Another what is it thread

[cunningham26]

Here's one for ya

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/4718736130.html

 

Claims to be 42, but the FON from the photo looks like it ends with W, making it a '55? My guess is a 54-55 J50 since it has 19 frets, belly up bridge, block logo, and the teardrop guard. If it was banner era, it went back to the factory around that time and was totally overhauled

 

Cool story though! I love the stories of the groups from that era that were regional stars.

[j45nick]

The story in terms of date of manufacture is totally inconsistent with all the visual evidence, with the single exception of the FON. Oddly, the reported FON used for dating--7119H--is an exact composite of the two 1942 FON's given as examples for dating on one vintage Gibson dating website.

 

I'm not a huge believer in coincidences, and would have to see it in the flesh before accepting the claimed year of manufacture as authentic. As mentioned above, everything I see says 1948-1954 J-50, down to the removed "original" tuners.

 

Something ain't quite right here.

[zombywoof]

Maybe ya'll got better eyes than me but I can't make out the logo and if there is a Banner on the headstock I cannot see it. The fact that there is not a close up shot of the headstock certainly sends up a red flag.

 

The FON though is consistent with a '42 J-50. The "H" designates 1942. The J-50s made that year fall in the 711X range. And that FON surely does show up big and bright which to me is a second big old red flag. These things are often so faded you can barely read them. And as j45nick points out there are a lot of inconsistencies regarding features. On top of some of the more obvious ones, the rosette does not appear to be right. My '42 J-50 has a seven ply rosette which I believe according to JT was a common feature of 42 J-45s and J-50s. Bottom line is I would not touch the guitar unless I could eyeball it in person. Too scary for me.

 

The Dearmond pickup with the covered B pole though is very cool.

[tvguit]

The logo on the headstock is the block logo that's typical of post-1946 J-50s. This guitar is either an early 1950s J-50 or a refinished and retopped earlier J-50 since the rosette pattern doesn't match the wbwbwbw style of the banner era guitars.

 

Nick is right that FON definitely indicates a 1942 year of manufacture. Even the font of the number looks correct for an early banner era guitar. It's an interesting piece but there's far more evidence that it's an early 1950s J-50 than a banner era J-50.