Crack free and gorgeous, great neck, perfect action, and classic small-guard Gibson tone, this late 1940s J-45 is the kind of guitar that has everyone around here salivating. It’s fabulously clean and shows significantly less than average playwear, too.

A balanced and powerful J-45 with clarity, focus, and a strong fundamental, this J-45 takes a flatpick very well and offers plenty of well-defined bass headroom, forward midrange, and a little bit of sparkle up top. It’s a great rhythm guitar, and one that will appeal to a D-18 player as much as a Gibson devotee.

Sitka and mahogany body, scalloped braces, small maple bridge plate, small tortoise-celluloid pickguard. Rosewood bridge and fretboard, tapered headstock.

Original finish throughout which remains largely in excellent shape. There is a little playwear around the soundhole and pickguard, but the neck, back, and headstock remain very clean. There is an area of what might be buckle indentations and imprints on the lower bass side of the guitar, and a few scratches on the opposite side of the guitar, as shown in the provided photos.

Original frets and nut, the tuners are mid 1950s replacements as there were Grovers mounted on the guitar at some point in its past. The neck has been reset, and the saddle has been replaced and notched for proper string/fingerboard alignment. We’ve installed unslotted Antique acoustic pins and new tuner buttons. Original bridge and plate, various reglued braces as should be expected with a crack free Gibson from before the late 1950s. Strap button added to at the base of the heel.

Rounded, full-feeling neck carve with a 1st fret depth of .906” and 1-11/16” nut. 24.75” scale, 2-1/8” string spread at the saddle. Set up with Darco 12s and an action of 5-7 64ths.

With period / possibly original chipboard case.