VASH Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Hey Folks, I can't believe it took me over 30 years to join the Forum. I have a J-200 made on May 5th, 1989. Is there anyway to find out when the first one was made in Bozeman?....and where my guitar places in sequential order? Best, VASH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 (edited) Do not know for sure but I remember running across 1989 J200 which dated to March 1989. If I recall though it was considered a protoype built by Ren. I believe regular production began by June but I do not have a clue as to exactly when. In what appears to be a time honored Gibson tradition nothing was written down so there are a lot of blanks in Bozeman's early history. Edited January 5, 2022 by zombywoof 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Welcome to the forum! I personally don’t know anything in regards to your question, but I suspect that “zombywoof” and some others will point you in the right direction. Lots and lots of knowledge in this forum…..BTW, don’t be a stranger in here. Lots of J200 owners too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASH Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Hi Zombywoof and MissouriPicker...thanks for the welcome and the info...I'm a lucky guy...I am the only owner of this baby....got it brand new off the shelf...I knew when I bought it that Gibson had just started up operations in Bozeman...looks like I got one of the early ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 I really do not know squat about Bozeman-made guitars. Only odds and ends I have picked up over the decades. As regular production did not begin in Bozeman until 1990 yours would be among the first guitars to have rolled out of the new factory. Any way I found that early 1989 J200. It is still up for grabs. Given the price tag it is not surprising. The label actually dates it to January 1989. 1989 Gibson J-200 First Ever Ren Ferguson Bozeman Prototype SJ-200 | The Acoustic Room | Reverb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASH Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Thanks zombywoof!....yup, that's a beauty...mine has a production type label...not the prototype one...but I will say it looks identical...all the way down to the stripping down the back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Mine is June 23. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASH Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Hi ksdaddy...nice, looking good!.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, VASH said: Thanks zombywoof!....yup, that's a beauty...mine has a production type label...not the prototype one...but I will say it looks identical...all the way down to the stripping down the back... There may be differences in a prototype you do not see such as the bracing carve, angle, footprint and such. As Gibson was turning out mandolins at the old Flat Iron plant in 1988 they obviously had people on board before the Bozeman plant was fully up and going. You have to wonder if at least parts for this early protype had been fashioned at the old mandolin plant. The oddest Gibson prototype I have have stumbled across though was built in the early-1980s under plant manager Jim Deurloo (who went on to become one of the founders of Heritage Guitars) and of all things was a J45. It appears Deurloo was wanting to go back to a round shoulder single X braced guitar and set Abe Wechter to the task of building one. If I recall it was stamped "Prototype" on the headstock while the label was signed by Abe. The model was put into production in I think 1984 which was the last year the acoustic line was produced in Kalamazoo. Edited January 5, 2022 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASH Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 ...thanks for the deep backstory zombywoof,....fascinating stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASH Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 Hey Folks, ...found this awesome interview with Ren talking about the early days of the Bozeman operation and setting up the operation...including the prototype days at Flat Iron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Charles Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Good morning from Deep Florida, y'all - been following this thread for a while, finally joined up. I am the proud original and loving owner of a 1989 J200 Natural that is apparently Production #11 - 82009011 - from July. I bought this guitar off the wall at Strings & Things on Hwy 3 in Merritt Island, FL, and she has been my companion ever since. Took the guitar with me when I moved out West in '94, and late one night a few years later the top seam popped open with a very loud open DADGAD chord while camped on the Verde River NE of Phoenix in a dry winter. Now I get to watch the top grow and shrink when I travel, but I'm pretty much staying in humid Florida now, and the top has closed up tight again. Elvis hooked me on J200's early, then I noticed lots of other greats playing them - Pete Townshend - I'm One comes instantly to mind. She and I both bear some scars from living long and hard, but this one is a keeper! Thanks for all the history, and the interview vid with Ren was so informative! I'm proud to play Gibson Montana! Jeff Charles Steinhatchee, FL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.