We were pretty excited when the photos of this Jumbo came through. It was being offered in trade, and of course we knew immediately we had to get our hands on it. It looked like it had been stored for decades and was clearly in need of some attention, but through the layers of dirt you could see it was in really good shape.
It feels a touch silly to be so excited about it, but every time one of these 50's brown flat bottom cases enters the room, it's exhilarating. I always worry that the case is simply empty, or maybe it'll be the routed refinished mutt you never hope it is. This time however, opening the lid was a massive payoff, unveiling one of the coolest vintage 1953 Fender Blackguards we've seen.
The first time we saw this guitar was in photos. It looked exceptionally well-preserved, certainly had the original case, and for a Martin of this ilk, was reasonably priced. We had recently spent some time with another 12-fret 000 example from the era that wasn't available, but the guitar stars aligned and dropped this particular 1925 build in our lap.
In 1942 Gibson built the first Southern Jumbo (SJ) round shoulder dreadnought acoustic guitars. This upscale take on the J-45 was purportedly designed for sale in the southern United States where the acoustic guitar players of the time were seeking instruments with fancier appointments.
