Need some help Gibson people. Just purchased a sj 200 acoustic. I’m trying to figure out if it’s authentic. The thing that really confuses me is the truss rod cover in head stock there is nothing under it nether adjustment screw is in the sound hole. Is t

[Rick enos]

[Dave F]

Hope you didn't pay too much for it. Looks totally fake to me.

As you stated, no adjustable truss rod.

Rosetta is wrong, trim is wrong, nut is wrong, pick guard, something with the bridge looks wrong. Probably a lot more.

Just the whole image looks wrong.

 

 

[BoSoxBiker]

That hex nut is not a truss rod nut in the last pic?  (Not suggesting it's a Gibson...)

[Rick enos]

It has a truss rod but adjusted in sound hole. 

[MorrisrownSal]

Truss rod access in soundhole. Yikes. I’m also accustomed to seeing SJ200s with a red label, and double rosette, lighter bridge, horizontal flamed maple, and not grover tuners.

[Rick enos]

2 minutes ago, Rick enos said:

It has a truss rod but adjusted in sound hole. 

As stamped on sticker in sound hole it was made in boseman Montana in 2014 according to the serial numbers. I’m not a guitar guy was just hoping it was authentic. 

[Brucebubs]

I recognized that pick guard immediately - bought one for a few dollars on ebay years ago -came from China - here it is when I laid it on my Huss & Dalton for a joke.

[QuestionMark]

The pointy end on the very bottom of the neck seems like a very possible red flag to me.  Gibsons are always straight with no point to them to my recollection.   My suggestion is to go back to the seller if you can as well as to contact Gibson customer service to confirm or report.    I’m not  familiar either with Gibsons ever having a truss rod adjustment inside the guitar…another very possible red flag. Those very possible  two red flags are enough to question its authenticity in my book.  Let us know what the seller says about returning it for $ back as well as what Gibson c-s says.   You can also call Grubb Guitars in Nashville and With their being experts, they should be able to tell you if that Gibson model or any Gibson ever had a pointy end of neck by the body or a truss rod adjustment inside.  Something is certainly strange about it considering the possible red flags.  Sorry you had this happen.  Hope you can work through it okay or if not still find the guitar somehow enjoyable, playable, and useful with such a story to it if trying to get a refund from the leads nowhere.  Sad this kind of stuff has to happen in our sometimes crazy world.

 

QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

Edited October 9, 2021 by QuestionMark

[Dave F]

Here's how the trim at the peak should look. Not two trimmed pieces as yours.

[QuestionMark]

Well, you just proved an authentic Gibson model can have a pointy end on the bottom of its neck, although the original poster’s pointy neck end is indeed spliced together.  But, and this is and has all been speculation, is I now suspect the neck and headstock may be an authentic Gibson, but removed from a Gibson and re-attached to different body. That could explain why the headstock looks legit and why the pointy pieces of the end of the neck are reattached, because the neck was reattached to ?  And, why the truss rod adj is inside the guitar.   It could also explain why the bridge on the body looks like something is amiss.   Like maybe it was reattached to a different body.   
 

Another poster already identified that the pickguard is not original, but we’ve all heard of replacement pickguards on guitars.  Especially on J200s that are flubber guards or where the design peels off.

I am not that familiar with J200 bodies.  This puzzle might be resolved if someone can compare the body on this guitar to a known authentic J200 in terms of shape, size, binding,  finish etc.  that would prove if it’s a Frankenstein reassembled  Gibson, a an intact Gibson or a pieced together Gibson neck with a foreign body to pass it off as a Gibson.
 

As well as assess if the headstock and fret markers look legit to substantiate if at least the neck is real, if not the body.

 

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

 

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by QuestionMark

[Dave F]

Here's a couple I've had, there were a couple other standards  too.

All had the truss rod nut at the headstock.

None had a black plastic nut.

 

[Rick enos]

The nut and bridge piece was ordered from Gibson. Ebony I believe. The previous owner did not like the sound of the bone stuff

[Rick enos]

I read last night that the newer pick guards were hand painted. I read up for 3 hrs. Last night and thought everything lined up as Gibson except the truss rod location. If it’s a fake it sounds incredible. 

