Here we have a brand new guitar that caught our eyes, then our ears – a Gibson 60s J45 Original built during March of this year in an Ebony finish. This exceptional guitar comes from the Gibson Acoustic shop in Bozeman, Montana and we’ve seen a number of other truly outstanding pieces come from them in the last while.

Opaque finishes on steel string guitars are not common these days, but in older times they were a fairly common request. The J-45 first introduced in 1942 as a replacement for the J-35, with stronger, shifted and scalloped X-bracing and a rounded neck profile in place of the traditional ‘V’ shape. This rapidly became one of Gibson’s most popular guitars and was in continuous production until 1982, but re-introduced in 1984.

The Gibson 60s J45 Original takes many cues from the early 1960s models. The Slope Shoulder dreadnought design is the basis of this model, with Sitka Spruce for the top, and Mahogany for all the other parts except the Indian Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Though Adirondack Spruce was the standard top wood until the start of WW2, that species has characteristics that made it ideal for wartime production of things like aircraft. This led to any stocks being taken for that purpose, so for musical instruments Sitka Spruce took over. Overharvesting led to scarcity and Adirondack Spruce stocks have only now regrown to usable sizes.

Picking up this guitar, you’ll be immediately impressed. The Gibson 60s J45 Original has the warm, rich and full sound with great dynamics that makes these so well suited to playing solo or accompanying a voice. The adjustable saddle is now Tusq rather than ceramic, and adds to the shimmering top end. The black nitrocellulose lacquer finish is offset by vintage-toned binding and a white branded pickguard. The tuners are Grover strip models with creme buttons, but are similar to the Kluson Deluxe models originally used. They work well, and it’s easy to quickly drop the low E string down to a Drop D tuning, then back again in about a second.

The light weight and relatively narrow 60’s style nut width make first position chords very comfortable. One could truly sit and play this guitar for hours.

The original Gibson hard shell case is included.

A J-45 with 60s styling

“When you listen to a Gibson round-shoulder acoustic, you will notice that it responds exactly to the player’s style and technique – powerful one moment, soft and mellow the next. The Gibson 60s J45 Original offers a period-correct 1 11/16’’ nut width, allowing for comfortable fingering in any position along the mahogany neck. The easily-adjustable saddle can be fine-tuned to players’ unique string action preference. The new 60s J-45 Original features double antiqued binding, Grover strap cream button tuners, and our famous white pickguard with hot stamp logo.”

Gibson 60s J-45 Original Specifications: