Gibson SJ Southern Jumbo Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, c. 1953, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, sunburst top, dark stained back and sides finish, mahogany body and neck, spruce top, brown original hard shell case.
The SJ or "Southern Jumbo" sometimes feels like a bit of a forgotten model in Gibson's postwar flat top line; not as simple a working man's guitar as the more austere J-45 but not as yee-haw fancy as the SJ-200 or even the J-185.
The SJ features the same general layout as the J-45 with a sunburst spruce top on a 16" slope-shouldered mahogany jumbo body, mahogany neck, and rosewood fingerboard. There are multiple layers of binding around the body and soundhole and the fingerboard has binding and double parallalogram inlays.
This early 1950's model has a huge sound and makes a fantastic honky-tonk guitar. Don Everly used a 1953 SJ to create the famous open-tuned chord hooks on the Everly Brothers' early records, and this guitar has that same spectacular combination of punch and warmth.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 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 3/4 in. (629 mm.).
This guitar is in very clean shape except for some very specific areas of pickwear both above and below the pickguard. All original except for recent nut and saddle. Original tuner buttons somewhat shrunken but still working.
Just set up; plays and sounds excellent. Includes a very nice original brown HSC. Very Good + Condition.
