Gibson's Top-of-the-Line Acoustic Archtop

This 18-inch-wide acoustic archtop weighs 7.30 lbs. and has a very fat nut width of just under 1 3/4 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Two-piece carved spruce top, figured maple back and sides, three-piece maple neck with two mahogany center strips, and ebony fretboard with 20 frets and inlaid pearl split-block position markers. The top and back are multi-bound, 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. Multi-bound tortoiseshell pickguard. Frequensated ebony bridge on ebony base with pearl dragonfly inlays and "Y"-shaped tailpiece with "Super 400" engraved on cross-bar. All hardware gold-plated. Serial number ("90150771") stamped on the back of the headstock and on a tan oval label inside the bass f-hole. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition. The back of the guitar is highly flamed and neck is slightly flamed. Housed in the original brown hardshell case with purple plush lining (9.50).

"The fifth model Super 400 was the postwar cutaway acoustic guitar officially called the Super 400C (cutaway)...Changes in the Super 400C from 1949-1990 include simplification of ornamentation, changes in headstock logo and contours, changes in neck design, a change in the cutaway shape, and miscellaneous changes in fittings, finishes, and cases...When the postwar acoustic Super 400 guitar was introduced in 1948, two distinct versions of the guitar were available. The noncutaway Super 400 guitar (herein called the fourth model) was offered in the golden sunburst finish with a natural-finish option. Likewise, the cutaway fifth model Super 400 guitar, formerly known as the Premiere but now labeled the Super 400C, was also reintroduced in the golden sunburst finish with the optional natural finish as well...The fifth model Super 400, or Super 400C, was introduced in late 1949 and has continued in production with several evolutionary changes since that time. Approximately 355 Super 400Cs were produced in sunburst finish and 194 were produced in natural finish from 1950 through 1979, the last year for which official hand-tallied records of production were kept. Beginning in 1980 Gibson changed over to a computerized record-keeping system, but when the Norlin Company sold Gibson to its current owners in 1986, where was some confusion regarding access to the data via the company's computers. It is not known whether this data was lost, or whether only Norlin employees knew how to access the data so that access to the data was denied by default. I have made several visits to both the Kalamazoo and Nashville Gibson factories, and despite these visits and much correspondence, my findings on the known production totals for the years 1980 through 1989 remain rather incomplete. The Super 400C evolved in a parallel fashion with the noncutaway Super 400 through 1955 and continued its evolution after that time. Major changes in the Super 400C included the switch from a three-piece to a five-piece neck in mid-1960, the radical narrowing of the neck to 1 9/16 inches at the nut in 1967, and the addition (and later deletion) of the volute at the headstock-neck joint in approximately 1973-1974. Otherwise, construction of the Super 400C remained essentially unchanged except for a slight alteration in the shape of the cutaway" (Thomas Van Hoose, The Gibson Super 400, pp. 40-).

"Built in the Nashville plant using highly skilled custom shop staff to personally make each guitar. Most Super 400's will be electric, although a few acoustics will be crafted also. These instruments will be marketed as Gibson's top-line production models, and will be distributed through a small, rather exclusive dealer network. These limited-production instruments will be priced accordingly --- reportedly $9,000 for the Sunburst version and $12,000 for the natural-finished version...the first instruments were to be finished and available for sale in the summer of 1991" (Thomas Van Hoose, The Gibson Super 400, p. 96). From 1947 to 1990 a total of 359 Sunburst Super 400Cs were shipped from the factory, including this one. This guitar is one of only two Super 400Cs produced in 1990 -- there was one in Natural and this one in Vintage Sunburst.