1993 Gibson J-100 Xtra Vintage Sunburst, Good, Original Hard, $1,295.00

The Gibson Guitar Company made the first of the great Jumbo guitars, and they make several of them still. The Gibson J-200 is one of the most instantly recognized guitars in the entire world. The lesser known Gibson J-100 Xtra, however, for the money would be my pick of the litter over any other Gibson guitar. The Gibson J-100 Xtra is structurally the exact same guitar with the punch of solid mahogany back and sides, and the J-100 Xtra costs a fraction of what its overly expensive and dressed to kill maple kinfolk cost. The Gibson J-100, J-200, and SJ-250 are all the exact same size, and this is the largest standard production steel string acoustic guitar in the world. The Gibson J-100 Xtra is best described as the players’ jumbo, with an easy action neck, amazing balance, and power to burn.

This is a 1993 Gibson J-100 Xtra Vintage Sunburst model (serial number 90563018), with an active L. R. Baggs sound hole pickup, a cool “banner” logo, and the famous “mustache” bridge. It also has mahogany back, sides, and neck; a 14/20-fret rosewood finger board with pearl dot inlay and a 24 ¾” scale; and a large contoured tortoise pick guard. It has full body binding, top and back, with multi-stripe purfling and a multi-stripe rosette. The blackface headstock features a gold-colored script logo and “Only a Gibson is good enough” banner, backed by the familiar “Gibson Deluxe” enclosed tuners. It sounds great and plays well, with the action set at a fast and comfortable 3/32" at the 12th fret low E.

The bad news is that it has had some less than perfect work done on it; the repairs are very solid, but they weren't quite evened up, and the glue lines are visible up close in the right light. There are repaired cracks in the neck and in the top on both sides of the neck extension, and some visible pick wear above the pick guard. There may have also been a neck re-set at some time in the past, and the saddle looks like it has been sanded down some. My luthier says that all this is cosmetic at this point, and to improve them cosmetically he would have to re-break the solidly repaired cracks, probably replace some wood splinters, and re-finish the top: lotsa bucks for just a cosmetic improvement.

So it looks like what it is: a great Gibson guitar which has been playing the hard-driving music for which it was made. The good news is that for a player it is stronger than “original”; the bad news is that for a museum or collector it may be less “collectible” unless it is properly restored. To me, this is a player’s guitar, and I sincerely hope that its next owner is someone who will play it hard, well, and often.

As you can see in the pictures, it comes with the excellent original case with "gibson acoustics" printed on the top. Its arched-top hard shell is intact, the hardware all works, the royal blue plush interior is perfect for this guitar, and it certainly offers great protection, as well as mucho mojo and jam cred.

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; cashier’s 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 “experienced” 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 and ask any questions you might have before offering to buy it.

Thank you for your interest in this cool guitar.