The BJB Model, Much Rarer than the Standard Super V CES

This rare BJB (one pickup) model weighs 7.00 lbs. and has a nut width of slightly under 1 11/16 inches and a standard L5 scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Bookmatched solid carved spruce top, two-piece carved maple back, maple sides, five-piece rock maple neck, and ebony fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl split-block position markers. Solid bone nut. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl five-piece split diamond inlay. Special Super V engraved brass truss rod cover. Pearl block-and-wedges inlay on the back of the headstock. Individual Grover Roto-Matic tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. One floating "Bruce J. Bolan" pickup with a thumping 14.15k output. Tortoiseshell pickguard with five-layer plastic binding (white/black/white/black/white). Two controls (one volume, one tone) mounted on pickguard. "Johnny Smith" black plastic knobs. Ebony bridge with "Dragonfly" mother-of-pearl inlays and adjustable finger tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. A spectacular "under-the-bed" example with virtually no wear whatsoever. Housed in its original Gibson brown hardshell case with purple plush lining (9.25).

"Combining the body of the much loved L-5 CES with the neck and longer peghead of the Super 400, the Super V CES is a sophisticated jazz instrument in its own right. Hand crafted from the finest spruce, maple, and ebony, the Super V CES delivers the kind of penetrating attack, enormous projection and full-bodied tone that has been a Gibson trademark since they pioneered the f-hole archtop in 1923. The Super V CES features Gibson's special adjustable finger tailpiece, which allows guitarists to adjust the down pressure on the bridge for each individual string ensuring pure acoustic sonority and constant tension no matter what gauge of strings [are chosen]" (http://www.gibson.com/products/custom/1995/ltdr/ltdr2.html). The BJB model (1979-1983) is much rarer than the standard Super V CES, which was itself in limited production between 1978 and 1993. Gibson shipping figures are unavailable between 1980 and 1984, but we do know that in 1979 only 43 BJB models were shipped, as opposed to 85 CES models. It is in fact an acoustic guitar with a floating "Johnny Smith" mini-humbucking pickup mounted on the pickguard, with separate volume and tone controls.