2019 Bagnasco & Casati Model 910 Gibson SJ Southern Jumbo Sunburst

In September of 2008 I sold a 42/43 banner SJ to someone named Andrea Bagnasco in Italy and didn’t give it a second thought. Now, eleven years later I’m wondering if that guitar provided some inspiration for this remarkable player. Offered here is a “Model 910” from the workbench of Bagnasco & Casati who produce some of the finest acoustic reproductions of Golden Era guitars. In 1942 Gibson introduced at the request of one of their salespeople, a fancier version of the J-45 called the Southern Jumbo. Two early batches – FON 910 and 2005 – were produced with rosewood back and sides. This was the inspiration for the Model 910. The back and sides are select, straight grain East Indian Rosewood. The top and internal braces are made from moon-harvested and air-cured European red spruce. Hot hide glue construction throughout. The finish, nicknamed the “thin-skin” is pure nitrocellulose. The mahogany neck is reinforced with “Gibson Maple V” to create an exceptionally light guitar. The other specs are true to the Banner SJ – four-ply celluloid binding and rosette in black and white, celluloid faux tortoise pickguard, double parallelograms on the fretboard and tribute to the banner logo on the headstock. Belly-down bridge and fretboard of rosewood and individual flat back tuners with plastic buttons complete that vintage banner SJ look. Anyone who has played an early banner knows that the necks are chunky. This one is full but nicely contoured into a modified V with a 1 ¾” nut with 2 1/4” spacing at the bridge. Front to back depth at the first fret is just about .99. The frets are taller than what Gibson used but I can have these milled to any spec for you (except taller of course). Inside there are two scalloped tone bars and small maple bridge plate. The top is tuned to capture that great banner Gibson tone. There is great note separation and a strong midrange component. Chords bloom beautifully when played gently and bark when played aggressively. The B&C guitars are a great value. The build quality is second to none, material authentic and top tuning is thoughtful. It ships with a good quality Canadian hardshell case.

Jet City Guitars sells fine vintage acoustic flat tops, resonators, the occasional electric, and select acoustic guitars from small-batch builders. My web site www.jetcityguitars.com is open for business 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Almost no one likes to buy a guitar and turn it over to a luthier for six months and I typically make sure all the work has been done before I ship. Just about every vintage guitar I sell has a fresh neck reset and more often than not, new frets. New guitars are properly set up. I consider trades on guitars I own and do consignments for a less commission than most. Thanks for visiting.