ABurn66

Lars, that's a beauty! remarking on you comment Willi said this to me in 2011 " The 7xxxH J-45s interestingly all had a two piece back but no center strip like yours. This only was seen in 1942 while pre 1942 J-35s and all later J-45s had a one piece top with a spruce center strip glued to the back inside even there’s no seam to reinforce." see the pics

The guitar is original other than having some of the back braces repaired/reglued . There was a shim installed under the bridge which I had removed at the same time. Additionally Gruhn suggests a refret. The guitar sounds amazing. The concern with the tuners is that the buttons will crumble to dust when I am tuning or changing strings .However it really seems to stay on tune very well. Icontacted Willi Henke back in 2011 about this guitar and he was a great help. I didn't do much with it till 2015 when I had it appraised and worked on so I could play it. I will try to post more pictures soon.

What is the thought on the tuners? I was told by Gruhn to replace the tuning buttons but keep the tuners, I have had others say to keep them intact and store and replace with replicas if I want to play it seriously

It was appraised by Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, I had originally thought it to be a J-35. But George's opinion and Willi's with Gibson Banner thought it to be a very early 42 J-45. huh. what do think it is? Work order 7433H , I've been told the "H" is a 42

Looking for advice on a 1942 J-45. I've had the Guitar for sometime now and was wondering if the market was prime to sell? I had it appraised some years ago but I don't really follow the vintage guitar market. The guitar itself is interesting as it has a few different features such as the white silk screen Gibson logo rather than the yellow with "Only a Gibson is Good Enough", the pick guard isn't typical of a 42 either (or so I've been told). I am not in any rush to try to sell it and I enjoy playing the guitar when the mood suites (I restrain and play one of my other less valuable instruments most of the time as I am terrified to damage it) Any advice would be appreciated!