Icon '50s Southern Jumbo Burst Acoustic Guitar

The Acoustic Icon Southern Jumbo is a guitar with initial beginnings that are something of a legend at Gibson. It seems that shortly after the introduction of the classic Gibson J-45, guitar players south of the Mason-Dixon line wanted a guitar like the J-45, but with more class, and more style. The Southern Jumbo was an acoustic guitar created to fill that demand. The guitar recreated in the Gibson Acoustic Icon guitar series reflects the Southern Jumbo of the mid-to-late '50s, after the guitar was updated from a 19-fret to a 20-fret neck.

The Southern Jumbo is a J-45 decked out in its Sunday best! Mother-of-pearl parallelogram inlays grace a beautiful imported Rosewood fingerboard. The guitar body is hand built using select, solid Honduran mahogany for the back and sides. The solid spruce top is AAA grade. To give the guitar more "class" the back of the guitar flaunts 5-ply binding, while the top gets 4-ply. The fingerboard is bound, too, to provide additional playing comfort. The rosette around the soundhole was given the full treatment: 10-ply binding!

Top bracing is top grade spruce as well, all hand scalloped to be lightweight, yet strong. The bracing is arrayed in Gibson's vintage-style "X" pattern, bringing the bracing a little closer to the soundhole. This allows greater top movement during play, thus enhancing the guitar's ability to project in a powerful, yet articulate fashion.

The 1-piece mahogany neck has a gentle, rounded profile, and is hand set with Gibson's time-proven double-dovetail neck joint for unmatched stability. The bone nut is 1.725" wide, in the Gibson tradition. The headstock receives the "Gibson" scroll logo, inlayed in mother-of-pearl, along with the period correct Gibson "crown" inlay. The 3-in-line tuning machines with ebony buttons add a unique touch of style. Leaving nothing to chance, the saddle is also bone for maximum transmission of string vibration, and is installed on a top-grade Indian rosewood bridge.

The Acoustic Icon Southern Jumbo guitar is finished in what Gibson calls a "Tri-Burst" color¦similar to the "vintage sunburst" color used on many Gibson guitar today, but with a hint of red in the final color burst like Gibson used in the post WW II time frame. The final finish coats are Nitrocellulose lacquer, just as Gibson has used since 1894. This unique lacquer allows the wood to "breathe" and "open up" over time. Many experts agree that these guitars actually continue to improve in sound and tone as they age!

The final touch of historic accuracy is the serial number. It's stamped on the inside of the neck block, just as is was back then. Rounding out the package is a custom, form-fit hardshell case, and signed Gibson certificate of authenticity.

The 50's Southern Jumbo is but one guitar in the Gibson Acoustic Icon guitar series. These guitars were carefully researched and developed for us exclusively, and are available as a limited edition.