[Dave F]

1 minute ago, Rick enos said:

The nut and bridge piece was ordered from Gibson. Ebony I believe. The previous owner did not like the sound of the bone stuff

You’re sounding very gullible. How did he explain the truss rod nut disappearing and the wood getting filled in? He didn’t like the nut in that area?

[Dave F]

2 minutes ago, Rick enos said:

I read last night that the newer pick guards were hand painted. I read up for 3 hrs. Last night and thought everything lined up as Gibson except the truss rod location. If it’s a fake it sounds incredible. 

I’ve only owned four SJ200’s. Slim has over 75 of them. Maybe he’ll chime in. 

[Rick enos]

Nothing got filled in. There was nothing done up on the headstock. He was honest with me. Said he didn’t think it was a true Gibson. I guess I’m just wishing. Always wanted a Gibson guitar. 

[Rick enos]

Hope so. It would save me a call to Gibson Monday. I’m starting to slip into the reality that it’s an imposter. No sleep tonight I guess. 

[62burst]

'Just checking in to the Gibson Guitar Authentification site here:

No "nibs" on the fretboard ends. Not a biggie, but curious. They know that they're building the King of the Flat tops when they're making on of these in Bozeman. Usually a better selection of pearl would be inlaid for the "torch" on the headstock. 

8 minutes ago, Rick enos said:

I read last night that the newer pick guards were hand painted. I read up for 3 hrs. Last night and thought everything lined up as Gibson except the truss rod location. If it’s a fake it sounds incredible. 

⬆️ Then things should work out fairly well for you.

3 hours ago, Rick enos said:

.    .    .    . I’m not a guitar guy was just hoping it was authentic. 

Hmmm. . . then . . . hmmm.  .  .  🤔 ? 

 

[Rick enos]

I’d better stick with collecting vintage Ludwig drums. 

[Dave F]

If you didn't pay too much and you think it sounds good I wouldn't worry about it. No one but us guitar nerds would notice the differences.

[Rick enos]

No I got it for a tick ovev300

[QuestionMark]

Here’s my take on the body.  The body of the original poster’s guitar looks significantly narrower on the body’s upper bout than the J200s shown in Dave F’s photos.  The upper bouts of the J200s in Dave F’s photos fan out more than the upper bout in the original poster’s guitar.  Unless, the photo in the original poster’s photo is a distorted photo, due to the guitar’s angle in the photo (and it being an iPhone phone.). But, I can’t imagine the J200s in Dave F’s photos fitting into the case that the original poster’s guitar snugly fits into.  The upper bouts appear like they would not fit.  The original poster can tell us if the photo is distorted and if the guitar’s upper bout and the case are actually wider than the photo seems to show.

The thinner upper bout and the adjustment for the truss rod being in the body, make me think this might be a hybrid of a Gibson neck with a non-Gibson body if it’s upper bout is too thin, but with a J200 bridge and J200-like pickguard.   Interestingly, too,  the original poster mentions in one of the posts that the seller said he didn’t think it was an actual Gibson or something like that when he sold it.  Unless I’m reading this incorrectly.
 

Others have any observations about the body shape?  Including the original poster?  To help with solving this mystery!

 

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

 

 

[QuestionMark]

17 minutes ago, Rick enos said:

No I got it for a tick ovev300

Probably not a Gibson, at that price but maybe a bit of a Frankenstein/pieced together guitar that used a Gibson neck and sounds and plays well.   Sounds like the seller expressed his doubt it was a full Gibson, too, based on what you said he said.

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Edited October 10, 2021 by QuestionMark

[rct]

300 for a 3000 dollar guitar that the seller admits is not a real Gibson.  Alrighty then.

rct

[Brucebubs]

That's about what I paid for a 2012 Epiphone EJ-200 in fantastic condition - like yours it will never be a Gibson but that didn't stop it from being an easy playing fun guitar.

Enjoy it.