Gibson Custom Shop AJ Luthier's Choice II 2008

The Advanced Jumbo had been Gibson’s pre-war answer to Martin's D-28, but with the nation in the midst of the Great Depression the model never took off. BUT…….In 2008 Gibson’s Custom shop made a very short run of six of them, all super-prime very special examples, of which this guitar is one. Hand-written on its "Custom Shop" label are AJ Luthier’s Choice II   Archtype Custom 1/6  and the signature of Ren Ferguson, Gibson's master luthier and head of everything ultra-cool that goes on in the Bozeman, MT plant.

And now for the clincher: This guitar came to me from the personal collection of John Sebastian of Lovin' Spoonful fame in the 1960s, a true super-hero of early rock ’n roll bands and songwriters. "Do you believe in Magic?” You bet, and this guitar will prove it. John got it directly from Gibson while visiting their Bozeman, MT factory. After trying out as many of that model as he could, they remembered that one had been put away sometime before as a prize that nobody had won at a pickin’ contest. For John, that was “The one!”.

The details: Madagascar rosewood back and sides, Sitka spruce top, rosewood fingerboard with those iconic and absolutely unique mother-of-pearl inlays, and a special bonus not found on standard examples, a hand-inlaid border of abalone shell trim around the edge of the top, a la Martin’s very best pre-war style 40-series guitars. And to top it all off, this guitar's volume and tonal range will take you away to a wonderful place you won’t want to leave. John added a special pad to the treble-side waist to prevent it from slipping while performing with it sitting down, which pad we elected to leave. All just gone over by us right here in our shop and it plays like a Daydream too. Better yet, included is a two-page hand-written letter from John on his personal stationery, in his most beautiful handwriting, telling the story of how he got the guitar, sessions he used it on, musicians he played with on those sessions, and more. And a whole buncha stuff that was in the case: spare strings, a spare pickguard, a thumb pick, and a hotel key-card from some long-forgotten tour. But Wait! There's even more! It comes in a Calton road case from the original Calton Case makers in Canada, by FAR the most crush-proof, road-crew proof hard shell guitar case ever made by man, ever. These cases cost over $1500 today. A Lovin’ Spoonful road trip tour de force! The whole deal, with John's best wishes, $5995 w/Calton case