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With its dry, percussive, open and expressive voice, gorgeous Banner looks, and a deep, round neck carve, this early 1944 SJ is everything we want a Wartime Gibson to be. This one features a 4-piece red spruce top, a truss-rod-equipped three-piece maple neck, and rosewood board and bridge. It was likely built in the spring of 1944, just prior to the CMI purchase of Gibson.

Although the guitar has a few repaired cracks and handful of reglued braces, it is largely original, including its finish, bridge, bridgeplate, tuners, and nut. New frets, saddle, and bridge pins were installed in our shop. Playability is excellent, and this Banner SJ is ready for its next 80 years.

The top has a repaired crack that runs for about 5” northward from the tailblock edge, and a second shorter crack on the lower treble bout. There is no pickguard crack, which is a welcomed surprise. There is a ¼” spruce infill to a chip on the soundhole’s edge at the 10 o’clock position. Finally, there was a tailpiece installed on this guitar for some time which left markings on the top that are purely cosmetic.

The guitar’s back has four repaired cracks; the sides are crack-free. There’s plenty of strap wear by the endpin and the tailpiece mounting hole has been nicely plugged. The original bridge remains full height; it has a repaired crack through the pin line and infill along its back edge where it was modified to stay out of the way of the tailpiece-mounted strings; something we see fairly regularly. Thankfully, the original bridge plate remains in excellent condition. As the guitar’s top was fairly lightly built there is some distortion around the bridge area – it’s the kind of thing that often accompanies the best sounding guitars.

The neck on this Banner SJ is round and deep. The nut width is 1-11/16”, and the depth measured at the 1st fret is a fairly massive 1.050”. Neck thickness at the 9th fret is 1.1”. It is officially a baseball bat, although quite a comfortable one, thanks to the 1-11/16” nut width. String spread at the saddle is just wider than 2-1/8”.

A wonderful guitar that hopefully checks every box on your ‘Banner Gibson’ shopping list. The tone of a maple neck / red spruce topped Banner is unlike anything else Gibson ever made and is unmistakable.

With modern hardshell case.

1944 Gibson Banner SJ vintage acoustic guitar

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It’s no secret that we’re big fans of smaller-bodied mahogany guitars here at Folkway, so we’re naturally pretty excited about this ’47 00-17. We’ve known this guitar for years, as its previous owner is a client of more than 20 years. About a decade back we reset the neck, and replaced the saddle, pins, and tuner buttons. The original frets remain in excellent shape, there is not a crack to be found, and the finish is in beautiful condition. The guitar’s only minor flaw is a bit of flaked-away finish in front of the bridge, which was reglued at one point.

The early post-war guitars have a unique neck carve that’s deeper and rounder than those we find from a year or two later. We mostly associate this neck carve with 1946, but this 1947 00-17 features this style of neck, which is quite a lovely plus. The nut width is 1-11/16″ and the 1st fret depth is .865”. Folks who prefer 1-3/4″ widths will find this one easy to play thanks to its chunkier feel.

A very fine sounding guitar that’s hard to put down. As compared to the more common 0-17 or 0-15 models, this 00 offers bigger lows and mids without compromising any of the roundness and fullness we love so much in these small all-mahogany Martins. The trebles are very sweet and robust, and there is a wonderful linger and decay throughout the frequency range. Its big enough to strum on and it takes a heavy flatpick really well, as it does a heavier right-hand attack. Under a lighter touch the guitar’s tone is pretty, warm, and inviting.

All mahogany construction, tapered X bracing, 24.9″ scale, 2-1/8″ string spread at the bridge. Set up with 12-54 strings and an action of 5-7 64ths at the 12th fret with perfect frets and a full height saddle.

With non-original hardshell case

1947 Martin 00-17 vintage acoustic guitar

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1949 Gibson L-4C

Gibson’s 16” archtops were “Advanced” to 17” in 1935… all of them but the L-4, which remained a 16” model until finally being retired in 1971 after 60 years of production. The L-4C was first offered in 1949, the year this example was produced. On October 11th of that year this L-4C and another just like it were shipped to Heaton’s Music in Columbus, Ohio – two of 140 L-4Cs shipped in the first year of production.

The L-4C’s more famous fraternal twin is the ES-175, which also debuted in 1949. The ES-175 featured a P-90 pickup and a plywood maple top but was otherwise identical to the L-4C.

This example is in lovely condition and entirely original but for a nicely made bone nut. Apart from a reglued center seam under the tailpiece this L-4C is without repairs. Original first year patent pending Kluson tuners, original bridge, tailpiece, pickguard, frets and finish. Well below average playwear, excellent set-up care of our shop.

Carved Sitka spruce top with tonebar bracing, laminate maple back and sides. Bound rosewood fretboard with pearloid fretmarkers and 24.75” scale. Full depth hollow body with Florentine cut-away.

Round neck carve with 1-11/16” nut and 1st fret depth of .921”. 1st fret neck circumference measures 2.72”. A pretty sounding 1949 Gibson L-4C archtop with classic post-war Gibson cut and midrange focus.

With modern deluxe hardshell case.

1949 Gibson L-4C vintage archtop guitar

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The 1953 Kay K-150 is a 16” electric archtop with a ‘Jimmy Reed’ blade pickup and full-depth body. Similar in design to Gibson’s ES-125, the K-150 was likely designed and marketed to compete with that model.

This example is in excellent condition, crack free, and has recently been refretted here at Folkway. The pickup has been lovingly rewound/restored by Alastair Miller, while the rest of the wire harness is factory original, save for a new endpin style jack installed in our shop.

Playability is excellent on this 1953 Kay K-150 thanks to new frets, replacement ebony bridge, and careful setup. The tuners are StewMac replacements. Round neck carve with a nut width that’s just shy of 1-11/16” and a first fret thickness of .971”.

With modern deluxe case

1953 Kay K-150 vintage electric guitar
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1954 Gibson LG-2 3/4

The ¾ sized Gibson LG-2 ¾ features a 12.75” wide body and a short 22.75” scale. Its neck was designed for small hands, with its 1-9/16” nut and C carve that’s .892” at the 1st fret. Actually, we’ll rephrase that – its neck is very similar to what you’d find on most any Gibson built in the later 1960s. lol

In excellent condition, it’s almost completely original and is largely crack-free (there’s a repaired pickguard crack). The neck has been cleanly reset, and playability is excellent thanks to a recent fret-dress and set-up by our shop. We’ve replaced the tuner buttons on the original Klusons, as well as the nut and saddle. The action is easy and low, and the guitar plays very well. A small finish repair in front of the bridge is this guitar’s only visible flaw, and visible is a stretch.

It has a pretty voice with classic small guitar midrange, succinct bass, and punchy trebles.

Solid spruce top with ladder-bracing, mahogany back and sides, sunburst top, and rosewood board and bridge.

With original chipboard case.

1954 Gibson LG-2 3/4 vintage acoustic guitar

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