1952 Southern Jumbo

[ParlourMan]

I got offered a 1952 Southern Jumbo this morning, colleague of a colleague I didn;t even know played guitar, he's selling a 67 white strat (all original) and a 52 Southern jumbo, replaced tuners and cleated crack on the back. from what I can see in the pics (sorry don't have them to attach yet) action and neck look good, seems to be a bit of saddle left there too, it's never had a neck reset and doesn't need one according to him (I'll be the judge of that sonny....)

 

Usual blah blah involved and the price is an optimistic 5k (euro), now I figure that's quite a bit high, but then 52 original SJ's are not too common on this side of the pond, so exotic value obviously translates into euro value for this seller, I figure he's about a grand too high really based on the fact there are some non-original aspects here. Given that my penchant for Gibson acoustics is a known factor here, I doubt he'll take too much from me saying that in the first round of talks.....

 

What say you?

[blindboygrunt]

careful , might be one of those dud ones

 

hope it works out for ya

[jannusguy2]

I had a '53 for awhile. I quite liked it but eventually moved it along. Just too much redundancy having a '51 J45. As far as the price you mentioned, it's in line with what they're going for over here.

[Hall]

My favorite Gibson. I've two square shoulders. Love them both. I'd love to get an old one such as that. The repairs seem a bit scary if one hasn't had the opportunity to inspect personally. Hope it works out for you, Parlour Man.

 

Steve

[EuroAussie]

Do you really want another mahogany Gibson slope dread to the two your already own mate .. ?

[j45nick]

I happen to like the SJ esthetic, but tonally, it is likely to be similar to a J-45 of the same vintage.

 

As with all vintage guitars, you really need to see/play it to see if it's worth the money. It's all about condition, playability, and tone.

 

Price is slightly on the high side for the US (depending on condition), but the euro market seems to be higher than the US on average.

 

Tuner replacement and cleated cracks are no big deal if they are done properly. Of course, it depends on what was done during the tuner change. Since you can get good repro tuners, the loss of orginal tuners on a 50's GIbson doesn't bother me much, since this is a player rather than a collectible.

[ParlourMan]

Do you really want another mahogany Gibson slope dread to the two your already own mate .. ?

 

Not really and I'm in the middle of 80K worth of renovations..... doesn't mean I won't go see it and feel the pangs of temptation if it's decent, though....

[EuroAussie]

Not really and I'm in the middle of 80K worth of renovations..... doesn't mean I won't go see it and feel the pangs of temptation if it's decent, though....

 

Just a little visit, want do no harm ..... youre treading on dangerous waters man, leave the wallet at home and take a few deep breaths.

[j45nick]

Not really and I'm in the middle of 80K worth of renovations..... doesn't mean I won't go see it and feel the pangs of temptation if it's decent, though....

 

 

Get thee behind me, Satan!

 

I would use those $80k of renovations--which in my case are to keep my wife happy--as an excuse to spend just a wee bit of that amount on another guitar. Or two....