The Gibson J-45 is a dreadnought style

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

manufactured by the

Gibson Guitar Corporation Gibson Brands, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation) is an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company was forme ...

. It is generally regarded as Gibson's most famous and widely used acoustic guitar model. The J-45 is part of Gibson's round-shoulder "jumbo" line, begun in 1934 with the Jumbo Flattop introduced to compete with C.F. Martin & Company's "D" line. It is noted for its sunburst finish, warm bass and good projection, and outstanding playability. The structurally similar naturally finished J-50 first appeared in 1942, but did not enter continuous production until 1947.

History

Introduced in 1942 to replace the inexpensive

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

-era flattop J-35, the J-45 standardized the company's approach to the dreadnought guitar. With a list price of $45, it nonetheless initially only varied slightly, with strengthened internal bracing and a new teardrop-shaped

pickguard A pickguard (also known more correctly as scratchplate) is a piece of plastic or other (often laminated) material that is placed on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument. The main purpose of the pickguard is to pro ...

. A

headstock A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the pegs or mechanism that holds the strings at the ...

decal A decal (, , ) or transfer is a plastic, cloth, paper, or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern or image that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water. The word is short for ''decalcom ...

with the Gibson logo replaced both the old stark white

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ed 'Gibson' of the thirties and the slogan "Only a Gibson Is Good Enough." It also had a more rounded, "baseball bat" style neck, as opposed to the "V" shape of the J-35 neck. The version produced today is substantially similar to the 1942 model. Cosmetically, the J-45 was understated, intended as a durable no-frills "workhorse guitar" (its nickname given by the manufacturer). Although a few triple-bound top types were initially produced, the standard single binding was simple,

soundhole A sound hole is an opening in the body of a stringed musical instrument, usually the upper sound board. Sound holes have different shapes: * round in flat-top guitars and traditional bowl-back mandolins; * F-holes in instruments from the vio ...

ring austere, and neck only sported modest dot-shaped

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fretboard

position marker Inlay on guitars or similar fretted instruments are decorative materials set into the wooden surface of the instrument using standard inlay techniques. Although inlay can be done on any part of a guitar, it is most commonly found on the fretboar ...

s. Gibson used a sunburst finish to cover up imperfections in the wood joins. The top was solid

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, the back and sides solid

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

. Over time the sunburst has become iconic, with collectors preferring the J-45 to the higher-end J-50s of the same era. Apart from a small batch of natural-finish J-45s produced in 1942, the model was offered only in sunburst.

1969 Gibson J-45

Starting in 1968 Gibson made J-45's as square-shouldered dreadnaught-shaped guitars with a longer scale (25.5"), similar to the Gibson Dove. Serial numbers tell us that during '68 and '69 both slope-shouldered and square-shouldered J-45's were made before the model changeover was complete. In the '70's the J-45 was re-labeled as the J-45 Deluxe. A short run of slope-shouldered J-45 Celebrity models were made in 1984. By the late '90's the slope-shouldered body style returned for good. Gibson J-50 (2015-02-14 12

Gibson J-50

The J-50 guitars is essentially a natural-finish J-45, with a triple rather than single-bound top and other minor differences in trim. Gibson produced a handful in 1942 using high quality wood laid up before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-induced shortages took hold. By 1947 supplies had resumed, resulting in the model's official introduction. There are mid-1960s J45 guitars with a natural finish and adjustable bridges and this can be checked by the stamp on the back seam brace.

Notable players of the J-45

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* Greg Brown *

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* John Hammond *

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(used for composing "

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Eitan Katz
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* Amythyst Kiah *

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(composed songs in India on Donovan's J-45) *

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* James Mercer *

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(used in some of his movies) *

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(Wilco) *

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Notable players of the J-50

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...

Notes

References

External links

*
J-45 at Vintage Guitars website

Gibson J-45 on Fretbase
- includes specs, photos and videos {{Gibson Guitar Corporation 1942 in music Products introduced in 1942 J45