❌SOLD❌ Gibson J200 VS Jumbo Vintage Sunburst, 1993

The Gibson J200 VS, for Vintage Sunburst, is one of the largest production acoustics and continues the reign of “The King of the Flat-Tops”. First appearing in 1938, the J-200 was immediately adopted by major country players. The original selling price was $200, with a $50 upcharge to have your name inlaid in the fingerboard.

The J-200 has sometimes been named the SJ-200 (Super Jumbo), and outside of the war years 1944 to 1946, has been in regular production since its introduction. Its construction and materials have varied somewhat over the years. From 1938 to 1946, the sides and back were Rosewood. In 1947, Maple took the place of Rosewood for the body. The top is Spruce, and the neck is in three pieces – two outside Maple sections and a narrow center strip likely of Walnut. The fingerboard is Indian Rosewood with a Mother-of-Pearl Graduated Crown inlay set. Both the fingerboard and head are bound.

This Gibson J200 VS dates to August 6 1993. It is in overall good condition and has clearly been used as intended; there is an amount of honest finish play wear. Fret wear over most of the neck is light to moderate, but for the first four frets under the high E and B strings, it is moderate to heavy. Still, it plays cleanly and well.

This guitar has had its important work done, specifically a neck reset, so the action is quite good and there’s plenty of exposed saddle. It also appears that the bridge is not original. Most but not all J-200 bridges have inlaid panels, and this does not.  The original Kluson Deluxe style tuners have been replaced with gold-plated Grover Roto-Matics.   A Fishman under-saddle pickup and preamp system has been installed, with the controls on the bass side of the sound hole and the battery pack on the neck block.

This example also has an unusual but not unknown characteristic – the scale length is 25.25 inches rather than the standard 25.5. Gibson has used this scale length on some models including L-5 variants and early 1960’s Hummingbirds.

Here is the builder on the current Gibson J200 VS model, “The King of the Flat-tops”:

“The Gibson J200 VS is the world’s most famous acoustic guitar and earned its designation as the “King of the Flat-Tops.” Since its release in 1937, its wide use by American artists of this century has made the Super Jumbo one of the most widely played acoustic guitars of our time. The most striking features of the new SJ-200 Original include the carved four bar Moustache bridge, an engraved tortoise pickguard, mother-of-pearl crown fretboard and headstock inlay, and exquisite flamed maple back and sides. The SJ-200 is an American original with its shape and elegant appearance. “

This Gibson J200 VS is sold with a non-original, tweed covered arched top hard shell case by TKL, in reasonable shape though the handle had broken and been replaced with leather cord.