1974 Gibson J-55 BLACK SUNBURST, Good, Hard, $945.00

According to The Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, 325 Gibson J-55s were produced from 1939 to 1942, which now sell for $10,000-20,000! This is not one of those. This is one of the 3900 or so re-issued from 1972 to 1982, and is essentially the same as the iconic J-45 except that Gibson chose the J-55 model to compete with the successful Guild and Alvarez-Yairi arched-back designs to focus the projection of the sound through the sound board. Also like them, Gibson used laminates rather than solid wood in the back and sides, allowing for the curved shape, virtually eliminating the need for back bracing, and vastly reducing the number of cracks.

Like the J-45s after 1969, the re-introduced J-55 has a square-shouldered jumbo body with a double-X braced solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides, although some J-55s have a maple neck rather than the J-45’s mahogany neck. Like the post-1975 J-45s, it has a non-adjustable rosewood bridge, a 25 ½” scale, a 14/20-fret rosewood finger board with pearl dot inlay, a multi-stripe inlaid rosette, the re-designed larger tortoise pick guard, and tortoise body binding. The only other difference of which I am aware is the J-55’s arched mahogany back, allowing for lighter bracing while still projecting the huge sound for which vintage Jumbo Gibsons have been famous for decades.

This guitar is serial number B000313, which with the orange and white rectangular label inside pretty reliably dates it as early 1974—forty years of making music. However, as you can tell at a glance, it has been extensively modified, starting with the flat black sunburst finish. I will point out the changes that I have noticed, but there may be others, so please don’t hesitate to ask questions, which I will answer to the best of my ability.

Barely visible under the new finish are several repaired cracks, but the only obvious repaired crack is the one from the sound hole to the replacement bridge. A major cosmetic concern was apparently the typically crumbling 1970s Gibson binding, all of which has been professionally replaced with some kind of hardwood. The pickguard is new (and not the original Gibson configuration), as is the nut, but the tuners may be original—they are vintage Gibsons, I see no extra “footprints” or screw holes in the headstock, and they work fine.

Conclusion: these changes are essentially cosmetic, while what structural issues it had have clearly been dealt with, possibly including a neck re-set. The neck is straight and never broken, the bridge is solid, the top is flat, the frets are in adequate shape, the luthier just re-strung it and set it up for comfortable medium-hard playing at a hair over 3/32” at the 12th fret low E, and it sounds great!

In other words, it is just what it looks like: a great Gibson jumbo guitar which has been working very hard, playing the driving music for which it was made. And, of course, playing the music for forty years has made that Gibson sound even better, more resonant, and more powerful. This guitar is obviously not for a collector to put in a museum; it’s impressive, but far from cosmetically perfect. This is a player’s guitar, and I sincerely hope that its next owner is someone who will continue to play it hard, well, and often.

The case is a brand new hard shell case, which obviously is in very good shape, inside and out. The hardware (including the enclosed keys) all is shiny and works perfectly, the black plush interior is spotless and suitably fuzzy, and it fits the J-55 shape just fine. It is an excellent complement to this fine vintage guitar.

Buyer pays a flat rate of $55 for insurance and shipping to the lower forty-eight states; shipping costs elsewhere will be negotiated as necessary. Payment by Paypal is preferred; cashiers and personal checks are acceptable, but checks must clear before the guitar will be shipped.

I have tried to be perfectly clear and accurate in describing this vintage instrument, so its return will not be accepted unless it can be shown that it was egregiously misrepresented in this listing. Please check out the pictures on REVERB.com and ask any questions you might have before buying.

Thanks.