1986 Gibson J-200 Jumbo Guitar

Oh, man. This thing has been the sweetie of the shop since I put it out in the racks the other day. It's got the natural finish that has UV-aged to just-so honey-red-blonde. It's got the mustache bridge. It's got the giant pearl. It's got the tuners. It's got the look. Even if we pretend to not be impressed and lusty for guitars like this, we just are. It's a beaut.

It also doesn't hurt that it plays quick and sounds as big, full, and balanced as you could want. There are plenty of times I pick up a J-200 and am a little nonplussed. The sound may be good but it's not exciting. This one sounds very countrified and chunky and bold. J-200s are never a "normal" Gibson guitar tone because of the long scale and big old body with the maple back and sides, but they are lovely when they're nice.

This one has that classic, balanced rumble sound that's perfect for underpinning a band. That's why you see them on stage with country, honky-tonk, and Americana acts -- they work really well for pounding-out chords with your buddies.

All that aside, this guitar's in good shape and ready to go. It shows its age in the darkened finish and it has a few love bites via scratches and dings here and there, but overall it's in good order.

Repairs included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, and setup.

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid flamed maple

Bracing type: x

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: maple 3-piece

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights

Neck shape: slim-medium C

Board radius: 10"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

Body width: 17"

Body depth: 4 7/8"

Weight: 5 lbs 5 oz

Condition notes: the repairs were not too serious as the neck was practically off the guitar when it arrived -- I just had to loosen the fretboard extension and it popped right off. I did find a quirky dovetail joint that was not tight at all (pictured), however, and during the reset I both shimmed-up the joint a bunch to make it fit nice and tight and also hid a "keeper bolt" at the (oddly-shaped) neckblock just for extra peace of mind. I do this same thing on wonky-jointed old Guilds fairly often as they often have poorly-fit dovetails. I was pretty conservative with my reset angle and because of that, after the top settled-in to tension (it's fairly lightly-built), I did have to bring the saddle down close to the deck. Sigh! That said, it plays fast and easy and on-the-dot as it sits.

Finish-wise, it has weather-check throughout much of the finish and the finish has aged to a buttery-warm yellow glow all over. It looks great! There are a few bigger dings on the back (pictured) and some rubbing to the edge-finish at the binding but it has no cracks and only a little playwear here and there. The frets are in good order and have plenty of life left in them.

The pickguard has outgassed a bit and cracked here and there. I added some fill to stabilize the damaged areas and it's holding-up just fine. Pickwear has worn some of the screen-printed scene off the pickguard, too.

The tuners have a little bit of wear to them and the casings are all not perfectly flush with their mounting plates. Old Klusons! What can I say? It happens. They work fine, though. If I were using this gigging all the time I might want to swap them out for repros but they're good for general use. The truss rod works as it should.

It comes with: a nice old hard case.

Ready to see the neck joint pre-repair?