1969 Gibson J-50 Restoration Project
For your viewing pleasure, we have a fairly rare 1969 Gibson J-50 acoustic guitar.
I found out about this guitar when one of my clients reached out after he saw it offered for sale at a music store in Baltimore County. It was in rough shape, and my client wondered how much it might cost to make playable again. I looked at a couple photos and made a non-binding guess that it would need around $1200.00 worth of repairs in order to once again be a dependable, great-sounding jumbo guitar. He thought it over, and decided to pass. I couldn’t blame him, but I also couldn’t help myself, as my curiosity had been piqued. I packed a bag, and made the trek all the way into “the County” to see it up close and personal. And after a little haggling, took it back to the shop with me!
Further inspection revealed five cracks in the soundboard, darn near every brace needed to be re-glued, a shifting neck block, a separating bridge, the need for a neck reset, and a metric ton of cat hair inside the body. Or, as I like to say, “Just another day at the office!”
First introduced in 1942, the J-50 went into full production beginning in 1946 after WWII, as the blonde/natural sister of the sunburst-finished J-45. It features a spruce top and mahogany back and sides, with a rosewood bridge. In 1969, the Gibson company was sold to what would be known as the Norlin Company, and changes began quickly. Norlin “beefed up” a lot of the instruments, including a double x-brace skeleton, in an effort to limit the need for warranty repairs, I’m told. This negatively impacted the sound. Our model preceded these changes, as reflected in the single x-brace configuration. By 1982, the J-50 was no longer part of the Gibson product line.
Over the last few months, I’m glad to say I’ve brought her back from the brink, and she plays and sounds great. Cracks and braces repaired, bridge re-set, neck block re-set, the neck itself has been re-set, and she’s sporting a new fret job, a new set of Grover tuners, a new bone nut, the Legendary Southeast Setup and a brand new set of Stringjoy Natural 12s. And, if you’re interested, she’s available for sale at $2200.00, with my personal guarantee for all of my work. Reach out if you’d like to take her for a test drive.
