"One Of The Great Aristocrats Of The Guitar World…"

This very early '63 eighteen inch-wide, full-depth archtop weighs just 7.60 lbs. and has a comfortable nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Two-piece carved spruce top, two-piece carved curly maple back, and maple sides. Typical early thin profile three-piece curly maple neck with two mahogany center strips, and ebony fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl split-block position markers. The top has nine-ply binding, the back has five-ply binding, the f-holes are triple-bound, the neck is triple-bound, the headstock is multi-bound, and the fretboard has double white lines on each side. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl five-piece split-diamond inlay. Black laminate headstock back with pearl three-piece split-diamond inlay. Individual Kluson Sealfast tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. Black plastic truss-rod cover with a white border and the word "Custom" etched into the parallelogram on its face. Two original 'patent number' humbucking pickups with rectangular black labels on the underside "Patent No / 2,737,842" and hot balanced outputs of 8.02k and 7.95k. Multi-bound tortoiseshell pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with metal saddles on two-footed rosewood base, slightly later gold Bigsby tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. Serial number ("61848") stamped on the back of the headstock. Orange oval label inside the bass f-hole, with the model ("S400CESN") and the serial number ("61848 #") stamped in black. There is some very slight finish checking and a few small marks on the top of the guitar especially by the control knobs. There is a slight 4 1/2 inch hairline crack just by the edge of the bass 'f' hole which has been expertly and almost invisibly repaired. The original Super 400 tailpiece was removed a very long time ago and replaced by an early sixties (correct-style) gold Bigsby tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. Overall this wonderful instrument is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition and quite simply a dream to play… The neck of the beautiful guitar is highly flamed and the back and sides show a nice grain pattern. Complete with the original hang-tag. Housed in it's original Gibson five-latch black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.00).

"The biggest single change in the Super 400CES occurred with the introduction of the seventh model in mid-1960. The change involved replacing the graceful, rounded Venetian cutaway with a deep, pointed Florentine cutaway, which was also introduced on the L-5CES and the last of the ES-5 guitars at the same time. Again we see the influence of Ted McCarty and CMI in the decision to radically alter the appearance of the Super 400CES and the L-5CES to present "something new" to guitarists. This model was produced from mid-1960 through mid-1969… For the Super 400CES, the year 1960 was a time of transition in neck contour as well as body cutaway shape. The necks on the 1960-1962 Super 400CES guitars felt rather wide and flat by comparison to their predecessors, which although retaining the same width were somewhat thicker in circumference, giving the earlier necks a more rounded feel… From mid-1960 through 1962, the seventh model Super 400CES featured PAF-style humbucking pickups with gold-plated pole pieces and covers. These were encased in black bezels, which were screwed into the top of the guitar with black screws. The tops of these guitars were made of carved spruce, and the very early backs were of book-matched, carved curly maple…" Thomas A. Van Hoose. The Gibson Super 400, pp. 66-69.

According to Larry Meiners, Gibson Shipment Totals, 1937-1979, a total of 122 Super 400CESN's were shipped from the factory between 1960 and 1969. This example is one of the earliest of just 14 that were shipped in 1963.