NGD: Gibson Jumbo Historic 1934

[martingitdave]

I purchased my first Gibson today. Over the years I focused most of my attention on variations of the Martin D-28. I finally got the pick of the litter with my Martin Authentic and a funny thing happened, I got interested in all the other iconic guitars from the old records I love. I went on a bit of a tear getting the best guitars I could get my hands on from my favorite North American brands: Martin, Gibson, Guild and Larrivee. I purchased my Guild F-512 to go with the Martin. I got the Larrivee used purely by luck. And the Gibson has been on my list since I played one in Wisconsin. So I completed my collection and got a great deal in the process.

The 1934 model is based on the original Jumbo. I think the custom shop did an amazing job with this one. The tone is 100% Gibson, dry warm and full with big bass! The neck is a beefy V. I was worried because I had some difficulty with the Martin Mod V neck at times. It appears that what I needed for my hands was more V and less modified. This one does not hurt my hands despite being a deeper cross section but with more pronounced V. I kind of wish my Martins had this neck.

So I’m done buying guitars for a while. I scratched all the itches and made the collection I’ve wanted to play for years. All have K&K pickups and sound great through my system. I’ll be using them for playing out as the summer continues and I recover from my chemo treatments.

I forgot to mention that I really did my homework on this one. Before purchasing, I played slope shoulder mahogany models from Martin, Gibson, Bourgeois, Collings, Huss and Dalton, Froggy Bottom before coming back to the 1934 Historic model. I thought the 1934 just sounded better and moved me more than all of them except for the Froggy. The Froggy was priced astronomically high. The biggest difference with the Gibson was the bass response and the resonance. I was disappointed with the Bourgeois. It was balanced but not enough bass. You have to pay extra for "banjo killer bracing" where he scallops both the bass side and treble side of the X brace. I think that's silly. Collings CJ35 was a great sounding guitar, but it also cost nearly twice as much, like the Bourgeois. The Martin slopes all sound like a Martin, so there wasn't enough differentiation with the D-28.

Thanks for reading!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Looks mighty tasty! Enjoy it Dave!

[cc132]

I played one of these at Guitar Resurrection in Austin a few weeks ago and it was off the charts good. It also had the biggest neck I've ever played in my life (and I like big necks).

[tkersey]

Congratulations! That’s a beautiful guitar!

[Jim Owen]

That’s a keeper, Dave. I’m envious—I’ve long wanted an OJ.

[Rev Roy]

Sweet, sweet collection, Dave! Congrats!

[TBman]

Congrats!
...........

[jaymarsch]

Congratulations on a special guitar. Enjoy.
Best,
Jayne

[jw3571]

These are fantastic guitars.

[Glennwillow]

Good for you, Dave!

Some of those old Gibson designs are super good! I'm glad you are happy!

- Glenn

[Avery.]

Lovely stuff.

[Zissou Intern]

I have played two of the new Historic Jumbos, and I'd love to own either. I can only imagine how happy you are to have it. I hope you enjoy every minute with it!

We had a 1934 Jumbo in the shop I worked in. I spent a lot of time with it during the couple months it was there. (Charles Johnson ended up with it.) I think Gibson really nailed the neck profile and shape of the neck heel on the Historic model. Their necks are quite different than the other Gibsons from the 1930's-40's.

[00045]

Congrats on your new Gibson!
They are great guitars, mine is one of the 2013 limited edition 1934 OJ's. Gibson copied Gary Burnette's OJ for that run. Looks like Gibson used these measurements for the new Historic Collection again. Love the light weight and the big neck. Like you, I don't like Martin's modified V. This huge neck on the OJ is one of my favorite and comfortable neck.
These OJ's are great strumming and fingerpicking.

BTW, I was never a fan of Gibson strings, but I love these 80/20 (uncoated) strings on the OJ and my AJ. Tried 13s didn't work as well as the 12s they came with.

[martingitdave]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. This certainly has been a fun Spring/Summer of guitar gluttony. But I can say I’m glad I’m in the playing and making music phase of this collecting. Playing is more fun than driving all over God’s creation auditioning guitars, although that was kinda fun too. [emoji6]

[brencat]

Nice guitar and collection! I just saw Shawn Brock demo a real vintage 1934 OJ and man what a sound! Also interesting is how limited the taper is from the neck heel to the tail on the OJ as compared to an AJ or their other slope shoulders. For example, the real 1934 Shawn said measured 4.25” deep at the neck and 4.5” deep at the tail. So only 1/4” difference in depth between neck and tail, whereas on most guitars it’s typically 3/4 - 1” difference. That can alter the comfort in your lap depending on the angle in which you hold the guitar relative to your body.

Enjoy!