Gibson SJ Southern Jumbo Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1943)
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Item #13463
Gibson SJ Southern Jumbo Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1943), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 910-2, sunburst top, natural back and sides finish, Indian rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This beautifully weathered and worn-in flat top is an extremely rare survivor from the *second* batch of Gibson Southern Jumbos ever built. It dates to early 1943 and has special features seen on this batch, including Indian rosewood back and sides and a bleck "skunk stripe" line running down the center of the top. "Banner" Gibson expert Willi Henkes has done the deep-dive research into these models, and we are indebted to him for much of the following information.
The "SJ" was Gibson's top-of-the-line wartime Jumbo flattop, part of a re-designed line launched in 1942. Willi's research documents this guitar as an early example from the second batch of SJs, indicated by Factory Order Number #910-2 on the heelblock. The first batch carried #8074H FON's indicating fabrication in late 1942. Probably about 74 examples of the 910 batch from early 1943 would have been made; 910-74 is the highest known, this guitar is 910-2.
The "Southern jumbo" or SJ was conceived in later 1942, some time after the J-45 and LG models. The war was already causing material shortages by mid-1942; The first SJ models were built using Rosewood left over from discontinued SJ-200 and Advanced Jumbo; NO Indian rosewood was coming into the US in 1942, the high point of the U-boat blockade. Several batches of SJ's were subsequently produced in 1943, but the numbers remained small and Gibson quickly switched to mahogany for this model as the rosewood ran out; a few SJs in the 910 FON batch are known with rosewood sides and a mahogany back.
The Southern Jumbo was likely designed to keep Gibson competitive with Martin in this wartime period; *their* Nazareth factory in somehow had no trouble keeping up a steady flow of rosewood guitars during the war, obviously having far greater wood reserves than Gibson. The first recorded SJ shipments were not until August 1943, with small numbers following in the fall. The majority of SJs were not shipped until 1944.
This guitar's dark sunburst top and natural back are multi-bound, the thick heelcap triple layered. The tortoise celluloid pickguard is the pre-war "Firestripe" pattern. The Martin-derived lower belly bridge was a new idea at Gibson that appeared only on this model; the company later turned the piece upside down to create their own "top belly" look. Like some other SJs from this 910 batch there is a "skunk stripe" black line painted on the top during the lacquering process to hide an imperfect center seam.
The neck is one-piece mahogany with the steel truss rod in place; most later wartime Gibsons deleted it due to metal restrictions. The change occurred to the SJ during this batch; necks up to FON #910-23 have the adjustable truss rod and a generally slimmer profile; from #910-24 on the necks became noticeably chunkier with only a maple V-bar inset. The rosewood fingerboard is unbound with double parallelogram inlay, the headstock features the gold Gibson and banner logos. In a small, odd change the tuner position on SJs was moved slightly down after spring 1943; this guitar is the earlier variant.
The #910 batch of SJs has one special connection: Woody Guthrie played one of for his wartime Folkways Music recording sessions and Roosevelt Bandwagon promotional tour. According to Willi Henkes Woody was then living in Brooklyn and bought his SJ in November 1943 at New York Band Instrument Co., Gibson's primary NYC dealer. He has determined that Woody's SJ would have been numbered between #910-1 and #910-23 as photos of it show the truss rod cover, firestripe pickguard and at least rosewood sides.
While this is not that particular "This Machine Kills Fascists" guitar (which is unfortunately lost) by any reckoning it is as close as one can get, an exceptionally rare Gibson and a spectacular sounding one at that. Someone got a lot of use out of this guitar, and it is ready to keep rolling for this next century. These first-generation rosewood Southern Jumbos are simply fantastic guitars; this hearty survivor is full testament to that!
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 23/32 in. (44 mm.).
This is obviously a well played, worn in guitar but one of only a relative handful of rosewood-body SJs extant with this combination of features. Despite considerable wear and repair it is a structurally solid, fantastic sounding instrument with no playing issues.
The all-original finish has heavy checking with dings, dents, worn-through spots and over the entire instrument. The finish is worn into the wood below the soundhole and off the back edge of the pickguard, with some wear into the finish below the fingerboard extension and armwear to the upper top/side junction. The back and sides overall show less wear than the top. The back of the neck is also heavily worn through, with nearly all the finish gone from the nut to the 10th fret. There is a noticeable chip off the top treble edge of the headstock.
There are a number of solid repairs; the top has sealed spruce grain splits running forward from the back edge, with the center seam re-sealed all the way to the bridge. A long split runs along the top edge of the pickguard from the soundhole rim to the bridge, sealed and cleated but quite visible. A large spruce plate has been added under the fingerboard extension to reinforce that area, which has grain splits on either side of the fingerboard with some of the spruce that had shifted slightly rearward reseated properly. The soundhole rings below the treble side of the fingerboard show some mis-alignment from this.
The rosewood back and sides have fared more solidly over the decades, with finish wear but only one small repaired grain split to the back and some re-sealing along the backstrip. The lacquered-over rosewood bridge is original as is the small maple bridgeplate; the bone saddle is newer. The bridge retaining bolts have been removed and a very small maple strip added to the underside of the top the behind the pinholes, which are very close to the back of the bridgeplate.
The neck has been reset and the fingerboard trued and refretted with the correct style wire. Some shallow divots to the fingerboard remain in the lower positions, and one was were filled under the high E string at the third fret. The tuners are correct original just pre-war Kluson strips that have been restored to the guitar; something else was there at some point leaving a few small scars. The guitar is a truly excellent player with a HUGE ringing sound, a real WWII-era veteran with loads of stories and songs still in it. It resides in what looks like the original 1940s HSC with a particularly cool band logo "Shelby Cooper and his Dixie Mountaineers" on the lid, oddly stenciled upside down! There is a LOT of history in this guitar! Overall Very Good + Condition.
