1957 Gibson SJ SOLD

Introduced in 1942, the Gibson SJ rapidly became a standard guitar for country players. The SJ moniker stands for Southern Jumbo, and in natural was the Country-Western. Apparently the model was targeted to dealers south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The Gibson SJ, and the iconic Gibson J-45 are very closely related instruments - the SJ is a bit fancier with more binding, split parallelogram position markers and a larger pickguard, while both are built with spruce tops, mahogany back and sides and neck, and rosewood for the fingerboard and bridge. Both guitar versions were rapidly accepted by musicians of all levels. While these guitars don't have hyper-detailed frequency output, they do a great job in the frequency space that goes with the human voice.

This example was built during 1957 at Gibson's historic plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The tuners have been updated to newer vintage Kluson style Gibson Deluxe tuners with plastic keystone buttons. A pickup has been added with an endpin jack and a battery powered preamp. The bone nut and saddle have been replaced but otherwise the guitar seems largely original.

There is a reasonable amount of honest play wear and finish checking. Fret wear is moderate - the guitar has been refretted, there is a fair amount of fingerboard wear and the neck angle is fine.

It's a very enjoyable guitar to play - the action is comfortable and the tone is full, rich and warm.

A non-original Everest case will be included.