Gibson J-35 Owned by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1939), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # EG-6716, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
While not the cleanest J-35 we have had this is a cool and chunky sounding prewar Gibson Jumbo, a recent denizen of the Wilco Loft and still fitted with their special "Pre-Aged" strings that are a Jeff Tweedy trademark. This 1939 guitar shows some older repair work but is an early example of the natural top option first cataloged that year. This is something of a transitional example with a mix of older and newer features.
The fairly wide neck is an unusual shape, not the substantial "V" profile of the late '30s nor the more modern "C" shape of the early '40s; we believe it was likely slimmed down a bit back-to-front long ago as the back of the neck was refinished and subsequently largely worn through again. In any event the profile is rather more comfortable than the old deep "V" shape, now a very soft "V" noticeably shallower back-to-front. The heel is the earlier wider style, built in a stacked mode with a substantial added lower piece.
Other original features include branded openback Kluson strip tuners, "firestripe" tortoise celluloid pickguard and silkscreen white script Gibson headstock logo. The top is built with tall, thin X-braces and the older style three tone bars making for a powerful yet still responsive guitar. The top and back are single bound in celluloid and the entire guitar carries an ambered natural finish.
The J-35 was Gibson's "working man's" Jumbo flattop in the late 1930's and early '40's. Selling on introduction for under forty dollars it was a direct competitor to Martin's D-18, and has since been similarly recognized as one of the all time classic flat-top designs. This well-used guitar has a big sound but is still very responsive; a good flatpicker and a nice fingerpicking guitar as well. The special Tweedy-spec strings give the guitar a very dark, thumpy tone; these can of course be changed as desired. This "Loft" veteran is a cool old road warrior with a lot of kick left in it!
Overall length is 40 3/4 in. (103.5 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 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
Even long before it hit the Wilco loft this J-35 had a life including a LOT of adventures, surviving as a cool "Real Relic" Jumbo with a great if slightly funky vibe. It has a number of mostly older repairs common to a long serving flat top, but remains in very good playing condition. The heavily worn and ambered natural lacquer finish is largely original, just having been majorly redone on the back of the neck from the heel to the base of the headstock. As noted above we believe the neck was slightly slimmed back-to-front long ago, but much of the refinished area has been worn through again. There is a secondary clear overspray over some capo marks along the spine, which show as dark spots but cannot be felt.
The rest of the guitar has topical touch ups over a number of repaired cracks and a decent amount of old scuzz overall. There is general wear over the entire surface; the top has pickwear all around the soundhole and pickguard, and some fairly heavy wear-away to the rim of the soundhole. The top also shows dings scratches and scrapes and a series of what look like case lid bites between the soundhole and upper waist. The back and sides are a bit scruffy with dings, scratches, worn away spots and some general funk but there is no major belt buckle wear. The headstock is worn and somewhat funked-up as well.
The top has a tightly sealed grain split along the top edge of the pickguard and a couple of short splits coming off the edges of the bridge. There are six individual old repaired grain splits to the back, all sealed and topically touched up but not cleated internally. The lower side has on similarly sealed split at the turn of the lower bout just up from the back edge. The area around the endpin had a tailpiece fitted at some point; the section of top edge binding has been patched in there.
The rosewood bridge and small maple bridgeplate are correct style reproductions; it looks like several bridges have been on the guitar over the decades. There is some considerable finish work around the bridge, mostly behind it indicating an oversize bridge may have been fitted at some point. The correct pearl dots are set into the bridge top but no retaining bolts were installed beneath. The top has a bit of a warp in the bridge area but all the repair work here is solid. The bracing remains original and unaltered, with some minor re-gluing.
The fingerboard has an older refret with slightly larger than period-correct wire, with filled divots in the rosewood in the lower positions. The bone nut is a replacement. The original tuners have considerable ambering to the plating and later buttons but still work well. While the foregoing catalog of wear and repair may seem daunting this instrument has been optimized for playability and sound and it certainly performs very well. Along with the standard Wilco loft cataloging markings on the base of the case this guitar also has a small white sticker reading "J35" on the back of the headstock indicating it was likely set up as a performance guitar for Tweedy at some point. It lives in a more recent HSC and a COA from Jeff Tweedy is included. Overall Very Good Condition.