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This beautifully weathered and worn-in flat top is an extremely rare survivor from the *second* batch of Gibson Southern Jumbos ever built. It dates to early 1943 and has special features seen on this batch, including Indian rosewood back and sides and a bleck "skunk stripe" line running down the center of the top. "Banner" Gibson expert Willi Henkes has done the deep-dive research into these models, and we are indebted to him for much of the following information.
The "SJ" was Gibson's top-of-the-line wartime Jumbo flattop, part of a re-designed line launched in 1942. Willi's research documents this guitar as an early example from the second batch of SJs, indicated by Factory Order Number #910-2 on the heelblock. The first batch carried #8074H FON's indicating fabrication in late 1942. Probably about 74 examples of the 910 batch from early 1943 would have been made; 910-74 is the highest known, this guitar is 910-2.
The "Southern jumbo" or SJ was conceived in later 1942, some time after the J-45 and LG models. The war was already causing material shortages by mid-1942; The first SJ models were built using Rosewood left over from discontinued SJ-200 and Advanced Jumbo; NO Indian rosewood was coming into the US in 1942, the high point of the U-boat blockade. Several batches of SJ's were subsequently produced in 1943, but the numbers remained small and Gibson quickly switched to mahogany for this model as the rosewood ran out; a few SJs in the 910 FON batch are known with rosewood sides and a mahogany back.
The Southern Jumbo was likely designed to keep Gibson competitive with Martin in this wartime period; *their* Nazareth factory in somehow had no trouble keeping up a steady flow of rosewood guitars during the war, obviously having far greater wood reserves than Gibson. The first recorded SJ shipments were not until August 1943, with small numbers following in the fall. The majority of SJs were not shipped until 1944.
This guitar's dark sunburst top and natural back are multi-bound, the thick heelcap triple layered. The tortoise celluloid pickguard is the pre-war "Firestripe" pattern. The Martin-derived lower belly bridge was a new idea at Gibson that appeared only on this model; the company later turned the piece upside down to create their own "top belly" look. Like some other SJs from this 910 batch there is a "skunk stripe" black line painted on the top during the lacquering process to hide an imperfect center seam.
The neck is one-piece mahogany with the steel truss rod in place; most later wartime Gibsons deleted it due to metal restrictions. The change occurred to the SJ during this batch; necks up to FON #910-23 have the adjustable truss rod and a generally slimmer profile; from #910-24 on the necks became noticeably chunkier with only a maple V-bar inset. The rosewood fingerboard is unbound with double parallelogram inlay, the headstock features the gold Gibson and banner logos. In a small, odd change the tuner position on SJs was moved slightly down after spring 1943; this guitar is the earlier variant.
The #910 batch of SJs has one special connection: Woody Guthrie played one of for his wartime Folkways Music recording sessions and Roosevelt Bandwagon promotional tour. According to Willi Henkes Woody was then living in Brooklyn and bought his SJ in November 1943 at New York Band Instrument Co., Gibson's primary NYC dealer. He has determined that Woody's SJ would have been numbered between #910-1 and #910-23 as photos of it show the truss rod cover, firestripe pickguard and at least rosewood sides.
While this is not that particular "This Machine Kills Fascists" guitar (which is unfortunately lost) by any reckoning it is as close as one can get, an exceptionally rare Gibson and a spectacular sounding one at that. Someone got a lot of use out of this guitar, and it is ready to keep rolling for this next century. These first-generation rosewood Southern Jumbos are simply fantastic guitars; this hearty survivor is full testament to that!
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 23/32 in. (44 mm.).
This is obviously a well played, worn in guitar but one of only a relative handful of rosewood-body SJs extant with this combination of features. Despite considerable wear and repair it is a structurally solid, fantastic sounding instrument with no playing issues.
The all-original finish has heavy checking with dings, dents, worn-through spots and over the entire instrument. The finish is worn into the wood below the soundhole and off the back edge of the pickguard, with some wear into the finish below the fingerboard extension and armwear to the upper top/side junction. The back and sides overall show less wear than the top. The back of the neck is also heavily worn through, with nearly all the finish gone from the nut to the 10th fret. There is a noticeable chip off the top treble edge of the headstock.
There are a number of solid repairs; the top has sealed spruce grain splits running forward from the back edge, with the center seam re-sealed all the way to the bridge. A long split runs along the top edge of the pickguard from the soundhole rim to the bridge, sealed and cleated but quite visible. A large spruce plate has been added under the fingerboard extension to reinforce that area, which has grain splits on either side of the fingerboard with some of the spruce that had shifted slightly rearward reseated properly. The soundhole rings below the treble side of the fingerboard show some mis-alignment from this.
The rosewood back and sides have fared more solidly over the decades, with finish wear but only one small repaired grain split to the back and some re-sealing along the backstrip. The lacquered-over rosewood bridge is original as is the small maple bridgeplate; the bone saddle is newer. The bridge retaining bolts have been removed and a very small maple strip added to the underside of the top the behind the pinholes, which are very close to the back of the bridgeplate.
The neck has been reset and the fingerboard trued and refretted with the correct style wire. Some shallow divots to the fingerboard remain in the lower positions, and one was were filled under the high E string at the third fret. The tuners are correct original just pre-war Kluson strips that have been restored to the guitar; something else was there at some point leaving a few small scars. The guitar is a truly excellent player with a HUGE ringing sound, a real WWII-era veteran with loads of stories and songs still in it. It resides in what looks like the original 1940s HSC with a particularly cool band logo "Shelby Cooper and his Dixie Mountaineers" on the lid, oddly stenciled upside down! There is a LOT of history in this guitar! Overall Very Good + Condition.
