Gibson Legends 1942 J-45 Acoustic Guitar

Gibson has painstakingly reproduced this knockout vintage acoustic down to the minute details.

The Gibson J 45 is one of the most played and cherished acoustic guitars in history. This Legends version of the J 45 can handle music from the blues to bluegrass to folk to pop and everything in between. Hand crafted by Gibson luthiers using techniques from the J 45 guitar's heyday, the Legend J 45 boasts an Adirondack spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides to produce unmatched mellow, full bodied tone.

Did you ever have one of the "what if" conversations? Like, "what if I won the lottery" kind of things. Some three years ago the luthiers at Gibson's acoustic guitar plant in Bozeman, Montana had one of those kind of conversations. It went sort of like this: "What if we could go back in time and build a brand new guitar exactly the way they were built back then".

Well, nothing gets the juices flowing like a challenge like that, so the quest was on find the best sounding, original, mint condition Gibson acoustic guitar from the "vintage years," and build a limited number of guitars now employing the same material, same types of tools, same specs, you name it. The plan was to build a new vintage guitar!

After a long search, a mint, 1942 J 45 was located. Owned by renowned acoustic guitar expert and author Eldon Whitford, the guitar was perfect. It was historically significant, as 1942 was the first year of production for the J 45. The fact that the J 45 is the number one selling acoustic guitar in Gibson's history didn't hurt either! Mr. Whitford was kind enough to loan the guitar to Gibson for a painstakingly thorough examination. The guitar went through both X ray and cat scans to accurately determine the bracing patterns, wood thickness. The glue and finish were chemically analyzed. To make a long story short, Gibson learned everything about that guitar. The result? The guitar you see here the "Legends Series" 1942 J 45.

Let's start with the body of the guitar. The Gibson "round shoulder" body shape is believed by many players to be the best sounding Gibson acoustic ever made. The gently rounded upper bout keeps the highs clean and precise, while the deep lower bout ensures that famous "Gibson" bottom end. The body in constructed of solid, premium grade Honduran mahogany. The top is solid Adirondack spruce. Both the top and back are gently radiused to provide tension to the wood. This makes the wood "vibrate" (like a tuned drumhead) and as a result, projection and definition are greatly enhanced. The beefy, hand shaped neck is one piece select premium grade mahogany, set with Gibson's famous "double dovetail" neck joint for a lifelong tight fit. Hot hide glue is used in the construction, not synthetic glue like many of today's guitars. Hide glue is organic, and thinner. It makes for a better wood to wood construction, without a thick layer of adhesive to impede vibration.

The top bracing is exactly like the original, all carved and shaped by hand, even with the tooling marks still present, just like in 1942. The lightweight, wide "X" bracing ensures a top that will vibrate easily and sound that sustains!

The fingerboard is rare Madagascar rosewood, graced with vintage style frets, .082" wide by .093" high. The fingerboard also has mother of pearl "dot" inlays, again, just like the original. The bridge is Madagascar rosewood, too. Both the nut and saddle are bone to maximize the transfer of string vibration.

The beautiful Vintage Sunburst color is finished off with vintage style McFadden nitrocellulose lacquer. The McFadden lacquer is the thinnest, and lightest lacquer used by Gibson (Gibson uses it on mandolins), and it matches the original extremely closely.

The guitar is supplied with a recreation of the 1942 style handmade "Red Line" case. This case replicates every detail of the original, down to the purple flannel liner, and nickel hardware. Also included is a signed certificate of authenticity. An engineering drawing of the original 1942 J 45, based on Gibson's x ray examination of the J 45 owned by Eldon Whitford, is on the reverse of the certificate.

Many who have tried the Legends J 45 guitar think it actually sounds better than the original! This is truly a unique opportunity to own a piece of guitar history.

Gibson Legends 1942 J 45 Acoustic Guitar Features:

• Body: Solid, Premium Grade Honduran Mahogany
• Top: Solid, hand selected Adirondack Spruce
• Neck, One Piece Honduran Mahogany, 24.75" scale
• Fingerboard: Madagascar Rosewood, with Mother of Pearl inlays
• Nut: 1.725" wide, Bone
• Bridge: Madagascar Rosewood, bone saddle
• Tuners: German "Kluson" nickel plated tuning machines, custom made white "button" tuners
• Pickguard: 1940's style celluloid. "Firestripe" pattern
• Finish: Ultra thin "McFadden" nitrocellulose lacquer
• Included: Custom, hand made 1940's style "red Stripe" hardshell case, signed certificate of authenticity.

Gibson's revives their celebrated dreadnought acoustic guitar from the '50s. Order today!