Gibson Super 400 Sunburst - 1948
By Gibson
When you open the brown original case of this guitar, you are struck by the beautiful details that can only be found on a piece this age that has been well-looked after. The inevitable player’s wear and patina tells a story, but it’s one of a guitar carefully loved. None of the markings look like abuse, all consequential; perhaps each bump and nick when noted was accompanied by a slight grimace, because this guitar was clearly never mistreated intentionally. The action is superb and suggests the guitar has been well-maintained by a professional. The tailpiece has aged beautifully with that soft brass look. The scratch plate has a look that can’t be imitated, it’s just real cool! There are so many incredible details but let’s talk about the sound; it’s glorious! Not only does it harken back to the golden era of music, it also just sounds amazing for picking and strumming country tunes or pop songs. This is a guitar that has been around for nearly 80 years, doing its thing as a guitar; so it knows what it’s doing; even if I don’t! This is a lovely piece of American guitar history and a great player to boot. I’ll be a little jealous of whoever buys this wonderful guitar, but I’m grateful to have played it here today! As a side-note, this one came out of the John Hurlston collection and I just happen to have a pic of John playing it from a few years back. He was a good guy and is sadly missed. This lovely guitar comes with its original brown Gelb hard shell case. (Video clip coming soon!)