In 1963 the Gibson Dove Natural Top was second from the top of the Gibson catalog, with a square shouldered dreadnought body and distinctive hand painted and inlaid pickguard.    The Dove first appeared in 1962 with a cherry sunburst finish. Until the 1960 Hummingbird, Gibson dreadnought acoustics used a round or ‘slope’ shouldered design, differentiating it from the square-shouldered Martin design. The classic J-45 has been a prime example of the slope shoulder, though it too shifted to square-shouldered in 1968 (and was discontinued in 1982; when reintroduced in 1984 it was again slope-shouldered).

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