Gibson Super 400 China Dragon Bruce Kunkel Custom Masterpiece Archtop Guitar

Here we have one of the most special guitars to come out of Gibson in recent memory: the Gibson Super 400 China Dragon.

This one-of-a-kind carved masterpiece was built by the great master luthier Bruce Kunkel at the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville. It took hundreds of hours to complete and is one of the greatest treasures to ever come out of the Gibson Custom Shop. Bruce did all of the relief carvings himself, and designed the inlays.

Bruce did work for the Gibson Custom Shop from 1993-2017. This was the very last project he completed for Gibson before leaving the company to pursue his own projects. 

There have been only a few masterpieces produced by Gibson with similar levels of craftsmanship. One of those is the 20th Century Tribute Super 400 (also built by Bruce), which commanded offers of $600,000 (Gibson declined those offers and still has the guitar).

This guitar features hand-carved dragons in relief on the spruce top and figured maple back. The neck is hand-carved in dragon scales. These are not run-of-the-mill carvings. These are meticulously crafted art pieces, with fantastic detail.

The ebony fretboard features a beautifully inlaid dragon, along with the figured maple headstock. The cherry-stained headstock veneer really pushes this piece into the next level.

The guitar is in mint condition and includes the original hardshell case and original paperwork.