Gibson Southern Jumbo Banner Rosewood Sides Sunburst 1943

This Southern Jumbo (SJ) from 1943 is a perfect representative of Gibson's 'Banner' era. The SJ wasn't officially shipped until 1943 and in this period, some batches of SJ's with rosewood back and sides were being made (FON batch numbers 910 and 2005). Some of these guitars even had a mahogany back with rosewood sides. And this guitar is exactly that! When you look inside the body, you'll notice the FON number 2005 and a mahogany back with rosewood sides.

However, this Southern Jumbo has had some modifications which even made us think it might have been a J45. Most notably, the fretboard has been replaced with one with dot inlay instead of the split parallelograms of the SJ. The top still shows the outline of a 'belly down' bridge, while the strings are now anchored by a rectangle bridge with two bridge plates. It is also around this area where you can see an overspray, a couple small patches and a repaired crack.

When you grab the fairly thick mahogany neck and start strumming a few chords, you might be caught by surprise by its incredible tone. It has massive projection, a well developed bass response, punchy clear mids and crispy trebles. This guitar has the perfect blend of woodiness and definition.

Consignment.