Recently I had the privilege of laying hands on a very rare 1937 Gibson advanced jumbo acoustic guitar. By the "laying on of hands," I mean that I got to play it; I don't own it!The guitar features that classic Gibson tone and clarity and was surprisingly loud. I flatpicked several hymns and found its playability wonderfully smooth.
Gibson made only 300 advanced jumbo between 1935-1940. One of its unique features is the diamond and arrowhead inlay, found on the fretboard and peghead. The sunburst top, considered an added feature on today's guitars, was standard back in the early days. The straight flamed pickguard is pretty cool.
The guitar was recently restored by Gibson's repair and restoration shop in Nashville. They fixed significant cracks in the neck and body. The original top, which was bowed and nearly pulled off the bridge, was replaced with a new old wood top. Gibson did a masterful job. The guitar plays beautiful, but still retains that old look and feel.
One person owned this guitar for its entire life. Back in 1937-38, the man's parents bought it for $49, a pretty high price in the depression days and quite a sacrifice for mom and dad. During the late 1940's and 1950's, the man played and sang on dozens of country music shows during the golden age of live radio. He played the guitar throughout his life and now its been passed down to the family.
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2 comments:
my uncle has one of those! I got to play it. it sounds really good. He bought it for $50,000 dollars he also has alot of other rare guitars like a custom robin and a old e335 also 2 martins from the 1940's and another gibson acoustic from the 30's or 40's
he also lives in nashville so he has easy access to alot of gibsons
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