Gibson Custom Shop 1960’s J-50 VOS Electric-Acoustic Guitar Natural (J-45)

Gibson Custom Shop 1960's J-50 VOS Electric-Acoustic Guitar Natural (J-45)

Gibson J-50

In 1947 Gibson officially introduced the J-50 guitar, essentially a natural-finish J-45, though Gibson shipped a handful of J-50 guitars already in 1942. One difference between the two is the top, which is triple-bound in the J-50 instead of single-bound; however, Gibson also made some early J-45s with a triple-bound top. As mentioned, the sunburst finish was useful for hiding flaws in the wood. The J-50 wasn’t introduced until after World War II. Decent wood supplies were easier to come by, so Gibson didn’t need to resort to using imperfect wood on all its instruments. This better quality wood justified the production of the natural-finish J-50, as there were very few flaws which needed to be covered up by a sunburst finish. Gibson did continue to produce the sunburst J-45, however, and it is still an important part of Gibson’s production line today.