1954 Gibson Southern Jumbo

This is a 1954 Gibson Southern Jumbo. The Southern Jumbo is the slightly upscale stable mate of the popular J-45 in the 1954 Gibson acoustic lineup, still featuring a sitka spruce top with mahogany back, sides and neck. The extra bling includes a two-ring soundhole rosette, the outer ring white-black-white three ply and a seven-ply inner ring in alternating black and white celluloid. Nut width is 1 11/16" with string spacing of 2 1/8" at the bridge.

The pickguard, in red swirl celluloid, is the earlier smaller type, soon to be replaced with a larger offering on later SJ’s. The bridge is Brazilian rosewood with the then-new feature of a drop-in saddle. It is enveloped in a sunburst that fades from a deep brown, to a red, then amber around the bridge. The mahogany back is bound in white with four-ply alternating black and white celluloid. The mahogany neck features a white celluloid bound Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with split block pearloid fret markers. The headplate is black with a gold Gibson logo and the bell-shaped truss-rod cover.  

Inside, the guitar is just as interesting. The tone bars are scalloped, this was the last year for scalloped braces for SJ’s, and this example retains its original small maple bridge plate. A factory order number is rubber stamped into the neck block with an “X” prefix, indicating 1954 manufacture.

There is a tightly sealed and expertly cleated center seam crack running from the bridge to the tailblock. A tightly sealed “B” string crack runs from the pickguard to the treble side of the bridge. A few small areas are worn through to the wood between the soundhole and the pickguard and there are numerous small scrapes and dings throughout, with the most notable being a 1 ½” long scrape down to the clear coat on the top at the apex of the lower bout on the top. The fingerboard shows some light divoting and the original frets, while not full height, have lots of life left. At some point, the original Kluson tuners, which would have been single line Deluxes with Cream buttons, have been swapped for double line Deluxes with translucent buttons, a classy upgrade that we opted to keep. There are no other indications of tuner swaps and the peghead remains unaltered. In the case, there is a service record listing a few repairs completed by noted luthier Tom Humphrey. 

This SJ is a warm and balanced tone with lots of throaty projection for both lead and rhythm playing. This perfectly dialed in guitar is a feast for both the eyes and ears.