For those of us who spend our days surrounded by vintage guitars, any modern recreation of a Banner-era Gibson faces a pretty high bar. The originals are famous for their explosive, dry midrange that is incredibly difficult to replicate with modern manufacturing. That said, Gibson’s current Bozeman Custom Shop version of the 1942 Banner J-45 offers a capable, modern interpretation of that classic formula for players looking for the vintage aesthetic without the vintage price tag or maintenance.

Built as part of their Historic Collection, this model features a thermally aged Adirondack red spruce top paired with solid mahogany back and sides. Gibson uses hide glue for their scalloped X-bracing, a spec choice intended to mimic the sound and responsiveness of well aged soundboard.

Tonally, it delivers a modern version of the slope-shoulder sound. It is a punchy, mid-forward guitar with a compressed low-end thump that handles heavy flatpicking well and warms up well under a lighter attack.

In the hand, the 1942 Banner J-45’s neck features a chunky-but-not-too-large rounded carve. Gibson’s published literature claims that the neck has a V-shape, but that’s entirely untrue. It’s round and deep and quite a lot like the neck on a 50’s Gibson, but with a nut that’s 1/32” wider. This one measures .900” at the 1st fret and has a nut width of 1-23/32.

Cosmetic appointments include a thin VOS (Vintage Original Sheen) nitrocellulose lacquer finish with a dark sunburst and the iconic "Only a Gibson Is Good Enough" banner logo on the peghead.

This example is in near-new condition and has had a K&K Pure pickup professionally installed. It’s been setup in our shop with 12-54 strings and plays cleanly on frets that show just a touch of playwear.

Includes deluxe hardshell ‘redline’ case and Custom Shop Certificate of Authenticity.