befitting of it's looks. This one really typifies the J-45 sound with that dry, woody, percussive tone that has become so famous across singer-songwriter, folk, country genres to name a few.

Examples as cool as this don't come up too often. A wonderful piece of Gibson history and a guitar that is certain to put a smile on your face!