Gibsonman2 Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 Pictures of my 47 J-50. Anybody else have a old J-50?
j45nick Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 That's an unusual combination: small bridge, open-back tuners, and modern block logo. Looks like a real transition piece, and a fairly early J-50. Looks to be in absolutely lovely shape, without the excessive play wear we usually see on guitars of this vintage. What's the FON? I don't have a J-50, but do have a J-45 from a year or so later: 3644 FON.
Gibsonman2 Posted January 15, 2012 Author Posted January 15, 2012 There are no numbers on it anywhere. Alot of older ones did not have any numbers. Yes it's pretty clean and has never had a strap button put on it.
retrorod Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 Hey, Very clean-looking ride, you have there Rod
j45nick Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 There are no numbers on it anywhere. Alot of older ones did not have any numbers. Yes it's pretty clean and has never had a strap button put on it. Post-war block-logo guitars such as this usually have an FON stamped on the neck block, visible by looking into the soundhole. It should also have J-50 stamped on the back center cleat.
Gibsonman2 Posted January 15, 2012 Author Posted January 15, 2012 Wrong alot of older J-50s have nothing.
j45nick Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 Wrong alot of older J-50s have nothing. suit yourself.
tvguit Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 Sometimes it is really really faded. I didn't see the fon in my '60 country western for 2 weeks until I got a really bright LED flashlight and checked. Then I could barely make out an "R" and some numbers. I couldn't really make out the numbers still.
Gibsonman2 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Posted January 23, 2012 Gibsonman wrote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I got this infomation from Vintage Guitar Information: Gibson Flat top models. The guitar I have matches this. 47s did not have script logo. Like I said there are no numbers at all on the entire guitar. A couple of guys over at the UMGF also have older ones with no numbers. Mine is either a 47 or it could be a 48. Here is the spects. ,and then this is a reply from a member on the UMGF. The nut width on mind is 1 11/16" 1947 J-50 introduction specs: Natural finish version of J-45. 16" wide, round shoulder dreadnought shape, mahogany back and sides, solid spruce top with scalloped X-bracing, black bridge pins, 2 pearl dots on rectangle bridge, teardrop pickguard shape, single bound top and back, dot fingerboard inlays, gold logo, natural finish. Hi Gibsonman, There were '47 script logo J-50s...maybe rare, but they exist. Your guitar is a lovely one. My only point (if I have one) is that the features on your guitar could make it '47-'48 with no real way to pin it down better than that, I think. Yes, Gibsons from 1947 (and 1946) were known to have no FONs. But your guitar could well be a 1948 with no FON showing. (The '49s also share almost all of the same features...I'm not quite sure though if the nut had narrowed from 1 3/4" by 1949?) Not that it matters - the guitar looks like a great one. I'm a fan of the early post-war Gibson Js! Cheers, Blair
pfox14 Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Plenty of Gibson flat-tops from this era will NOT have any numbers on them anywhere. It's a pain in the rear end when you're trying to date the guitar, but sounds like you've got the date correct based on the particular features of this guitar.
slimt Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Dang, I had one just like that.... No ID marks.. just had to go by the Pickguard, Bridge, Logo... Just so you know... the one I had was a 51... No serial number , no batch numbers.. Nice J50 you have there....
Gibsonman2 Posted January 29, 2012 Author Posted January 29, 2012 Thanks pfox14 I knew someone would soon chime in that knew that some of these old flattops just did not have any numbers at all, and that you had to go by the features that are on the guitar. Thanks slimt for the kind words.
mudd_dawg Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 this is my 58 j-50 not as old as your but still a very nice guitar
Spot Posted February 28, 2012 Posted February 28, 2012 I'd love a 1950's model but couldn't afford one so I got a '64 Adjustable and she's a gem. I had the bridge changed since and reliced up some Klusons since the photos were taken... She's got the wide nut and a medium neck profile and is in MINTY condition. I couldn't be happier!!!
j45nick Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 Anybody else gotta J-50 they wanna show us? Well, here's my '48-'50 J-45 masquerading as a J-50, as it did for more than 40 years after being re-topped by Gibson in 1968. I couldn't stand the cherry 'burst it came back with from Gibson--it's a long story--so I stripped the top and shot it with clear nitro. It's back to being a J-45 now, but it was a nice J-50 for a long time.......
retrorod Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 I'd love a 1950's model but couldn't afford one so I got a '64 Adjustable and she's a gem. I had the bridge changed since and reliced up some Klusons since the photos were taken... She's got the wide nut and a medium neck profile and is in MINTY condition. I couldn't be happier!!! Thats an absolute beauty and minty '64 J-50 there, Spoton....
Spot Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Thats an absolute beauty and minty '64 J-50 there, Spoton.... Thank mate!! Yeah I got a pretty close to MINT Collectors Grade guitar as I could which was nick considering I could get a 40's/50's model... Haven't seen too many in as good condition...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.