An Advanced Jumbo was the first guitar ever to appear on television. In 1939, Cincinnati radio singer Helen Diller took part in a demonstration of the new broadcast medium that within just a couple of decades would take over the entire planet. (Her 1938 Advanced Jumbo* is now on permanent display at the Gibson museum in Memphis)
Unparalleled
Created in direct response to Martin’s D-28 “advanced X-braced” dreadnaught, which made its debut in 1931, Gibson’s Advanced Jumbo has similarly gone on to be one of the legendary acoustic guitars. Although “advanced” originally referred to advanced features – compared to the regular Jumbo/Super Jumbo models – advancing” the X-bracing almost all the way up to the lower edge of the soundhole, gave the big-bodied dreads a bottom end that was unparalleled. And it remains so today – big bottom end, but still with sweet mids and sparkling highs!
Prime features
Completed during April of 2002, at Gibson’s famous acoustic facility in Bozeman, Montana, and in line with the originals of Helen Diller’s day, this fabulous Advanced Jumbo recreation has so much going for it, it’s almost too much guitar. Prime features include:-
Solid, luthier-selected Indian Rosewood back & sides
Solid, luthier-selected Sitka Spruce top
Tight-grained Indian Rosewood fingerboard
Mother-of-pearl diamond and arrow-head inlays – repeated on the headstock
Mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo
Vintage style Kluson nickel tuners
Vintage-style “firestripe” scratchplate
Rare “Antique Natural” nitrocellulose finish
Indian Rosewood bridge
LR Baggs
The main nod to modernity is the factory installed LR Baggs ‘Element VTC’ pickup, which lets you go straight from strumming on the couch to plugging in on stage or in the studio.
Extremely high quality control
Advanced Jumbos are made only in small batches, with extremely high quality control, and you can bet that the QC people at Bozeman had enormous grins on their faces as they checked this one out before finally popping it into its case. And it’s only gotten better with time: After 20 years the Antique Natural top has developed a lovely golden glow beneath the nitro, and the timbers have really started to ring. People say the Natural finished AJs seen to have a bigger overall sound than those done in Sunburst, and we think we’d have to agree.
Free courier delivery
On its debut in 1936, Gibson’s catalogue proclaimed, "You have never heard a guitar like this! A bass so deep and full that it can be felt as well as heard." When you own this guitar, you too will be blown away by the astonishing room filling volume. Professionally owned and played, the guitar is in overall Excellent- condition, and comes complete with its original blue lined Gibson Acoustics hard shell case, with FREE COURIER DELIVERY to any address in Australia. ($100 shipping to New Zealand, $175 to the US, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries)
*When she joined the live performers roster at radio station WLR in Cincinnati, she asked one of the other artists what guitar she should buy herself. Merle Travis told her to get the best Gibson she could afford. Helen contacted the local Gibson dealer and ordered the most expensive model they had in stock. (Retail price? $100!) In a spot of history repeating itself, fifteen years later, Helen was invited to appear on another live broadcast, this time marking the transition from black-and-white television to color – her 1938 Advanced Jumbo was the first guitar in that revolutionary new medium as well. When asked about her memories of her earlier appearance, she confessed that she’d thought “television” a bit gimmicky, and hadn’t believed it would ever catch on!
Just Guitars
