2018 Bagnasco & Casati Advanced Jumbo AJ Sunburst

Bagnasco & Casati Guitar Makers of Savona, IT is one of the finest shops producing guitars in small batches with prewar materials, glue, and designs. This acoustic powerhouse is their faithful reproduction/interpretation of Gibson’s “D-28-killer” the Advanced Jumbo made in very small numbers between 1936 and 1941. I believe it’s the first AJ B&C have made. It was based on a detailed blueprint of a ’30s AJ with all the signature features that came with that iconic guitar – East Indian Rosewood back and sides, forward-X scalloped bracing, 25.4” scale, BRW fretboard and bridge, rosewood headstock overlay, and includes B&C’s full-moon harvested and air dried Alpine spruce. Top and back are bound with ivoroid complimenting a simple but elegant b/w rosette. The neck has the graduated arrowhead position markers unique to this model with an additional inlay on the tapered headstock. The neck profile is something of a compromise between the slender neck of the AJ and the large neck of the wartime Gibsons. The nut is 1 23/32” with 2 ¼” string spacing at the bridge. The fit and finish of this build is impeccable, particularly the finish which Andreas Bagnasco calls their new “thin-skin” – pure nitrocellulose. Additionally, B&C have captured the tonal characteristics of an AJ – with a rifle-shot response, clarity and color, great volume and sustain. Comes with a good quality 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. I typically make sure all the work has been done before I ship. So just about every vintage guitar I sell has a fresh neck reset and more often than not, new frets. I will consider trades on guitars I own and do consignments for less than market. Thanks for visiting.