J-160 Non Electric

[petes]

I own non electric Gibson J-160. It got FON W976 24 so it is 1955?

15th fret neck/body joint. 19-fret fingerbody. No holes for electronic.

I havent found anything about these guitars except article in Guitar Player Feb 2000 by Tom Wheeler.

This guitar have gone through some repairs. Bridge is probably changed. Some lacquer over spraying and some black paint on upper left part of body.

It's a lot played instrument and it sound very well. It have solid spruce top , mahogany back and laminated mahogany sides , ladder bracing.

It have 19 frets, teardrop pre war style pickguard , crown peghead inlays.

1955 they changed it to 20-frets but mine is still 19?

Have anyone seen these before?

 

 

Phtos: http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x255/kt6877/Gibson%20J-160%20NE/

 

Sound clip: http://www.youtube.com/wa...5Wc&feature=youtu.be

[j45nick]

I have never seen one of these, but I seem to recall someone here mentioning this configuration before. FON (W prefix)says 1955.

 

In a way, this is a counterintuitive guitar, as the J-160 was, as I understand it, always intended as an electric guitar. Hence the ladder bracing, etc, that you would not typically associate with a high-quality acoustic.

 

The bridge is probably a retrofit, but everything else looks original. How have you identified the back and sides as laminated, if there are no holes through it? The usual test is to compare the grain patterns on the inside and outside of the back and sides to see if they match.

 

My understanding is that in the first year (1954), the backs may have been solid, with laminated rims (sides).

 

You might try posting this in the acoustic sub-forum for more knowledgeable input, if you don't get much here.

[retrorod]

I am a bit "jimmied" on this one also...