BY DAVE ROGERS, CASEY VIROCK, AND TIM MULLALLY
1
VINTAGE & UPKEEP > VINTAGE VAULT
1. The elaborately engraved pickguard still has
the stripe along its border,
which disappeared from
later versions. 2. Though
the original J-200s had
rosewood back and sides,
the spec changed to maple
in 1946. 3. Our featured
J-200 was built in Gibson’s
Kalamazoo, Michigan,
factory—the home of so
many classic acoustic and
electric models.
2
The “singing cowboy” phenomenon of the 1930s was the main inspiration
for the “king of the flattops”—Gibson’s
J-200. Cowboy movie idol Ray Whitley
approached Gibson in 1937 about having
a guitar designed to outdo rival Western
crooner Gene Autry and his fancy mother-of-pearl adorned Martin D- 45. The result
was the prototype for the Super Jumbo
(soon to be called SJ-200 due to its original $200 price).
The original Super Jumbos shared
dimensions with Gibson’s 17"-wide L- 5
archtop (the very earliest Super Jumbos
were 16 7/8" wide). But unlike the L- 5,
with its maple back and sides, the original SJ-200 came standard with rosewood
back and sides. Interestingly, two pre-war
SJ-200s with maple back and sides are
known to exist.
The guitar featured this month is one
of 41 natural-finished J-200s made in
1955 (the “S” had been dropped from the
name by this time). This beautifully aged
instrument has the characteristics typical
of other J-200s from early 1955. It has the
distinctive rosewood “moustache” bridge
(changed from the original ebony in 1941),
a rosewood fretboard with “cloud” inlays
(also changed from ebony in 1941), and a
two-piece maple neck with a rosewood cen-
ter strip. The top is spruce, while the back
and sides are maple (this was changed from
the original rosewood spec after 1946). This
guitar’s elaborately engraved flower-and-
vine pickguard still has the stripe along its
border, which disappeared from later ver-
sions by the middle of ’ 55.
Memories from Country to Jazz, Blues to Rock,
edited by Margret Aldrich and Michael
Dregni. Information on Gibson production can be found in Gibson Shipment Totals
1937-1979 by Larry Meiners.
Original price: $385 in 1959,
plus $52.50 for hardshell case
Current estimated market value: $12,500
DAVE’S GUITAR SHOP
Dave Rogers’ collection is tended by Laun Braithwaite,
Casey Virock and Tim Mullally and is on display at:
Dave’s Guitar Shop
1227 Third Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601
davesguitar.com
Photos by Mullally and text by Virock.
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR JUNE 2012 59
