Icon '60s J-50 Special Acoustic Guitar

By the late 1940's, The Gibson J-45 was a hit with guitar players. It was Gibson's number one selling guitar by the early postwar years, and continues to be Gibson's number one selling acoustic guitar to this day. So what does the J-45 have to do with the J-50? Simple. The two guitars are for all practical purposes, one and the same. The J-45 has always been finished in a "sunburst finish" and the J-50 sports a "natural" finish on the top.

By the late 40's Gibson recognized that not everyone wanted a guitar with a "burst" finished top. Many players were also demanding a J-45, but with the top in a clear "natural" finish. Gibson was happy to satisfy those demands by coming out with the J-50 in late 1947. The example chosen for inclusion our Acoustic Icon series replicates the J-50 as it would have appeared in the early 60's.

What made the J-45/J-50 so popular was Gibson's unique "Round Shoulder" body shape. The gently rounded upper bout focused the sound of the guitar, enabling the guitar to deliver clear, crisp highs. At the same time, the deep lower bout and wider waist made sure the guitar packed a lot of punch, with lower bass notes that were articulate, but were capable of delivering that famous Gibson bottom end.

The J-50's body offers solid Honduran Mahogany back and sides, hand selected of course. The top is solid premium grade Sitka Spruce, with hand scalloped bracing that proved to be extremely strong, yet light weight. This allows the top to "pump" more air, much like a speaker cone. The neck is Honduran Mahogany, too¦all one-piece, with a 24.75" scale length. The Indian Rosewood fingerboard offers simple, uncluttered Mother of Pearl "dot" inlays at the position markers. The bridge is Indian rosewood as well, to match the fingerboard. The saddle has an adjustable bridge, just as it was done in the mid 50's.

The finish color on this guitar is what Gibson calls "Antique Natural"¦a color that lets the beauty of the Sitka Spruce top shine through, but adds just a hint of amber toner to give the guitar the "look" of a guitar from the 60's. The final finish is Nitrocellulose lacquer, just as Gibson has used since 1894, when they first started building musical instruments.

The Acoustic Icon series J-50 includes a custom, form fit hardshell case, and signed Certificate of Authenticity. Our series of Acoustic Icon Gibson instruments represents the culmination of much research and cooperation between our purchasing staff and the craftsmen at Gibson. These guitars are available on a limited run basis, so don't miss out on your chance to own an Icon!