Make:   Gibson   SJ
Year:   19911942 Reissue
Color:  
Price:   $

One of the very first guitars built at the new Bozeman Montana facility in 1991, the Southern Jumbo was a faithfully designed and executed reissue of the original 1942 model. The first small batch were "virtually hand-built by master luthier Ren Ferguson" - to quote the authors of the excellent "Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars", who by 1992 was joined by John Walker, another of Gibson's top builders. Just like the originals, they had a 24 3/4" scale, unbound fingerboard with twin parallelogram inlays, and tapered & scalloped top braces. Most notably, just like a small group from the 1st batch in 1942, a very small number were built with Rosewood back and sides, instead of mahogany. To most flat top aficionados, this combination of design, construction, and materials represents the pinnacle of Gibson flat top production from this period, just as it did in 1942. Not only did it mark a sharp turn-around in Gibson flat top production at that point in time; more than any other model it led the way forward in Gibson's re-emergence and return to high quality and consistency. This is the 11th one built, out of a total probably numbering not much higher than that. She plays and sounds exceptional and is in overall extremely fine condition, both structurally and cosmetically.