Hi Gang,
An old friend called me a few days ago and said an old friend of his wanted to liquidate some old rock posters. Upon looking at pictures I noticed several items that looked interesting including a Gibson guitar. I forwarded a pic of the Gibson to a friend who identified it as a JS-200. I did some research based on it being an Original Acoustic Collection and negotiated a deal for the JS-200 and a few other items. The seller was out of the public's eye (another story here!) for close to 12 years and had placed the guitar in storage. The serial number identified it manufactured at the Bozeman Plant, MT, USA on July 24th, 2008. Per the certificate of authenticity only 167 were made in 2008.
Upon further inspection that evening I noticed the orange sticker had initials VOS after the model #, and True Vintage Limited Edition on the border. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to find out its a 1957 SJ-200 from the Acoustic Custom Shop Historic Collection. Subsequently I emailed pictures and serial # to Gibson for complete specs.
I showed it to a neighbor who's an avid player who, over the next 30 minutes, played several songs for the neighborhood kids and me. He had never played anything like it, and was blown away at the bass it put out.
So now it's time to teach an old dog new tricks. I've never taken a lesson in my life, and I'm looking forward to learning the ropes (strings...). I'm also looking forward to interacting here and learning more about the community.
Feeling Fortunate in the Bay Area,
Rick K