Gibson - J-45 Standard 12-String Vintage Sunburst

The Round Shoulder body shape of the Gibson J-45 Standard 12-String harks back to the brand’s historic models, but it is still rare to see a 12-string guitar built to this design. Its Sitka spruce top, supported by a traditional hand-carved X-brace, distributes the tension of the six pairs of strings without dampening the bass response.

The mahogany back and sides, edged with single-layer binding, tighten the midrange around the sound of the bass strings. The mahogany neck, featuring a SlimTaper profile and secured by a composite dovetail joint glued to the heated fingerboard, has a scale length of 24.75 inches – shorter than a classic six-string, whilst operating at a higher string tension. The Indian rosewood fingerboard, with a 12-inch radius, features 20 standard frets and mother-of-pearl dot inlays, beneath an adjustable truss rod housed in a black-and-white double-layered bell-shaped cover.

A 47.63 mm bone nut sets the spacing for the twelve strings ahead of the Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners, secured by TUSQ tuning pegs. A TUSQ saddle cradles each string at the bridge, whilst the L.R. Baggs VTC piezo, housed beneath the nut, picks up each pair of strings separately, controlled via volume and tone knobs, and the 6.35 mm jack output eliminates the need for any external equipment. The nickel hardware, including the tuners, complements the Vintage Sunburst colour of the gloss nitrocellulose lacquer.

The teardrop-shaped tortoiseshell pickguard protects the top from pick strikes, whilst the multi-layered binding on the top adds a finishing touch. The Gibson logo in mother-of-pearl adorns the headstock, two strap buttons are fitted to the body, and factory-fitted .012 to .053 strings complete the package, which comes in a Gibson hard case.