❌SOLD❌ Gibson Northern Jumbo Slope Shoulder Dreadnought Sunburst, 2007

During 2007, Gibson built a series of 65 custom versions of the Southern Jumbo or SJ for their Canadian distributor (Yorkville Sound), and called them the Northern Jumbo. The original SJ was originally a slightly dressed up version of the venerable and successful J-45, with some bracing alterations and split parallelogram position markers on a bound neck.

There are some references to the ‘Southern’ in the name pointing to a marketing effort – that these SJ guitars were intended for customers South of the Mason-Dixon line. The Northern Jumbo is exactly the same idea – the Canadian distributor obtained the entire run of 65 instruments for sale in Canada. While the distributor is Yorkville Sound, which owns the Long & McQuade retail chain, these 65 guitars were sold to any of the Gibson dealers across Canada. Several other models were offered, including the J-200 and Hummingbird, though these are somewhat stripped down; for example the hand-painted pickguards of the J-200 and Hummingbird were not included.

These limited edition guitars carry labels signed by Gibson Acoustic’s Master Luthier, Ren Ferguson and were built during 2007. This specific guitar dates to May 10, 2007.

Like a Southern Jumbo, the Gibson Northern Jumbo features a slope-shouldered dreadnought body, with a Sitka Spruce top and Mahogany for the back, sides and neck. The fingerboard and bridge are Rosewood, with Mother of Pearl used for the inlays. A Firestripe type pickguard was stock. The top has a sunburst finish, on some promotional materials referred to as ‘Maple BUrst’, and the body has a dark tint. The rear of the headstock carries a decal of a Maple Leaf and ‘Limited Edition’ below. The truss rod cover is engraved ‘NORTHERN JUMBO’. As typical of Gibson acoustics of the period, an L R Baggs pickup system is discreetly installed, and the tuners are Grover Roto-Matics with nickel finish.

This example is in very nice condition, with the slightest wear. It plays well, and has that warm yet brilliant Gibson tone. The original Made In Canada hard shell case and Certificate of Authenticity are included.

The original descriptions of this guitar included this text:

“The Northern Jumbo is a stunning guitar, both sonically and visually. This unique instrument is easily identified by an engraved truss rod cover carrying the model name, a unique Firestripe pickguard and discrete maple leaf ‘Limited Edition’ decal on the back of the headstock. Designed to be highly collectable, each Northern Jumbo will be shipped with a Certificate of Authenticity from Gibson’s Acoustic Division and every instrument includes an interior label signed by master luthier Ren Fergusen.
The Northern Jumbo is made with a solid Sitka spruce top, mahogany neck, back and sides and a rosewood fingerboard. Mother of Pearl parallelogram inlays and traditional binding on the neck and body complete the look of this beautiful instrument. Built as a players’ guitar, the Northern Jumbo also features nickel Grover Rotomatic machine heads and an L.R. Baggs pickup system. The Northern Jumbo acoustic guitar is handcrafted at the Gibson Acoustic factory in Bozeman, Montana, and is limited to 65 maximum piece run worldwide.”