Gibson unveils two stunning luxury acoustics – a Hummingbird and SJ-200 built using elegant koa wood
Gibson has expanded its Artisan Series with two new acoustic guitars – an SJ-200 and Hummingbird, two of the brand’s most iconic acoustic designs – built using premium koa tonewoods.
Handcrafted by the team at Gibson Acoustic in Bozeman, Montana, both guitars feature a “richly figured” koa back and sides paired with a AAA Sitka spruce top, offering “sparkling high-end clarity that develops greater warmth and complexity with regular play”. A notable aesthetic touch comes by way of a three-rope marquetry strip running across the centre of the back of each guitar.
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First up, the new SJ-200 – built on a blueprint introduced in 1937 and that’s come to be widely regarded as the “King of the Flat Tops” – features, alongside its koa back and sides and Sitka spruce top, a rosewood SJ-200 two-bar moustache bridge with abalone bar inlays, a tortoiseshell pickguard with abalone dot inlays and a silver-foil stamp that creates “vivid, shifting iridescence” as the light shifts.
Credit: Gibson
Elsewhere, the guitar sports a mahogany neck with a Round profile, a bound 20-fret rosewood fingerboard with abalone graduated crown inlays, and a single-ply bound headstock, TUSQ nut and gold-plated Grover Rotomatic tuners.
In terms of electronics, the SJ-200 Elegant Koa is fitted with L.R. Baggs Anthem electronics, which combine an under-saddle Element pickup with an internal mic and preamp to faithfully reproduce the guitar’s unplugged tone.
Meanwhile, the new Hummingbird Elegant Koa features a very similar spec sheet, with the same koa back and sides and Sitka spruce top, Round-profile mahogany neck, 20-fret rosewood fretboard, and TUSQ nut and saddle.
Visually, this one stays true to the design that has made the Hummingbird such a classic, with the familiar artwork on its tortoise pickguard. This art is developed, though, now with gold and silver-foil details that shift as the light changes. This one also features L.R. Baggs electronics, this time a VTC system.
Credit: Gibson
Premium guitars need premium protection – so each new Elegant Koa acoustic model ships with a Gibson Custom hardshell case.
“The SJ-200 and Hummingbird represent defining chapters in Gibson acoustic history,” says Robi Johns, Gibson Acoustic Senior Product Development Manager.
“With the Elegant Koa models, Gibson Custom honors the character that made these instruments legendary while introducing the beauty, clarity, and evolving warmth of koa. These are guitars designed to form an even deeper connection with players over a lifetime of music.”
These are high-end acoustics, and their price tags reflect that, with the Hummingbird Elegant Koa coming in at $5,199, and the SJ-200 Elegant Koa priced at $6,899. If those figures feel a little outside your budget range, you can check out some of the mouth-watering high-res photos below instead…
These guitars are available now, both at Gibson.com and at the Gibson Garages in Nashville, London and Miami.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
